In August of 1928 a woman from a tiny town in Missouri was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder.

As you might imagine, the arrest of a 56 year old woman with a reputation as a nurse and a

healer in the community where she lived wasn't your run-of-the-mill news story in the

late 1920s. It was a shocking event to people who lived in nearby

St. Louis, but those from Franklin County where the woman lived weren't as

surprised. Some of them even wondered what had taken the police so long.

They were all aware that this angel of mercy had a history of caring for people who suddenly became sick and died.

It's just that no one who was able to do anything seemed to care.

The story of how that woman, Bertha Gifford, had gotten away with her crimes for so long is bizarre to say the least.

What's equally curious is that she was one of the most infamous criminals in the history of the state and yet so few people who live in Missouri today are even aware of her story.

Or that the place where she once lived and worked was once considered to be a couple of the most haunted places in the region.

Welcome to American Hauntings, the podcast dedicated to the history, hauntings,

legends, lore, and the dark side of American history. And welcome to season 8, Home, which is written and performed by Troy

Taylor. That's me. And produced and co-hosted by Cody Back. This season we're on a cross-country trip in search of America's

murder houses, relics of time and crimes gone by. We're going behind the

locked doors of both famous and little-known places where murder and violence has left lingering ghosts behind.

In this episode, we're going to dive deep into the story of Bertha Gifford, one of the deadliest female serial killers in history, but one that few people know about.

This is a story guaranteed to give you chills.

And to make sure you check the ingredients for any meal offered to you by the

kind woman who lives on the farm next door.

Berta Alice Williams was born in 1872 just outside a small unincorporated

community called Morse Mill. The village, located about 40 miles south of St. Louis,

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