Preview

T. H. Holmes: The First American Serial Killer

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
323 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
T. H. Holmes: The First American Serial Killer
H.H. Holmes is known to be the first American serial killer. Holmes would murder people, mutilate their bodies, and sell their skeletons to science. His most famous work was the “Murder Castle”. His Murder Castle was his very own hotel, which had secret rooms, to kill multiple people in, most were women. The Castle was located in Chicago and gave Holmes a good chance to kill many people in 1893 during the World’s Fair.

Holmes was also a doctor. He studied at the University of Michigan Medical School and got a job at a pharmacy in Chicago. His actual name is Herman Webster Mudgett, but at 16 he changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes. Holmes had at least eight aliases and used them for different crimes at different places. This included the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Jeffrey Dahmer: America's Most Gruesome Serial Killer
    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jeffrey Dahmer: America's Most Gruesome Serial Killer

    Jeffrey Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 21, 1960. No one would have…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Should Jack the Ripper be taught in Ks3 today?
    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Should Jack the Ripper be taught in Ks3 today?

    I am sure you have heard of the unidentified murderer dubbed with the name ‘Jack the Ripper’ who was active around the Whitechapel area of London in 1888. He was well known for killing 5 female prostitutes, the victims were all killed at about the same time and place which led the police to think it was a serial killer.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Marion Hedgepeth Holmes Research Paper
    • 5132 Words
    • 21 Pages

    Marion Hedgepeth Holmes Research Paper

    Schechter describes what the place was like: Holmes’ Castle included soundproof sleeping chambers with peepholes, asbestos-padded walls, gas pipes, sliding walls, and vents that Holmes controlled from another room. Many of the rooms had low ceilings and trapdoors in the floors, with ladders leading to smaller rooms below. The building had secret passages, false floors, rooms with torture equipment, and a specially equipped surgery. There were also greased chutes that emptied into a two-level cellar, in which Holmes had installed a large furnace. There was even an asbestos-lined chamber with gas pipes and evidence of something having been burned inside. It was believed that Holmes placed his chosen victims into the special chambers into which he then pumped lethal gas, controlled from his own bedroom, and then watched them react. Apparently, he gained some fiendish pleasure from this activity. Sometimes he'd ignite the gas to incinerate them, or perhaps even place them on the “elasticity determinator,” an elongated bed with straps, to see how far the human body could be stretched. When finished, he might have slid the corpses down the chutes into his cellar, where vats of acid and other chemicals awaited them. (Many more details about Holmes’ activities here can be found in Schecter’s and Larson’s…

    • 5132 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    H. Holmes's Interest In Medicine
    • 83 Words
    • 1 Page

    H. Holmes's Interest In Medicine

    H. H. Holmes was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire to a privileged, methodist family, his original name being Herman Webster Mudgett. Herman was deemed an intellectual at an early age, expressing interest in medicine. After he graduated highschool at age 16, he went straight to medical school, where he began to steal deceased bodies and used the bodies to make false insurance claims and even experimenting on them. Later when he graduated he moved to Chicago under the false alias Henry H.…

    • 83 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Richard Kuklinski: Serial Killers
    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Richard Kuklinski: Serial Killers

    Richard Kuklinski, a man who has been estimated to have killed over 150 people. However, this is not a man who killed these people in one single act of rage or disparity. No, Richard Kuklinski murdered these 150 people one at a time. Perhaps one of the most famous contract killers in history, Richard Kuklinski, or better known as the Iceman, killed these people during his lifelong career. This paper will delve into Kuklinski’s mind and past to prove that the many circumstances and conditions that Kuklinski was subjected to, led him to become the absolute perfect killing machine. To understand Kuklinski and his actions, it is imperative that one get know him first. Although the famed killer may be dead, it is still possible to examine him through…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Holmes And Jack The Ripper
    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Similarities Between Holmes And Jack The Ripper

    H. Holmes killed between twenty-seven and two hundred people in his lifetime and most of them took place during the time of the Chicago fair. As a resut, it is not hard to believe that Holmes could have committed the Ripper murders as well. One of the similarities between Holmes and Jack the Ripper is that they both had brutal ways of killing. Holmes dissected his victims after gassing them or letting them starve to death. Whereas, the Ripper mutilated his victims. Some people argue that Holmes and the Ripper’s murdering methods were completely different. However, according to Meredith Worthen it is hard to deny the similarities between Holmes and the Ripper when it comes to their brutal and savage ways of…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Killer
    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Killer

    Jeffrey Dahmer was a very well known serial killer in Wisconsin. He is described as a ruthless, evil, cunning, and malicious anti-social being who may look like someone OK on the outside. He was seen as an inviting stranger - friendly and sympathetic - but in reality was the demon - Satan himself - who killed many people.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Richard Chase In Serial Killer History
    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Richard Chase In Serial Killer History

    Since the 1900s, Sacramento,(Capital for California), has been popularity well known for its famous serial killers; One of various which remarked the most, Richard Chase,also known as the vampire of sacramento. With 30 years old of age ,Chase changed serial killer history by just being one of the most youngest and outstanding criminals who showed abnormal characteristics and behaviours.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dennis Rader: Serial Killer
    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dennis Rader: Serial Killer

