1The Twenty Seven Murders of Henry H. Holmes
Martin Hill Ortiz
copyright 2013
Smashwords Edition
****
Herman Webster Mudgett, aka
Dr. Henry H. Holmes, 1861-1896
The Twenty Seven Murders of Henry H. Holmes
Martin Hill Ortiz
Herein is presented an account of the murderous career of Herman Webster Mudgett better
known as Dr. Henry H. Holmes. This research was conducted during the preparation of the
novel, A Predatory Mind.
For more information on Holmes and the novel see
www.apredatorymind.com
Image cover is from The University Palladium, University of Michigan Medical School, Volume
26, 1884-85, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
All images presented herein have had their copyrights expire or else have been taken from sites
declaring the images as free to use for commercial purposes.
****
The Arch Criminal of Our Age
Holmes' career of hideous crimes does not find a parallel in the history of the country. He was
not only a multimurderer, but a bigamist, seducer, resurrectionist, forger, thief and general rascal,
villain and fiend.
—Holmes Hangs. Rock Island Argus, May 7, 1896
Why the Legend of Holmes Endures.
In reality, few serial killers fit the popular conception provided by fiction: that of the intelligent
hunter. Most are misfits who prey on the most vulnerable.
Holmes wore the mask of success: an entrepreneur, a small town kid made good. He was a
medical doctor, a stylish dresser, well-spoken and literate, a charmer, a veritable ladykiller.
He was fiendish, devising his tortures with the methodical precision and unchained imagination.
He fancied himself as an inventor. When a stretching rack was found in his basement he claimed
he wanted to experiment on creating a race of giants.
He built a Torture Castle as demented and diabolical as his own mind. Odd angles, dead ends,
killing chambers, disposal rooms.
Although his murders displayed a wit in their sadism, his cruelty was so depraved and bestial it
can not be romanticized, even by a nation who makes anti-heroes out of vicious killers such as
Bonnie and Clyde. He strung along his victims, torturing them with the hope of freedom. The
detectives assigned to his case regularly underestimated his viciousness. The greater the
innocence, the crueler his crimes, with children counted among his victims. He often killed for
no apparent reason.
Holmes was the genuine nightmare.
****
Introduction.
"Come with me, if you will, to a tiny, quiet New England village, nestling among the
picturesquely rugged hills of New Hampshirea*."
With his hand held out and a twinkle in his eyes, so began serial killer Henry H. Holmes first
penned statement in which he confesses to how truly misunderstood he was. In between
occasional touches of New England gothic, he described growing up in an idyllic small town,
"...well trained by loving and religious parents.a" He went on to explain away, one by one, the
misconceptions surrounding the mysterious disappearances of twenty-two of his associates.
Holmes published Holmes' Own Story in September, 1895. Having so far gotten away with a
score of murders and swindles, during the past year his fortunes had descended from bad to
worse. He began with the perfect scheme for making money: duping his employee Benjamin
Pitezel into undertaking an insurance scam. First Pitezel insured himself for $10,000. Then
Holmes was supposed to fake Pitezel's death, provide a substitute cadaver and together they'd
split the payout. Instead, to simplify identification of the corpse, Holmes killed his partner. After
collecting the insurance money, news of the scam leaked and on November 17th, 1894, Holmes
was arrested.
For a time, all that could be proven was the insurance fraud. On June 3rd, 1895 Holmes pled
guilty and received a mild sentence. While in prison in Philadelphia, evidence that Pitezel had
been murdered mounted and Holmes was charged in his homicide. As word got back to Chicago,
those who knew Holmes had more to say. Soon headlines shouted one horrific discovery after
another. The police explored Holmes' boarding house uncovering torture rooms, mazes, and a
variety of contraptions for disposing of corpses. The press soon dubbed the building, The Murder
Castle.
*Throughout this document, the citation "a" refers to the September, 1895 "Holmes' Own Story"
and "b" refers to his April, 1896 confession. Although Herman Webster Mudgett did not adopt
the name Henry Howard Holmes until 1886, for continuity's sake, I refer to him in his early years
mainly as Holmes. For further information on individual topics look to References, Citations and
Notes.
****
Holmes' Own Story
****
Chapter One
His (Maybe Not-So) Pre-Murderous Life.
Six weeks before his murder trial, facing a myriad of accusations, Holmes wrote down his life's
story. He began by saying he was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire and raised under the
guidance of "... a tender mother's prayers [and] a father's control, emphasized, when necessary,
by the liberal use of the rod wielded by no sparing handa."
Occasional dark events were recounted. Knowing Holmes feared a doctor's office, two of his
schoolmates "... one day bore me struggling and shrieking beyond its awful portals; nor did they
desist until I had been brought face to face with one of its grinning skeletons, which, with arms
outstretched, seemed ready in its turn to seize mea." But all turned out well. "...it proved an
heroic method of treatment, destined ultimately to cure me of my fears, and to inculcate in me,
first, a strong feeling of curiosity, and later, a desire to learn, which resulted years afterwards in
my adopting medicine as a professiona."
He went on to describe an encounter with a photographer which left him frightened. "I found the
artist partially clothed and sitting near the door, which he at once locked. He then proceeded to
remove the greater portion of one of his legs, and not having known until then what was the
cause of his lameness, in fact, not ever having seen or even known that such a thing as artificial
limbs existed, my consternation can better be imagined than described. Had he next proceeded to
remove his head in the same mysterious way, I should not have been further surpriseda."
On July 4th, 1878, he married Clara Lovering, the first of his four wives1. He soon abandoned
her and their son. As with all of his marriages, he never divorced, sometimes juggling his wives
in near proximity.
At age nineteen, Holmes entered medical school, spending one year between the University of
Vermont in Burlington, a brief period at Dartmouth, then heading off to complete his education
at the University of Michigan. In a later interview, some of his professors referred to him as a
scamp2 while others suggested he became involved in grave-robbing3.
Holmes graduated as a physician on June 26, 1884. Over the next two years he flitted between a
variety of positions in various locations, living in poverty. First, he went to Portland, Maine and
became a sales representative selling plant nursery stock. In the winter of 1884, he taught school
in Mooers, in the extreme northeastern portion of New York4.
This location was later cited as possibly being the site of Holmes' first murder. According to The
New York Times:
"H. H. Holmes was once a resident of this (Clinton) county. He appeared at Mooers in 1883 [sic]
under the name Herman W. Mudgett as an agent for nursery stock, and created such a good
impression that he was engaged to teach the village school. This occupation he found
uncongenial. He left Mooers and went to Massachusetts, but returned in a short time,
accompanied by a small boy, who disappeared shortly after arrival, Holmes saying he had gone
home. It is now believed that the boy was the murderer's first victim.
After the boy's disappearance Holmes went to Mooers Forks, three miles away, and began
practicing as a physician. He remained there about a year, taking while there an active part in
politics. He was an enthusiastic supporter of [Republican presidential candidate James G.] Blaine
in 1884, and wagered every dollar he had and all he could secure by borrowing or otherwise on
Blaine's success. On losing his wagers he was penniless and then his true nature began to show
itself in many dishonest practices. His misconduct culminated in a hurried departure for Chicago.
He left behind many unpaid bills. He returned to this county again in 1885, when he told
Munchausen-like stories of his success in Chicago, where, so he claimed, he owned several
stores5."
Holmes states that around this time, he began working out a scheme with an old classmate to
defraud an insurance company by insuring a family of three for $40,000 and providing substitute
corpses. Finding three corpses proved difficult. "...so it was arranged that I was to go to Chicago
for the winter, and some time during the intervening months we should both contribute toward
the necessary supplya."
Holmes arrived in Chicago in November, 1885 but quickly bounced to Minneapolis where he
spent the winter in a drug store working as a clerk.
He gave up on his insurance scam, offering these reasons. "Upon my trip from Chicago to New
York I read two accounts of the detection of crime connected with this class of work, and for the
first time I realized how well organized and well prepared the leading insurance companies were
to detect and punish this kind of fraud, and this, together with a letter I received upon reaching
my destination, and the sudden death of my friend, caused all to be abandoneda."
Here is where his autobiography begins to overlap with his death row confession and the truth
becomes ever more murky.
Graduating class photos
Robert C. Leacock (#73)
Herman W. Mudgett (Holmes, #38)
University of Michigan, 1884
****
Chapter Two
Holmes's First Kill?
In the above citations Holmes states his co-conspirator, an ex-classmate suddenly died — while
Holmes was on his eastward trip. Could this sudden death have been a murder?
For more clues as to what happened, it is necessary to look at Holmes second major
autobiographical statement. After having been convicted of the murder of Benjamin Pitezel and
while awaiting hanging, Holmes sold a confession to William Randolph Hearst for $7500 (about
200,000 in today's money).
