Fatal (35 page)

In the pleasure and excitement of crime, Jane Toppan seemed to find the criminal’s excitement of doing artistic work, to which danger appeared to add zest.

—
Boston Daily Globe,
A
UGUST
18, 1938

T
HE
P
OST
WAS RIGHT, OF COURSE
—J
ANE
T
OPPAN
WAS
going to die. But not for another thirty-four years.

She fell ill on July 1, 1938, and remained bedridden for more than a month. At 7:00
P.M.
on Wednesday, August 17, she died at the age of eighty-one years. Her death certificate, signed by Dr. Jack Oakman of the State Hospital at Taunton, cites broncho-pneumonia as the primary cause of death, with chronic myocarditis as a contributory factor.

It had been many years since the public had heard of Jane Toppan, and it is safe to say that the once-notorious killer—“America’s Lucretia Borgia”—had been largely, if not utterly, forgotten by the world. Still, her passing was big news, accorded front-page treatment in the major Boston dailies and noted with a prominent, if not wholly accurate, obituary in the
New York Times
, which misstated both her age (eighty-four, according to the
Times
) and number of victims (“at least 100 persons”).

Exactly what Jane’s life was like during the three-and-a-half decades of her confinement at Taunton will never be known. The hospital is still in operation, and
Jane’s medical and psychiatric records have been preserved. But they are inaccessible to researchers, kept under wraps by the state’s strict confidentiality laws.

According to her obituaries, Jane grew increasingly violent in the period following the onset of her delusions and “for several years was kept in a straitjacket.” Eventually, however, her paranoia subsided. She regained her weight and became a generally docile patient.

Still, there were violent episodes from time to time. According to one resident of the city of Taunton, whose father was a fireman in the 1920s and ’30s, Jane possessed a nearly “superhuman strength when aroused. On several occasions, she became upset over something, and several policemen had to be called to help subdue her.”

In later years, however, she became—in the words of one hospital official—a “quiet old lady, just another patient who caused no trouble.”

There was one story about Jane that sprang up after her death and continued to be reported by crime writers who kept her story alive in the years following her death. Given her history, it seems plausible. Perhaps it is even true.

According to the anecdote, Jane spent most of her time on the ward reading romances and writing love stories of her own. Every once in a while, however, she would beckon to one of the nurses.

“Get the morphine, dearie, and we’ll go out into the ward,” Jane would tell the nurse with a grin. “You and I will have a lot of fun seeing them die.”

My sincerest thanks to the following people for the help they provided while I was researching Jane Toppan’s story:

Karen Adler Abramson,
State Library of Massachusetts

David Bates

Elizabeth Bouvier,
State Library of Massachusetts

Mary Bricknell,
State Library of Massachusetts

Mark Brown,
John Hay Library, Brown University

Marilyn Budd,
Brookline Hospital

Robyn Christensen,
Bostonian Society

Marianne Conti,
Paul Klapper Library, Queens College

Phyllis Day,
Superior Court, Barnstable

Jack Eckert,
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard

Tim Engels,
John Hay Library, Brown University

Brian Harkins,
Social Law Library

Stephen Jerome,
Brookline Historical Society

Virginia Johnson,
Taunton Public Library

James Krasnoo

Jo Ann Latimer,
Sturgis Library, Barnstable

William Milhomme,
Massachusetts State Archives

Elizabeth Mock,
Healey Library, University of Massachusetts

Karin O’Connor,
Bostonian Society

Catherine Ostlind

Ellery Sedgwick

Evelyn Silverman,
Paul Klapper Library, Queens College

Patterson Smith

Virginia Smith,
Massachusetts Historical Society

Doug Southard,
Boston Historical Society

Nancy Weir,
Superior Court, Barnstable

I owe a special debt of gratitude to Evan Albright for his generous support and assistance. Anyone interested in learning more about the rich criminal history of Jane Toppan’s favorite summer resort area should consult Evan’s website,
www.capecodconfidential.com
.