Nannie Doss Denies the Poisonings: Filmed Prison Interview, Late 1950s

Name: Nannie Doss Denies the Poisonings: Filmed Prison Interview, Late 1950s
Uploaded: 2023-01-20T00:00:00Z
Duration: 3 min 51 s
Description: In a short film made in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Nannie Doss told an interviewer she still maintained she had not poisoned her husbands, and said she wanted her freedom and a small TV.

In a short film made in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Nannie Doss told an interviewer she still maintained she had not poisoned her husbands, and said she wanted her freedom and a small TV.

Subject: Nannie Doss
Recorded: 1957
Runtime: 3:51

Content warning: Concerns the poisoning deaths of family members; no graphic detail.

The Interview

This short sound film shows Nannie Doss answering questions in the women's unit of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, where she was serving a life sentence. According to the YouTube uploader, who holds the film archive of the broadcaster Bob Mills, Mills made it in 1957; that date has not been confirmed. The male interviewer asks about the women's unit, her childhood and marriages, the poisonings she was accused of, her daily life and what she would do if she were free. Her replies are brief, and the soundtrack is poor, so a number of them cannot be made out with certainty.

Historical Context

Nannie Doss was born in Alabama in 1905 and married five times. Four of her husbands died: Robert Franklin Harrelson in 1945, Arlie Lanning in 1952, Richard Morton in 1953 and Samuel Doss of Tulsa in October 1954. Arsenic was found in Samuel Doss's body, and in late November 1954 she confessed to poisoning four of her husbands. She denied harming her own blood relatives, but her mother, a sister, a grandson and others are among the deaths later linked to her, and she is usually credited with eleven deaths. On May 17, 1955, she pleaded guilty in Tulsa County to the murder of Samuel Doss and was sentenced to life in prison. She became known as the "Giggling Granny". She died of leukaemia in the penitentiary at McAlester on June 2, 1965.

Circumstances of the Interview

The film was made some time after she entered the penitentiary in 1955. The interviewer mentions "rock and roll Elvis Presley music", which suggests a date of 1956 or later, when Presley became nationally famous. How a broadcaster later known in San Diego came to film in Oklahoma, and for which station or programme, is not known. The film was posted online in January 2023 from the Mills archive, donated by his daughter.

What the Interview Covers

Doss says she was born in Alabama, had four sisters and a brother, worked in the fields, first married at 16 and married five times. She agrees that she is in prison over her last husband and that she was said to have killed others. Asked whether she says she did not poison them, she answers "I didn't", and asked whether she still maintains that she did not, she says, "I certainly do." She says the newspapers said "all kinds of" things about her. More than anything she would like her freedom, and then a small television for her room. She says she does not care much for Elvis Presley's music, works in the prison laundry, and would take her daughter's children and try to raise them. Asked what she would tell a mother raising a teenage daughter, she appears to say she would take her to church and keep her close.

What Makes the Recording Significant

Doss had confessed in 1954 and pleaded guilty in 1955. Here, in prison, she denies the poisonings on camera. The film also shows her manner and voice, and gives a glimpse of her life in the women's unit, including her work in the laundry.

Archival Importance

It appears to be a rare, possibly unique, filmed prison interview with her. Its value lies in her own denial, recorded after her guilty plea.

Important Caveats

Her denials are her claims. She confessed in November 1954 to poisoning four husbands, pleaded guilty to murdering Samuel Doss in 1955, and was sentenced to life. The year of the film, 1957, comes from the uploader and has not been confirmed; nor has the identity of the interviewer, which also rests on the uploader's account. The soundtrack is poor, and several of her answers, including her account of why she was convicted and whom she blames, cannot be made out reliably. The uploader's YouTube title calls the film "unseen"; it is unclear whether it was ever broadcast.

Interviewer: Nannie Doss, how many girls are in the women's side of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary?

Nannie Doss: There's 31 on my side and [unclear: "26" / "25"] on the [unclear: "court's side" / "states"].

Interviewer: Do all the girls call you Nannie?

Nannie Doss: Most of them call me Nannie. [Whisper only; the captions have "um".]

Interviewer: May I call you Nannie?

Nannie Doss: That's right.

Interviewer: Where were you born?

Nannie Doss: I was born in Alabama, [unclear: "Anderson" / "and"].

Interviewer: Did you have a large family?

Nannie Doss: I had four sisters and a brother.

Interviewer: Were you rich?

Nannie Doss: Nothing. [unclear: "Family." (Whisper only)]

Interviewer: Did you work in the field?

Nannie Doss: Yes, sir. [unclear: "Oklahoma. Oklahoma." (Whisper only; possibly not speech)]

Interviewer: How old were you when you first got married?

