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'''Nannie Hazle''', (1905 - 1965) serial killer, who killed four of her five husbands, her mother, and probably several other people. Copyright 2006, Will Johnson, [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], Professional Genealogist, All Rights Reserved. This page is locked. If you'd like to comment on it, you may email me. http://www.serialkillers.it/images/biografie/doss_large.jpg Let me start right off by saying that her biography at the crimelibrary has been slightly altered in the names and dates given to certain things. I'm not sure if this is an attempt at privacy, or if it's sloppy research. I will start with that biography as a guideline and then show the actual documents of her life. ==Early life== She was born Nancy Hazle in Blue Mountain, Calhoun County, [[Alabama]] in 1905 to Louisa "Lou" Holden (1879/80-1953) and James Hazle. The 1910 Census says her parents had been married for nine years and he is listed as a "Railroader". The 1920 Census says he is a "Farmer". Louisa's maiden name comes from [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=6767&iid=NEWS-KS-AT_DA_GL.1954_12_02_0007&r=an&rc=787,413,899,442;608,1042,700,1071;677,1579,764,1608&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss+from+1954-1956&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500566023 this article] in the Atchison Globe, where she is called "...Mrs Louisa Holden Hazle". [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/doss/3.html The crimelibrary article] calls her maiden name "Holder", and states of Nannie that "...her grandma Holder was remotely related to the Lincoln family". ==First husband== When Nannie was 16 (so about 1921/2), she married Charles "Charley" Braggs, who was living with and supporting his mother. The new couple lived with Mrs. Braggs. Nannie and Charles had four daughters starting with Melvina in 1923 and ending with Florine in 1927. "Early in 1927, their two middle daughters died." says crimelibrary, but this appears to be a mistake. Florine Bragg died Oct 1925 in Calhoun County per the Alabama Death Index. Charley left and showed up a year later in 1928 with another woman. But [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=8473&iid=NEWS-KS-GR_BE_DA_TR.1954_11_29_0001&r=an&rc=2909,1008,3035,1050;3056,1008,3161,1050;2864,1917,2949,1950&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss+from+1954-1956&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500560897 this article] says they divorced in 1929 "after eight years of marriage". Charlie Braggs was yet living in 1954, in Alabama City, Alabama, when Nannie was arrested ==Second husband== Nannie then married 23-year-old Robert H Harrelson in 1929 who lived in Jacksonville. Again crimelibrary calls him "Frank" but the 1930 census shows the family (see sources below). "This marriage lasted 16 years." This is the most confused one of the stories. [http://members.tripod.com/~sherby/index3.html This site] has them marrying also in 1937 and/or in 1945! Which is supposed to be the year of "Frank's" death. An [http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=6767&path=1954.11.29.1&ln=Record%20Nannie%20Doss%20from%201954-1956&st=d&pid=500560897&rc=877,1654,974,1683;990,1654,1055,1683;1075,2221,1165,2250;1190,2963,1276,2992;1230,3334,1296,3363;909,3538,976,3567&zp=75 article] in the ''Atchison Daily Globe'', [[Nov 29]], 1954 confirms his death in Jacksonville in 1945. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1954_11_29-0002&rc=357,725,455,754;469,725,497,754;104,754,203,783&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500560898 This article] in the ''Albuquerque Journal'' calls him "Ernest" Harrelson. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51969&iid=News-TE-SA_AN_EX-51969_1954_12_11_0011&rc=175,2233,265,2262;280,2233,355,2262&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500575243 This article] in the ''San Antonio Express'' calls him "Robert Franklin "Frank" Harrelson, and calls his brother "Ernest J Harrelson" "Her eldest daughter Melvina had married Mosie Haynes and had a son Robert in 1943 and a daughter Feb 1945." Again this appears to be an error. Mosie Haynes was born in 1910, he [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=WWIIenlist%2c&rank=0&gsfn=mosie&gsln=haynes&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416&fh=0&recid=3109943&recoff=1+3 enlisted] for WWII for "...the duration of the war plus six months, a native of Etowah, Alabama, "SINGLE" with dependents. He was quite a bit older than Melvina when they married Jan 1947 in Morgan County (see below). So their children could not have been born in the early 40s. They divorced in 1952. Crimelibrary claims that Robert died while in Nannie's care after Mosie and Melvina had fought. Could [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=Robert&gsln=Haynes&sx=&f6Day=&f6Month=&f6Year=&f7=&gskw=&prox=1&f6=++&db=aldeath&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=7&recid=1231060&recoff=1+3 this child in the Death Index] be Robert ? If so, he