Just when you thought he was going to fade into obscurity, there’s still yet more news about the man we all know as H. H. Holmes. If you’re new to our blog, we have several old posts about him, most notably regarding his exhumation to find some shred of evidence that he and Jack the Ripper were one and the same. If you’re interested in reading further details about who Holmes was and his infamous Murder House, you can find those stories in these links: America’s First Serial Killer and H. H. Holmes’ Murder Castle. Now on to today’s story…
The first American serial killer may have felt remorse for his crimes, after all.
H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) constructed an elaborate “Murder Castle” full of trap doors, acid vats and a crematorium in Chicago in 1892 where he lured the unsuspecting in with the promise of apartments.
Holmes was caught in 1894 and convicted for the murder of one of his accomplices, Benjamin Pitezel. At the time he confessed to killing more than 20 people (although he later altered the number to just two). He was hanged in 1896 in Philadelphia for his crimes and largely believed to have been unremorseful to the end.
His life and crimes went on to become the subject of the book “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson.
The most notorious murders, scams and scandals in Pennsylvania can be irresistible to Hollywood. Here are more than 20 that have become true crime movies, documentaries and television shows.
But a family in New Jersey has a found a note, written in Holmes’ hand, that may imply he felt guilt at the end, according to NBC 10.
The Witching Hour 