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H.H. Holmes Jack the Ripper’s American contemporary, this serial killer confessed to 27 murders in the late 1890’s. He is regarded as America’s first documented serial killer. Very notorious in his own day, Dr. Holmes has been largely forgotten. Born Herman Mudgett in New Hampshire, by the time he graduated medical school he was already an accomplished insurance swindler. He moved to Chicago as Dr. H. H. Holmes and established himself as a druggist. He built a large gothic residence that he called “The Castle.” It was a maze of sound-proof rooms, secret hallways, hidden staircases, fake walls, and trap doors. |
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| He rented out rooms to young female tourists during the Chicago World’s
Fair, and many of these women were never seen again. Due to his use of a built-in crematorium and lime pit, as well as the hush-hush sales of human skeletons to Medical Schools by Dr. Holmes, it is unknown how many people actually died at his hands. Some estimates put the number of his victims somewhere around 200 young women. On May 7, 1896 Dr. Holmes died for his crimes by hanging. |
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