H.H.

Holmes
0 Background
TABLE OF
Childhood and what led him to kill CONTENTS
1
0 Murder Castle
Chicago’s first serial crime scene

2
0 Benjamin Pitezel
Accomplice and the man of Holmes’s

3
0
downfall
Alice, Nellie, and Howard
Pitezel
4
Ben Pitezel’s children

0 Arrest and Death

5
 0
Backgroun
1
d
 Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as
Dr. Henry H. Holmes, was the first American
known serial killer of the 19th century.
• He had several nicknames,
• Chicago is the main city that he made
most of his crimes, "Beast of Chicago,“
• During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, he
persuaded victims into his specially
constructed house as a hotel, and killed
many of his victims in this elaborate home,
which was later nicknamed the "Murder
Castle.”
• He was apprehended in 1894, and hanged for
his crimes in 1896.
• In 2003, Erik Larson wrote about Holmes in
his book “The Devil in the White City”, which
was later adapted for a feature movie.
Background
• Holmes’ father was from a farming family and worked as a farmer, trader and house painter.
• Holmes had 4 siblings and he was the middle child.
• Holmes had a very wealthy and reputable family, Especially his father, was a very traditional
and religious man,
• Holmes had suffered abuse at the hands of his violent father since he was a little boy.
• On professional psychologist opinions,

o Religious indoctrination through regular Bible readings can be dangerous to the mental
health of children.

o It is not a coincidence that a number of serial killers had parents with strong
religious convictions that were forced onto them.

o Some religious content can be extremely scary for children.

1877 1878
Holmes graduated Holmes marries
from highschool and Clara Lovering in
took a teaching job Alton and in 1880,
in Gimanton and their son was born
Alton

1882
Holmes enters the
1884
University of Graduated from the
Michigan Univeristy while
Department of working in the
Medicine and anatomy lab
Surgery
 Background cont.
1884 1885 1886
Clara moves to New Mudgett moves to Holmes married
Hampshire due to Chicago and starts Myrta Belkhnap
Mudgett’s violence working as a in Minnesota
towards her and Holmes pharmacist under the
moved to New York after alias of Dr. Henry H.
graduation Holmes
0 Murder Castle
Holmes had a three-story building

2
constructed, with a plethora of
secret passages, hidden basement,
and murder room to create an
elaborate house of horror
• The upper floors contained his living quarters and many small
rooms where he tortured and killed his victims.
• There were also trapdoors and chutes that enabled him Murd
to move the bodies down to the basement, where he
could burn the remains in a kiln or dispose of them in
other ways.
er
• During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, Holmes opened up his
home as a hotel for visitors.
Castl
• Unfortunately, many guests did not survive in what became
known as the "Murder Castle." e
• Many of these victims—no one knows for certain the
total number—were women who were seduced,
swindled and then killed.
• According to Dr. Davies, murder was a business to Holmes.
• Holmes didn’t see this as murder as such, but more like a
business that required a ‘production line.’
• By using thought and intellect rather than pure emotion it is
likely that he was able to convince himself that he was an
entrepreneur, not a cold-blooded murderer.
• Holmes had a habit of getting engaged to a woman, only for
his fiancée to suddenly "disappear."
• Other victims were lured there by the offer of employment.
• Dr. Davies says that Holmes’s ways of polygamy may have
stemmed from a feeling that what he had was not good
enough, so he always attempted for more.
 Interior of
the Murder
Castle
• In the design of his “Castle.”,
He had gas nozzles in the
rooms along with peepholes
to watch his guests' demise.
• Holmes also had a laundry
shoot type contraption to
slide his victims down to the
basement.
• He had all sorts of methods
of murder such as a type of
acid, a kiln, and his own
weapons.
0
Benjamin
3
Pitezel
 Benjamin Pitezel
• While working in the • Holmes used • Holmes had
Chemical Bank Holmes Benjamin as his concocted a plan to
met and became close right-hand man for swindle an insurance
friends with Benjamin several criminal company out of
Pitezel. Holmes came schemes; a district $10,000 by taking
up with the idea for attorney later out a policy on
Pitezel to fake his described Benjamin himself and then
death and Holmes as "Holmes' tool” faking his death.
would collect $10,000
from a life insurance
company.
• However, Holmes • Psychiatrists says that
• While Benjamin was
killed his partner, Holmes killing
hiding, instead of
Benjamin, and after methods progressed in
finding another
telling Mrs. Pitezel severity and intention.
corpse(dead body) to
that her husband was It started out
pretend Benjamin’s
still alive and in motivated by money,
fake death, Holmes
hiding, convinced her but Holmes became
really killed
to let him travel with more interested and
Benjamin.
three of her five involved when he
children, who also started to murder
became his victims. people for “fun.”
0
4
Alice, Nellie, and
Howard Pitezel
 Murder of Alice and
Nellie
Holmes buried their nude bodies Pitezel
in the cellar of his
rental house at 16 St. Vincent Street in Toronto.
He drilled a hole
Holmes and the Holmes would in the lid of the
three Pitezel later confess to trunk and put one
children travelled murdering Alice end of a hose
throughout the and Nellie by through the hole,
northern United forcing them into attaching the
States and into a large trunk and other end to a
Canada. locking them gas line to
inside. asphyxiate the
girls.
 Alice and
Howard
Pitezel
The Murder of the
JANE Pitezel Children
BLOGGS

