Jane Toppan

Jane Toppan

American serial killer
Country: USA

Content:
  1. Biography of Jane Toppin
  2. Medical Career and Murders
  3. Arrest and Trial

Biography of Jane Toppin

Jane Toppin, originally known as Honora Kelley, was an American serial killer who confessed to the murder of 31 people in 1901. She stated that her motive for these crimes was to "kill as many helpless people as possible, more than any man or woman who ever lived." Toppin was born in 1857, but very little is known about her early life. Her parents were Irish immigrants, and her mother Bridget Kelley died at a young age from consumption, while her father Peter Kelley was known locally as "Kelley the Crack," due to his eccentric behavior and reputation as a drunkard. In 1863, Kelly gave up his two young daughters, 8-year-old Delia Josephine and 6-year-old Honora, to the Boston Female Asylum, a refuge for destitute girls founded by Hannah Stillman in 1799. There are no records of what happened to the sisters at the asylum, but it is known that Honora entered the service of Mrs. Ann C. Toppin in Lowell, Massachusetts in November 1864. Although not formally adopted, Honora took on her benefactor's surname and became known as Jane Toppin. Delia remained at the asylum until 1868 when she became a servant in Athol, New York, eventually becoming a prostitute and dying in poverty from alcoholism.

Medical Career and Murders

In 1885, Toppin began training as a nurse at Cambridge Hospital. She used poor patients as experimental subjects, conducting experiments with morphine and atropine on them. Toppin would alter the prescribed dosages of the drugs to see the effects on the patients' nervous systems. She spent a lot of time alone with the patients, administering medications, forging records, and even getting into bed with them. It is unclear whether she engaged in intimate relations with her victims while they were unconscious, but during her interrogation after her arrest, Toppin confessed to experiencing sexual excitement when the patients on the brink of death recovered and then relapsed due to her monstrous experiments. The nurse would administer narcotic mixtures to select victims and lie beside them as they died.

It was quite rare for female serial killers to commit murders for sexual gratification instead of financial gain. Toppin was recommended for Massachusetts General Hospital in 1889, where she claimed to have claimed more victims before resigning the following year. She briefly returned to Cambridge Hospital, where she was fired for mistakenly prescribing opiates to a patient. Afterward, Toppin had a successful career as a private nurse, despite ongoing complaints about minor theft.

In 1895, Jane poisoned her landlords, and in 1899, she killed her foster sister Elizabeth, using a dose of strychnine. In 1901, she moved in with Alden Davis, an elderly man for whom she had been caring after the death of his wife, whom she had also killed. Within a few weeks, Toppin murdered Davis and his two daughters. She then returned to her hometown, where she cared for the husband of her deceased foster sister. She killed his sister and used a small dose of poison to make him weak and allow her to care for him again. However, the brother-in-law saw through her plan and kicked Toppin out of the house.

Arrest and Trial

Surviving members of the Davis family insisted on a toxicological examination for the youngest deceased daughter. It was revealed that she had been poisoned, and the local authorities provided the detailed description of Jane Toppin to the police. On October 26, 1901, she was arrested and charged with murder.

By 1902, Toppin had confessed to 11 murders. On June 23, in a Barnstable courtroom, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity. She was sentenced to lifelong confinement in the Taunton State Hospital. Shortly after the trial, the New York Journal, a newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst, published information claiming that Toppin had allegedly confessed to her lawyer about killing at least 31 people. The newspaper also asserted that Toppin revealed how she skillfully convinced the jury of her insanity and hoped to be released. Nevertheless, Toppin spent the rest of her days in the psychiatric hospital.

It is believed that Toppin served as an inspiration for the creation of the character "Bessie Denker" in William March's novel "The Bad Seed," which was later adapted into a successful play and film. Similar to Toppin, Denker was a young serial poisoner. In the independent film "American Nightmare" released in 2002, directed and written by John Keyes, actress Debbie Rochon portrayed a character named Jane Toppin. This character murdered numerous individuals using various methods throughout the film. However, while Toppin inspired the creation of this killer character, the movie does not claim to be a biopic.

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