H. Holmes Encounter: America's First Serial Killer

The legendary fictional character Sherlock Holmes was constructed by a basis of a French criminal expert and a famous police investigator. He is known for his prowess in perception and analysis. On the other hand, Holmes sympathy towards people is near absent. Holmes loves to breakdown the story of each person he comes in contact with it. However, he does make a mistake occasionally. Although, there are many positive representations of Holmes, the Downey-Holmes is the best.

Understanding and analyzing past serial killers motives is a vital part in stopping future killing sprees. H.H. Holmes and Dr. Harold Shipman, both considered as two of the most prolific serial killers, share many common behaviors that are necessary to be investigated. From childhood through adulthood, Holmes and Shipman are very similar when it comes to experiences, traits, motives, etc. Erik Larson, in The Devil In The White City, develops H.H. Holmes character through describing his unique attributes, which gives an inside look on why Holmes was motivated to kill so many people. Knowing H.H. Holmes motives is crucial in order to stop future serial killers from evading the police for so long like Dr. Harold Shipman.

Larson uses extreme detail to make the reader fully understand the evil in Holmes and gain a grasp of Holmes’s mind and inner thoughts. Holmes “admitted to killing 27 people” however, there is no proven number. He at least murdered 9 people but estimates range as high as 200.This means that his violence was not limited to a certain number of people there is a high range of doubt to who died by Holmes’s hand . Next we see the distortion within holmes. He describes himself as “ believing that he is resembling the devil” this further adds to his earlier point of him being “born with the devil inside him”.(109)This further proves the issues holmes has mentally.

Erick Larson wrote in Devil in the White City, “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 in the world, and he has been with me since” (Troy, Taylor). This statement was a quoted confession from Dr. H. H. Holmes himself in 1896. Holmes was the first major serial killer in America, even though he came after many others in his time. Thomas Neil Cream, the Austin Axe Murderer, the Bloody Benders, and Jack the Ripper came before him. His name was originally Herman Webster Mudgett. He was born on May 16th, 1860 in Gilman, New Hampshire. He was raised by his mother

Considered America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes demised a plan like no other to torture and kill woman in the early 1890’s in Chicago, Illinois (H.H. Holmes, 2004). Masquerading as a charismatic prominent businessman, and caring doctor, H.H. Holmes was a true monster (H.H. Holmes, 2004). Known later as the “torture doctor” or the “monster of 63rd street”, he methodically planned, attacked, and controlled his victims till the very end (H.H. Holmes, 2004).

Let us begin with Holmes. Holmes lived in Chicago and owned a pharmacy. He had medical training and loved money and women (Larson 36-37). He was able to smooth talk and gave people a sense of happiness. Holmes could convince people of anything, which he used as a way to sell stories as to why the people he killed had just disappeared. He also used this in constructing his building/hotel. He barely paid a dime because he convinced workers that their job was unsatisfactory (Larson 67). The furniture companies would come looking for H. S. Campbell, the alias he used as the owner of the building, and he would tell them he was out on business (Larson 71-72). A man named Belknap, the uncle of one of Holmes’s three wives, described him as “warm and ingratiating, but also telegraph that some important element of humanness is missing”. For a long time this was known as “moral insanity” and later the term psychopath was used (Larson 87-88). Holmes himself was intrigued by Jack the Ripper (Larson 70).

H.H Holmes was not only “one of the first documented serial killers,” he lured dozens of innocent people into his “murder castle” where he performed cruel and disgusting acts on his victims. Holmes admitted to 27 murders but it is estimated that he was responsible for nearly 200. Holmes was an incredibly intelligent child with a seemingly normal childhood. What had happened to him to turn such a promising child into such a greedy and nefarious fiend.

According to Darcia Helle, in her blog titled The Monstrous H.H. Holmes and His Murder Castle Inc., throughout the construction of his hotel, Holmes formed a relationship with the carpenter, Benjamin Pitezel. Together, Pitezel and Holmes came up with an interesting life insurance scam. While it seemed to work out, Holmes eventually turned on his partner and killed Benjamin Pitezel. Following his criminal pattern, he took out a life insurance policy on Pitezel prior to his death. Due to the insurance companies increased suspicion, a detective was hired to look up who had taken out the insurance money, and this is where Holmes is first found and caught. At first, Holmes was only charged with life insurance fraud. The police did not yet know the extent of his criminal record. However, according to the online article by the National Museum of Crime & Punishment, when Holmes was arrested he appeared as if he was ready to flee the country, which furthermore increased the suspicion of police (H.H. Holmes, 2015). This increased suspicion led to the search of Holmes’ Chicago home and the realization that Holmes was more than just an insurance fraud.

