H. H. Holmes
When most people think of a serial killer they picture someone like Jack the Ripper or Ted Bundy?
Luring or kidnapping innocent victims off of the street and murdering them in a secluded area
Well, there are certainly a fair number of these types of killers history has provided us with a unique few that differentiate their murdering
Through more than just sheer numbers
HH Holmes is one of these few who despite his relatively short life
Managed to make a name for himself across America due to his intelligence
maliciousness and his pathological lying
A great number of rumors and legends sprang up after his death, but his real story is startling enough
Holmes was born as Herman Webster Mudgett in New Hampshire in 1861
to a wealthy Methodist family
A number of stories would later emerge about his childhood
Including examples of abuse and Holmes torturing animals, but it's likely these are fabrications
After graduating high school Holmes took a few teaching jobs and married his first wife
Clara, having one child with her
When Holmes was 21, he enrolled in the University of Michigan studying anatomy in the department of medicine and surgery
Holmes would later admit to using cadavers while in college to defraud life insurance companies
Although admidst his numerous other obvious lies.
It's unclear if this is factual
Holmes's housemates claimed that he treated Clara violently and so in 1884
She moved back to New Hampshire breaking off all connection with him
After graduating he moved to New York for a short time
But a rumor spread that Holmes was the last person seen with a missing boy and Holmes quickly moved again
Next, he moved to Philadelphia. But again moved quickly after her boy died who took medicine from the drugstore Holmes worked at.
While it's entirely unclear Holmes was actively involved in these cases. It is clear that he moved away after their occurrence
Holmes changed his name at this point to Henry Howard Holmes before moving to Chicago around 1886
Holmes once again found employment at a drugstore owned by Dr. Elizabeth S. Holton
A number of stories have appeared about this time period in the last century
Most notably that Holmes would go on to force Holton to sell him the store before he killed her and her husband
The facts however show that Holton was a fellow graduate of the University of Michigan and
She and her husband would both go on to outlive Holmes
She did sell the drugstore to Holmes for reasons unknown
Possibly to focus on motherhood and it is quite possible that Holmes failed to pay her for the sale as was typical of him
Around this time while still technically married to his first wife Holmes married a Mirta Belknap who he would have a daughter with
Holmes would then purchase an empty lot across from his drugstore with the idea of constructing a mixed-use building
retail spaces on the first floor and Apartments on the second
Holmes would utilize a number of architects and builders throughout the construction process. So that only he knew the full layout of the building
the construction included a maze of hallways and staircases
secret passages trapdoors and soundproof rooms
The 'Murder Castle' as it came to be known was built with the capabilities of Holmes easily
asphyxiating a resident and disposing of the body without anyone knowing
Supposedly the bodies found their way into the basement
Where stories tell that acid baths and a crematorium were located to help dispose of bodies
In addition all these macabre intentions Holmes also managed to work his way out of paying for most the labor and materials as
Well as anyone looking too closely at what he was building
in 1892
He would build on a third floor telling investors that it was going to be used as a hotel
For the upcoming World's Fair but evidence seems to show that the hotel was never actually open for business
The early 1890s would be when Holmes seems to have started his killing career
Possibly being responsible for killing four people who worked in his building
Apparently Holmes would require women to take out life insurance
Policies if they wanted the job and he would manage to collect on them after murdering the women
During this time he met his partner in crime
Benjamin Petzl who would assist Holmes in a number of criminal endeavors
it's entirely unclear exactly how many people Holmes murdered during this time period
As the large amount of people moved through Chicago, especially during the World's Fair
Combined with Holmes aptitude at disposing of bodies means he could have easily killed dozens
In 1893 he met a woman named Minnie Williams whom he hired to be his personal
Stenographer and soon afterwards convinced her to transfer a deed to a property in Texas to him
Holmes served as the notary for this transfer and the two apparently began living together
A couple of months later Minnie's sister visited her in Chicago
The two women were never seen alive again
