Lavinia Fisher: The First Female US Serial Killer

Posted: 06.27.2020 | Updated: 10.24.2025

Lavinia Fisher’s story blends folklore, facts, and fiction. This fascination has kept her name alive among true crime enthusiasts and curious Southerners alike for more than 200 years.

The details of Lavinia’s life and crimes are still being debated today. Some argue she was a victim of sensationalism, her notoriety exaggerated because she was a woman. Others believe she was a cunning murderer who used her beauty and feminine charm to lure men to their deaths.

Keep reading to learn more about the first female serial killer in the United States. And when you are ready to dive deeper into urban legends and ghost stories from Charleston, South Carolina, book yourself a ghost tour with Charleston Terrors!

Who was Lavinia Fisher?

The legends suggest that Lavinia Fisher was the first widely recognized female serial killer in the United States. She and her husband operated an inn near Charleston in the early 1800s. According to the stories, they used the inn and Lavinia’s good looks to lure men in, unsuspecting patrons whom they robbed and murdered.

Historical records often conflict with official documents. As such, many of the details of Lavinia Fisher’s life and crimes are unverifiable beyond anecdotes. Nevertheless, the stories persist and continue to inspire morbid intrigue among many to this day.

The Mysterious History of Lavinia Fisher

The records say Lavinia was born sometime around 1792, though nothing is known of her childhood. Not her birthplace, not her parents, not a baptism or family record of any kind. As far as we know, she lived all of her life near Charleston. But the details of her past remain a mystery.

Lavinia Fisher just appears in history beside a man named John Fisher, already married, already hungry for opportunity. By the early 1800s, the two had made a home along the road just six miles outside Charleston, where weary travelers passed through daily. There, they made a living by operating an inn called the Six-Mile Wayfarer House or, simply, the Six-Mile House.

On the surface, John and Lavinia Fisher were charming hosts. John handled supplies, made negotiations, smiled the easy smile of a man who never let strangers see his teeth. 

But it was Lavinia whom people remembered. She was striking: dark curls, pale skin, eyes like polished coal. She spoke to guests as though she already knew them, easing their suspicions with honeyed laughter and warm hospitality. But that voice—that “silky voice,” as some had described it—was nothing but bait.

Charleston, at the time, was plagued by crime. Highwaymen preyed on merchants coming from inland markets, and some locals believed a gang was operating in the area. But whenever talk turned to suspicious disappearances, someone would mention the Fishers. People had a funny way of going missing around them.

Still, they had no proof. Not at first.

Six Mile House: The Trap

According to the legend, Lavinia Fisher didn’t kill out of rage or madness. She killed for profit… and pleasure.

She invited her chosen victims to sit and talk by the fire, smiling sweetly as she asked where they were headed, what they carried, and who might be expecting them. Harmless questions, until she learned they were carrying valuables and traveling alone.

That’s when she offered them tea.

Some said it was laced with an herbal poison. Others said it simply made them sleep. But what came next made Lavinia Fisher’s name infamous forever.

The Fishers had a secret: a room built over a pit. The bed in that room was rigged to collapse on command. When the victim lay down after a long day’s travel, the mechanism would release, and the entire bed — and its helpless occupant — dropped straight through the floor.

Some fell onto sharpened metal spikes. Others broke bones in the fall, only to crawl helplessly in the dirt until John Fisher went down to “finish the job.”

No official record from 1819 confirms the existence of a trap door. But even skeptics grow quiet when they hear about John Peeples.

John Peeples

He arrived at the Six Mile House after a long day on the road. Lavinia greeted him with her usual warmth, asking about his business. He told her he was a farmer delivering horses. She asked if he traveled alone. He said he did. Her smile widened.

She offered him tea. He accepted but didn’t like the taste and poured it out when she wasn’t looking. Then came her questions. They were too personal. John claimed later that her friendliness suddenly felt very calculated and cold.

When it came time to sleep, he chose not to get into bed. Something in him knew better. He stayed in a chair by the door. Then just before dawn, he was jolted awake by a sickening crack.

The bed dropped straight through the floor.

John didn’t stick around to see what waited below. He dove out the window, scrambled for his horse, and rode all the way back to Charleston, where he breathlessly told authorities that the Fishers were killing people.

Mob Justice

Rumors spread like wildfire. Even before the confession of John Peeples, Charleston citizens were uneasy. Too many travelers had vanished. Too many missing wagons had been found stripped and abandoned. Finally, the locals had enough.

A mob of vigilantes rode out to the Six Mile House to confront the Fishers. Lavinia welcomed them, smiling sweetly once again, saying she didn’t know anything about missing people. The mob stayed overnight anyway, just to keep watch.

By morning, most returned home… except David Ross. He stayed behind as a lookout.

That night, Ross claimed, he was ambushed by two men from the Fisher gang. They beat him and dragged him back to the inn. He begged Lavinia for help, but she grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head through a window. He barely escaped with his life, running all the way to Charleston to report what happened.

The Charleston Sheriff had heard enough. He gathered a posse and rode to the Six Mile House.

This time, there was no polite greeting. The Fishers were armed. Shots were fired. But the mob was bigger and furious. John and Lavinia were arrested and taken to the Charleston jail.

Trial and Infamous Last Words

Despite the absence of any bodies or evidence of murder, the Fishers were sentenced to be hanged for the capital crime of highway robbery. On the day of their scheduled execution, John Fisher publicly repented of his actions. He prayed, wept, and told the crowd that he was a Christian man and should not be put to death.

Lavinia did not beg for mercy. Instead, she arrived at the gallows in her wedding dress, knowing that hanging a married woman was against the law.

Both ploys were fruitless. The presiding judge ignored John’s pleas and decided he would hang first. Once he was dead, there was nothing stopping them from executing Lavinia. After all, the law said nothing about hanging widows.

Lavinia never asked for forgiveness nor claimed innocence. According to legend, she leaped off the scaffold before the hangman could do his job. But before doing so, her memorable last words echoed into the sunset:

“If you have a message you want to send to hell, give it to me… I’ll carry it!”

Haunted Charleston

The legend of Lavinia Fisher, America’s first female serial killer, still inspires mystery and macabre fascination today. Yet this is only one of the many dark stories that contribute to Charleston’s haunting folklore.

Feeling brave enough to visit sites of urban legends and haunted places in person? Book a ghost tour with Charleston Terrors today, and prepare yourself for a fun and frightening adventure!

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Sources:

• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/sc-laviniafisher/
• https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/lavinia-fisher
• https://styleblueprint.com/everyday/lavinia-fisher-first-female-serial-killer/
• https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/charlestons-most-inhospitable-hosts-the-story-of-john-and-lavinia-fisher/