The Murder of
Howard
Pitezel
The Murder
of Alice and
Nellie Pitezel
• Frank Geyer, a Philadelphia detective tracking
Holmes, found the decomposed bodies of the
two Pitezel girls in the Toronto cellar.
The
• After removing the bodies from their shallow Murder
graves, Geyer noticed that Nellie's feet had
been removed. of
 After discovering that Nellie had club
foot, he theorized that Holmes had cut Howard
off her feet to prevent a distinctive
identification of the body.
Pitezel
• He then followed Holmes to Indianapolis,
where Holmes had rented a cottage.
 Holmes was reported to have visited a
local pharmacy to purchase the drugs
which he used to kill Howard Pitezel, and
a repair shop to sharpen the knives he
used to chop up the body before he
burned it.
• The boy's teeth and bits of bone were
discovered in the home's chimney
The Spade used to bury
Alice and Nellie

Howard Pitezel’s teeth

0
5
 Following the
discovery of Alice and
Nellie's bodies,
Holmes is
Chicago police and
convicted for
reporters began
the murder
investigating Holmes‘s
of Benjamin
"The Castle".
Pitezel
July 15, November
1895 2, 1895
November October May 7,
17, 1894 28, 1895
Holmes was put on trial for
1896
Holmes was hanged
Holmes' murder spree the murder of Benjamin at the Philadelphia
finally ended when he Pitezel, and was found County Prison, for
was arrested in guilty and sentenced to the murder of Pitezel
Boston after being death.
tracked there from
Philadelphia
 Trial of
• Holmes gave various contradictory accounts of
his life, initially claiming innocence and later H.H
that he was possessed by Satan.
• He was an intelligent man with a history of
Holmes
lying and the ability to think up complex
systems of murder. Herman knew what he was
doing
• Before his execution, he was reported to have
been in a jolly mood.
• Just like how Holmes had turned his childhood
bullying from fear to fascination, he was able
to cope with his execution by showing a
fearless, even happy, mood.
• Even up to his death, it was necessary for him
to be the one to control his emotions.
“I was born with the devil in
me. I could not help the fact
that I was a murderer, no
more than the poet can help
the inspiration to sing.
I was born with the evil one
standing as my sponsor
beside the bed where I was
ushered into the world, and
he has been with me since.”
 Holmes claimed credit for the
death of 27 people
But several of them were later
found alive.
“The point is, ladies and
gentlemen, that greed, for a
lack of a better word: is
good.”
 THANK YOU
Do you have any questions?

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