died after Melvina had divorced Mosie. Nannie is then supposed to have murdered her husband Robert Harrelson. I can't find a person in the Death Index who is a good match for this man. By 1954 Melvina had married a Mr Hedrick per [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=6767&iid=NEWS-KS-AT_DA_GL.1954_12_02_0007&r=an&rc=787,413,899,442;608,1042,700,1071;677,1579,764,1608&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss+from+1954-1956&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500566023 this article] where she is called "Mrs Melvina Hedrick". This [http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=6767&path=1954.11.29.1&ln=Record%20Nannie%20Doss%20from%201954-1956&st=d&pid=500560897&rc=877,1654,974,1683;990,1654,1055,1683;1075,2221,1165,2250;1190,2963,1276,2992;1230,3334,1296,3363;909,3538,976,3567&zp=75 article] in the Atchison Daily Globe calls the boy a "STEP-grandson", the "2 1/2 year old grandson of Harralson". It would then appear, that all researchers on this point have been wrong. It's then imperative to find the marriage records for Calhoun and see what's up with all this confusion about when they married and who married whom. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1954_12_04-0018&rc=340,1733,444,1762;459,1733,504,1762;87,1763,191,1792&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500568082 This article] in the ''Albuquerque Journal'' states that Frank Harrelson is buried in Jacksonville, Alabama. And calls the 2 1/2 year old grandson "Richard Lee Higgins". ==Third husband== She is next supposed "...to have married in 1947 to Arlie Lanning, a resident of Lexington, North Carolina, but a former Alabaman. Arlie's mother lived in a nearby town. He died three years later." Again the dates seem slightly off for some unknown reason. The North Carolina Death Index has [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=NCdeaths%2c&rank=0&gsfn=Arlie&gsln=Lanning&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416&fh=1&recid=1883675&recoff=1+3 Arlie Jackson Lanning born 1900, dying in Lexington] 16 Feb 1952. And [http://members.tripod.com/~sherby/index3.html Sherby Green here] says this marriage lasted five years. An article in the Atchison Daily Globe (cited above) confirms his death in Lexington in 1952. His [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=WW1draft&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=Arlie&gsln=Lanning&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-b&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416 World War I Draft Registration Card] says his mother's name was "Sarah E". You can see Arlie's family tree [http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=familyhart&id=I65445 here]. And [http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8473&path=1954.11.27.1&ln=Record%20Nannie%20Doss%20from%201954-1956&st=d&pid=500558849&rc=1968,1421,2074,1454;2092,1421,2180,1454;1987,1521,2076,1554;1744,1933,1836,1966;1788,2100,1859,2133;2059,2171,2146,2204;2141,3429,2204,3462;1934,4096,2008,4129;2097,4229,2186,4262&zp=50 this article] says they were "childhood friends in Anniston, Alabama" Crimelibrary then states that the elder Mrs Lanning died in her sleep. But Sarah (Leonard) Lanning died two years BEFORE her son Arlie. See [http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=familyhart&id=I65820 here]. Supposedly Arlie's will left his house to his sister Ethel (Lanning) Swicegood, but the house burnt to the ground and the check was sent to, and cashed by Nannie. When Nannie was arrested in 1954 she stated that she had a daughter by Braggs and also one by Lanning. (See [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1954_11_28-0001&rc=1914,3471,2016,3500;2031,3471,2060,3500;2075,3471,2177,3500&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500559873 this article].) ==Fourth husband== She next married Richard L Morton (1883/9-1953), a retired businessman who lived in Emporia, Kansas in Oct 1952 and she moved to Emporia. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1954_11_28-0001&rc=1914,3471,2016,3500;2031,3471,2060,3500;2075,3471,2177,3500&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500559873 This article] calls him "69", but another article calls him 64. So it would seem, that the death of her two grandchildren must have been in this 1952 time period, (so she must have gone back to Alabama for a few months) and not five years earlier. Crimelibrary says it was at this time that James Hazle her father, died in Blue Mountain, Alabama and her mother Lou moved in with her in Kansas. But nobody by that name died in 1952 anywhere in Alabama, so again we have to consider crimelibrary's sources flawed on the dates. Then according to crimelibrary, Lou died Jan 1953 and Richard Morton is supposed to have died "...three months later". Kansas does not have a death index, so I cannot verify these dates at this time. This [http://members.tripod.com/~sherby/index3.html biography] by Nannie's relative Sherby Green is apparently the basis for part of crimelibrary's story. And an article