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| Full Name: | Herman Webster Mudgett |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Caucasian |
| Birth: | May 16, 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, United States |
| Death: | May 7, 1896 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States - Age 34 |
| Cause of Death: | Execution by hanging in prison |
| Nicknames: | Arch Fiend / Dr. Death / Torture Doctor |
| Murder Toll: | 15+ murdered victims (possibly 100's) - (claimed 27) |
| Murder Time Frame: | 1880's-1894 / Age ?? at first murder, 33 at last murder |
| Murder Locations: | Canada - Toronto, Ontario / United States - Chicago, Illinois / Indianapolis, Indiana / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Preferred Prey: | Acquaintances and his hotel guests |
| Modus Operandi: | Bludgeoning, burning, poisoning, gassing, suffocation, dismemberment |
| Victim Disposal: | Burned some victims in his furnace, buried some in cellars, hid one victim in a chimney, placed some in acid and lime, defleshed some and sold their skeletons to medical schools |
| Signature: | Used the alias "Dr. Harry Howard Holmes" (Dr. H. H. Holmes), rigged his hotel with trapdoors and tortured/murdered his guests who were visiting the 1893 Chicago World's Fair |
| Trophies: | Money, skeletons |
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 ????? Holton Female - Age 63 Death: 1880's |
Emeline Cigrand Female - Age ?? Death: 1890's |
Jennie Thompson Female - Age 17 Death: 1890's |
Pansy Lee Female - Age ?? Death: 1890's |
Kate Gorkey Female - Age ?? Death: 1890's |
 Wilfred Cole Male - Age ?? Death: 1890's |
 Julia Conner Female - Age ?? Death: 1891 |
 Pearl Conner Female - Age 3 Death: 1891 |
Harry Walker Male - Age ?? Death: 1893 |
Nettie Williams Female - Age ?? Death: 1893 |
 Minnie Williams Female - Age ?? Death: 1893 |
 Benjamin Pitezel Male - Age ?? Death: September 1894 |
 Howard Pitezel Male - Age 8 Death: October 1894 |
 Nellie Pitezel Female - Age 11 Death: Oct/Nov 1894 |
 Alice Pitezel Female - Age 15 Death: Oct/Nov 1894 |
"The Castle." - What he called his three-story, maze-like hotel in Chicago, where he tortured and killed many of his unknown victims.
It was a wicked and dangerous thing to do to a child of tender years and health.
- What he wrote about an experience as a child when some older boys forced him into a doctor's office and made him go face-to-face with a skeleton.
But from my sight it has never passed, nor has there been a day, an hour, since that awful night that I would not have given my life if by doing so that of Nettie Williams could have been returned.
- What he wrote about the murder of victim Nettie Williams, when he placed blame on her sister (victim Minnie Williams) for her death.
In conclusion, I wish to say that I am but a very ordinary man... and to have planned and executed the stupendous amount of wrongdoing that has been attributed to me would have been wholly beyond my power.
- What he wrote, claiming to be innocent.
I was born with the Evil One as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world. It now seems a fitting time, if ever, to make known the details of the twenty-seven murders, of which it would be useless to longer say I am not guilty.
- What he wrote after receiving the death penalty, claiming to be guilty of 27 murders.
...thus branding myself as the most detestable criminal of modern times.
- What he wrote after receiving the death penalty, claiming to be guilty of 27 murders.
I have become afflicted with that dread disease, rare but terrible... a malformation... My head and face are gradually assuming an elongated shape. I believe fully that I am growing to resemble the devil - that the similitude is almost completed.
- What he wrote while in prison.
After that, she was immediately killed in order that no one in or about the Castle should know of her having been there save the man who burned her clothing.
- What he later wrote about the murder of victim Nettie Williams.
This is the saddest and most heinous of any of my crimes.
- What he wrote about trying to implicate victim Minnie Williams for the murders of her sister (victim Nettie Williams) and the Pitezel family.
I left the house, without the slightest feeling of remorse for my terrible acts.
- What he wrote about how he felt after killing victim Benjamin Pitezel.
For eight years before their deaths I had been almost as much a father to them as though they had been my own children.
- What he wrote about victims Nellie and Alice Pitezel.
"Of course it is not true, but the newspapers want a sensation and they got it." - What he said about his written confession not being true.
"Take your time, don't bungle it." - What he said to the executioner before he was hanged.
 Devil's Disciple The Deadly Dr. H.H. Holmes Author: Judy Miller Snavely Pub. Year: 2006 |
 The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes Author: John Borowski Pub. Year: 2005 |
 The Devil in the White City Author: Erik Larson Pub. Year: 2004 |
 Depraved The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes Author: Harold Schechter Pub. Year: 2004 |
 The Beast of Chicago The Murderous Career of H.H. Holmes Author: Rick Geary Pub. Year: 2003 |
 The Scarlet Mansion Author: Allan W. Eckert Pub. Year: 2000 |
 The Torture Doctor Author: David Franke Pub. Year: 1975 |
 The Girls in Nightmare House Author: Charles Boswell Pub. Year: 1955 |
 The Holmes-Pitezel Case Author: Frank P. Geyer Pub. Year: 1896 |
 Holmes' Own Story Author: H. W. Mudgett Pub. Year: 1895 |
 The Holmes Castle Author: Robt L. Corbitt Pub. Year: 1895 |
 A&E - Biography H. H. Holmes Genre: Documentary Release Year: 2008 |
 H.H. Holmes America's First Serial Killer Genre: Documentary Director: John Borowski Release Year: 2004 |
