Nannie Doss, infamously known as the Giggling Granny, the Lonely Hearts Killer, the Jolly Black Widow, and Lady Bluebeard, is not the kind of figure one typically associates with a charming grandmother. Yet, her shocking confession in October 1954 led to these unsettling nicknames.

Nannie Doss was born Nancy Hazel on November 4, 1905, in Blue Mountain, Alabama, to James and Louisa Hazel. She was the second of five siblings, which included one brother and three sisters. Nannie grew up under the oppressive and abusive rule of her father, who insisted that the children forgo school to labor on the farm.

At the age of seven, during a train trip to visit relatives in South Alabama, Nannie experienced a serious head injury when the train made an abrupt stop, causing her to fall. This incident resulted in debilitating migraines, blackouts, and episodes of depression, which would later be used to justify her heinous acts.

As she matured, Nannie and her sisters faced restrictions imposed by their father, who forbade them from enhancing their appearances with nice clothing or makeup. Friendships with boys were out of the question, leaving Nannie to find solace in romance magazines, particularly the "lonely hearts club" column.

In 1921, at 16, Nannie took a job at the Linen Thread Company in Anniston, where she met Charles "Charley" Braggs. They married after a brief courtship but quickly began having children, welcoming four kids in quick succession. However, by 1927, their marriage started to crumble amid tragedy; two of their children died mysteriously shortly after breakfast, attributed to food poisoning. Charley subsequently left Nannie, taking one daughter with him while she returned to her parents with the other two.

Nannie’s second husband, Frank Harrelson, entered her life through the same lonely hearts column. Their marriage lasted 16 years, marred by Frank's alcoholism and violent outbursts. It’s believed that Nannie’s despair prompted her to murder her newborn granddaughter using a hairpin and later, to suffocate her two-year-old grandson, Robert, for financial gain from a life insurance policy.

After a drunken assault by Frank, Nannie poisoned his moonshine, leading to his death on September 15, 1945. His demise was later ruled as either food poisoning or another illness.

Finding herself a widow again, Nannie swiftly married Arlie Lanning, a man she met through the lonely hearts column. Their marriage lasted two and a half years until Arlie’s death, which was suspected to be caused by a heart attack exacerbated by alcoholism. Afterward, Nannie lived with Arlie's mother, who died shortly after.

Nannie’s quest for companionship led her to the Diamond Circle Club, where she married Richard Morton. Despite their union, Richard’s infidelities and his mother's sudden death only added to the tragic pattern, as Nannie was suspected of being involved in both events.

Finally, in June 1953, Nannie married Samuel Doss, a Nazarene minister who adhered to a strict moral code that clashed with her desires. Nannie’s frustrations mounted until she poisoned him using a prune cake and, later, his coffee.

Following Samuel's unexpected death, suspicions arose, prompting an autopsy that revealed lethal levels of arsenic in his system. Nannie was arrested and confessed to the murders of four of her husbands but denied involvement in the deaths of other family members. Subsequent investigations confirmed arsenic poisoning as the cause of several mysterious deaths.

Nannie attributed her actions to a childhood head injury and her pursuit of true love. In 1954, she was convicted of murder in Oklahoma and faced charges in several other states, although she was never tried for those crimes.

Had she faced the electric chair, Nannie would have been the first woman executed in Oklahoma. Instead, a judge declared her insane two years after her trial, sentencing her to life imprisonment. She died of leukemia on June 2, 1965, marking a decade since her incarceration.

The media dubbed her "The Giggling Granny" due to her unsettling demeanor during police interrogations, where she frequently laughed and smiled while recounting her chilling deeds.