Amy Archer-Gilligan

Amy Duggan "Sister" Archer-Gilligan (October 31, 1873 – April 23, 1962) was a nursing home proprietor and serial killer from Windsor, Connecticut. She murdered at least five people by poisoning them. One of her victims was her second husband, Michael Gilligan; the others were residents of her nursing home.

It is possible that Archer-Gilligan was involved in more deaths. The authorities counted 48 deaths in her nursing home, the "Archer Home for the Elderly and Infirm."

The case attracted wide publicity at the time and has been cited as an inspiration for the play Arsenic and Old Lace.

Childhood and marriages Amy E. Duggan was born on October 31, 1873, to James Duggan and Mary Kennedy in Milton, Connecticut, the eighth of ten children. She attended the Milton School and the New Britain Normal School in 1890.

Amy Duggan married James Archer in 1897. A daughter, Mary J. Archer, was born in December 1897. He was reportedly wealthy and interested in both Amy and in investing in the Archer Home. However, on February 20, 1914, after only three months married to Amy, Michael died. A few months later, the police started to seriously investigate the case. The investigation took almost a year to complete.

The bodies of Gilligan, Andrews, and three other boarders were exhumed. All five had died of poisoning, either arsenic or strychnine. Local merchants were able to testify that Amy had been purchasing large quantities of arsenic, supposedly to "kill rats". A look into Gilligan's will established that it was actually a forgery written by Amy.

Trials Archer-Gilligan was arrested and tried for murder, originally on five counts. Ultimately her lawyer managed to have the charges reduced to a single count, the murder of Franklin R. Andrews. On June 18, 1917, a jury found her guilty, and she was sentenced to death.

Archer-Gilligan appealed and the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors ordered a new trial in 1918. At this trial, she pled insanity. Mary Archer testified that her mother was addicted to morphine. Archer-Gilligan was again found guilty of murder, but this time she was sentenced only to life imprisonment.