Herman
Webster Mudgett was born in New Hampshire on May 16, 1860. In his prison
memoirs he wrote:
"I
was born with the devil in me... I was born with the Evil One standing as my
sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into this world. He has been with
me ever since".
This
is how the man, the world would know as Dr H H Holmes began life. And life was
always full of evil and death from then on.
His
father was an abusive man, and his mother was a tiny submissive woman.
Mrs Mudgett would do everything his father commanded and this was the
way that Holmes would always expect women to behave.
School
life was good to Mudgett, with his natural intelligence, cham and handsome
looks he was able to influence most people and dreamed of a life as a doctor.
By puberty Mudgett had developed a hobby of killing and dismembering stray
animals. He was fascinated with anatomy and
would often conduct experiments
on his prey.
He
left school at 16 and married Clara Lovering at 18 in 1878. His hopes of
becoming a doctor were soon dashed when he was expelled at 24 from University
of Michigan Medical School after he was discovered stealing cadavers.
In
1886 Webster moved to the upper-class area of Inglewood Illinois - changing
his name to the better sounding Dr Henry Howard Holmes.
The
newly dubbed Dr Holmes walked in Dr E Holmes chemist holding the advertisement
that had placed asking for a pharmacist. Holmes introduced himself to Mrs
Holton, the druggist wife. She explained to Holmes that her husband was
terminally ill and she was struggling to keep the store running. She would do
the prescriptions she knew and for the others she would wearily traipse
upstairs to ask her husband.
Dr
Holmes saw his opportunity. He took a script from Mrs Holten and promptly
dispensed it for her. Mrs Holton hired Holmes on the spot. Holmes, with his
dapper persona brought in more customers than the little chemist had before
and it thrived with Holmes as the pharmacist and Mrs Holton assisting. Then
the inevitable happened and Dr Holton passed away.
Mrs
Holton could not bear to leave the premises. She felt that her husband was
always close by if she stayed. Dr Holmes came up with an idea. He offered to
buy the Pharmacy from her, giving her a monthly salary so she could stay. The
idea sounded great and the two entered into an agreement.
However
Holmes defaulted on his payment pretty soon and the two ended up in court over
the matter. But before the case was concluded, Mrs Holton disappeared.
According to Dr Holmes she could not bear the pain of being in the place her
husband had died and moved to California. Mrs Holton was never seen or heard
from again.
With
the profits of the pharmacy Holmes began the construction of his Castle across
the street from the drug store. During the construction of the three storey
building Holmes routinely hired and fired hundreds of contractors, claiming
their work was not of his standard.
He
also refused to pay them any money, and when he was taken to court over
non-payment he sort continuance after continuance until the other party gave
up in frustration.
No-one
knows how Holmes and Benjamin Pitezel met but the two began their partnership
sometime on November 1989. It is rumoured that Pitezel actually was the
architect of Holmes' Castle.
The
real reason behind Holmes' constant firings where so none of the contractors
would get an idea of the purpose of the building with it's secret rooms,
staircases that went nowhere and hidden passageways. He did not want them asking questions about the sealable
rooms with gas jets or the room with an enormous kiln with a cast iron door.
The large vats in the floor that would be filled with quick-lime or acid. The
secret chutes that led to rooms of torture.
And his favourite- the basement with it's dissection table and surgical
tools and implements.
Once
the building was complete Holmes moved the pharmacy into the first floor.
In
1887, while still married to his first wife, Holmes married Myrta Belknap. The
marriage was not a happy one, with Myrta not standing Holmes' ways and would
often berate him in front of customers. Causing
the good doctor great embarrassment in the neighbourhood. To stop her
interfering, Holmes sent her, pregnant, to his parents, where she remained.
The couple never bothered to get a divorce.
Holmes
was always interested in making money. He was always devising new 'get rich
quick' schemes to make money. Once he tapped into the town water supply and
sold it mixed with a little vanilla essence as a cure-all tonic he named
Linden Grove Mineral Water. The authorities quickly stepped in and Holmes
stopped selling the water - but he was not punished for the scam.
The
local medical schools also knew they could rely on Dr Holmes to supply with
them fresh cadavers. If he was ever short of cash he would murder a customer
and sell the body for $25 to $50 each.
In
1890 at the tender age of 30, Dr Holmes was quite prosperous. His new chemist
on the bottom level of the Castle was attracting more and more business with
it's distinctive air of grace. With it's polished wood panelling, frescoes and
arched ceiling - it was the epitome of class.
Next
to the pharmacy Holmes opened a jewellery store, a restaurant and barber as
well as a business manufacturing soap and one of the first coping services in
Chicago.
