H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudget) America's First Modern Serial Killer Historical Documents

H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett) America's First Modern Serial Killer Historical Documents 

This collection contains 1,957 pages of material.

Herman Webster Mudgett (1861 - 1896), also known as H. H. Holmes or Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was an American con artist and serial killer.  Holmes may or may not have been America First Serial Killer, but the tone and content of his media coverage was the genesis of modern American coverage of serial killers. Holmes became most famous for a series of murders believed to have occurred in Chicago, Illinois, around the time of the Columbian World Exposition of 1893.

H.H. Holmes (Herman Mudgett) may have chosen some of his victims from visitors to the 1893 World's Fair, who stayed at his Chicago hotel. The total number of victims is uncertain, some researchers suggest 100 or more. Holmes was only tried and convicted in court for one murder. However, Holmes confessed to 27 murders, but law enforcement officials linked him to nine. 

Herman Webster Mudgett (H. H. Holmes) is often referred to as the American counterpart to the English "Jack the Ripper." In 2003, Holmes was reintroduced to Americans by Erik Larson in his non-fiction work, "The Devil in the White City,” which retold the stories of Holmes and the 1893 fair.

The exact origin and use of the term "serial killer" or "serial murderer" is not known, but it appears to have come into use in law enforcement circles in the 1970s and more commonly and broader in American society in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1894, Holmes was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts and charged with committing fraud against Fidelity Mutual Insurance. Carrie Pietzel, on November 20, 1894, confessed to attempting to defraud Fidelity by making false claims involving faking the death of her husband, Benjamin F. Pietzel, with the assistance of Holmes. Carrie Pietzel confessed to the crime when she came to fear that Holmes had actually killed her husband.

Holmes had managed to convince Carrie to put three of her five children, 7, 9, and 13 years old, under his care. On July 15, 1895, Etta, Alice, and Hettie Pietzel were found buried under a house Holmes rented in Toronto, Ontario Canada, at 16 St. Vincent Street. 

On July 27, 1895, the Williams’ family accused Holmes of killing Horace Williams in 1893, followed by the killings of his sisters Nina and Minnie. On July 28, 1895, Chicago police discovered two graves in the basement of the building Holmes’ built in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, which later became known as, "Holmes Castle."

On July 30, 1895, the police announced their belief that Emily van Tassel was another victim of Holmes. Emily van Tassel worked at Holmes' drugstore and disappeared in 1891. Holmes later confessed to murdering van Tassel.

Holmes' trial for the murder of Benjamin F. Pietzel began on October 28, 1895, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holmes rejected the services of an attorney and chose to act as his own lawyer. Patrick Quinlan, the contractor responsible for much of the building of "Holmes’ Murder Castle,” and his wife testified against Holmes at the trial.

Holmes was convicted on November 2, 1895. 

On May 7, 1896, H. H. Holmes was executed by hanging at Moyamensing Prison.

 
This collection contains:

Newspaper Reporting

 305 full-sheet pages of American newspapers, published from 1894 to 1943. 

Most articles are from 1894 to 1896. What first starts off as a series of newspaper reports about insurance swindles, quickly turns into reporting on the murderous activities of the man often regarded as America's first serial killer.  

Among the 305 full-sheet pages can be found articles titled, "Holmes, The King of Crimes," "He was an Hypnotizer," "Murder His Pastime, Eight Deaths Charged to the Notorious Holmes," "Evidences of Guilt Bones Found Under the Former Abode of Holmes," "Holmes’ Big Furnace," "A Villian of Deepest Dye," "Man Who Took Three Human Bodies from H. H. Holmes' House," "Holmes’ Asphyxiating Plant," "Holmes His Own Lawyer," "Full Confession of H. H. Holmes," "To Die Tomorrow, Work of Erecting the Scaffold for Holmes Begun," "Holmes Hangs. Multimurderer Swings at Philadelphia," and "Hanged for Many Crimes."

The newspapers include: New York Tribune, Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), The Sun (New York, NY), The Evening Times (Washington, DC), Los Angeles Herald, The Evening World (New York, NY), The Washington Times, The San Francisco Call, The Salt Lake Herald, The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Morning Call (San Francisco, CA), St. Paul Daily Globe,  San Antonio Daily Light, The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA), and others.

 
Trial Transcript

The Trial of Herman Mudgett Alias H. H. Holmes for the Murder of Benjamin F. Pietzel (1897)

Harvard Law Library's 636-page copy of George T. Bisel, law publisher, bookseller, and stationer's publishing of the transcript of the trial of Holmes for the murder of Benjamin Pietzel.

Full title: The Trial of Herman Mudgett Alias H. H. Holmes for the Murder of Benjamin F. Pietzel. In the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery and Quarter Sessions of the Peace, in and for the City and County of Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, October 28, 29, 30, 31, and November 1 and 2, 1895.

Abstract: The trial of Herman W. Mudgett, H. H. Holmes, for the murder of Benjamin F. Pitezel, was one of the great legal contests of the century. The present volume is prepared from the very complete stenographic notes taken by direction of the Court, as a valuable contribution to medico-legal literature. The prisoner's stubborn defense, and the unusual ability he exhibited in his examination of the jurors summoned to try him, as well as the witnesses who appeared against him, will be read with great interest.

 
Holmes' Own Story - With Moyamensing Prison Diary 

The book publishing of an account written by the serial murderer H. H. Holmes while incarcerated at Moyamensing Prison, Philadelphia, in an attempt to exonerate himself while in the process of being held for trial. The alleged multi-murderer and arch conspirator tells of the twenty-two deaths and disappearances in which he is said to be implicated.

Holmes wrote a text filled with many half-truths and complete fabrications.

Includes an autographed letter from H. H. Holmes to Samuel W. Pennypacker, which is scanned and included in the bound volume before the text of the title. Mounted on blank leaves at end of the printed text are a number of newspaper clippings concerning Holmes, including his confession and an account of his execution.

 
Court Documents

The District Reports of Cases Decided in all the Judicial Districts State of Pennsylvania During the Year 1895 Vol. IV - Excerpt (1895)

Pennsylvania States Reports Volume 174 - Excerpt - Commonwealth v. Herman W. Mudgett, alias H. H. Holmes, Appellant. (1896)

 
Books

The Holmes-Pitezel Case A History of the Greatest Crime of the Century and of the Search for the Missing Pitezel Children (1896)

Complete title: The Holmes-Pitezel Case a History of the Greatest Crime of the Century and of the Search for the Missing Pitezel Children by Detective Frank P. Geyer of the Bureau of Police, Department of Public Safety, of the City of Philadelphia. A True Detective Story by Permission of The District Attorney and Mayor of The City of Philadelphia.