    One of the first serial killers in America was H. H. Holmes. During the 1893 Columbian Exposition he lured victims in to his elaborate "murder castle"(Tribby 8). It was called the murder castle because this was a hotel that was set up with many…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sherlock Holmes: Modern Day Hero
    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sherlock Holmes: Modern Day Hero

    Sherlock holmes modern day hero or just another frantic vigilante running amok? Does sherlock holmes fit the modern day definition of a hero? What is the true definition of a hero where did the word originate? How does Sherlock behave what are some of his key characteristics? Do the actions and thoughts of Sherlock fulfil the definition of a modern day hero? Although it may seem like an easy answer there is a much deeper side to the man known as sherlock. Some of his actions may not fit a hero's true definition but what is the true definition of a hero?…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Chicago World's Fair Thesis
    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Chicago World's Fair Thesis

    During the summer of 1895, America was held captive by the search for a family of children believed to be kidnapped at best and murdered at worst by H. H. Holmes. At the time of the search, Holmes was sitting in jail in Philadelphia waiting for his trial for the murder of the children's father, Benjamin Pitezel. Hardworking and driven detective Fred Geyer was assigned to the case, and over the course of the season he followed nine hundred leads all across the Midwest. Finally, in September, “a Philadelphia grand jury voted to indict Holmes for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel... Indiana [for] Howard Pitezel.... Toronto [for] Alice and Nellie” (Larson 369). The locations of the murders of Benjamin, Howard, and Alice and Nellie (Philadelphia, Indiana, and Toronto, respectively) are all hundreds of miles apart, and following the trail of a genius criminal between them was no easy feat. Detective Geyer was able to pursue crimes across the continent, exhibiting widespread determination; not only did Geyer never give up, but the Philadelphia Police Department never withdrew him from the field. Everyone involved in Holmes’ case believed that he had to be incarcerated, and as a result no one let the case drop. The nineteenth century was a time when disappearances were of the least concern and cases often went cold if pursued if all. However, the entire nation was entranced by…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Argumentative Essay On H. H Holmes
    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Argumentative Essay On H. H Holmes

    Overall, H. H. Holmes was one of the most dangerous and deranged men in history, being “born with the devil in him,” as he believed. Although only being convicted for one murder, Holmes confessed to killing up to 27 people and is believed to have killed up to 200. Holmes’ life story with the murder castle, his crimes and capture, and trial definitely captures his insanity throughout his…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    HH Holmes
    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages

    HH Holmes

    H.H. Holmes proved his madness in his design of his hotel near the World's Fair in Chicago. He had a litany of evil deeds that would take a lot of lives of innocent people. Holmes’s personality is perfect for someone who could be able to commit murder, someone with, “dark hair, and striking blue eyes” (35). On the surface H.H. Holmes seemed to be a productive member of society. Born and raised in the small state of New Hampshire, he turned his fascination with the human body into a career when he graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1884. Wealthy, well-educated and refined, the young doctor moved to Chicago where he became the owner of a drugstore, and eventually opened a hotel. His design of the building reflected Holmes’s desires to hide bodies, and clothing within the basement of the building to cover his crime. Later, the building was destroyed as a death chamber. Holmes wanted his hotel, “just comfortable enough and cheap enough to lure a certain kind of clientele and convincing enough to justify a large fire insurance policy” (85). He was a total lady-killer. Holmes knew how to make women feel special and knew how to use the greater liberalism of the time by carefully, gently flouting convention, which women away from their homes and families desired: "He stood too close, stared too hard, touched too much and long. And women adore him for it." (5). Even after he was discovered women defended him: "Holmes, she swore, had a gentle heart. He adored children and animals. He was a lover of pets and always had a dog or cat and usually a horse." (6). Holmes could create the appearance of normalcy and charm, despite what slaughter and brutality lurked beneath his lie. He also broken the usual rules that concern how to deal with women in public places, but “women had adored him for it.” (36). His sort of deception would be the first one of his evil deeds; his lustful will for women and his control over them. People…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Serial Killer Typology
    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Serial Killer Typology

    There are four Basic Factors in classification of serial murders. First is behavioral background where Basic sources are looked at sources are important in the origins of multicidal behaviors: persisting culture of violence that is accompanied by continuous change in the nature of society-individual relations. And the other is in patterns of early development and interaction in the family setting, this is the major causes of criminal behavior, motive, and behavior orientation. Next is their victims, these are categorized into traits, selection, and relationship pattern, then methods and patterns are looked at such as process-focused versus the act focused, the planned versus the spontaneous, and the organized event versus the disorganized event, then the locations of murders, whether they are concentrated or dispersed through an area. Finally we look at the four types of serial killers are the Visionary type, the mission-oriented type, the hedonistic type, and the power/control-oriented type.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The 1893 Columbian Exposition
    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The 1893 Columbian Exposition

    On the contrary of Nikola Tesla and the architect’s successes, a less ideal outcome from the fair was that of H.H. Holmes. Before he turned to murder, Holmes was a con man. Using money he swindled from people, he built himself what can be described best as a murder castle. He built this in 1892 by buying out others for the land, just in time for the fairs arrival in 1893.¹³ Alongside many of the intricate buildings made for the fair, Holmes’ structure was imposing.The first floor became a front to appear as shops and businesses while he ran operations inside. On the second floor and in the basement, there were rooms that coined the name “horror chambers”, while the third floor had apartments that got rented out to guests during the…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More