Oct. 15, 2025
A Spoonful of Atropine Helps the Murder Go Down
Jane Toppan’s story is one of the most chilling chapters in American criminal history. Known as “Jolly Jane,” she was a seemingly cheerful and devoted nurse who used her position of trust to carry out a string of calculated poisonings that stunned the nation.
Beneath her pleasant demeanor lurked a dark obsession with control, life, and death. Her patients—many of whom trusted her completely—became unsuspecting victims of her deadly experiments with morphine and atropine.
Toppan’s crimes blurred the line between medicine and murder, leaving a haunting legacy that continues to fascinate true crime and medical historians alike.
