Herman Webster Mudgett, (May 16, 1861-May 7, 1896) also known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, H.H. Holmes, was one of the first documented serial killers in the modern sense of the word. Holmes confessed to killing twenty-seven people although only nine were confirmed. Holmes was known for constructing a "murder castle", a mixed use building, located three miles west of the location of the 1893 Chicago's World Fair. H.H. Holmes committed the majority of his known crimes at the building often enticing well to do businessmen under the guise of a real estate investment. Holmes, while in school to become a doctor, often illegally acquired and sold bodies to fund his schooling. Moreover, he was a con man engaging in insurance fraud (sometimes unsuccessfully) to make money and purchase land.
Henry Howard Holmes, born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, entered the University of Michigan Department of Medicine and Surgery in 1882 graduating in June of 1884. During school Holmes worked in the Anatomy Lab and for the Chief Anatomy Demonstrator. Rumors among students swirled that not all cadavers were acquired legally. Holmes, also apprenticed under Dr. Nahum Wright a noted advocate of human dissection. Later, while a murder suspect, Holmes admitted using bodies to defraud life insurance companies in college. So early in life Holmes had established himself as a successful con artist. After becoming estranged from his first wife, Clara Lovering, in 1884, Holmes moved to Mooers Fork, New York. During the time he lived there a rumor spread that a little boy who had been seen with the Doctor had gone missing. H.H. Holmes quickly left town and headed to Philadelphia.
Making Connections
Dr. Henry Howard Holmes arrived in Chicago it seems in August of 1886. There he met Elizabeth Holton, who owned a drugstore, and she gave Holmes a job there on the corner of south Wallace Avenue and West 63rd Street. H.H. Holmes was considered a good worker by Holton later purchasing the drugstore. Holmes purchased an empty lot across the street the land to build the infamous Chicago "murder castle" in July 1888. Holmes ran into problems refusing to pay architects and builders and there were claims that unpaid for supplies were stowed away in hidden rooms and passages. Construction did not begin on the building until spring of 1889 and the third floor hotel portion (added in 1892) was never finished or used as a hotel.
There is no record of Holmes being in Chicago during the winter of 1888. The "canonical five" were the five widely believed Jack the Ripper victims beginning on August 31, 1888. The hunting ground for Jack the Ripper was the Whitechapel neighborhood, in the East End of London. H.H. Holmes has a connection to the Whitechapel area. Holmes friend, Edmund Buckley, (whom Holmes attended the University of Michigan with) came from a wealthy Whitechapel family. Buckley and Holmes often ran insurance scams selling corpses to medical facilities. According to census records Holmes had a residence in Whitechapel. After trying to sell a body to a local hospital a formal complaint was filed against him placing him in the area around the time of the murders.
In 2006 Scotland Yard and the British News created a composite sketch of "Jack the Ripper" from thirteen eyewitness accounts transcribed at the time. Although mustaches were prevalent on many men at the time Jack and Holmes resemble each other in the face, nose, facial hair, and the ages are similar. One witness stated the Ripper "looked like a foreigner." Secondly, there is hand writing analysis brought forth by Jeff Mudgett the great-great- grandson of H.H. Holmes. He was writing a book on the subject, (so you have to factor that in) however, Jack the Ripper's "Dear Boss" letter matched samples of Holmes handwriting when tested by an expert from the British Library. The letter is almost universally accepted as being written by Jack the Ripper. In the letter the killer references cutting off the ear of a victim. On September 30, 1888, the body of Catherine Eddowes was found with one earlobe severed. The letter wasn't published until after Eddowes body was found. Supposedly, Mudgett sent the letters for computer analysis which showed there was a 97% chance the "Dear Boss" letter and samples from Holmes Diary were written in the same hand.
The proof is allegedly in Holmes Diary which haven't been yet turned over or released by the family. Holmes could have orchestrated the Ripper murders to distract the public from his goal of targeting wealthy women for a "youth serum" figuring their organs would be in better condition. H.H. Holmes certainly was a ruthless killer who possessed the anatomical knowledge to commit the Ripper killings. Until his writings are made public and whereabouts can be proven with evidence, through documents, it remains just a theory. However, it makes for interesting research and reading.