Nannie Doss: 16. [Whisper only]

Interviewer: And how many times were you married?

Nannie Doss: Five.

Interviewer: Why are you in the penitentiary now?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "All the times after I'm a husband" / "all the time doctor and the husband"].

Interviewer: Which, your last husband?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Yes, sir" / "Yeah"].

Interviewer: Did they say you killed any more?

Nannie Doss: Yes.

Interviewer: [unclear: "And" / "Or"] your other husbands?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Which of them? Three of them." / "for trouble here I am"].

Interviewer: Did you?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Nothing" / "okay"].

Interviewer: How did they say you killed them? [Whisper only]

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "They kind of poisoned them" / "they climbed up Horizon though"].

Interviewer: [unclear: "Did you say" / "But you say"] you didn't poison them?

Nannie Doss: I didn't.

Interviewer: At the time you were convicted, was there a lot of talk in the newspapers about that conviction?

Nannie Doss: Yes, sir.

Interviewer: What did they say?

Nannie Doss: Oh, they just said all kinds of [unclear: "nasty things" / "Master signs"].

Interviewer: Do you think they were right?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Nothing" (Whisper only)].

Interviewer: [unclear: "Did you still" / "You can still"] maintain that you did not poison either your last husband or any of the others?

Nannie Doss: I certainly do.

Interviewer: [unclear: "Nannie" / "But Nannie"], what would you like to have more than anything else in the world?

Nannie Doss: Well, my freedom [unclear: "for her" / "for"; possibly "first"]. And the next, I'd like a small TV for my room.

Interviewer: Would you like to watch television?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Yes, sir" / "Yeah, yeah"].

Interviewer: What do you like to see?

Nannie Doss: Well, I'd like to see a good story. I like [unclear: "fun and good fun" / "summer you can get stunning"].

Interviewer: You mean preaching? [captions only]

Nannie Doss: Yeah. [captions only]

Interviewer: Do you listen to preaching sermons [unclear: "with individuals" / "within the business hall"]?

Nannie Doss: Yes.

Interviewer: [unclear: "About music?" / "How about music?"]

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Oh, this is the whole time of music" / "and there's no kind of music"].

Interviewer: What kind of music? [Whisper only]

Nannie Doss: Oh, I really like [unclear: "all of the music" / "our healthy music"].

Interviewer: How about this rock and roll Elvis Presley music here?

Nannie Doss: Well, I don't care very much about it myself.

Interviewer: How about the younger girls over there?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Not very much" / "They're very intuitive, very much"].

Interviewer: Getting back to the reason you were convicted, who do you blame for that?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Not that" / "Messiah"].

Interviewer: [unclear: "Why?" / "Right."]

Nannie Doss: Well, I didn't know anything about it. [unclear: "You never know that kind of told me that I'm very guilty. I just did." / "You never know that Tony told me to go down and say yes, I'll give you"].

Interviewer: Do you think it's valuable for people to have some knowledge [unclear: "as well" (Whisper only)]?

Nannie Doss: I certainly [unclear: "do" / "did"].

Interviewer: [unclear: "Cases like this" / "Teachers like this"]?

Nannie Doss: I certainly [unclear: "do" / "did"].

Interviewer: How long [unclear: "was it being present" / "would you be in prison"]?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Well, I spent four hours" / "Oh"].

Interviewer: [unclear: "Did you have a girl?" (Whisper only)]

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "I hope." (Whisper only)]

Interviewer: What would you do [unclear: "with your girl" / "if you're good"]?

Nannie Doss: I would take my daughter's children and [unclear: "put" / "cut"] them all four together and try to raise them.

Interviewer: What sort of a living would you try to make? What would you do?

Nannie Doss: Well, I don't know anything except [unclear: "in half season and farm work" / "that can ask you and find work"].

Interviewer: What do you do over in the women's side of the [unclear: "person"; probably "prison"]?

Nannie Doss: I work in the laundry. [Whisper only]

Interviewer: All right. [unclear: "Well, I'm in Washington." (Whisper only)] [unclear: "So,"] how do you get any money? [Whisper only]

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Nothing." (Whisper only)] [unclear: "Except if you want to work for the girl." (Whisper only)] [03:26 to 03:28: no speech in either machine source.]

Interviewer: If you could say something to people on the outside, say, a mother who has a teenage daughter, what would you [unclear: "tell her" / "cover"] about raising that daughter?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "I'd like to carry a church and keep her close by" / "I'm trying to prepare the church and people close by"].

Interviewer: Do you think love is important today?

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "Yes" / "Yeah"].

Interviewer: Thank you very much, Nannie Doss.

Nannie Doss: [unclear: "I see." (Whisper only)] [03:49 to 03:51: clip ends.] ---