The Connecticut Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday morning in a case over the historical records of Amy Archer Gilligan, a killer who served as the inspiration for the play and 1944 movie, "Arsenic and Old Lace."
East Hartford newspaper editor Ron Robillard is writing a book about Gilligan. He’d requested medical records from the state hospital in Middletown, now the Connecticut Valley Hospital, where Gilligan was confined until she died in the 1960s.
"It's actually a murder case that happened in Windsor in the 19-teens," Robillard said. "They believed it was a serial killing. At the time, they used the term 'mass murder,' and the prosecutor at the time said that she had probably killed up to two dozen people."
Gilligan was indicted in five murders, tried on two of them, and convicted in 1917 on one count: using arsenic to poison a resident in her nursing home.
Robillard called Gilligan'?s case part of ?legendary Connecticut?, but said that despite newspaper articles and other available information, he? has faced a difficult problem telling the real story. "You never hear the voice of alleged killer Amy Archer-Gilligan," he said. "You hear everyone else talking about her, but you never hear her voice. She never took the stand in either trial, and she never gave an interview."
Robillard tried to gain access to Gilligan's medical records. The state'?s Freedom of Information Commission ruled that that Gilligan'?s psychiatric records were confidential,? but granted access to her physical and dental examination records, saying that there was legitimate public interest in the case.
But Connecticut'?s State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has argued that all of Gilligan'?s medical records are protected, saying their disclosure would be an invasion of personal privacy, and that just because the public is curious about the arsenic murderess does not make her records a matter of public concern.
Watch CT-N's footage of the arguments before the Connecticut Supreme Court below:
