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Humanity has
achieved great heights.
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We have landed on the moon,
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place a powerful
computer in our pockets,
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cured numerous diseases,
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and brought the
world the most evil
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and deranged serial killers.
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00:01:53,581 --> 00:01:56,350
There are very few that
stand out quite as much
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as H.H. Holmes and
his murder hotel.
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00:02:12,866 --> 00:02:16,069
In fact, his
notoriety is so great
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00:02:16,103 --> 00:02:19,240
that Hollywood embarked on
a blockbuster about him.
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00:02:19,273 --> 00:02:21,842
Now it has even
claimed that Britain's
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00:02:21,875 --> 00:02:25,513
most notorious serial
killer, Jack The Ripper
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was none other than
Holmes himself.
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He presided over The Castle,
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00:02:44,131 --> 00:02:48,869
a devilish, architectural
creation in downtown Chicago
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made specifically
to murder people.
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Trap doors, chutes, false doors
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hidden passageways and spy holes
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made the Murder Castle the
infamous building of its age.
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Many victims were
beaten to death,
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some were strangled,
others gassed,
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and yet more were
tortured on racks
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before they lost their lives.
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When he was finally caught,
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he confessed to 27 murders.
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Although it is believed by many,
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that he murdered over 200.
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Somebody
help me. Someone help.
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00:04:11,685 --> 00:04:12,886
Please help us.
30
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:14,955
But it is
not the number of deaths
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that is the cause of
his devilish fame.
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00:04:18,326 --> 00:04:21,629
It is, in fact, the
methods he used.
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00:04:21,662 --> 00:04:24,965
This is the tale of
the evil dark lord
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00:04:24,998 --> 00:04:28,035
of the murder
hotel, guts and all.
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00:04:40,314 --> 00:04:44,485
His real name was
Herman Webster Mudgett,
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00:04:44,518 --> 00:04:46,787
and he was born in 1861.
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He has become one of America's
most famous serial killers
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00:04:51,425 --> 00:04:54,261
under the name of Dr.
Henry Howard Holmes.
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00:05:10,043 --> 00:05:13,714
But his tale is not
so easy to decipher.
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00:05:13,747 --> 00:05:17,284
Of the 27 people he
claimed to have murdered,
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00:05:17,317 --> 00:05:19,019
there was a problem.
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00:05:19,052 --> 00:05:22,556
Some of them were in fact
still alive when he confessed.
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00:05:34,535 --> 00:05:36,937
Of the 200 he supposedly killed,
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00:05:36,970 --> 00:05:39,172
we discover that
this myth originated
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in a pulp magazine
from the 1940s.
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It is stated he murdered his
victims in the murder hotel
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close to the 1883 World Fair.
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00:06:01,261 --> 00:06:03,130
In fact, the hotel itself
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00:06:03,163 --> 00:06:05,265
was never truly
opened to the public.
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00:06:13,674 --> 00:06:15,809
So what is the truth?
51
00:06:15,843 --> 00:06:19,547
What did this enigmatic
evil man really get up to?
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00:06:27,921 --> 00:06:32,225
The other side of Holmes was
as a con artist and bigamist
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00:06:32,259 --> 00:06:36,396
with over 50 lawsuits in
the Chicago area alone.
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00:06:36,430 --> 00:06:40,367
But beware because not only
was Holmes a con artist
55
00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,070
but much of that is
claimed about him
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00:06:43,103 --> 00:06:44,972
is equally based on fiction.
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00:06:52,946 --> 00:06:55,048
His own life was a lie,
58
00:06:55,082 --> 00:06:58,251
and so too are a great many
of the stories about him.
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00:07:06,359 --> 00:07:09,730
In order to unravel the
mind of the murderer,
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00:07:09,763 --> 00:07:12,566
we need to understand his
character and background.
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00:07:13,867 --> 00:07:15,836
Unlike the police of the period,
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00:07:15,869 --> 00:07:19,607
we need to be more like
FBI agents and profile him.
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00:07:20,874 --> 00:07:23,410
This involves understanding
his early life,
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00:07:23,443 --> 00:07:26,814
what created him,
what forces pushed him
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00:07:26,847 --> 00:07:29,416
towards the life that
he decided to lead?
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00:07:41,361 --> 00:07:44,832
His life began in
Gilmanton, New Hampshire
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00:07:44,865 --> 00:07:46,667
on May the 16th, 1861.
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00:07:56,877 --> 00:08:00,380
Both of his parents were
descendants of English settlers,
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00:08:00,413 --> 00:08:03,216
and Herman was the third child.
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00:08:03,250 --> 00:08:06,119
In all, he had an elder
sister and brother
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00:08:06,153 --> 00:08:08,288
and a younger
sister and brother.
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00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:11,258
He was the middle
child, nothing special.
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00:08:24,672 --> 00:08:26,907
The family were foreigners.
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00:08:26,940 --> 00:08:31,111
They would do whatever they
needed to in order to survive:
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00:08:31,144 --> 00:08:34,782
farming, trading, and
even painting houses.
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00:08:35,983 --> 00:08:38,485
Along with the majority
of people of the period,
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00:08:38,518 --> 00:08:40,253
they were devout Christians,
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00:08:40,287 --> 00:08:43,090
and in their case Methodists.
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00:08:56,637 --> 00:08:59,807
There is no evidence that
he was in any way cruel
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00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:01,909
or even abused during this time.
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00:09:03,110 --> 00:09:05,178
These are things we
would have expected,
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00:09:05,212 --> 00:09:08,281
and indeed these are things
that have been claimed
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00:09:08,315 --> 00:09:10,517
and found to have
no basis in fact.
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00:09:20,761 --> 00:09:23,864
Herman lived a perfectly
ordinary childhood
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00:09:23,897 --> 00:09:25,332
as far as we can tell.
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00:09:26,533 --> 00:09:28,969
He graduated from
high school at 16
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00:09:29,002 --> 00:09:32,072
and proceeded to take on
teaching jobs in Gilmanton
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00:09:32,105 --> 00:09:33,406
and nearby Alton.
89
00:09:34,307 --> 00:09:37,010
He eventually met Clara Loving,
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00:09:37,044 --> 00:09:41,214
and they married on
July the 4th, 1878.
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00:09:41,248 --> 00:09:45,252
They had a son, Robert Loving
Mudgett two years later.
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00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:51,024
Robert would himself go on to
live a perfectly ordinary life
93
00:09:51,058 --> 00:09:53,593
and become an accountant
and city manager
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00:09:53,627 --> 00:09:55,428
in Orlando, Florida.
95
00:10:11,578 --> 00:10:13,346
After a short time under the
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00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:15,749
apprenticeship of
Dr. Nahum Wright,
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00:10:15,783 --> 00:10:18,551
where he learned about
human dissection,
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00:10:18,585 --> 00:10:20,420
Herman managed to
get himself into
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00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:25,458
university in Burlington,
Vermont when he was only 18.
100
00:10:26,326 --> 00:10:27,795
But spent only one year there
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00:10:27,828 --> 00:10:31,298
due to being dissatisfied
with the university itself.
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00:10:36,503 --> 00:10:40,507
In 1882 he enrolled into
the University of Michigan
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00:10:40,540 --> 00:10:42,810
in the Department of
Medicine and Surgery.
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00:10:57,891 --> 00:10:59,392
During his time there,
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00:10:59,426 --> 00:11:03,596
he worked in the anatomy
laboratory under Professor Herdman.
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00:11:03,630 --> 00:11:05,999
He graduated in 1884.
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00:11:07,434 --> 00:11:11,705
His time around anatomy and
human cadavers would later
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00:11:11,739 --> 00:11:15,542
enable him to use them to
defraud insurance companies.
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00:11:20,547 --> 00:11:25,552
By 1884 Clara left Herman and
moved back to New Hampshire.
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00:11:26,286 --> 00:11:27,354
She never saw him again.
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00:11:32,359 --> 00:11:34,561
Their housemates
would later state
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00:11:34,594 --> 00:11:37,597
that Herman was
violent towards Clara.
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00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,649
Herman then moved to
Mooers Forks, New York.
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00:11:56,683 --> 00:11:59,419
Where things started to emerge.
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00:11:59,452 --> 00:12:01,321
Rumors started to circulate
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00:12:01,354 --> 00:12:03,190
that he had been seen
with a young boy.
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00:12:04,024 --> 00:12:05,625
He never denied this.
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00:12:05,658 --> 00:12:08,528
When the boy disappeared
he claimed the boy had
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00:12:08,561 --> 00:12:11,031
simply gone back to his
parents in Massachusetts.
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00:12:25,512 --> 00:12:28,048
There was no evidence
that could stick
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00:12:28,081 --> 00:12:32,886
no boy, no body and so
there was no investigation.
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00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,687
Herman fled town soon after.
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00:12:40,994 --> 00:12:43,296
He ended up in Philadelphia
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00:12:43,330 --> 00:12:45,899
and managed to get
a job as a keeper
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00:12:45,933 --> 00:12:47,767
at the Norristown
State Hospital.
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00:12:48,902 --> 00:12:51,171
It lasted a few days
and he resigned.
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00:12:52,605 --> 00:12:55,575
He then appears to have
landed a job at a drugstore.
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00:12:55,608 --> 00:12:59,046
Again things turned sour
when a young boy died
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00:12:59,079 --> 00:13:01,949
from drugs sold to him
at the very same store.
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00:13:18,365 --> 00:13:22,635
Herman was accused and again
denied any wrong doing.
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00:13:22,669 --> 00:13:26,539
He fled again and just
before he arrived in Chicago,
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00:13:26,573 --> 00:13:29,709
he changed his name to
Henry Howard Holmes.
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00:13:34,915 --> 00:13:38,185
It is obvious that this
was to avoid having himself
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00:13:38,218 --> 00:13:41,221
linked by anybody to
previous misdemeanors.
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00:13:50,663 --> 00:13:52,900
Later in his confession
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00:13:52,933 --> 00:13:55,268
Holmes claimed that
about this time
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00:13:55,302 --> 00:13:57,270
he had killed his
former classmate
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00:13:57,304 --> 00:14:00,840
Dr. Robert Leacock
for insurance money.
139
00:14:00,874 --> 00:14:05,012
In fact, Dr. Leacock died
in Watford, Canada in 1889.
140
00:14:19,426 --> 00:14:22,829
At the same time as
this fictitious murder,
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00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:25,265
Holmes in fact
married Myrta Belknap
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00:14:26,266 --> 00:14:27,935
while still married to Clara.
143
00:14:29,402 --> 00:14:32,505
He did actually file divorce
papers after marrying Myrta
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00:14:32,539 --> 00:14:35,042
alleging Clara had
cheated on him.
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00:14:35,075 --> 00:14:38,211
There was no evidence that
Clara ever saw the papers
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00:14:38,245 --> 00:14:40,247
or that she committed adultery,
147
00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:41,814
and the divorce never happened.
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00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,190
He did go on to have
a daughter with Myrta.
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00:14:50,223 --> 00:14:51,691
Her name was Lucy,
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00:14:51,724 --> 00:14:54,494
and she would become a
school teacher later in life.
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00:15:07,007 --> 00:15:08,675
They all lived together in
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00:15:08,708 --> 00:15:12,179
Wilmette, Illinois
for a short while.
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00:15:12,212 --> 00:15:14,681
But Holmes was
getting into a habit,
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00:15:14,714 --> 00:15:18,218
and on January the 17th, 1894,
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00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:21,989
he married Georgiana
Yoke in Denver, Colorado
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00:15:22,022 --> 00:15:24,757
while still being married
to Clara and Myrta.
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00:15:38,371 --> 00:15:43,376
However, we must go back to
1886 and Chicago in order
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00:15:44,677 --> 00:15:47,647
to get to the more interesting
element of his life.
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00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,717
It was this year that
he arrived in Chicago
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00:15:50,750 --> 00:15:52,719
and where he discovered
the drugstore at the
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southwest corner of
South Wallace Avenue
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00:15:55,555 --> 00:15:57,924
and West 63rd
Street in Englewood.
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00:16:14,141 --> 00:16:17,644
It was owned by
Elizabeth S. Holton,
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00:16:17,677 --> 00:16:19,712
and she gave Holmes a job.
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00:16:21,181 --> 00:16:24,617
Amazingly he proved himself
to be a hardworking employee
166
00:16:24,651 --> 00:16:28,088
and eventually a deal was
struck and he bought the store.
167
00:16:29,556 --> 00:16:32,525
Some have claimed that Holmes
murdered Mr. and Mrs. Holton.
168
00:16:32,559 --> 00:16:35,228
But the truth is that
both lived out their lives
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00:16:35,262 --> 00:16:37,797
in Englewood into
the 20th Century.
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00:16:51,344 --> 00:16:54,714
Another example of the
fiction surrounding Holmes,
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00:16:54,747 --> 00:16:56,649
and a warning for
us about believing
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00:16:56,683 --> 00:16:58,418
everything claimed about him.
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00:17:04,991 --> 00:17:06,593
Business boomed for Holmes,
174
00:17:06,626 --> 00:17:11,064
and he soon purchased an empty
plot opposite the drugstore.
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00:17:11,098 --> 00:17:13,166
He had plans.
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00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,935
By 1887 construction on a
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00:17:15,968 --> 00:17:19,306
two-story mixed
use building began.
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00:17:19,339 --> 00:17:22,842
His intention was for
apartments on the second floor
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00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,212
and retail space on the ground
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00:17:25,245 --> 00:17:27,514
with a super new
drugstore on the first.
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00:17:44,131 --> 00:17:46,999
In 1888 he was
already being sued
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00:17:47,033 --> 00:17:51,003
for nonpayment to the
architects and steel company.
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00:17:51,037 --> 00:17:54,874
But by 1892 he was
adding another floor.
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00:17:54,907 --> 00:17:57,377
His plan he told his investors
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00:17:57,410 --> 00:17:59,979
was to turn the upper
portion into a hotel
186
00:18:00,012 --> 00:18:03,283
for the upcoming World's
Columbian Exposition.
187
00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:22,369
In fact, the hotel portion
was never completed.
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00:18:28,941 --> 00:18:32,679
As if the world of Holmes
couldn't get anymore bizarre,
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00:18:32,712 --> 00:18:35,748
this is where the sickness
begins to reveal itself.
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00:18:40,487 --> 00:18:44,224
The supplier of his
furniture investigated
191
00:18:44,257 --> 00:18:47,527
because of nonpayment
and found that he been
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00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,163
hiding their materials
in hidden rooms
193
00:18:50,197 --> 00:18:52,965
and passages throughout
the whole building.
194
00:18:52,999 --> 00:18:55,235
In fact, it was such a scandal
195
00:18:55,268 --> 00:18:57,937
that news of the
investigation hit the press.
196
00:19:09,716 --> 00:19:12,885
Investors were shown these
articles by a jeweler
197
00:19:12,919 --> 00:19:15,888
from the building
and they pulled out.
198
00:19:15,922 --> 00:19:18,090
Then another twist.
199
00:19:18,124 --> 00:19:20,693
The third floor
strangely caught fire
200
00:19:20,727 --> 00:19:24,163
on August the 13th, 1893.
201
00:19:24,197 --> 00:19:27,200
The only people believed to
be in the building at the time
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00:19:27,234 --> 00:19:30,637
were residents and
long-term employees.
203
00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:35,208
It transpired that Holmes had
taken out insurance policies
204
00:19:35,242 --> 00:19:39,011
on the building with no
less than four companies.
205
00:19:39,045 --> 00:19:41,581
They all sued him.
206
00:19:55,662 --> 00:19:57,664
The life of Holmes thus far
207
00:19:57,697 --> 00:20:00,433
appears to be as a
bigamist and con artist
208
00:20:00,467 --> 00:20:03,770
with a couple of possible
child murders thrown in.
209
00:20:03,803 --> 00:20:06,239
But what about the
serial killing?
210
00:20:06,273 --> 00:20:07,707
Where did all that begin?
211
00:20:13,780 --> 00:20:18,351
One of the earliest victims
we know of is Julia Smythe.
212
00:20:18,385 --> 00:20:20,953
She was the wife of Alex Conner,
213
00:20:20,987 --> 00:20:23,290
a resident of the
building and employee.
214
00:20:24,624 --> 00:20:27,694
She was also the mistress
of Holmes himself.
215
00:20:39,706 --> 00:20:42,108
Conner discovered the affair.
216
00:20:42,141 --> 00:20:45,512
He resigned and left his
wife and daughter behind
217
00:20:45,545 --> 00:20:46,879
to the fate of Holmes.
218
00:20:52,585 --> 00:20:56,389
Smythe and her daughter
remained at the Holmes hotel
219
00:20:56,423 --> 00:20:59,526
and continued her
relationship with him.
220
00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:03,430
Then Christmas 1891
they both disappeared.
221
00:21:13,806 --> 00:21:15,442
Holmes would later claim
222
00:21:15,475 --> 00:21:18,378
that she had died
during an abortion.
223
00:21:18,411 --> 00:21:20,313
It was never discovered exactly
224
00:21:20,347 --> 00:21:23,015
what happened to both
mother and child,
225
00:21:23,049 --> 00:21:27,354
but it is known they both
suffered at the hands of Holmes.
