Most fascinating is HHH. Stole an identity and proceeded to con and lure. His cunning and intelligence would probably make him a power figure today,
yet he didn't have to try that hard 100+ years ago.
Excellent documentary
+
H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer
America's first serial killer is the subject of this documentary narrated by Tony Jay. The film looks at the life of Herman Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes.
After Holmes moved from New Hampshire to Chicago in the late 1800s, he designed a home with secret torture chambers, rented rooms to unsuspecting
tourists who were in town for Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, then tortured them. The film covers Holmes's early years, his murderous spree and his
trial.
Plus a wiki
H. H. Holmes
6 counts of attempted murder
Mudgett's mugshot, 1895
Background information
Birth name Herman Webster Mudgett
Also known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes
Born (1861-05-16)May 16, 1861
Gilmanton, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died May 7, 1896(1896-05-07) (aged 34)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Cause of death Execution by Hanging
Conviction 4 counts of murder in the first degree
6 counts of attempted murder
Sentence Death
Killings
Number of victims 9–200 (9 confirmed; 27 confessed)
Country U.S., Canada
Motive Life insurance money, profit from selling corpses to Medical Schools
Date apprehended November 17, 1894, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861[1] – May 7, 1896[2]), better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was one of the first documented
American serial killers in the modern sense of the term. In Chicago at the time of the 1893 World's Fair, Holmes opened a hotel which he had designed
and built for himself specifically with murder in mind, and which was the location of many of his murders. While he confessed to 27 murders, of which
four were confirmed, his actual body count could be as high as 200.[3] He took an unknown number of his victims from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair,
which was less than two miles away, to his "World's Fair" hotel.
Why? Is the best question. How? Is even more puzzling!
edit on 17-8-2013 by dfens because: double prints