Up until 1895, William Randolph Hearst had owned one newspaper, the San Francisco
Examiner. In November of that year, he acquired the New York Morning Journal thereby
commencing the yellow-journalism newspaper wars — and later launching the SpanishAmerican war. With the revelations of his murderous enterprises, Henry Holmes achieved
nationwide fame. Hearst exploited the ongoing melodrama of Henry Holmes making it one of
the mogul's early success.
Holmes' confession was printed on April 12, 1895 in the Philadephia Inquirer with slight variants
appearing in other papers. It was titled: Holmes Confesses 27 Murders. The Most Awful Story of
Modern Times Told by the Fiend in Human Shapeb. (An increase from the twenty-two he tried
to explain away in Holmes' Own Story.)
Holmes announced he would confess all. "I have been tried for murder, convicted, sentenced,
and the first step of my execution upon May seventh, namely, the reading of my death warrant,
has been carried out, and it now seems a fitting time, if ever, to make known the details of the
twenty-seven murders...b"
He goes on to say, "The first taking of human life that is attributed to me is in the case of Dr.
Robert Leacock of New Baltimore, Mich., a friend and former schoolmate. I knew that his life
was insured for a large sum and after enticing him to Chicago I killed him by giving him at
overwhelming dose of laudanumb."
Laudanum is a term used to describe a solution of opium. Holmes includes further details. In this
version of events he states the murder took place in 1886 and goes on to say, "My subsequently
taking his dead body from place to place in about Grand Rapids, Mich., as has been so other
printed heretofore...b"
The above quote refers to a long section in Holmes' Own Story in which he describes carrying a
corpse from Chicago to Grand Rapids to Northern Michigan. In his pretrial autobiography, he
did not confess to any murders. Instead, Holmes portrayed the story as an insurance scam in
which he tried to collect on his own life insurance by providing a corpse that looked like him. He
begins his tale, "It happened shortly after the death of my medical friend and former college
chum." He goes on to describe a ripping "Boy's Own Story," in which Holmes purchases a
corpse which looks like him from "---- [Rush] Medical College" in Chicago, packs it on ice,
heads to Grand Rapids, fights off a nosy Secret Service agent by stealing his gun and forcing him
to jump out the window, survives a train wreck, poses as a rich lumberman in Northern Michigan
and fakes his own death.
Specific dates are presented with this version, now said to be in 1887. Holmes paid up his
insurance through June. On May 20th, Holmes encountered the corpse he claimed looked like
him. "I had a 'cow-lick' which could not be imitated by artificial means.a" The entire venture was
completed before he received payment on the insurance on September first.
An additional bit of information about this incident can be obtained from Holmes' post-arrest
statements. Shortly after his arrest in November 1894, Holmes freely admitted to a number of
past crimes — although not murder. One newspaper account describes the scheme. "The friend,
now a physician, had his life insured for $12,500, the body was procured in Chicago, the
identification with the insured doctor was made and Holmes collected the money. The scheme
was repeated several times6."
So, was Leacock Holmes's first victim? Could it be that the picaresque story of Holmes
attempting to collect his own life insurance had some truth and was in reality Holmes returning
Leacock to Michigan to (somehow) collect the life insurance?
Robert Charles Leacock was a classmate of Holmes at the University of Michigan Medical
School. They graduated together as part of the class of 18847. Photographs of Holmes (Mudgett)
and Leacock are still on display in the school. An item from the Ann Arbor Courier, June 29,
1887 mentions "Dr. R.C. Leacock, class of '84, is a guest of O.B. Church and family this week8."
Leacock went on to experience an early death. According to the publication, The Michigan
Alumnus, Robert Charles Leacock died at Watford, Ontario, October 5th, 1889 at age 329. The
University of Michigan Medical School graduated 85 students in 1884. Three others died before
1890, making Leacock one of the select few.
Summary: First victim*
Dr. Robert Leacock of New Baltimore, Michigan
Friend, former schoolmate
Motive: $40,000 insurance money
Method: Overdose of laudanum
Site: Chicago.
Time: Claimed to be in 1886, 1887. Died October 5, 1889.
Confirmation of murder: unconfirmed, timeline is incorrect, but met early death.
*The numbering presented herein follows that of Holmes' April, 1896 confession. Even within
the confession, the deaths are not chronologically presented. Additional possible victims such as
the boy in Mooer's Fork (mentioned above) or Mrs. Holton (mentioned in the next section) are
not discussed, while other claimed victims survived their supposed murders.
A cartoon presented in the University Palladium in the introduction to the section on the Medical
College. Volume 25, 1883-84, Ann Arbor, Michigan
****
Chapter Three
On The Road and a Mysterious Death and Disappearance.
In May 1886, Holmes headed to Philadelphia. He first found employment at the newly opened
"State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown," still in operation today. How bad does a place have to be
to spook even Holmes? "This was my first experience with insane persons, and so terrible was it
that for years afterwards, even now sometimes, I see their faces in my sleepa."
His job there was limited to a few days. He then found employment at a pharmacy on Columbia
Street in Philadelphia. This didn't last long either. From Holmes' Own Story: "About July 1st, one
afternoon, a child entered the store and exclaimed, 'I want a doctor! The medicine we got here
this morning has killed my brother (or sister).' I could remember of no sale that morning
corresponding to the one she hastily described, but I made sure that a physician was at once sent
to the house, and having done this I hastily wrote a note to my employer, stating the nature of the
trouble, and left the city immediately for Chicago, and it was not until nine years later that I
knew the result of the casea."
The nine years later would have been July, 1895, a time when many accusations about Holmes'
past came to the fore. Here, we have the news that this incident rattled Holmes enough to get him
to abandon his job on a moment's notice and rush off to Chicago. This is suggestive of guilt.
In July, 1886, Holmes began working at Dr. E.S. Holton's drugstore at Wallace and Sixty-third in
Englewood, IL, just outside the Chicago city limits. Dr. Holton was suffering from prostate
cancer and would soon die. Holmes arranged to purchase the drugstore and then failed to pay to
Mrs. Holton who, in turn, brought a lawsuit. She disappeared, with Holmes claiming she'd
moved to California10.
The child in Mooers, New York, Mrs. Holton and the supposed poisoning victim in Philadelphia
did not appear in Holmes' April, 1896 confession.
Now the owner of the pharmacy, Holmes settled in to the Chicago area which would be his home
for the next eight years. On January 28, 1897, he married Myrta Belknap of Minneapolis,
Minnesota11.
****
Chapter Four.
Jekyll and Hyde?
In January of 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson published his famous novel about the good Dr.
Henry Jekyll and his evil alter-ego Edward Hyde. Herman Webster Mudgett first used the name
Henry Howard Holmes when he applied for a pharmacy license in July, 188612. Did Dr. Mudgett
derive the name Henry from the novel? Later, when Dr. Holmes needed a mysterious person to
blame for some of his crimes, he invented "Edward Hatch."
"Howard Pitezel [victim twenty-five] chose to go with Hatch...a" In his death row confession,
Holmes admitted he was Hatch. "I first met [victim twenty-one] Miss Minnie R. Williams in
New York in 1888, where she knew me as Edward Hatch...b"
As for his surname, Dr. Henry H. Holmes and Sherlock Holmes came into existence about the
same time. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, completed in May of 1886,
although not published until November of 1887.
It's quite possible Mudgett and Conan Doyle chose the name from the same source. By the
1880s, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, author and professor of medicine was one of the most
famous people in America and had a world-wide reputation. Oliver Wendell Holmes briefly
taught anatomy and physiology at the medical school at Dartmouth, a fact of which Mudgett
would have been acutely aware.
Oliver Wendell Holmes has been cited as the probable origin for the surname of Sherlock
Holmes. "...the most likely source is Oliver Wendell Holmes, the American essayist, novelist,
poet, physician and professor of anatomy, of whom Conan Doyle wrote in Through the Magic
Door, 'Never have I so known and loved a man whom I had never seen13.'"
In 1886, Oliver Wendell Holmes traveled to Scotland to receive an honorary degree from the
University of Edinburgh. Arthur Conan Doyle received his medical degree from the institution a
year earlier.
****
Chapter Five
The Second Victim.
Holmes declared, "My second victim was Dr. Russell, a tenant in the Chicago building recently
renamed "The Castle." During a controversy concerning the non-payment of rent due me, I
struck him to the floor with a heavy chair when he, with one cry for help, ending in a groan of
anguish, ceased to breatheb." Holmes stated he then sold the body to be used as a laboratory
skeleton.
Supposedly taking place in "The Castle," this murder represents a jump of four years inasmuch
as the building wasn't completed until mid-1890.
