H. H. Holmes The first official serial killer in the United States Date of Birth: 16.05.1861 Country: USA

1. The First Official Serial Killer in the United States
2. Biography of Henry Howard Holmes
3. Methods and Capture
4. The Trial and Legacy

The First Official Serial Killer in the United States

They say that during the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, around 50 people went missing from a hotel known as the "Castle." It was later revealed that all of these disappearances were the work of one man, a ruthless serial killer. This man lived at the same time as Jack the Ripper, and when his gruesome murders became public knowledge, even the most hardened police officers and judges were horrified. He carried out his atrocities in Chicago, and his hotel was equipped with an entire labyrinth of secret passages and rooms where horrifying things took place. Later, Henry Howard Holmes was named the first officially registered serial killer in the United States.

Biography of Henry Howard Holmes

Henry Howard Holmes, born in 1861, was originally named Herman Webster Mudgett. He adopted the name under which he entered the history of criminology in 1886. Not much is known about the childhood of the future serial killer. He was born in a small town in New Hampshire, into a family of the early settlers. His father was strict, and he often punished the boy. Later, he admitted that his classmates in school bullied and teased him. As he grew up, he developed an increasing interest in human death, and soon Henry began skillfully killing dogs and cats, reveling in their agonizing deaths. With time, Henry grew up, became a doctor, and moved to Chicago, where he worked as a pharmacist. It is known that he got married in 1878, but left his wife after a few years. Later, Henry married several times without bothering with divorces from his previous wives. In 1886, Holmes, a charming man who evoked sympathy from people, began working at Holton's pharmacy in Englewood. Mr. Holton was suffering from cancer at the time. After Mr. Holton's death, his wife suddenly disappeared. When people asked about Mrs. Holton's whereabouts, Henry would tell them a story about relatives visiting California. As a pharmacist and doctor, Henry engaged in various fraudulent activities, including insurance fraud. He would open an insurance policy for a fictional person and then present them as a "convenient" corpse. Soon, he managed to buy land and buildings around his pharmacy and began constructing a large hotel, which later gained infamous notoriety. Locals knew this hotel as the "Castle," but no one knew that Holmes had changed contractors several times during its construction, and those who came later knew nothing about the secret rooms and mazes with which this monumental structure was equipped. It is noteworthy that Holmes did not only kill his victims; each time, he also gained some commercial advantage from them. He would collect insurance policies for some, deceive others in real estate deals, and some became his hostages and handed over everything they had. But no one ever left Holmes' hotel alive. Later, this hotel became known as the "Murder Castle."

Methods and Capture

Henry Holmes used various methods to kill. He strangled some with gas, poisoned others with chloroform, and once even burned a person alive in an oven. He bludgeoned another lodger to death with a chair. It is said that the corridors of his hotel were dark, illuminated only by gas lamps, and the basement, full of mazes, was particularly terrifying. It was in the basement that he disposed of the bodies, lowering them through special pipes from the upper floors. Then came the "processing" - acid, incineration, preservation, dismemberment...

Holmes was arrested in 1893 for a real estate scam in St. Louis. By that time, he had already gotten rid of his castle, setting it on fire himself in an attempt to collect insurance money. However, the insurance company did not fall for it. Holmes was caught, and he had to quickly flee Chicago. After being arrested, he managed to escape the law by posting bail and promptly running off to Philadelphia. In November 1894, he was captured again, and during this time, several new victims, including his accomplice in scams and all members of his family, were found dead.

The Trial and Legacy

Holmes finally faced justice, and as his crimes were revealed during the trial, especially when searches of the "Castle" began, everyone involved in the case was in a state of shock. The number of bodies associated with Henry Holmes seemed incomprehensible - it seemed that killing people was an ordinary matter for him. The entire country followed the progress of the trial, and the case gained enormous publicity. Newspapers reported figures of at least 200 victims.

It was said that 200 was not even a complete list of his victims, and if Holmes' execution had occurred later, the police would have had a new list of victims. But in this case, justice was swift - on May 7, 1896, Holmes was hanged.

Later, Henry Howard Holmes was named the first officially registered American serial killer.