T. H. Holmes: The First American Serial Killer
H.H. Holmes is known to be the first American serial killer. Holmes would murder people, mutilate their bodies, and sell their skeletons to science. His most famous work was the “Murder Castle”. His Murder Castle was his very own hotel, which had secret rooms, to kill multiple people in, most were women. The Castle was located in Chicago and gave Holmes a good chance to kill many people in 1893 during the World’s Fair.
Holmes was also a doctor. He studied at the University of Michigan Medical School and got a job at a pharmacy in Chicago. His actual name is Herman Webster Mudgett, but at 16 he changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes. Holmes had at least eight aliases and used them for different crimes at different places. This included the
start of his criminal acts which were various insurance scams. Holmes would take out life insurance of people and they later died of an “accident”, which resulted in him obtaining the money. He was engaged many times but they all “disappeared” and he gained insurance money from that. Also, some of his employees “disappeared” and more money was gained.
When the World’s Fair was announced to be held in Chicago, Holmes created his famous Murder Castle. The castle was his own hotel that had secret rooms, chambers, and other murderous things inside it. Millions of people went to the fair and when they stayed at Holmes’ hotel, some never were seen again. Some people think he may have killed over 200 people, but Holmes only confessed to killing 27 or 28 people.
Finally the law caught up to Holmes and he was a suspect in killing the Pitezel children. Law enforcement searched the Murder Castle and discovered his multiple killing methods and bodies that were too dismembered to tell how many there actually were. May 1896 Holmes was hanged for some of the murders and his murder spree was ended.
Holmes was also a doctor. He studied at the University of Michigan Medical School and got a job at a pharmacy in Chicago. His actual name is Herman Webster Mudgett, but at 16 he changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes. Holmes had at least eight aliases and used them for different crimes at different places. This included the
start of his criminal acts which were various insurance scams. Holmes would take out life insurance of people and they later died of an “accident”, which resulted in him obtaining the money. He was engaged many times but they all “disappeared” and he gained insurance money from that. Also, some of his employees “disappeared” and more money was gained.
When the World’s Fair was announced to be held in Chicago, Holmes created his famous Murder Castle. The castle was his own hotel that had secret rooms, chambers, and other murderous things inside it. Millions of people went to the fair and when they stayed at Holmes’ hotel, some never were seen again. Some people think he may have killed over 200 people, but Holmes only confessed to killing 27 or 28 people.
Finally the law caught up to Holmes and he was a suspect in killing the Pitezel children. Law enforcement searched the Murder Castle and discovered his multiple killing methods and bodies that were too dismembered to tell how many there actually were. May 1896 Holmes was hanged for some of the murders and his murder spree was ended.