One expert on matters related to HH Holmes is the author, Adam Selzer. He has written several
treatises regarding the killer, including one examining the confessions14. Selzer presents various
spellings from the contemporary papers, which refer to the victim as Dr. Thomas Russel, Russell,
or Russler. The last of these names represented a tenant with an office in the Holmes' castle who
according to 1895 news reports had disappeared in 1892. Selzer states he is inclined to believe
that Holmes made a false confession and was referring to a Dr. Thomas Russell, in charge of a
hospital in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1896, therefore not a victim.
The commonality of the name helps to lend a murkiness to this matter. In a personal
communication from his grandson, Dr. Thomas Russell of Grand Rapids, Minnesota did live in
Chicago before moving north. He found the city too rough.15
Further confusion arose when various contemporary news accounts claimed that Doctor Russell
was either still living in or else could not be found in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Summary: Second Victim.
Dr. Russell
Tenant
Motive: Non-payment of rent.
Method: Struck with chair.
Site: The Murder Castle.
Time: 1890?
Confirmation of murder: unconfirmed, unlikely.
The Murder Castle. Photo from The Holmes-Pitezel Case by Frank Geyer, 1896
****
Chapter Six
The Third and Fourth Victims.
"The victim was Mrs. Julia L. Conner. A reference to almost any newspaper of August, 1895,
will give the minute details of the horrors of this case...b" Holmes goes on to say that the fourth
death, the poisoning of the young child, Pearl Conner was carried out with the help of
accomplices, an unspecified man and woman.
In Holmes' Own Story, he explains away their disappearances, saying Julia was worried about
losing her daughter to her husband and fled. "...she had given her destination as Iowa, she was
going elsewhere to avoid the chance of her daughter being taken from her, giving the Iowa
destination to mislead her husbanda." Holmes claimed he kept correspondences from her after her
disappearance, proving she was alive.
The story of Julia Conner and her four-year-old daughter Pearl is well-documented. In the
version proffered in the book, Depraved16, Ned Conner, husband of Julia, worked for Holmes.
The Conners lived in the Holmes castle. Julia was alleged to be Holmes lover. Ned filed for
divorce and left town. Julia became pregnant. Holmes offered to marry her but only if she agreed
to an abortion. At his behest, she took out life insurance. On Christmas Eve, after chloroforming
Pearl, Holmes performed the procedure on Julia, ensuring she did not survive.
Is this abortion story real? Holmes was not the source of the story and who else would tell of it?
In another part of his confession, Holmes counted an unborn child among his murder victims, but
not in this case. In his final confession on the gallows, Holmes admitted to only killing two
women during "criminal operations" which some have interpreted as abortions.
Ned Conner and the relatives of Julia Conner strongly believed Holmes was responsible for his
wife and daughter's murder, well before Holmes achieved notoriety.
Years later, when the police searched the castle, they encountered what they believed to be the
bones of Julia and Pearl. The alleged accomplices were never identified.
Third and fourth victims: Julia Conner and daughter Pearl Conner
Residents in the castle. Alleged lover.
Motive: To collect insurance.
Method: Butchering, poisoning.
Site: The Murder Castle.
Confirmation of murder: well-established.
****
Chapter Seven
The Fifth Victim.
"The fifth murder, that of Rodgers, of West Morgantown, Va. (sic), occurred in 1888, at which
time I was boarding there for a few weeksb."
This murder appears to be an example where Holmes is merely confirming allegations in a news
story. "Learning that the man had some money I induced him to go upon a fishing trip with me
and, being successful in allaying his suspicions, I finally ended his life by a sudden blow upon
the head with an oar. The body was found about a month thereafter, but I was not suspected until
after my trial here, and even then by a fortunate circumstance succeeded in having the report
publicly denied, but did not succeed in changing the opinion of fifty or more persons living in the
town who had recognized my picture in the daily papersb."
With his nationwide notoriety, it appears that a number of people in Morgantown, West Virginia
claimed Holmes had been there. Regardless of how this part of his confession came to be, the
story was refuted.
As cited in The Three Confessions of HH Holmes, a week after the April confession, a story
appeared in the Wheeling Register. "No man by that name was ever murdered here, and no
murder of a man ever occurred in this place that the murderer was not convicted. W. Rogers was
the name used by a newspaper correspondent from here for an old tanner who disappeared and
was found in the river. He was supposed to have been murdered, and people here thought
Holmes' picture looked like a man who was here at the time. It was established later that the man
is still living and was not Holmes... Holmes simply lied17."
Fifth Victim: "Rodgers"
Acquaintance.
Motive: Money.
Method: Clubbed over the head
Site: Morgantown, WV.
Year: 1888
Confirmation of murder: Refuted.
****
Chapter Eight
The Sixth Victim.
"The sixth case is that of Charles Cole, a Southern speculator. After considerable correspondence
this man came to Chicago, and I enticed him into the Castle, where, while I was engaging him in
conversation, a confederate stuck him a most vicious blow upon the head with a piece of gas
pipe. ... This is the first instance in which I knew this confederate had committed murder, though
in several other instances he was fully as guilty as myself, and, if possible, more heartless and
bloodthirsty, and I have no doubt is still engaged in the same nefarious work, and if so is
probably aided by a Chicago business manb."
Here, again, Holmes says an unnamed associate performed the murder. This being the first
murder by this person, it would not be the same as the man and woman who supposedly helped
kill Pearl Conner. Among the associates of Holmes, the one who received the most attention
from the police was the Castle janitor, Patrick Quinlan. In August of 1895, the police kept him
and his wife sequestered, interrogating them for three weeks18. They later sued the police for
unlawful imprisonment, but lost19.
On July 29, 1895 the story of the disappearance of Cole ran in various papers. In The Chicago
Tribune, he was referred to as Wilfred Cole while in other papers his name was "Milford C.
Cole." The C could stand for Charles. A typical account can be found in the Los Angeles Herald.
"Sheriff McRae of Fort Worth, Texas, who was in this city [Little Rock, Arkansas] last week,
had a long talk with [Holmes associate John C.] Allen, and during the conversation the
disappearance of Milford Cole, a wealthy Baltimore man, was mentioned. Cole came here a year
ago last spring as the representative of a Baltimore lumber syndicate. He at once became
prominent in lumber circles, buying a sawmill near Beebe, north of here on the Iron Mountain
road, and contracting for the purchase of 25,000 acres of timber lands in Southeastern Arkansas.
In July, 1894, he spent two weeks at Fort Worth, becoming well acquainted with Holmes, who
tried to interest him in some business enterprises. These facts Cole mentioned to friends on his
return to Little Rock. About three weeks afterwards he was summoned to Chicago by a telegram
from Holmes and has not been seen or heard from since. Both Allen and Sheriff McRae recall
Cole's association with Holmes at Fort Worth last year and Cole's subsequent disappearance20."
In Holmes Own Story, under a section entitled "Other Disappearances," he says, "Charles Cole is
also known to be alivea."
The Sixth Victim: Milford "Charles" Cole
"Southern speculator invited to Chicago"
Motive: Money.
Method: Unnamed accomplice hit Cole over the head with a pipe.
Site: Chicago Castle.
Year: 1894
Confirmation of murder: Unconfirmed
****
Chapter Nine
The Seventh Victim.
"A domestic named Lizzie, was the seventh victim. She for a time worked in the Castle
restaurant and I soon learned that Quinlan was paying her too close attention and fearing lest it
should progress so far that it would necessitate his leaving my employ I thought it wise to end
the life of the girl. This I did by calling her in the vault of which so much has since been printed,
she being the first victim that died therein. Before her death I compelled her to write letters to her
relations and to Quinlan, stating that she had left Chicago for a Western State and should not
returnb."
Again, in Holmes' Own Story, he claims she is living. "The same charge concerning a domestic
named Lizzie is untrue, although I have no means of verifying it save that it has been proven that
she was alive and in Chicago some months after I left that city, early in 1894a."
In one news report, the police were said to be seeking a Mrs. Perr, a former housekeeper of
Holmes in 189221. It was suggested she had gone missing.
After the confession, several newspapers noted errors in who Holmes had supposedly killed. The
Rockford Republic declared: "Five Victims Alive. Confession is Alleged to Be Untrue." One of
his victims "has been seen those who know her well in the vicinity of the "castle," since Holmes
declares that he suffocated her in a vault of his unique building22." Although cryptic, this could
refer to Lizzie, or Sarah Cook or Haracamp (below).
The Seventh Victim: Lizzie
A domestic
Motive: Worried his janitor was too interested in her.
Method: First victim of the suffocation vault.
Site: Chicago Castle.
Year: unspecified
Confirmation of murder: Unconfirmed.
****
Chapter Ten
Victims Eight, Nine and Ten.
"The eighth, ninth and tenth cases are Mrs. Sarah Cook, her unborn child, and Miss Mary
Haracamp, of Hamilton, Canadab."