226
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,005
In May 1892 Emeline Cigrande
started working at the hotel.
227
00:21:47,574 --> 00:21:50,276
She too began an
affair with Holmes,
228
00:21:50,309 --> 00:21:52,845
and she too disappeared
the following December.
229
00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:56,749
The same thing happened
to Edna Van Tassel
230
00:21:56,783 --> 00:21:59,051
who simply vanished off
the face of the Earth.
231
00:22:12,732 --> 00:22:16,403
For a time Holmes worked at
the Chemical Bank building
232
00:22:16,436 --> 00:22:20,407
on Dearborn Street where
he met Benjamin Pitezel
233
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,310
a carpenter who was exhibiting
a coal bin invention.
234
00:22:25,211 --> 00:22:27,179
The two became close friends,
235
00:22:27,213 --> 00:22:31,250
and with Benjamin's criminal
record there is little wonder.
236
00:22:31,283 --> 00:22:32,985
Together they plotted
237
00:22:33,019 --> 00:22:36,088
and conceived various
criminal schemes.
238
00:22:36,122 --> 00:22:40,226
In fact, Benjamin was nothing
more than the tool of Holmes
239
00:22:40,259 --> 00:22:42,962
as the district attorney
would later state.
240
00:22:54,507 --> 00:22:57,309
Minnie Williams had
been an actress.
241
00:22:57,343 --> 00:23:01,113
She moved to Chicago and
soon she landed a job
242
00:23:01,147 --> 00:23:04,250
with Holmes at his hotel
as his stenographer.
243
00:23:17,864 --> 00:23:20,232
Through his persuasive ways,
244
00:23:20,266 --> 00:23:22,569
he had soon convinced
Minnie to sign over
245
00:23:22,602 --> 00:23:26,038
the deed to her property
in Fort Worth, Texas
246
00:23:26,072 --> 00:23:28,374
to a man named Alexander Bond.
247
00:23:29,308 --> 00:23:31,511
This man was in fact Holmes.
248
00:23:32,479 --> 00:23:34,346
Holmes served as the notary
249
00:23:34,380 --> 00:23:37,750
and later signed the deed
over to Benjamin Pitezel
250
00:23:37,784 --> 00:23:40,119
under the name of
Benton T. Lyman.
251
00:23:41,554 --> 00:23:44,190
Following this Holmes and
Minnie rent an apartment
252
00:23:44,223 --> 00:23:46,793
in Lincoln Park as man and wife.
253
00:24:02,441 --> 00:24:06,378
Minnie invited her sister
Nannie over to stay.
254
00:24:06,412 --> 00:24:08,380
She wrote a letter to her aunt
255
00:24:08,414 --> 00:24:11,217
that she was off to
Europe on a trip.
256
00:24:11,250 --> 00:24:14,453
Neither Minnie nor Nannie
were ever seen again.
257
00:24:20,493 --> 00:24:23,195
Even as all of
this was happening,
258
00:24:23,229 --> 00:24:24,831
it is believed that his victims
259
00:24:24,864 --> 00:24:27,667
in the Murder Castle
were piling up,
260
00:24:27,700 --> 00:24:31,738
gassed, tortured,
beaten, and worse.
261
00:24:45,718 --> 00:24:47,887
Most bodies would
never be found,
262
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,757
and the exact number
of his victims unknown.
263
00:24:58,464 --> 00:25:01,167
Most were probably sent
down the body chutes
264
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,436
into the basement where
they were incinerated
265
00:25:04,470 --> 00:25:07,306
or disposed by acid baths.
266
00:25:07,339 --> 00:25:10,476
Some were skinned and
kept for observation,
267
00:25:10,509 --> 00:25:12,979
and others reduced to
bones which he sold.
268
00:25:26,959 --> 00:25:29,228
But things were not
looking good for Holmes.
269
00:25:29,261 --> 00:25:31,330
His various criminal activities
270
00:25:31,363 --> 00:25:33,800
were beginning to
reach a peak point.
271
00:25:33,833 --> 00:25:37,036
Insurance companies were
after him for arson.
272
00:25:37,069 --> 00:25:41,874
In July 1894 he fled
Chicago for Fort Worth
273
00:25:41,908 --> 00:25:46,245
to take up property he had
inherited from Minnie and Nannie.
