Lavinia Fisher is said to be America’s first female serial killer. The more the years passed, the more the versions of the facts changed. Legend has it that the young woman tended to seduce her male clients. After having charmed them, she questioned them so that they could detail their financial situation.
If they were rich enough, she poisoned them with her famous oleander tea. With the help of her husband, she then got rid of the bodies of their victims. Admittedly, these mysterious disappearances had been reported, but these files were closed without further action. It wasn’t until Fisher met David Ross that everything changed.
The legend of Lavinia Fisher
Lavinia Fisher was born in 1793 in Charleston. His childhood has forever remained a mystery. Rumor has it that she had been living in the United States for years. She was married to John Fisher, and both lived in South Carolina. From the year 1800 they established the inn “ Six Mile Wayfarer House 10 km from Charleston, South Carolina. Lavinia Fisher was widely known as the first female serial killer in the United States. She was hanged on February 18, 1820.
According to The Post and Courier, Lavinia Fisher was reportedly accused of theft and serial murder in 1820. The story began at her Six Mile Wayfarer House inn. Many customers from all over settled in Lavinia’s inn. They were mostly noble people like merchants. By 1819 the inn was very popular and along with John Fisher, Lavinia was respected by all the villagers. However, the latter had a very bad reputation: that of always flirting with rich men.
According to legend, she flirted mainly with the aim of baiting her prey. Once they succumbed to her charms, she would question them about their money and their job or even their future project in Charleston. In the event that the man in question met her financial expectations, she poisoned him with teas prepared from oleander leaves. Once in their room, it was John Fisher who was in charge of establishing the theft. It was only as a result of the story that many versions were created. One version said that with the tea the victims died immediately, others that it was after the robbery that John murdered them. There was even a gruesome story that the Fishers had set traps under each client’s bed to bury them.
The great upheaval
After several murders and robberies, other stories began to circulate. Many thefts during poker games have been reported to local sheriffs. The organizers of these parties were a group of bandits which also included the leaders of the local inns like John and Lavinia Fisher. After a cow disappeared from a farmer’s pasture, the locals all mobilized to rebel against the bandits. The Five Mile House Inn was the first victim of local vigilantes, who burned it down. In the case of Six Mile Wayfarer House, they just gutted the inn and left David Ross as a guard to make sure the bandits wouldn’t come back.
Unfortunately, in the morning, David Ross was kidnapped by two male members of the group of bandits. According Legends of America, when Ross saw Lavinia Fisher, he felt safe. Yet it was precisely Fisher who had assaulted him by strangling him and throwing him through a glass window. However, Ross did not lose his life, he fled. After this incident, John and Lavinia again hosted and played tricks on John Peoples. The latter, who did not like tea, just dozed off. When he woke up, he said he saw a large hole where the bed had been. He immediately fled and alerted the authorities.
The arrest, trial and death of John and Lavinia Fisher
With the testimony of the two men, David Ross and John Peoples, the Fishers were arrested in February 1819 by sheriffs and citizens. The latter found the skin of the cow that had disappeared. Furious, they set fire to Six Mile Wayfarer.
Many versions of the investigations then leaked, such as the existence of a secret route to the inn, the discovery of the belongings of missing victims, holes under the beds and many more. In the first trial, the Fishers were found not guilty. On the other hand, the second trial of May 1819 was fatal. They were sentenced to death by hanging for the crime of theft and murder. They still had the right to appeal. The Fishers tried to escape, but were unsuccessful because Lavinia got stuck. After this attempt to flee, the appeal by the Fishers in January 1820 was denied and the date of their sentencing was declared: February 18.
According to legend, Lavinia thought she would escape death due to a law at the time stating that any married woman could not be hanged. It was for this reason that John Fisher was hanged first. Before dying, Lavinia is said to have said: If you have a message you want to send to hell, give it to me, I’ll carry it! She then immediately jumped off the scaffold without the intervention of the guards.
The facts behind the legend
According to Bruce Orr, author of the book Six Miles to Charleston: The True Story of John and Lavinia Fisher, much of the myth about the Fishers has just been a big exaggeration. After investigating as detectives, the reporters hid many facts about their arrest and murders. According to him, no evidence was found at Six Mile Wayfarer House. All the events were told by Peter Neilson who said he was present, but who however was not there throughout the story. It is therefore possible that Lavinia Fisher was innocent.
However, we will never know what really happened. All we know is that the ghost of Lavinia Fisher continues to haunt the Charleston prison. To go further, here are 10 serial killers who have hit the headlines.
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