Here, Holmes counts an unborn child among his numbered victims.
Holmes explains that Sarah Cook and her husband were tenants in the Castle. Sarah's niece,
Mary Haracamp came to work as Holmes' stenographer. "...Mrs. Cook and her niece had access
to all rooms by means of a master key and one evening while I was busily engaged preparing my
last victim for shipment, the door suddenly opened and they stood before meb." Holmes hurried
the two into the vault. Holmes had them write letters stating they were running away in exchange
for their freedom. He then suffocated them.
In Holmes' Own Story, he listed together several persons who he was accused of killing. "Robert
Latimer, a former janitor [victim thirteen], a Mr. Brummager, one in my employ as a
stenographer, also Miss Mary Horacamp [sic], from Hamilton, Canada, are alive, as shown by
letters recently received from friends or relatives of eacha."
While Holmes appears to be responding to accusations I could not locate the name Haracamp
does not appear in any of the contemporary news articles. The names Haracamp and Horacamp
do not seem to exist outside of the Holmes' confession. On April 16th, 1896, just after the
confession was printed, The Omaha Daily Bee ran a brief item stating: "In the list of Holmes
victims appears the name Mrs. Haverkamp of Hamilton, Ontario. No person of that name was
ever known there."
Summary: Victims Eight, Nine and Ten
Mrs. Sarah Cook, her unborn child, Mrs. Haracamp (Horacamp, Haverkamp)
Tenant and niece.
Motive: Eliminate witnesses
Method: Suffocated in the vault.
Site: Chicago.
Time: Unknown
Confirmation of murder: unconfirmed.
Drawing of Victims as presented in the Hopkinsville Kentuckian
Victims of Holmes as presented in the Hopkinsville Kentuckian, August 27, 1895, page 3.
Included are Julia Conner (third victim), Emeline Cigrand (eleventh victim), Emily Van Tassel
(twelfth victim) and the Williams sisters (Victims twenty-one and twenty-two).
****
Chapter Eleven
The Eleventh Victim.
"Soon after this Miss Emeline Cigrand, of Dwight, Ill, was sent to me by a Chicago typewriter
firm to fill the vacancy of stenographerb."
The disappearance and death of Emeline Cigrand became part of the canonical Holmes lore
perhaps eclipsed only by the death of the Pitezels. Cigrand worked as the secretary to the head of
a national chain of sobriety clinics, called the Keeley, or Gold cure. Holmes's handyman,
Benjamin F. Pitezel went to their Dwight, Illinois clinic for treatment and returned, not sober, but
with a glowing report of their secretary's great beauty. In May, 1892 Holmes lured her away for a
50% increase in salary. Among his many schemes Holmes ran his own alcoholism cure clinic out
of the Castle, called the Silver Ash Institution23.
One version has it that Cigrand and Holmes became engaged to be married. Since she knew of
one of Holmes's current wives, Holmes insisted that she keep his name a secret, only referring to
him as Robert Phelps, until he could arrange a divorce. In December they sent out wedding
announcements. On December 7th, her hometown paper ran the announcement. "Miss Cigrand
Weds Robert E. Phelps. The bride, after completing her education, was employed as a
stenographer in the County Recorder's office. From there she went to Dwight, and from there to
Chicago, where she met her fate24." Fate took on a different meaning than the societal reporter
intended.
Once Holmes locked her in the vault he promised to release her if she would send out wedding
announcements. She complied and he later used these to show she was still alive and had merely
run off with her new husband. He left her in the vault until she died of suffocation.
In contrast to his confession, according to Holmes' Own Story, "She worked faithfully in my
interests until November, 1892, when, much against my wishes, she left my employ to be
married...a" A year later, he claimed, she returned to Chicago wanting her old job back. Unhappy
with her husband, she was considering joining the convent. Holmes said she was seen by many
around town.
The police encountered what they believed to the bones and hair of Emeline Cigrand. According
to an eyewitness, the day after she disappeared Holmes and his janitor Quinlan were seen hauling
a large trunk out of the Castle.
Summary: Victim Eleven
Emeline Cigrand
Stenographer.
Motive: Eliminate witness?
Method: Suffocated in the vault.
Site: The Castle.
Time: December, 1892
Confirmation of murder: Confirmed.
****
Chapter Thirteen
Intermission: Attempted Murders.
Holmes follows up the death of his eleventh victim with a list of his attempted murders. Along
with the well-documented attempted murders of three more Pitezel family members, he
describes, "... an unsuccessful attempt to commit a triple murder for the $90 that my agent for
disposing of "stiffs" would have given me for the bodies of the intended victims, who were three
young women working in my restaurant upon Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago. That these women
lived to tell of their experience to the police last summer is due to my foolishly trying to
chloroform all of them at one and the same time. By their combined strength they overpowered
me and ran screaming into the street, clad only in their night robes. I was arrested next day, but
was not prosecutedb."
Famously, an intended victim of Jeffrey Dahmer escaped and made it to the police, only to be
returned to his killer who then completed the killing. In this instance, Holmes claims to have
three women escape his grasp and go to the police. Despite the titillating aspects of this story, no
evidence supports it having occurred.
****
Chapter Fourteen
The Twelfth Victim.
"The victim was a very beautiful young woman named Rosine Van Jassand, [other newspapers
referred to the victim in this section as Anna Van Tassaud. The description matches a missing
person named Emily Van Tassel] whom I induced to come into my fruit and confectionery store,
and, once within my power, I compelled her to live with me there for a time, threatening her with
death if she appeared before any of my customers. A little later I killed her by administering
ferro-cyanide of potassium. The location of this store was such that it would have been
hazardous to have sent out a large box containing a body, and I therefore buried her remains in
the store basement...b"
Sixteen-year-old Emily Van Tassel worked at Wilde's at 1151 Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago,
near Holmes's Glass Bending Factory. According to her mother she met with Holmes on four
occasions, the first being a family outing for ice cream. She disappeared on June 1, 1892. Frank
Wilde was alleged to be an alias of Holmes or else Benjamin Pitezel.
On April 17, 1896, after Holmes's confession, a portion of the basement of the store was
excavated. No human bones were found.
Perhaps one reason Holmes maintains his legendary status is that he is responsible for at least
one of each sort of crime that stirs up the imagination: Killing the young woman in the
confectionary shop, the maid, the bride-to-be, the waif, the trusting associate, the innocent
child...
Summary: Victim Twelve
Emily Van Tassel
Employee at a candy shop.
Motive: Unspecified.
Method: Poisoned.
Site: At the confectionary store.
Time: Approximately June 1, 1892
Confirmation of murder: Strongly suspected.
Emily Van Tassel
Drawing presented in
Hopkinsville Kentuckian
August 27, 1895.
****
Chapter Fifteen
The Thirteenth Victim.
"Robert Latimer, a man who had for some years been in my employ as janitor, was my next
victim. Several years previous, before I had ever taken human life, he had known of certain
insurance work I had engaged in, and when, in after years, he sought to extort money from me,
his own death and the sale of his body was the recompense meted out to him. I confined him
within the Secret Room and slowly staved him to death. Of this room and its secret gas supply
and muffled windows and doors, sufficient has already been printed. Finally, needing its use for
another purpose and because his pleadings had become almost unbearable, I ended his life. The
partial excavation in the walls of this room found by the police was caused by Latimer's
endeavoring to escape by tearing away the solid brick and mortar with his unaided fingersb."
Robert Latimer was among those victims claimed to still be alive25. The Chicago Daily Inter
Ocean contended the authorities had encountered someone else by that name, a Robert Latimer
who worked as a flagman at a nearby railroad crossing26. In Holmes' Own Story, he included
Latimer among those still living.
Summary: Victim Thirteen
Robert Latimer
Janitor at Castle.
Motive: Revenge for Attempted Blackmail.
Method: Starvation. Gas?
Site: At the Holmes Castle in the Secret Room.
Time: Unspecified.
Confirmation of murder: Unconfirmed.
Holmes Castle, Second Floor, Diagram.
****
Chapter Sixteen
The Fourteenth Victim.
"The fourteenth case is that of Miss Anna Betts, and was caused by my purposely substituting a
poisonous drug in a prescription that had been sent to my drug store to be compounded,
believing that it was known that I was a physician, I should be called in to witness her death, as
she lived very near the store. This was not the case, however, as the regular physician was in
attendance at the time. The prescription, still on file at the Castle Drug Store, should be
considered by the authorities if they still are inclined to attribute this death to causes that reflect
upon Miss Betts' moral characterb."
On February 8th, 1892, twenty-four-year-old Virginia Anna Betts died suddenly in her home,
one block from the Holmes Castle. Her death certificate is presented in Adam Selzer's Three
Confessions of HH Holmes26. Cause of death is listed as apoplexy with the complication of heart
disease which had lasted for four days. The only hint of a motive given by Holmes is wanting to
see her die.
