Amy Archer Gilligan

Serial Killer

Amy Duggan Archer-Gilligan: The Notorious Nursing Home Serial Killer

Early Life and Marriages

Amy E. Duggan was born on October 31, 1873, in Milton, Connecticut, as the eighth of ten children to James Duggan and Mary Kennedy. In 1897, she married James Archer, and they had a daughter, Mary J. Archer, in December of the same year. In 1901, the couple became caretakers for John Seymour, an elderly widower in Newington, Connecticut. After Seymour's death in 1904, the Archers continued to run the residence as "Sister Amy's Nursing Home for the Elderly." In 1907, they moved to Windsor, Connecticut, and established the "Archer Home for the Elderly and Infirm." James Archer died in 1910 from what was officially reported as Bright's disease. In 1913, Amy married Michael W. Gilligan, a wealthy widower, who died on February 20, 1914, from an "acute bilious attack."

Suspicious Deaths at the Archer Home

Between 1907 and 1917, the Archer Home experienced an alarming number of deaths—60 in total. Notably, only 12 residents died between 1907 and 1910, but from 1911 to 1916, 48 residents passed away. One significant case was that of Franklin R. Andrews, a healthy man who suddenly fell ill and died on May 29, 1914. His sister, Nellie Pierce, discovered correspondences indicating that Amy had been pressuring him for money shortly before his death.

Investigation and Arrest

Growing suspicions led Nellie Pierce to approach the local district attorney, but her concerns were initially dismissed. Undeterred, she took her story to the Hartford Courant, which published the first of several articles on the "Murder Factory" on May 9, 1916. This media attention prompted a thorough police investigation. Authorities exhumed the bodies of Michael Gilligan, Franklin Andrews, and three other residents, finding that all had died from poisoning by arsenic or strychnine. Further evidence showed that Amy had been purchasing large quantities of arsenic, ostensibly to kill rats. ...Read More

Confirmed Victims: (0)

Amy Archer-Gilligan - Wikipedia

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