By 1894 the insurance scams and other fraudulent crimes were catching up to Holmes and
Although they had no knowledge of the murders going on various companies were becoming increasingly interested in Holmes
Things came to a head when Holmes decided to burn the third floor of his building hoping to collect on some more insurance money
The insurance company wasn't buying it at this point. However, and they were planning to prosecute him for arson. So Holmes left, Chicago
He headed to Texas where he planned on using the property he acquired from Minnie Williams to build a new castle and start over again
This Texas castle was similar to the first one, although perhaps even more elaborate
Although it seems that Holmes did manage to finish building it. It was never actually used
Holmes was arrested for the first time for selling mortgaged goods in Missouri and while in jail
He spent some time talking to an outlaw named Marion Hedgepeth
For whatever reason Holmes told Hedgepeth about a plan
He had to fake his own death and collect his own ten thousand dollar life insurance policy
Holmes was looking for a trustworthy lawyer to handle the scam and offered Hedgepeth
$500 if he could direct him towards one
Hedgepeth agreed and Holmes ended up going through with the plan but the insurance company refused to pay out
Holmes then decided to have his associate Pitezel attempt the same scam
Pitezel was going to fake his own death while pretending to be an inventor who gets killed in a lab explosion
With Holmes providing a cadaver to stand in for Pitezel
Holmes however, murdered Pitezel and collected the $10,000
After this Holmes would convince Pitezel's wife to allow three of her five children to travel with him
While telling her that Benjamin was currently hiding out in London
Holmes took the children across the United States and Canada while also leading Pitezel's wife and other children along a similar route
Holmes was also spending time with his current wife during this period unaware of the whole situation
Showing Holmes's prowess of deceit and persuasion
The bodies of the three children were later found the two daughters asphyxiated in a trunk and the boy drugged and butchered
By this point a number of companies and states wanted Holmes found and so detectives were sent across the country to track him down
Frank Geyer a Philadelphia detective was responsible for finding the three Pitezel children's bodies and
the Pinkerton Detective Agency managed to finally capture Holmes himself
Interestingly enough, the Pinkertons were able to find Holmes based on information gleamed from Marion Hedgepeth
Whom Holmes had never paid the $500 he promised him
Hedgepeth was pardoned for his crimes because of this
The castle in Chicago was searched but no evidence was found that could convict Holmes
Therefore Holmes was put on trial only for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. The one murder they could specifically connect to him
Holmes's trial was national news as he was dubbed the 'Criminal of the Century' and
It was pretty clear that he had murdered more than just Benjamin
after being found guilty and sentenced to death
Holmes gave out a number of different confessions including his innocence, his possession by Satan and
confessing to a slew of other murders
Some of whom were still alive
Holmes clearly could not stop his lies and so his actual story and body count
Became incredibly murky due to how many stories he threw out there
Holmes asked that his coffin be buried in cement ten feet deep as
He was concerned that his body would be stolen away for dissection in a lab
Holmes was hung on May 7th 1896
Slowly strangling to death over the course of 15 minutes
His final request was granted and he was buried in cement
Although the coffin would later be dug up in 2017 after allegations that Holmes had actually escaped execution
Holmes's body was found in very good condition in the coffin due to the cement and he was reburied
His castle in Chicago had been burned by a fire before his execution in 1895
Apparently an act of arson but it was still used before finally being torn down in 1938
H. H. Holmes is often regarded as one of America's first serial killers and
Although his reported body count ranges from around 9 all the way up to
200 his life grabbed the nation's interest for decades
Although history has remembered the killings of Jack the Ripper far more which only occurred a few years before Holmes's
Holmes was definitely responsible for more murders and arguably more brutal ones
Aside from just his career as a serial killer though
Holmes's propensity for lying and scamming despite him possessing the skills and intellect to make a very good honest living
Is just one of the curious aspects of life
Well much like the identity of Jack the Ripper we might never know the complete true story of Holmes's life
But it's clear that some people just aren't playing the same game as the rest of us