274
00:25:46,278 --> 00:25:47,780
He had learned nothing
275
00:25:47,814 --> 00:25:52,118
and decide to begin erecting
yet another castle or hotel
276
00:25:52,151 --> 00:25:54,921
in the same vain as
the one in Chicago.
277
00:26:09,135 --> 00:26:11,871
He proceeded to con
several suppliers.
278
00:26:13,272 --> 00:26:16,475
For the very first time
Holmes was actually arrested
279
00:26:16,508 --> 00:26:19,445
on the charge of
selling mortgage goods,
280
00:26:19,478 --> 00:26:21,948
goods he did not own.
281
00:26:34,593 --> 00:26:38,597
Every area of his life
has its opportunities.
282
00:26:38,631 --> 00:26:41,000
While in jail he
found friendship
283
00:26:41,033 --> 00:26:43,870
with the convicted
outlaw Marion Hedgepeth.
284
00:26:45,304 --> 00:26:48,975
Holmes had a cunning plan
to con an insurance company
285
00:26:49,008 --> 00:26:51,343
out of a massive $10,000.
286
00:26:52,511 --> 00:26:55,414
He would take out a
life policy on himself
287
00:26:55,447 --> 00:26:57,516
and then proceed to
fake his own death.
288
00:26:58,918 --> 00:27:01,620
All Hedgepeth had to do
was give Holmes the name of
289
00:27:01,654 --> 00:27:05,825
a lawyer who could be trusted
with such a devious plan
290
00:27:05,858 --> 00:27:08,828
and in return he'd
get a $500 commission.
291
00:27:24,977 --> 00:27:27,780
He was guided towards
a lawyer in St. Louis
292
00:27:27,814 --> 00:27:29,982
called Jeptha Howe,
293
00:27:30,016 --> 00:27:32,218
who was in practice
with his elder brother.
294
00:27:33,619 --> 00:27:37,189
Neither of the brothers had
any links to Holmes or Pitezel,
295
00:27:37,223 --> 00:27:39,892
and so there could
be no connections.
296
00:27:39,926 --> 00:27:40,926
It was perfect.
297
00:27:41,961 --> 00:27:44,797
Jeptha thought the
plan was inspired,
298
00:27:44,831 --> 00:27:47,433
and they proceeded
to carry it out.
299
00:27:47,466 --> 00:27:51,738
However, the insurance
company soon became suspicious
300
00:27:51,771 --> 00:27:53,873
and refused to pay out.
301
00:27:53,906 --> 00:27:56,642
The matter went no further.
302
00:28:13,259 --> 00:28:15,895
Instead Holmes turned
back to Pitezel
303
00:28:15,928 --> 00:28:18,130
with the exact same plan.
304
00:28:18,164 --> 00:28:22,234
This time it would be
Pitezel's death and not Holmes.
305
00:28:22,268 --> 00:28:24,904
Pitezel set himself
up as an inventor
306
00:28:24,937 --> 00:28:28,307
under the name of B.F.
Perry in Philadelphia.
307
00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:31,744
He would be killed and
mutilated in a lab experiment.
308
00:28:32,611 --> 00:28:34,781
Holmes was to find a cadaver
309
00:28:34,814 --> 00:28:37,950
that could be used as
the mutilated corpse.
310
00:28:37,984 --> 00:28:41,854
What actually happened is much
more on the realms of karma.
311
00:28:43,022 --> 00:28:45,424
Holmes actually
did kill Pitezel.
312
00:28:45,457 --> 00:28:47,827
He used chloroform
to knock him out
313
00:28:47,860 --> 00:28:49,228
and then set him on fire.
314
00:29:06,412 --> 00:29:09,248
Later when confessing
to the crime,
315
00:29:09,281 --> 00:29:11,350
Holmes stated that
Pitezel was alive
316
00:29:11,383 --> 00:29:12,952
when he was set on fire.
317
00:29:12,985 --> 00:29:15,487
But the evidence actually
showed the man was dead
318
00:29:15,521 --> 00:29:18,490
even before the chloroform
was administered.
319
00:29:18,524 --> 00:29:21,027
It had in fact been
a very poor attempt
320
00:29:21,060 --> 00:29:22,829
to make it look like suicide.
321
00:29:24,230 --> 00:29:27,499
The plot worked and Holmes
collected the insurance money.
322
00:29:27,533 --> 00:29:28,868
It was never enough.
