Dr. Henry Howard Holmes: Serial Killers

Time is a precious thing. It is what some want more of and what some want to stop or end in an instant. It is what some use for good and what some use for evil. In the late 1800’s, within a span of 3 years, it was what one man used to torture and kill up to 200 people. One man with no compassion or remorse. One man who is one of America’s first known serial killers. This is the story of Herman Webster Mudgett, or more famously known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes; but his story does not begin there.

Holmes was born on May 16th, 1861, in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He was the middle child of a grim postmaster and devoutly religious mother, born in a wealthy family and enjoyed a privileged childhood. From a young age, Holmes was unusually intelligent.

He studied medicine at a small school in Vermont before being accepted into the University of Michigan Medical School. While enrolled in medical school, Holmes began his trail of deception which would lead to torture, murder, and an on-the-run fraud spree. Holmes would steal cadavers from the laboratory, burn or disfigure them, and carefully plant the bodies so it would appear as if they were killed in an accident. Before planting the bodies, he would take out life insurance policies on them, and collect money once the bodies were

Henry Howard Holmes. When the owner of the drugstore passed away, he left his wife to take over the responsibilities. Holmes convinced the widow to let him buy the store; but soon after, she went missing and was never seen again. Holmes claimed that she moved to California, but that could never be verified. Once Holmes was the owner of the pharmacy, he purchased an empty lot across the street; which would eventually come to be known as his murder castle. Holmes designed a 3-story hotel, which the neighborhood called the ‘castle’. During its 1889 construction, he hired and fired several construction crews, so no one would have a clear understanding of what he was doing; designing the infamous murder castle. In 1891, construction was complete, and Holmes began his blood-curdling nightmare right away. He placed ads in newspapers offering jobs for young women and advertised the castle as a place of lodging. Holmes also placed ads presenting himself as a wealthy man looking for a wife; but he was looking for something much more sinister than