Holmes had a very manipulative personality. He used jealousy to get people to do things he didn't want to get caught up in. The major case where he used this method was in the murder of Nannie Williams. At the time, Holmes was apparently married to her sister, Minnie Williams. (The Ogden standard) According to a “Murder Castle” worker, ” “He took particular pains to increase her jealousy to work her up to the point of putting Nannie out of the way.” (Clarke 226) The story goes that Minnie thought Nannie had stolen her husband. She “struck her sister with a small foot-stool”, killing her. (Clarke 227) When H.H. Holmes was accused of murdering Minnie, he blackmailed her by tipping off Robert Corbett, the private detective in favor of Holmes. Corbett then claimed to “have full proof that Nannie Williams was killed by her sister.” (The Dalles daily chronicle) Holmes even blackmailed a train car worker when the worker discovered he was handling a trunk with a dead body inside. Holmes threatened to tell police that the man had “placed the corpse in the trunk”, “hauled it here”, and helped Holmes in his work. (Clarke 225) Holmes’ use of jealousy and blackmail helped him cleverly control those around

And ironically, he wasn’t even arrested for murder but instead insurance fraud. The reason Holmes was able to go all those years without being caught was because of his charm and people skills. When families would write letters to him, he would show sympathy for their loss and offer his help in any way he could. When families would hire private investigators, he would invite them for lunch and use his charm to act like he knew nothing about the disappearances. In some circumstances, he would give a list of friends the young women “said” they were going to visit.

One reason Holmes came to the conclusion of “Doctors [making] the greatest criminals” is they have the nerves for the most brutal crimes. For example Dr. Roylott was able to gruesomely kill his stepdaughter and attempt to kill his other stepdaughter using the exact same technique. Not everyone can be a murderer; Dr. Roylott must have been use to deaths because of his profession so one could assume that the death of his stepdaughter Julia Stoner was not tragic for him but merely just another day at work.

As for the first part of this these questions, I believe that the main root of the murders lie deeply within the incompetence of the Chicago police. Currently, the only ones investigating the whereabouts of these women are private investigators, not the police. Chicago at this time had tens of 1000s of people entering its city, but the fact that three women disappeared from the same apartment complex and no one bats an eye is really puzzling to me. Because of this, I predict that Holmes’ demise will not be brought about by police interference, but rather a private investigator or apartment resident. For the second part of my question, I believe that Holmes’ mental state is beginning to deteriorate. Holmes is using his suave demeanor in order make women fall in love with him so he can do as he

Holmes came to he conclusion that doctors make the best criminals is because doctors have prescriptions and the know the symptoms of what the medication can do you if you take it. Even though the doctors may not get a way with they sometimes do and even if they don't they might not get caught right way they will soon get caught. Doctors have plenty advantages of getting their hands on things and just giving them to people to harm them.

Holmes’ motivation is the fact the he knew the case was easily solvable, and he could be one of high expertise at his position as a detective. The narrator explains his accusation when he says, “Let me introduce you to Mr. Jefferson Hope, the murderer of Enoch Drebber and of Joseph Strangerson,” (Conan Doyle 138). Holmes does this in his provocative way which is both a pro and a con. He knows intuitively that what he is doing will help the case along, but his cowboy approach makes it difficult for him to cooperate with fellow

When someone mentions the occupation of detective, a single image usually comes to mind, a man wearing a cape and deerstalker, holding a magnifying glass and smoking a pipe. This entire image can be contributed to one character: Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is considered by many to be the greatest detective to ever exist, even if he only exists in the pages of books and on movie and television screens. It is impossible to escape the influence of Holmes. Countless references are made to him in all types of media and he is used as an inspiration to may more fictional characters we have all grown to love. The cultural impact of Sherlock Holmes has spread to more than just fiction; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s