When we become sick, we depend on our local physicians to provide quality care and to prescribe necessary prescriptions. The goal is to get well enough so we can return to life feeling healthier and stronger. Although most doctors are competent and trustworthy, you have exceptions to every rule. This week, I will bring you one of those exceptions.

Marc Hoover.

In 1871, Doctor Oliver Crook Haugh was born in Dayton, Ohio to Jacob and Frances Haugh. He also had an older brother named Jesse. As a young man, Oliver was a bully and an acquaintance of Wilbur Wright. Yes, the same Wright brother who invented the airplane. During a hockey game, Haugh struck Wright and knocked out his two front teeth.

At 16, Haugh experienced tooth problems. And since he worked at a local pharmacy, he had access to the store’s drugs. Haugh began taking cocaine, opium and morphine, which were legal and used as remedies. Haugh also became obsessive over a book titled “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He modeled his life after physician Henry Jekyll.

In 1888, Haugh enrolled at the Cincinnati Medical College. After two years, he needed to leave school because he didn’t have enough funds to cover his tuition. He shared the news with his girlfriend Anna.

Unfortunately, a tragedy soon affected Haugh’s life. Haugh finished medical school after Anna’s father died. With Anna’s father removed from the picture, the couple married. While alive, Anna’s father disapproved of the relationship. Anna used her father’s life insurance to pay Haugh’s tuition.

Oliver Haugh graduated from medical school in 1893. By the time he became a physician, his drug addiction had spiraled and taken over his life. Although an addict, Haugh opened his first medical practice in Dayton, Ohio.

One day, while high on cocaine and morphine, Haugh attacked Anna. She went to a neighbor’s home for help. Police raided the doctor’s office and found evidence of drug abuse in his office. Afterward, Anna left her husband. He closed his practice and moved back home with his parents. Anna returned to him after learning she was pregnant.

The move back home wasn’t successful. Oliver became irate and uncontrollable. After showing signs of destructive behavior, Oliver’s family sent him back to the Dayton Asylum for the Insane. After his eventual release, Haugh opened another practice in Ohio. Again, his drug addiction prevented him from having any success as a physician. His patients often found him passed out in his office or naked and incoherent.

Once again, he returned to the insane asylum. After his second release in 1901, Haugh became involved with a woman named Jennie Twohey. They opened a saloon in Lorain, Ohio. Haugh began injecting drugs into Twohey and turned her into an addict. After she died from her drug addiction, Haugh unsuccessfully tried to return to work as a physician.

After another failure, Haugh returned home defeated. He told his parents he wanted to straighten out his life. He attended church and tried to overcome his demons. For a brief time, Haugh showed signs of turning his life around.

This wouldn’t last long.

Haugh asked his father for money to open another practice. His father refused. Haugh also learned his father removed him from the will because of his past drug issues. Haugh became enraged. He ordered a drug called hyoscine hydrobromide and lamp oil.

On November 5, 1905, Haugh poisoned his brother and parents. He then covered them and the house with lamp oil and set the house ablaze. He told neighbors his family had escaped. They learned he had lied after the bodies were found inside the home.

Authorities questioned Haugh about the deaths of his family. He confessed to killing them because his father didn’t give him money for a new practice and also for removing him from the family’s will.

While incarcerated, people from other states began contacting Ohio authorities and reporting suspicious deaths associated with Dr. Haugh. Even more disturbing? Haugh once said death was the best cure for some of his patients. No one knows how many people Oliver Haugh murdered. It’s believed he murdered over a dozen people.

There were also allegations he murdered Anna’s father. On April 19, 1907, the evil doctor who modeled himself after Doctor Henry Jekyll, died in the electric chair in Columbus, Ohio. Instead of using his medical knowledge to help people, Haugh murdered both his patients and entire family. Today, Oliver Crook Haugh is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio in an unmarked grave. A fitting end to a monster who modeled his life after a dark fictional character in a book.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.