Hump Day Horror


 "The Castle" of H.H. Holmes, one of America's first well-known serial killers.

He was hanged on this day (1896) in Philadelphia, charged with the murder of Benjamin Pitezel.  The exact number of victims is unknown.  

Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 after graduating from the University of Michigan.  He worked in a pharmacy, which he later bought from the owner's widow.  She then disappeared.

After a series of cons, Holmes had enough money to begin work on his home across the street.  He would rent out rooms to young women and tourists, many who went missing.  At this time, he was also selling skeletons to medical schools in the area.

He had dabbled in insurance scams to pay for his education, and he was finally caught when trying to use a corpse for another scam.

The media reported many things about his "Murder Castle" but much of those tales were sensationalized.  While there were some hidden rooms, there was no evidence of torture chambers or trapdoors.  One alleged victim even turned out to be very much alive.

Holmes did confess to multiple murders, claiming he liked to suffocate his victims, but he was also noted to be a pathological liar.

"I was born with the devil in me.  I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing."


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