Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as H.H. Holmes, was a con artist and bigamist who was one of America's first serial killers in the 19th century. Holmes is believed to have killed somewhere between 20 and 200 people. Even though this is the statement given, Holmes is linked to only nine murders. He killed many of his victims in a specially constructed home, which he had found soon after moving to Chicago and was later nicknamed the "Murder Castle." This house was unlike any other, a three-story building that looked up the entire block of 63rd and Wallace streets. It is said that rooms would have no doors and doors would not have rooms.
The victims of his choice were young female drifters searching for a new exciting life in the big city. There were some known and assumed.
The Pitezel Family were the known victims of Holmes: Father Ben and his three children, daughters Alice and Nellie, and little son Howard. The family was killed during the fall of 1894. Instead of using a cadaver, Holmes used former business partner Ben as part of his insurance fraud scheme. Holmes knocked Ben out and killed him by setting him on fire.
The victims of his choice were young female drifters searching for a new exciting life in the big city. There were some known and assumed.
The Pitezel Family were the known victims of Holmes: Father Ben and his three children, daughters Alice and Nellie, and little son Howard. The family was killed during the fall of 1894. Instead of using a cadaver, Holmes used former business partner Ben as part of his insurance fraud scheme. Holmes knocked Ben out and killed him by setting him on fire.