Herman Webster Mudgett: The Serial Killer Of H. Holmes

Herman Webster Mudgett, most commonly known as H. H. Holmes, was one of the very first documented serial killers. He was born in Gilmanton New Hampshire on May 16, 1861 where he lived with his parents and his three other siblings. Despite his father being a violent alcoholic, he was known to excel in school which also lead to bullying of jealous classmates. In an attempt to scare him, his classmates would force him into a local doctor’s office and make him stand face to face with a human skeleton; placing the hands on his face. Instead of remaining frightened, he became fascinated with the experience and believed that it actually cured his fears. Soon after, he became obsessed with death and began dissecting animals. Approximately two years …show more content…
Holton’s drugstore at the northwest corner of South Wallace Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood. She gave Holmes a job, after he proved to be hardworking, and eventually took his offer to sell it when her husband died. Holton was never heard from or seen again and whenever customers asked Holmes about her disappearance, he would tell them that she moved to California to be close to her family. He purchased an empty lot across from the drugstore where he built his three-story hotel, quickly being named The Castle by locals. Holmes named it the World’s Fair Hotel; the upper two floors contained for his personal office, oddly-angled hallways, stairways leading to nowhere and doors that could only be opened from the outside. During his construction he fired and hired multiple people in order for them to remain clueless on the true nature of the hotel …show more content…
“A few of them were locked in soundproof bedrooms fitted with gas lines that activated at his control, others were taken to the second floor which was known as the hanging chamber and some of them were locked in a huge soundproof bank vault near his office where he would leave them to suffocate. There was also a secret room sealed fully in solid brick that could only be entered through by a trapdoor in the ceiling, Holmes would lock his victims in this room for days to die of hunger and thirst.” (1) In hopes for security, he installed a unique alarm system to all the doors on the upper floors to alert him whenever someone was walking around the hotel. Victims bodies were put inside a metal chute leading to the basement where some were dissected, stripped of flesh, crafted into skeleton models and then sold to medical school (not being an issue with his connection in medical school). Holmes also buried some of the bodies in lime pits for disposal, he also had two giant furnaces used to incinerate the evidence; as well as pits of corrosive acid, bottles of various poisons and stretching