This is the man who Evan Peters' American Horror Story: Hotel character was based off... In reality, H. H. Holmes was way more terrifying and conniving than James Marsh could ever be. America's first true serial killer wasn't even interesting in the killing, but more so making easy money in gruesome ways...
Most Prolific Serial Killer
H. H. Holmes is best known for his bizarre antics in downtown Chicago. He was known around town as a con artist and serial bigamist. He always ran parallel to the law, so why did it take so long for him to get caught murdering innocent people?
Sneaky Ways
Assuming that Holmes was a sociopath would be an understatement. He was extremely charming and cunning, which is how he usually ended up evading the law (despite having 50 lawsuits on his tail!)
Weirdly Normal Childhood
In order to understand a serial killer, looking into their childhood is usually a good place to start. Holmes was born in 1861 in New Hampshire. His parents were hard-working farmers who did everything they could to give their six children a healthy life.
Lies
Despite people saying that his father was abusive and Holmes liked to torture animals, that was not the case. Folks who knew the family heard of no such thing. In fact, the family were practicing Methodists and were very well-known in the community.
No Signs Leading Up to Murders
Usually, serial killers will suffer some sort of trauma in order for them to become who they were. Whether it was abusive parents or a horrific accident, psychologists can usually pinpoint what went wrong in their childhood. Holmes was different… Everything seemed normal.
Moving On
He graduated high school when he was 16 and became a teacher in Alton. In 1878, he married Clara Lovering and had a son with her in 1880. Their son, Robert, lived a normal life and ended up becoming a public accountant in Orlando, Florida.
Going to School For Surgery
This is where things start to get a little fishy. He ended up going to medical school to specialize in surgery and dissection. At one point, he was even training under a top surgeon and had special access to all cadavers on campus…
Separation
Holmes and his wife had a tumultuous relationship. Clara ended up moving back to New Hampshire after citing abuse at the hands of Holmes. This decision probably ended up saving her life. They never ended up getting a divorce.
Moving to Philly
Holmes ended up moving to Philadelphia and got a job at a hospital, which he quickly quit. Then, he got a job at a drugstore nearby. Then, his first possible murder took place…
A Young Boy
Holmes was accused of killing a young boy who had purchased medicine from there. Holmes quickly denied the accusations but wasn’t planning on sticking around to find anything else out. He ended up leaving Philly and moving to Chicago under a different name... Totally not suspicious!
A New Victim
After he moved to Chicago, he ended up marrying his second wife, Myrta. He ended up having a daughter with her, who also grew up having a generally normal life. She became a school teacher. His infidelity and scamming didn’t end there…
One Last Wife
While Holmes was living with Myrta and their daughter in Illinois, he ended up marrying his third and final wife, Georgiana. Most people believe that he was doing this in order to get life insurance money when they died… Something must have gone wrong along the way since he never ended up killing his wives or children.
The Murder Castle
Contrary to popular belief, Holmes never actually ran a hotel. He ended up purchasing property across the street from where he worked at a Chicago drugstore. Then, he added onto it and made it commercial. The third floor was supposed to be a working hotel, but it never was.
What Was His Plan?
At this point, historians can agree that Holmes was more money-driven than murder-driven. He basically decked out this place to be an insurance fraud dungeon. He even scammed contractors and furniture companies while making the place!
Soundproof Everything
The first level was a variety of shops and pharmacies. The second was basically his torture room… Soundproof walls, secret chutes, and heavy-duty lockable doors. The third floor was the apartments that were supposed to be hotel rooms but that neve came to fruition.
The Basement
The real stuff happened in the basement… The chutes that he equipped lead from the second floor all the way down to the basement and certain chutes would empty into a vat of acid. There was even a crematorium so he could get rid of the bodies.
The Victims
One of his first recorded murder victims was his mistress, Julia Smythe, and her daughter, Pearl. The two vanished on Christmas Eve in 1891. Holmes claimed that Julia died during an abortion, but the truth has never been found out.
Many Women
After that, another apparent mistress went missing. Emeline Cigrande was working on the building in 1892 and vanished later that same year. Edna Van Tassel was another woman who also vanished without a trace after working for Holmes.
Getting a Sidekick
Naturally, he had to have a right-hand man to help him with all of the dirty work. He met Benjamin Pitezel on the job. Pitezel was a carpenter who helped build the Murder Castle and the two clicked. Holmes basically used him for everything... From disposing the bodies to finding the victims to upkeep on the apartments!
Long Con
The two ended up swindling a young girl named Minnie Wiliams into signing her properties over to them. Apparently, she was planning on marrying Holmes before she vanished. Her sister, Annie, also went missing around the same time.
Trying To Get More Money
Holmes basically committed every act of fraud under the sun. He tried to swindle insurance companies by faking his death and other people's deaths who were also in on the plan, including Pitezel.
The Plan With Pitezel Did Him In
In the plan, his sidekick was going to fake his death and they were going to split the money. Holmes even found a cadaver for the job… Instead, Holmes decided to actually murder his right-hand-man.
Swindling His Wife
After all of that, Holmes was able to get custody of three of his victim’s children, too. Yes, he ended up killing them, too.
Time Was Catching Up
Holmes was getting lazy with covering up his antics, and many police officers were hot on his tracks. At this time, Holmes was up in Toronto, but that didn’t make him unfindable…
Philly Gets Him Back
Little did he know that Philadelphia detectives were the ones chasing him down. They were the ones who found the young girls in Toronto. He was arrested by them in Boston under the suspicion of the murders of the three children.
The Fraud Didn’t End There, Somehow
Even after he was arrested, he was still swindling people. He ended up telling a newspaper that he killed over 27 people… In exchange, they gave him $7,500. Turns out, that was a bald-faced lie, and most of the people he said he killed were still alive.
Never a Straight Story
Before, Holmes seemed to be calm, cool and collected. Now that he was in the spotlight, he was making up stories left and right and even saying that he was possessed by the devil. It made it hard to figure out what the truth was.
Sentenced to Death
Holmes was sentenced to death for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. It was also widely accepted that he killed the three children, but he was never charged for it.
Execution
He was hanged on May 7th, 1896 at Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia. Even until the end, he was calm and collected and didn't show any signs of fear. He wanted his coffin to be buried in cement 10 feet deep so that people won’t try and steal his organs. When he was hanged, he was alive for 15 and ultimately suffocated to death.
2017
Over 100 years later, he is still a notable figure. In 2017, there were claims that he actually escaped death and continued his crimes. The city opted to exhume his body, and when they did, his clothes were totally intact… Same with his mustache. After examining his teeth, they were able to confirm that it was Holmes who had died that day. And, no, he wasn’t Jack the Ripper.