In Holmes' Own Story he says he was accused of killing Betts to cancel a debt owed to an
unnamed Chicago businessman. Holmes denied this saying the debt had already been settleda.
This story is reminiscent of the unspecified victim in Philadelphia poisoned before Holmes
moved to Chicago. If Holmes did regularly poison select individuals through his pharmacy, his
death toll could be greater than previously realized.
Summary: Victim Fourteen
Anna Betts
Client at the pharmacy.
Motive: To see her die? To cancel a debt?
Method: Poisoning.
Site: At her home near The Castle.
Time: February 8, 1892
Confirmation of murder: Probable.
****
Chapter Seventeen
The Fifteenth Victim.
"The death of Miss Gertrude Conner, of Muscatine, Iowa, though not the next in order of
occurrence, is so similar to the last that a description of one suffices for both, save in this case
Miss Conner left Chicago immediately, but did not die until she had reached her home at
Muscatineb."
Twenty-two-year-old Gertrude Conner was the sister-in-law of victim Julia Conner. Her brother
Ned introduced her to Holmes who employed her as a secretary. Ned claimed Holmes was
making passes at her which she didn't appreciate. Ned also accused Holmes of "ruining her" and
said that she died just 48 hours after returning home.
In a letter to the editor of Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, Gertrude's father, Chandler R. Conner,
wrote from Muscatine, Iowa. He asked several errors in their newspaper's story to be corrected.
Gertie Conner worked for Holmes for only three weeks. She was escorted home by her brother.
She did not die soon after returning, but, rather seven weeks later. He finishes, "You also state
that her brother discovered that Holmes had ruined her and gave medicine which caused her
death. It can be proved that no man ruined her and that her death was caused by neuralgia of the
heart and not by any medicine27."
Interestingly, Holmes links this case with the previous one, both being poisonings, both deaths in
the victims' homes. Is it possible that Holmes compounded a pill or drew up a potion which she
did not take until much later? A lot of young ladies died around Holmes before their times.
Summary: Victim Fifteen
Eva Gertrud Conner
Associate, relative of victim.
Motive: Jealousy?
Method: Poisoning.
Site: At her home near The Castle.
Time: July 18, 1892
Confirmation of murder: Timing makes it unlikely but possible.
****
Chapter Eighteen
Survivors, Myths and Anonymous Folk.
The next four alleged victims included two who outlived Holmes, along with two with
insufficient information to prove or disprove their murders.
The Sixteenth Victim.
"The sixteenth murder is that of Miss Kate Gorky [Note: the description refers to Kate Durkee],
of Omaha, a young woman owning much valuable real estate in Chicago, where I acted as her
agent. ... I caused Miss Kate Gorky to believe that a favorable opportunity had come for her to
convert her holdings into cash, and, having accomplished this for her, she came to Chicago and I
paid her the money, taking a receipt in full for same, and thus protected myself in the event of an
inquiry at a later date. I asked her to look about my offices and finally to look within the vault,
and, having once passed that fatal door, she never came forth alive. She did not die at once,
however, and her anger when first she realized that she was deprived of her liberty, then her offer
of the entire forty thousand dollar in exchange for same and finally her prayers are something
terrible to rememberb."
Kate Durkee of Omaha engaged in a number of business dealings with Holmes. After learning
that she was counted among Holmes victims, she declared, "I was never killed by Holmes or
anyone else28."
In this case Holmes' Own Story was correct. "Miss Kate Dunkee [sic] [is] acknowledged by the
Philadelphia authorities to be alivea."
Summary: Victim Sixteen
Kate Durkee
Business associate
Motive: Money.
Method: Locked in the vault. Suffocation.
Site: Holmes Castle.
Time: unspecified
Confirmation of murder: Victim still living.
The Seventeenth Victim.
"The next death was that of a man named Warner, the originator of the Warner Glass Bending
Company, and here again a very large sum or money was realized, which prior to his death had
been deposited in two Chicago banks, nearly all of which I secured by means of two checks,
made out and properly signed by him for a small sum each. To these I later added the word
thousand. ... It will be remembered that the remains of a large kiln made of fire brick was found
in the Castle basement. It had been built under Mr. Warner's supervision for the purpose of
exhibiting his patents. It was so arranged that in less than a minute after turning on a jet of crude
oil atomized with steam the entire kiln would be filled with a colorless flame, so intensely hot
iron would be melted therein. It was into this kiln that I induced Mr. Warner to go with me,
under pretense of wishing certain minute explanations of the process, and then stepping outside,
as he believed to get some tools. I closed the door and turned on both the oil and steam to their
full extent. In a short time not even the bones of my victim remainedb."
The story, so reminiscent of Poe, alas, was not true. While Warner did start the Warner Glass
Bending Company which some suspected Holmes used as a crematorium, Warner was still alive
at the time of confession. He had become a traveling novelty salesman.
Summary: Victim Seventeen
L. Warner
Business associate
Motive: Money.
Method: Burned alive in the basement kiln.
Site: Holmes Castle.
Time: unspecified
Confirmation of murder: Victim still living.
The Eighteenth Victim.
"In 1891 I associated myself in business with a young Englishman ... it became necessary to at
once raise a large sum and this was done by my partner enticing to Chicago a wealthy banker
named Rodgers from a North Wisconsin town in such a manner that he could have left no
intelligence with whom his business was to be. To cause him to go to the Castle and within the
secret room under the pretense that our patents were there was easily brought about, more so
than to force him to sign checks and drafts for seventy thousand dollars, which we had prepared.
At first he refused to do so, stating that his liberty that we offered him in exchange would be
useless to him without his money, that he was too old to again hope to make another fortune;
finally by alternately starving him and nauseating him with the gas he was made to sign the
securities. ... I would only consent to this [the killing] upon the condition that he [the
Englishman] should administer the chloroform, and leave me to dispose or the body as my part
or the workb."
In this account Holmes introduces yet another accomplice, an unnamed Englishman who did the
actual killing. The Englishman was never sought primarily because this story was not believed.
No evidence supported it and there were no disappearances of wealthy men from North
Wisconsin towns.
Holmes seemed to have had a stammering problem in regards to the name, "Rodgers." Along
with victim eighteen, victim number five, the West Virginia man, went by the single name of
Rodgers. In Holmes' Own Story when he needed to prove [twenty-fourth victim] Benjamin
Pitezel was suicidal, Holmes noted: "...he had made an effort to take his life at the hotel of Henry
Rodgers, at Perkinsville, Alaa."
When Holmes tried to prove the two Pitezel daughters [victims twenty six and twenty seven]
were still alive during a crucial time period, he stated, "Mr. Rodgers has several times stated that
this occurred quite early before working hoursa."
Summary: Victim Eighteen
"Rodgers"
Business associate
Motive: Money.
Method: By chloroform.
Site: Holmes Castle.
Time: unspecified
Confirmation of murder: unconfirmed and highly suspect.
The Nineteenth Victim.
"The nineteenth case is that of a woman, whose name has passed from my memory, who came to
the Castle restaurant to board. A tenant of mine at the time immediately became very much
infatuated with the woman, who he learned was a widow and wealthy. This tenant was married,
and his wife occasionally came to the restaurant when this boarder was there, which did not tend
to decrease a family with disruption. Finally he came to me for advice, and I was very willing to
have him in my power in order that I could later use him in my work if need be. I suggested that
he live with the woman in the Castle for a time, and later, if his life became unpleasant to him,
we would kill her and divide her wealth. Soon, he suggested it was time to take his companion's
life. This was done by my administering chloroform while he controlled her violent struggles. It
was the body of this woman within the long coffin-shaped box that was taken from the Castle
late in 1893, of which the police were notifiedb."
Not enough information is given to confirm or deny these events. The incident regarding the
coffin-shaped box had not been otherwise noted.
Summary: Victim Nineteen
Anonymous female
Tenant
Motive: To gain control over accomplice.
Method: By chloroform.
Site: Holmes Castle.
Time: late 1893.
Confirmation of murder: insufficient information to confirm or refute
Mr. Rogers—not a victim.
****
Chapter Nineteen
The End Game and the Williams Sisters.
The remaining eight alleged victims consist of three from the Williams family, one anonymous,
and four from the Pitezel family. After the murder of his next two victims, Holmes was on the
road, marrying again, in and out of jail, and always scheming to get more money.
The Twentieth and Twenty-First Victims.
"The Williams sisters come next. .... I first met Miss Minnie R. Williams in New York in 1888,
where she knew me as Edward Hatch .... Early in 1893 I was again introduced to her as H. H.