With
so many business dealings Holmes needed a manager to help him. Enter Ned
Conner. Ned was a job-to-job drifter who dragged his wife Julia and daughter
Pearl with him to each job he held. so when he saw the advertisement for a
manager, he applied and got the job. He thought his problems were over - the
job paid well and seemed permanent. Conner introduced Holmes to his wife and
daughter.
Holmes
was stunned by the beauty of Julia, a 6 foot tall red-haired green-eyed woman.
Holmes instantly fired his current cashier and hired Julia.
Julia
could not believe her luck. She rang and invited her 18 year old sister to
visit her in Chicago. Gertie was as beautiful as her sister and quickly caught
Dr Holmes' eye. He showered the young woman in gifts and affection. Holmes
even told Gertie he would divorce his wife to be with her.
Gertie
was shocked by his proposal and hastily left Chicago. Holmes rebounded quickly
from Gertie's rejection by turning his attentions to Julia. The two openly
became lovers much to the digress of Ned. But Ned felt secure for the first
time in his current position and did not want to say anything to Holmes. But
after drinking heavily one night he was confronted by his friends who told him
of the dalliances of his wife with Holmes and Ned stormed home to speak to his
wife.
He
told Julia that Holmes did not love her, she was only his second choice after
Gertie rejected him. Julia made further accusations back at Ned until the
couple decided to separate. Ned stayed in another room in the Castle for a
while before moving out permanently. On his departure he told Julia he wanted
a divorce.
Julie
was deeply in love with Holmes and subsequently became pregnant with his child
- a fact that Holmes did not like. The doctor told his lover that he would
only marry her if she aborted the pregnancy. Being a mother to Pearl already
and feeling the unborn child inside her, Julia could not face the prospect and
continually put the procedure off.
After further insistence by Holmes Julie, sobbing agreed that he could perform the procedure. Holmes put Pearl to bed and then carried the hysterical Julia down to his makeshift operating theatre in his basement. Neither Julia nor Pearl were ever seen alive again.
Dr
Holmes had one of his lackeys clean off the dismembered body of
Julia and remove all the flesh leaving only the bones. The skeleton
of Julia was sold to a medical school for $200.
Benjamin
Pitezel another of Holmes' lackeys hung off his every word, he did everything
asked of him and soon would give his life for Holmes. The two men came up with
an insurance scam where they would share in $10,000.
The
plan was that Pitezel would take out a life insurance policy for $10,000.
Holmes was the beneficiary. Pitezel would disappear to Philadelphia, Holmes
would get a corpse, disfigure it, then with the help of Pitezel's children he
would have the body identified as Pitezel and claim the $10,000.
The
plan worked brilliantly and Holmes claimed the money. However Holmes was fearful when the police became interested
in him and torched the Castle and fled Chicago with one of the Pitezel
daughters with Mrs Pitezel following behind. Presumably to meet up with
Benjamin in Philadelphia. What Mrs Pitezel did not know was that Holmes had
murdered Benjamin.
In
the burnt out skeleton of the bizarre building, authorities found the remains
of over two hundred people. So Holmes was arrested in Boston in 1894 and
extradited to Philadelphia to await further investigations after Mrs Pitezel
raised her suspicions of her husband's whereabouts.
While
in prison Holmes shared a cell with a shady character called Marion Hedgepeth.
Hedgepeth would continually boast about his escapades.
To
get even Holmes told Hedgepeth about the murder of Pitezel for the insurance
money. And that Pitezel was not the first.
Hedgepeth
told the authorities.
So
Holmes was charged with the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. Holmes told the police
how he had burned the man alive despite "the victim's cries for mercy and
his prayers, all of which upon me had no effect".
At
the castle the police began the tally. It was suspected that many of the 50
guests who stayed at the Castle during the 1893 Chicago World Fair fell victim
to Dr Holmes Castle. Also at least 100 typists and secretaries were murdered
there. One after another would fall victim to the doctor's charms and
murderous lust by responding to the never-ending ads placed by Holmes.
Three
of the Pitezel children were also located. Alice and Nellie had been stuffed
into a trunk and gassed. Their brother Howard was poisoned, burned,
dismembered then buried.
On
October 28, 1895 Holmes pleaded not guilty to the murder of Benjamin Pitezel.
But after only a few days, on November 4, 1895, Holmes was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to
death.
Holmes enjoyed the notoriety he gained from the trial. Giving many reporters access to himself and writing his own memoirs. He signed a statement concerning the murders of 27 people adding to his infamy.
Bibliography
Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. Harold Schechter, Pocket Books, 1994.
Murder in Mind. Colin Wilson, Marshall Cavendish 1998