Jane Toppan
Jane Toppan was a very interesting female serial killer compared to others. Although she killed her victims in a stereotypical feminine method of murder (Adams, 1). Her motive wasn't typical for a female serial, but that of a male. Most female serial murderers murder for some type of material gain. Jane Toppan during her arrest admitted that she derived sexual pleasure from watching her victims die (Adams, 1). Like most female serial killers Jane Toppan was a nurse ( Adams, 1). In 1885, Toppan began working at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts ( Adams, 1). While employed at the hospital she experimented on her patients for her own amusement. After a period of time her experimentation's turned into murder. Jane Toppan's number of victims reached a chilling thirty- one victims (Adams). Toppan would simply give her victims an injection of morphine and astropine ( Axelrod, 1).These two injections would then offset each others symptoms and become a silent killer ( Axelrod, 1). Jane Toppan began killing her land lords in 1895, and in 1899 she even killed her sister Elizabeth. Jane Toppan was getting away with murder until one of her victimes, Alden Davis, family requested a toxicology test ( Adams, 1). In 1901 Toppan was brought to trial, but was convicted not guilty by reason of insanity ( Axelrod, 1). Toppan was proud of her crimes stating that she wanted to go down in history as the person who “killed more people — helpless people — than any other man or woman who ever lived" ( Top Ten, 56). She was then committed to Taunton Insane Hospital after the trial. Taunton Insane Hospital is where Toppan spent the rest of her days when she passed in 1938 ( Adams, 1).
How shocking is it to hear that most of female serial killers are nurses? The very women that are suppose to have a positive effect on your heath, end up being the cause of your death. Unfortunately health care serial killers have become more prominent in the media over the past decade ( Ramsland, 12). In an attempt to prevent hospitals from having a health care nurse in there facility, some professionals put together a list on red flags in a nursers actions or behaviors ( Ramsland, 12)
- Statistically, there is a higher death rate when the suspected person is on shift
- The suspect deaths were unexpected
- The death symptoms were also not expected, given the patient's illness or procedure
- The suspected person is always available to help
- He or she is often the last one seen with the victim
- The suspected person has moved around from one facility to another
- Other staff members give that person nicknames like "death angel"
- The person is overly interested in the death
- Other patients have complained about the person's treatment of them
- The person is secretive or has a difficult time with personal relationships
- The person has a history of some form of mental instability or depression
(Ramsland, 12)
It deems necessary that you need to have a sharp eye and awareness of the signs of a health care serial killer. The means to kill a patient is readily available to any nurse. In addition to the fact that medical murders can be hard to detect ( Ramsland, 12) It's hard to accept the fact that really any health care facility is vulnerable. In my opinion this is a frightening statement. It's sad to see any type of murders happen, yet alone in facilities with sick and innocent victims. My hopes are that the health care system is learning from the past and becoming more precatious. This issue is something that could be prevented, but just needs the extra effort to make it happen.Sources:
Adams, Nicole. " Ten American Female Serial Killers." Listverse. 29. Dec. 2012. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Axelrod, Lauren. " Serial Killer Jane Toppan." Friends Revolution. 1 Aug. 2009. Web. 4 Feb. 2013
" Top Ten Deadlist Female Killers." TopTenz.net. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Ramsland, Katherine. "Angels of Death: The Female Nurses."
This was a great post in that you highlight a big issue that separates women and men serial killers: sexual pleasure in the act is mostly attributed to male serial killers (although many male serial killers don't have this rationale). I like how you provide commentary, also, about what to look for in health care workers--necessary information in an analysis of a health care serial killer.
ReplyDeleteComment 1: This post was very interesting. It caught my eye because I was thinking about choosing the topic of killers for the semester, but I'm glad I didn't because your post was great. I always wondered why criminals, especially serial killers, do what they do. In the fall, I plan on taking a view courses regarding criminal psychology and crime scene investigation. That kind of stuff fascinated me. Is that why you chose this topic? Are you criminology major? But back to the post, I like how you gave a brief summary of Toppan's crime. I never really thought about how many crimes take place in hospitals. Makes me think...The other night I was watching a movie about Carlina White, a girl who was kidnapped in a hospital when she was a baby and then she solved her own kidnapping 20 something years later. If you haven't heard of this story, you should look it up. It's not quite the same as you blog post, but I think you'd find it very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your posts. I find the topic of female serial killers really interested. I like that you made this post not just a biography about Jane Toppan, but addressed that female serial killers are often health care workers. That is something I have not realized before. It was also interesting to read about Toppan’s motivation behind killing. It might be a good idea to make a post about the major differences between male and female serial killers and common patterns of female serial killers.
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