Holmes in the office of Campbell & Dowd. of Chicago, to whom she had applied for them to
secure her a position as a stenographer. Soon after entering my employ I induced her to give me
$2500 in money and to transfer to me by deed $50,000 worth of Southern real estate and a little
later to live with me as my wife .... I also learned that she had as sister Nannie in Texas who was
an heir to some property and induced Miss Minnie Williams to have her [sister] come to Chicago
upon a visit. Upon her arrival I met her at the depot and took her to the Castle .... It was an easy
matter to force her to assign to me all she possessed. After that she was immediately killed in
order that no one in or about the Castle should know of her having been there save the man who
burned her clothing. It was the foot-print of Nannie Williams, as later demonstrated by that most
astute lawyer and detective, Mr. Copps, of Fort Worth, that was found upon the painted surface
of the vault door made during her violent struggles before her death. [snip] I took Minnie] eight
miles east of Momence [Illinois] upon a freight line that is little used, and ended her life with
poison and buried her body in the basement of the houseb."
Holmes had a high turnover rate among secretaries. He killed them. Having known Minnie
Williams for years, in March, 1893 he acquired her services as a stenographer. She was an
orphaned child raised by a rich uncle in Fort Worth, Texas. Her younger sister, Anna "Nannie"
Williams grew up in Mississippi and became a school teacher in Texas.
Holmes wooed and quickly married Minnie Williams in a private ceremony with just the two
newlyweds and the preacher—who may not have been a preacher. The marriage was never
registered29; the ceremony was probably intended to induce Minnie to sign over her properties.
With another wife living closeby, Holmes moved Minnie into a house away from the Castle.
Perhaps concerned about all of the letters Minnie wrote to her sister, Holmes asked Minnie to
invite Nannie to come visit. In contrast to Holmes's confession, when Nannie arrived, he treated
the two sisters to a tour of the Columbian Exposition. Holmes is believed to have killed Nannie
in his vault on or about July 5th, 1893.
What happened to Minnie is uncertain. Holmes confessed to killing her and burying her in the
small town of Momence south of Chicago. There are several indications that she lived for several
more months, presumably unaware of the fate of her sister.
In his explanation for Nannie's disappearance in Holmes' Own Story, he offered up his most
brazen act of chutzpah. He claimed Nannie became enamored by the irresistible Holmes and
Minnie killed her in a fit of jealousy. Afterwards Minnie suffered a series of nervous breakdowns
and institutionalizations. Holmes claimed she later took the Pitezel children [victims twenty-five
through twenty-seven] and headed off for London to start a massage establishment with Edward
Hatch.
Summary: Victims Twenty and Twenty-One
Minnie and Nannie Williams
Secretary and her sister
Motive: Money.
Method: Locked in vault and suffocated. Poisoned.
Site: Holmes Castle. Possibly Monence, Illinois.
Time: approximately July 5th, 1893 and unspecified time, early 1894.
Confirmation of murder: Generally accepted as being among those Holmes killed.
Minnie and Nannie (Annie) Williams
Hopkinsville Kentuckian, August 27, 1895
****
Chapter Twenty
Victims Twenty-Two and Twenty Three.
"A man who came to Chicago to attend the Chicago Exposition, but whose name I cannot recall,
was my next victim. ... I determined to use this man in my various business dealings, and did so
for a time, until I found he had not the ability I had at first thought he possessed, and I therefore
decided to kill him. This was done, but as I had not had any dealings with the "stiff" dealer for
some time previous to this murder, I decided to bury the body in the basement of the house that I
formerly owned near the corner of Seventy-fourth and Honore streets, in Chicago, where, by
digging deeply in the sandy soil, the body will be foundb."
The Chicago Exposition, more properly "The World's Columbian Exposition," closed on October
30, 1893, giving an anchoring point for the timeline of this story. Although Holmes provided
some additional details on how to find the man's name, no such victim was ever identified and
his body was not unearthed.
Summary: Victim Twenty-Two
Unknown
Castle guest.
Motive: Did not have money.
Method: Unspecified.
Site: Holmes Castle.
Time: During the Chicago Exposition. May to October, 1893.
Confirmation of murder: none.
Victim Twenty-Three.
"After Miss Williams' death I found among her papers an insurance policy made in her favor by
her brother, Baldwin Williams, of Leadville, Col. I therefore went to that city early in 1894, and,
having found him; took his life by shooting him, it being believed I had done so in self-defense.
A little later, when the assignment of the policy to which I had forged Miss Williams' name was
presented to John M. Maxwell, of Leadville, the administrator of the Williams estate, it was
honored and the money paidb."
In Holmes' Own Story, he ascribes the death of the Williams brother to a train accident taking
place before Minnie came to work for him. Holmes quotes Minnie as telling him, "At about that
time my brother, whom I had never seen much of, was killed, or rather died, as the result of a
railroad accident at Leadville, Colorado...a"
A Baldwin H. Williams of Leadville, Colorado died in early 1893.
"Estate of Baldwin H. Williams, Deceased. The undersigned, having been appointed
administrator of the estate of Baldwin H. Williams, late of the county of Lake and the state of
Colorado, deceased, hereby gives notice that he will appear before the county court of Lake
County at the court house in Leadville, at the January term, on the third Monday in February
next being the 20th day of February, A.D. 1893, at which time all persons having claims against
said estate are notified and requested to attend for the purpose of having the same adjusted. All
person indebted to said estate are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned,
Dated this 17th day of January, A.D., 1893, John M. Max[?]e[?]l, Administrator30."
In the newspaper notice, no cause of death is given. This death took place before Holmes hired
Minnie Williams supporting Holmes non-confessional version of the story. Holmes did have the
detail of estate administrator correct.
What can be made of this? Holmes had known Minnie Williams for years including when she
lived in Boston and Denver. Immediately before she moved to Chicago, she lived in Denver.
Perhaps the death of her brother gave her the impetus to move on. Perhaps Holmes visited her
there and helped settle her brother's estate. Or perhaps he remembered details of this from what
he had later told her.
Summary: Victim Twenty-Three
Baldwin H. Williams
Brother-in-law
Motive: Money.
Method: Shooting.
Site: Leadville, Colorado.
Time: 1894? 1893?
Confirmation of murder: None. A man by this name did die a year earlier than mentioned.
Leaving Chicago.
On January 4, 1894 in Denver, Colorado, Holmes married Georgiana Yoke31. She remained in
rapturous ignorance of his three other wives and his myriad schemes. She would defend him and
when necessary, bail him out. Together they headed to Fort Worth, Texas where Holmes
attempted to collect on the estate of Minnie Williams. Once there, intent on starting a franchise,
Holmes initiated the construction of a new murder castle. He found a new accomplice, John C.
Allen, alias "Mascot." They tried their hands at a horse swindle which ended in St. Louis where
Holmes was jailed. While incarcerated he concocted a plan to kill off an old associate for the
insurance money.
Benjamin Frelan Pitezel
****
Chapter Twenty-One
Victims Twenty-Four through Twenty-Seven, The Pitezel family.
"Benjamin F. Pitezel comes next. .... It will be understood that from the first hour of our
acquaintance, even before I knew he had a family who would later afford me additional victims
for the gratification of my blood-thirstiness, I intended to kill him...b"
Holmes was convicted and executed for just one murder: that of Benjamin Frelan Pitezel.
Holmes insured Pitezel for $10,000 and set him up in a storefront in Philadelphia where he
offered to buy inventions. Holmes told Pitezel he would fake a disfiguring accident, provide a
substitute corpse and they would split the proceeds from the insurance fraud. On September 2,
1894, Holmes got his long-time friend drunk. Once he had passed out on the floor...
"Only one difficulty presented itself. It was necessary, for me to kill him in such a manner that
no struggle or movement of his body should occur, otherwise his clothing being in any way
displaced it would have been impossible to again put them in a normal condition. I overcame this
difficulty by first binding him hand and foot and having done — I proceeded to burn him alive
by saturating his clothing and his face with benzene and igniting it with a matchb."
In Holmes' Own Story, he maintained that Pitezel's death was suicide. The suicide note, which,
naturally Holmes had to destroy, asked him to stage the death as part of a crime scene. "He
wished me to so arrange his body in one of two ways that it would appear that his death had been
either accidental or that he had been attacked by burglars and killed, giving the details of how I
was to carry our either course: First, that his family should not at present know of his death;
second, that the children should never know he had committed suicide...a"
If nothing else, Holmes' Own Story was inventive for its range of explanations behind the
disappearance of so many: one staged his death for insurance, one ran off to get married, they
killed each other, suicide, accidents, they were still alive (sometimes true)...