in the Atchison Daily Globe (cited above) confirms the death of "Richard L Morton, 64, Emporia, Kansas 19 May 1953." The article [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=8473&iid=NEWS-KS-GR_BE_DA_TR.1954_12_05_0001&r=an&rc=2404,4542,2532,4600;2513,4767,2621,4796;2675,4767,2747,4796;2608,5067,2677,5096;2749,5100,2821,5129;2705,5296,2793,5325;2314,5425,2382,5454&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss+from+1954-1956&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500569089 "Widow Doss Denies Poisoning Mother"] in the ''Great Bend Daily Tribune'' (Great Bend, Kansas), [[Dec 5]], 1954, says that an autopsy of the body of her mother (later) showed arsenic. Her mother "...died at Lexington, NC two days after a visit from Mrs. Doss" While [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1954_12_04-0018&rc=340,1733,444,1762;459,1733,504,1762;87,1763,191,1792&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500568082 this article] in the ''Albuquerque Journal'' states that Louisa Holden Hazle was "...buried near Arlie Lanning..." [in Lexington, NC] ==Fifth husband== Her fifth and last husband was Samuel Luther "Sam" Doss (1898-1954), age 59, born in Carroll County, Arkansas, but then a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they married June 1954. See his family tree [http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=popfraley&id=I26881 here]. She poisoned him a few months after their marriage. Per the article [http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8473&path=1954.11.27.1&ln=Record%20Nannie%20Doss%20from%201954-1956&st=d&pid=500558849&rc=1968,1421,2074,1454;2092,1421,2180,1454;1987,1521,2076,1554;1744,1933,1836,1966;1788,2100,1859,2133;2059,2171,2146,2204;2141,3429,2204,3462;1934,4096,2008,4129;2097,4229,2186,4262&zp=50 "Reticent Widow Investigated in Arsenic Deaths"], in the ''Great Bend Daily Tribune'' (Great Bend, Kansas), [[Nov 27]], 1954, he died Oct 6th 1954. Nannie's campaign ended when a state-performed autopsy showed that Samuel L Doss had poison in his system. ==Arrest and death== She was finally arrested Nov 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She pled innocent, her public defenders told the court she was mentally incompetent and tried to get her committed to a mental hospital. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51583&iid=News-TE-KI_NE-1954_12_16-0018&rc=83,2929,191,2954;207,2929,238,2954;253,2929,346,2954&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500580370 This article] states that in mid-December she was "...ordered placed under psychiatric examination to determine her sanity." She was committed to the Eastern State Hospital in Vinita, Oklahoma for 90 days. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=7038&iid=NEWS-NC-ST_DA_RE.1954_12_07_0001&rc=627,2617,780,2663;100,2658,144,2704;166,2658,321,2704&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500571137 After her arrest], more bodies were dug up and tested for poison. Among those were "...Mrs Dovie Weaver, her sister..." and "...Mrs Sarah Elizabeth Lanning, one of Mrs Doss' five mothers-in-law."<blockquote>Ernest Harrelson, a brother of the victim, said when the Higgins infant died he asked his brother's wife what was wrong with the baby. "I don't know but that baby toddling around just might have gotten ahold of some rat poison," he quoted Mrs. Doss as saying. She didn't explain, he said, how a two-months-old infant could "toddle around".</blockquote> However [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51369&iid=News-TE-EL_PA_HE-1954_12_24-0018&rc=212,4566,318,4599;335,4566,423,4599&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500588562 toxicology reports] received by Tulsa County Attorney J Howard Edmonson, showed that her sister and step-grandson died natural deaths. Her court-appointed attorneys were Gordon Palterson and Quinn Dickason. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51583&iid=News-TE-KI_NE-1955_03_15-0002&rc=2973,429,3080,454;3095,429,3125,454;3141,429,3248,454&fn=&ln=Record+Richard+L+Morton&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500808706 This article] states that she was declared insane by the psychiatrists after the 90-day period. They recommended that she be committed to Eastern State Hospital for treatment. A sanity trial followed. District Judge Elmer Adams [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1955_06_03-0024&rc=50,183,225,266;254,183,371,266&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500894744 sentenced Nannie], taking into account her probable insanity, and the bad precedent it would set for her to be the first woman executed by electric chair in Oklahoma, sentenced Nannie to life in prison for the murder by poisoning of Samuel Doss. Other states had served murder warrants, but they did not bring charges, nor ask for extredition. Nannie Doss died in University Hospital in 1965 of leukemia, the day she was brought there from prison. The [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=51047&iid=News-NE-AL_JO-1965_06_03-0034&rc=781,196,995,284;1031,196,1210,284;313,450,403,475;417,450,492,475&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss&st=d&ssrc=&pid=506137634 notice of her death] was published in the ''Albuquerque Journal'' [[Jun 3]], 1965 : "Admitted Killing Four Mates - Leukemia Fatal to Nannie Doss, Husband-Poisoner of Oklahoma" stating that she had been incarcerated at the state penitentiary at McAlester, but was brought to the University Hospital in Oklahoma on May 20 where she died that same night. "Survivors include a daughter Melvina Leonard, who lives at Krebbs." == Primary Sources == *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=Hazel&sx=y&f19=Alabama&f20=Calhoun&f21=&f14=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f16=&f9=&f10=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f23=&f22=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1900usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=2&recid=186282&recoff=3+21+22 1900 Census of Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama] showing James F Hazel, 24 as son of John H, age 50 and Nancy J, age 50, married for 28 years *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=hazel&sx=y&f7=AL&f9=Calhoun&f10=&f18=&f20=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f23=&f17=&f16=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&_8000C002=&f21=&_80008002=&f22=&_80018002=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1910uscenindex&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=13&recid=197713&recoff=3+22+97 1910 Census of Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama] showing James F Hazel 36, Louisa 30, Nancy 4 and two other children. *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=Hazle&sx=y&f8=Alabama&f9=Calhoun&f10=&f20=&rg_81004011__date=&rs_81004011__date=0&f16=&rg_f19__date=&rs_f19__date=0&f18=&_8000C002=&f21=&_80008002=&f22=&_80018002=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1920usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=30&recid=262947&recoff=3+21+22 1920 Census of Peaceburg, Calhoun County, Alabama] showing James F Hazel 43, Lou 40, Nancy 14 and three more children. *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=bragg&sx=&f6Day=&f6Month=&f6Year=&f7=calhoun&gskw=&prox=1&f6=++&db=aldeath&ti=0&ti.si=0&gl=&gss=rfs&gst=&so=3 Alabama Death Index 1908-59] for "Bragg" in Calhoun County showing that Florine died Oct 1925. Possibly Hazel Bragg is the other daughter who died, since one by this name died Apr 1924 Calhoun. *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=braggs&sx=y&f12=Alabama&f4=Calhoun&f7=&f15=&rg_81004011__date=1923&rs_81004011__date=5&f18=&f14=&_8000C002=&_80008002=&_80018002=&f10=&f16=&gskw=&prox=1&db=1930usfedcen&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=0&recid=219885&recoff=2+15+19+20 1930 Census of Jacksonville, Calhoun County, Alabama] showing Robt H Haralson 23 Truck driver, Nancy 24, with Malvina Bragg age 4 4/12 "stepdaughter", and living next door to her mother Lou Hazle, age 51, married first at age 19. Nannie's father James was perhaps already dead by this time, even though Lou is not listed as a widow here. *[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=ALDivorce%2c&rank=0&gsfn=Mosie&gsln=Haynes&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=5910&fh=0&recid=81235&recoff=19+20 Alabama Divorce Index] showing Melvina B and Mosie Haynes divorcing in Etowah County, Mar 1952. And Mosie's [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=ssdi%2c&rank=0&gsfn=Mosie&gsln=Haynes&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416&fh=1&recid=29744758&recoff=1+2 Social Security Death Index entry] showing his dates. Their marriage, contrary to crimelibrary didn't happen until 25 Jan 1947 in Morgan County. See the[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&f7=&f6=&sx=&f12=&f13=&f17=25&f16=Jan&rg_f18__date=1947&rs_f18__date=0&f19=Morgan&gskw=&prox=1&db=almarriages_ga&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=1&recid=244535&recoff=13+14+15+17 Alabama Marriage Index here]. *[http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=view&dbid=6767&iid=NEWS-KS-AT_DA_GL.1954_12_02_0007&r=an&rc=787,413,899,442;608,1042,700,1071;677,1579,764,1608&fn=&ln=Record+Nannie+Doss+from+1954-1956&st=d&ssrc=&pid=500566023 ''Atchison Daily Globe'' (Atchison, Kansas)], [[Dec 2]], 1954 "Continue Probe of Poisoning Deaths" stating in part : "...Grandma Nannie has admitted giving rat poison to four of her five husbands....charged with murder in the deaths of husbands four and five, Richard Morton Sr 64 of Emporia, Kas, and Samuel Doss, 58 of Tulsa....mate No 3 Arlie Lanning who died in 1952....Mrs Doss' mother, Mrs Louisa Holden Hazle.... daughter by the first marriage Mrs Melvina Hedrick...[Melvina's] son Robert Lee Higgins died in 1945 and Mrs Hazle in 1953" == Secondary Sources == *[http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/doss "Nannie Doss"], by Joseph Geringer hosted at crimelibrary.com [[Category:Serial Killers]] [[Category:Biographies]] [[Category:Alabama]]
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