With his associate dead, Holmes headed back west to undertake the steps involved in collecting
the insurance. Benjamin's wife, Carrie Pitezel, knew of the scheme and believed the corpse to be
a substitute. The five Pitezel children believed their father dead. Holmes couldn't bring Carrie to
Philadelphia to identify the body — she would see who it really was. So, instead, Holmes instead
brought fifteen-year-old Alice to identify her father's body. On September 20th, she wrote to her
mother.
"Just arrived Philadelphia this morning ... I am going to the Morgue after awhile ... Have you
gotten 4 letters from me besides this?32"
Holmes intercepted and never mailed any of her letters, stashing them in a tin box.
On September 27th, Holmes received the insurance money. He told Carrie that, with her husband
still alive, they were to take separate paths and later meet up with him. With Holmes having long
been a family friend, a virtual uncle to the children, he convinced Carrie to let him transport
three of her children.
Howard Pitezel
Nellie Pitezel
Alice Pitezel
Howard, Nellie and Alice Pitezel.
Holmes saved his greatest act of sadism for his last three victims. Their murders seemed without
motive, a cruelty beyond fathoming. It left no doubt Holmes could not be romanticized as an
anti-hero or be pitied as some pathetic creature.
With the insurance money in hand, Holmes began to hopscotch between cities with three of the
Pitezel children in tow. He ordered them to stay in the hotels, indoors. They were cold. Alice
wrote, begging, "Tell Mama that I have to have a coat33."
Eight-year-old Howard Pitezel became the first to die.
"I called at the Irvington [Indiana] drug store and purchased the drugs I needed to kill the boy ...
I called him into the house and insisted that he go to bed at once first giving him the fatal dose of
medicine. As soon as he had ceased to breathe I cut his body into pieces that would pass through
the door of the stove and by the combined use of gas and corncobs proceeded to burn it with as
little feeling as 'though it had been some inanimate objectb."
Unaware of her brother's fate or what awaited the rest of them, Alice wrote home, saying,
"Howard is not with us now34."
In Holmes' Own Story, he tried to pass off the child's disappearance on the mysterious Edward
Hatch, a name he invoked sixty-six times. "I met Hatch and Howard later upon the street. This
was the last time I ever saw the boy Howard...a"
The detectives were not impressed. Holmes complained, "They at once branded my statements
concerning Hatch as untrue, and said that he was a mythical person, asking me to name any one
who had ever seen him...a"
Now with only Nellie and Alice Pitezel in his charge, Holmes continued to move from town to
town. In Detroit with the two girls stashed in a hotel, he met up Carrie Pitezel and her other two
children. He planted explosives to kill them but was unsuccessfulb.
He transported the children to Toronto where, on October 25th, he enticed the Pitezel girls to
climb inside a trunk where he locked them in. "[After] 8:00 P.M. I again returned to the house
where the children were imprisoned, and ended their lives by connecting the gas with the trunk,
then came the opening of the trunk and the viewing of their little blackened and distorted faces,
then the digging of their shallow graves in the basement of the house, the ruthless stripping off of
their clothing and the burial without a particle of covering save the cold earth, which I heaped
upon them with fiendish delightb."
In Holmes' Own Story, he claimed the Pitezel girls went off with the still-living Minnie Williams
and the never-seen Edward Hatch, headed to London where they would use the insurance money
to open a massage parlora.
Why kill the Pitezel children? Perhaps the telling clue comes in the fact he tried to kill Carrie
Pitezel and the remainder of the family. With Benjamin Pitezel's death being real, he feared
Carrie would soon realize he had arranged the murder. She and the children were witnesses.
Summary: Victim Twenty-Four
Benjamin Frelan Pitezel
Long-time associate
Motive: Money.
Method: Burned alive.
Site: 1316 Callowhill Street in Philadelphia.
Time: September 2nd, 1894
Confirmation of murder: well-documented.
Summary: Victims Twenty-Five through Twenty-Seven
Howard, Alice and Nellie Pitezel
Friends of the family
Motive: Witnesses?
Method: Howard, poisoned. Alice and Nellie locked in a trunk and gassed.
Site: Howard, Irvington, outside Indianapolis, Indiana. Alice and Nellie in Toronto.
Time: Howard, October 5, 1894; Alice and Nellie: October 25, 1894.
Confirmation of murder: well-documented.
Letter of Alice Pitezel to her grandparents,
October 14, 1894, page one
****
Chapter Twenty-Two
End of the Line.
In order to secure the Pitezel insurance money, Holmes needed a crooked lawyer. To find a
crooked lawyer, he asked the notorious train-robber, Marion Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth turned in
Holmes, telling the authorities and the insurance company about the swindle.
On November 17, 1894, Holmes was arrested in Boston. While on a train being transported to
custody, he tried to bribe his way free.
"I'm a hypnotizer. If you let me hypnotize you so that we can escape, I'll give you $500."
"Hypnotism," [responded Detective Crawford], "always spoils my appetite35."
While insurance scams were common enough, Holmes, with his multiple wives, proved to be a
particularly salacious scandal. His story made national headlines. Holmes tried to account for his
polygamy. "He explained that when he left New Hampshire he went west and while traveling
there he had his skull fractured and was robbed of his gold watch and considerable money in a
railroad accident. In the hospital he was given the name of H.H. Holmes and went out never
knowing he had any other. During the year [sic] of his mental trouble he married a western
woman and by her had one child36."
Holmes was imprisoned, charged with insurance fraud. Even within a week, newspapers began
speculating he was responsible for at least six murders: the Williams sisters and the Pitezels.
Holmes vs. Holmes.
On June 3, 1895 Holmes pled guilty to insurance fraud and received a mild sentence. With his
national notoriety, the Chicago police began searching the Castle, uncovering blood and bones.
Frank Geyer, a Philadelphia detective, embarked on a hunt to track down the location of the three
missing Pitezel children, fearing they had been abandoned somewhere. His methodical
investigation was broadcast day by day across American newspapers. Geyer became known as
the American Sherlock Holmes. On July 15th, he discovered the bodies of the Pitezel girls. On
August 27th, he discovered Howard Pitezel.
Although generally acknowledged as having killed a dozen more, perhaps scores of victims37, in
late October 1895, Holmes was tried only for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. For part of the
proceedings he acted as his own lawyer. He lost.
On May 9th, 1896, while walking to the gallows in the courtyard of Moyamensing Prison,
Holmes made one last confession, again rewriting his story.
"Gentlemen, I have very few words to say. In fact, I would make no remarks at this time were it
not that by not speaking I should acquiesce in my execution. I only wish to say that the extent of
my wrong-doing in the taking of human life consists of contriving the killing of two women that
have died at my hands as a result of criminal operations. I wish to also state, so that there can be
no chance of misunderstanding my words hereafter, that I am not guilty of taking the life of any
of the three Pitezel children, or the man for whose death I was convicted, and for whose death I
am now to be hanged. That is all I have to say38."
The phrase "criminal operations" has been interpreted as abortions, although, in his confession to
the murder of Anna Betz, "operation" could also have meant "criminal venture."
At 10:13 a.m., H.H. Holmes was hung. He took fifteen minutes to die.
Frank Geyer, Philadephia detective.
The more kick-ass mustache always wins.
****
This research has been undertaken for my recent novel, A Predatory Mind.
A Predatory Mind
by Martin Hill Ortiz
Stalked by a killer.
Eight intelligent people are locked in an abandoned library, one is a murderer.
They believe by using reason, they can identify the killer.
They believe by not taking risks, they will be safe.
They are wrong.
A Predatory Mind is a thriller imagining the consequences of a meeting between the eccentric
inventor, Nikola Tesla and the notorious serial killer, Henry H. Holmes.
In the 1890s, Tesla employed an invention to examine Holmes' mind. To his horror, Tesla
realized he not only read the thoughts of Holmes, but received a part of his personality. The
inventor halted his experiments, sealing his journals.
More than a century later, Dr. Gordon Rickert, an unprincipled scientist, is recruited to replicate
the research. Soon he and his colleagues discover that Tesla's device has more purposes and
dangers than they had imagined. During their investigations they resurrect a long dead evil.
Trying to undo the damage, they agree to lock themselves in together. Being killed off one by
one, the investigators must determine who among them is harboring a predatory mind.
A Predatory Mind is available from Loose Leaves Publishing for ordering in soft cover or
electronic editions.
For more information on A Predatory Mind, Tesla and Holmes, visit www.apredatorymind.com
For the prologue and first two chapters, visit:
http://www.apredatorymind.com/A_Predatory_Mind_the_first_three_chapters_.html
****
References, Notes and Citations
Notes on Sources.
Evaluating Holmes' tales of murders entails sorting truth from fantasy. Whenever possible, I tried
to find contemporary newspaper sources to evaluate the alleged events, however, the news
stories were often responsible for fictions of their own. Several non-fiction books have been
written about him. Schecter's "Depraved" (reference 10, others) is a florid recreation of the story
of Holmes, but does represent a good presentation of his legend. Larsen's "The Devil in the
White City (reference 12, others)" includes some of the necessary scholarly footnotes for sorting
matters out. Adam Selzer has written a series of treatises (reference 14, others) on matters
relating to Holmes which cite and sometimes include the original sources. Ultimately, in his
autobiography and confession, Holmes often has both the first word and the last word regarding
his crimes.
a. Holmes' Own Story in which the Alleged Multi Murderer and Arch Conspirator Tells of The
Twenty-Two Tragic Deaths and Disappearances In which He is Said to be Implicated.
Philadelphia. Burk & McFetridge Co. 1895.
b. Holmes Confesses 27 Murders. The Most Awful Story of Modern Times Told by the Fiend in
Human Shape. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, April 12, 1896. Copyright 1896 by WR
Hearst and James Elverson, Jr.
1. As to whether Holmes had three or four wives, his marriage to Minnie Williams is disputable
inasmuch as it was never registered. At the time of Holmes arrest in November, 1894, Clara
Mudgett was contacted by the press and added some details to their life together. She mentioned
spending a year at Ann Arbor helping raise money for Holmes' tuition. She didn't see him again
until just before his arrest.
2. More About Holmes. A Medical Student in Michigan. Evansville Courier, November 23,
1894.
3. While Holmes denied being involved in grave-robbing while at the University of Michigan, he
may also have been the source of these rumors. When he described obtaining corpses for
insurance swindles, a practice which he engaged in with a fellow medical student, in some
reports, he said he undertook this scheme while still in medical school. e.g., Holmes's Crimes.
Rockford, Illinois Daily Register Gazette, July 17, 1895.
4. Although Holmes is sometimes described as America's First Serial Killer, for one year
beginning on December 30th, 1884, San Antonio, Texas was terrorized by "The Servant Girl
Annihilator." Could he have been this killer? Holmes personality makes it facile to think so and
one author claims Holmes was also Jack the Ripper. The time from his graduation in 1884 until
mid-1886 while Holmes was in and out of Mooers, NY and traveling to a half-dozen cities is one
of his least defined periods of his life. The July 31, 1895 NewYork Times article cited
immediately below suggests he was finished with his school teaching in Mooers by the time of
Blaine's defeat in the November 1884 elections.
5. A Boy Holmes's First Victim. He Was in the Swindler's Service in Clinton County, N.Y. New
York Times, July 31, 1895.
6. Part of His Life. The Now Famous Mudgett Tells of His Crimes. Evansville Courier,
November 21, 1894.
7. University Notes. Ann Arbor Courier, June 25, 1884.
8. Personals. Ann Arbor Courier, June 29, 1887.
9. University Palladium, Volume 25, 1883-1884, Ann Arbor, Michigan. In Holmes' Own Story,
he mentions a lifelong friend from Canada he met while in medical school. "About this time I
first became acquainted with a Canadian, a fellow student, and from then until the time of his
death he was one of the very intimate friends I have ever allowed myself." According to the
Palladium, Leacock is from Watford, Ontario. Other contemporary reports identify the medical
student who collaborated with Holmes as "Cummings" (Crimes of Holmes Stand Without
Parallel in History. Kalamazoo Gazette, December 7, 1894) and, currently living in New York
City (Crime Is His Passion. New York Herald, November 25, 1894).
The General Catalogue Officers and Students 1837-1890 Ann Arbor, Mich. and its 1901 update
presents the whereabouts or fates of alumni. Between these two references, all of the '84 medical
school graduates are accounted for, with four dying before 1890. Although Canadians
represented only five of the 1884 graduates, two died before 1890, Leacock and James Glidden
Vining. Another Canadian medical student, George Stanley Gould, died within a week of
graduating in 1883.
10. As recounted in Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. Harold
Schechter. Copyright 1994. New York: Pocket Books. Page 12.
11. Myrta Belknap remained loyal to her husband up to the time of execution, claiming she
couldn't believe he committed the crimes. Interestingly, Holmes was born in Belknap County,
New Hampshire.
12. The Devil in the White City. Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.
Erik Larson Copyright 2003. Vintage Books, Random House. Page 44.
13. The Doctor and the Detective: A Biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Martin Booth.
copyright 1997, Thomas Dunne Books.
14. The Three Confessions of HH Holmes. Adam Selzer. September 2012.
15. The genealogy site Worldfamilies.net includes these bits of information:
Dr. Thomas Russell, b 25Feb1861 Alton, Peel Co ON, CA. d 15Oct1953 Grand Rapids, MN.
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/russell/pats
In a personal communication, Dr. Russell's grandson, also a doctor, said his grandfather "did live
in Chicago before going to Minnesota. He said Chicago was to [sic] rough."
16. Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. Harold Schechter.
Copyright 1994. New York: Pocket Books. pp. 41-46.
17. The Three Confessions of HH Holmes. Adam Selzer. September 2012.
18. Cole's Disappearance. A Lumberman Who Was Summoned to Chicago by Holmes. Los
Angeles Herald, July 29, 1895. I believe Milford Cole existed. John C. Allen gave many specific
details about him while seeking a pardon in exchange for testimony: a poor strategy if such a
person could easily be proven to not exist. Of course, Cole may have still been alive, Allen did
not claim to witness his death in person.
19. Pat Quinlan Sues for Damage. Daily Illinois State Journal. September 17, 1895.
20. Mrs. Quinlan Loses the Suit. Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, April 21, 1897.
21. Daily Illinois State Journal, Springfield, Illinois. July 28, 1895.
22. Five Victims Alive. Confession is Alleged to Be Untrue. Rockford Republic, April 13, 1896.
23. Soup Bones Dug Up, Daily Illinois State Journal, Springfield, Illinois July 28, 1895.
24. As quoted in: Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. Harold
Schechter. Copyright 1994. New York: Pocket Books. Page 54. Although it is keeping in
character with Holmes to invent names for an upcoming marriage, another version of the story is
that Holmes killed both Cigrand and her fiance.
25. Holmes List of Victims. Rock Island Argus, April 14, 1896.
26. Among Illinois papers, the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean printed the confession. While rival
newspapers assailed the credibility of the confession, the Daily Inter Ocean defended it. The
April 15, 1896 headline read: Envious Rivals Attack Holmes Confession. [We] Cannot Find a
Flaw.
27. Miss Gertie Conner's Death. Neuralgia of the Heart Was the Cause of Her Demise. Chicago
Daily Inter Ocean, July 22, 1895.
28. Alive and Kicking. Miss Kate Durkee Nails One of Holmes' Lies. The Wichita Daily Eagle,
April 15, 1896, Page 2. Originally alleged to be a victim, by the time of Holmes confession, Kate
Durkee's murder had long since been refuted. The Chicago Daily Inter Ocean would have been
aware of this and in this section, they ran Holmes' confession naming only Kate --- of Omaha.
The next day, their paper defended the confession saying it never claimed Kate Durkee was
dead.
29. The Devil in the White City. Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.
Erik Larson. Copyright 2003. Vintage Books, Random House. Page 205.
30. Administrator's Notices. Leadville Daily and Evening Chronicle. February 6, 1893, Page 4.
31. Holmes married Georgiana Yoke using the name Henry Mansfield Howard. Using a variety
of names was one means Holmes employed to keep his wives from learning about one another.
From Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. Schechter, H.
Copyright 1994. New York: Pocket Books. Page 77.
32. Letter, Alice Pitezel, dated September 20, 1894 as presented in The Holmes-Pitezel Case. A
History of the Greatest Crime of the Century and of the Search for the Missing Pitezel Children
by Detective Frank P. Geyer of the Bureau of Police, Department of Public Safety, of the City of
Philadelphia. A True Detective Story. Publishers' Union copyright 1896, p. 353.
33. Letter, Alice Pitezel, dated October 14, 1894, ibid, pages 264-5.
34. Ibid.
35. Part of His Life. The Now Famous Mudgett Tells of His Crimes. Evansville Courier,
November 21, 1894.
36. Mudgett's Early Life. Wilkes-Barre Times, November 21, 1894.
37. With his murderous bent, an abundance of opportunity and his complete unreliability in
recounting his story the question of the true number of Holmes' victims remains open. Holmes
combined a variety of methods popular among serial killers: he was a "Bluebeard," a poisoner,
and killed for profit. The newspaper accounts named many more missing who were not
mentioned in Holmes' confession.
38. Holmes Cool to the End. Under the Noose He Says He Only Killed Two Women. New York
Times, May 8, 1896.
1884 Graduating class of University of Michigan Medical School. Along with Mudgett and
Leacock, there was someone named George S. Hatch. He went on to be arrested for
counterfeiting in Boston in 1904.