323
00:29:44,951 --> 00:29:47,586
He proceeded to
convince Pitezel's widow
324
00:29:47,619 --> 00:29:51,257
to allow three of her
children to be in his custody.
325
00:29:51,290 --> 00:29:52,558
He traveled with them across
326
00:29:52,591 --> 00:29:54,793
the northern states
and into Canada
327
00:29:54,827 --> 00:29:57,329
while at the same time
meeting and traveling
328
00:29:57,363 --> 00:30:00,432
with Mrs. Pitezel
along a parallel route.
329
00:30:00,466 --> 00:30:03,402
He had told her that
Pitezel was actually alive
330
00:30:03,435 --> 00:30:05,437
and hiding in London.
331
00:30:05,471 --> 00:30:08,340
She had no idea where
her children were.
332
00:30:08,374 --> 00:30:12,544
Holmes later confessed to
murdering Alice and Nellie.
333
00:30:12,578 --> 00:30:16,515
He forced them into a large
trunk and locked them in.
334
00:30:16,548 --> 00:30:20,920
He then drilled a hole through
which he forced a hose.
335
00:30:20,953 --> 00:30:23,655
He then gassed the
poor little girls.
336
00:30:23,689 --> 00:30:25,791
He proceeded to bury
their nude bodies
337
00:30:25,824 --> 00:30:28,760
in the cellar of his
rented house in Toronto.
338
00:30:44,944 --> 00:30:47,413
But there was a
detective on his trail.
339
00:30:47,446 --> 00:30:49,748
Frank Geyer was
from Philadelphia
340
00:30:49,781 --> 00:30:53,319
and he'd been on Holmes'
trail for a while.
341
00:30:53,352 --> 00:30:54,686
He dug up the cellar
342
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,356
and found the decomposed
bodies of the girls.
343
00:30:58,757 --> 00:31:02,794
Nellie's feet had been removed
and Frank wondered why.
344
00:31:02,828 --> 00:31:06,165
He then discovered
she'd had clubbed foot.
345
00:31:06,198 --> 00:31:09,001
It turned out that Holmes
had removed her feet
346
00:31:09,035 --> 00:31:11,003
to stop the bodies
being identified.
347
00:31:26,986 --> 00:31:30,022
Frank followed Holmes
to Indianapolis.
348
00:31:30,056 --> 00:31:32,458
Holmes had rented
a small cottage
349
00:31:32,491 --> 00:31:34,626
and had recently
purchased the same drugs
350
00:31:34,660 --> 00:31:36,162
he had used to murder Pitezel.
351
00:31:37,296 --> 00:31:39,065
He'd also been to a repair shop
352
00:31:39,098 --> 00:31:40,566
to have his knives sharpened.
353
00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:45,071
In fact, the third child
had now been murdered,
354
00:31:45,104 --> 00:31:47,473
and his bones and
teeth were later found
355
00:31:47,506 --> 00:31:49,108
in the chimney of the cottage.
356
00:32:04,023 --> 00:32:07,059
There was no longer
any escape for Holmes,
357
00:32:07,093 --> 00:32:12,098
and on the 17th of November
1894 he was arrested in Boston.
358
00:32:21,107 --> 00:32:24,843
He had been tracked all the
way by the infamous Pinkertons.
359
00:32:38,090 --> 00:32:42,228
Initially he was held on an
arrest warrant for horse theft
360
00:32:42,261 --> 00:32:44,130
a small matter but one that
361
00:32:44,163 --> 00:32:46,698
allowed the authorities
to hold him.
362
00:32:46,732 --> 00:32:50,002
They suspected he was
about to flee the country
363
00:32:50,036 --> 00:32:52,738
along with his
unsuspecting third wife.
364
00:33:05,151 --> 00:33:07,719
It was soon after
this arrest that Alice
365
00:33:07,753 --> 00:33:11,090
and Nellie's bodies had
been found in Chicago.
366
00:33:11,123 --> 00:33:13,225
Soon reporters and police alike
367
00:33:13,259 --> 00:33:17,063
were looking more closely
at his property in Englewood
368
00:33:17,096 --> 00:33:19,431
which had now become
known as The Castle.
369
00:33:31,077 --> 00:33:33,745
There were copious claims
made about The Castle
370
00:33:33,779 --> 00:33:35,414
but no evidence.
371
00:33:35,447 --> 00:33:37,816
Claims of torture equipment
found in the building
372
00:33:37,849 --> 00:33:40,586
remained just that: Claims.
373
00:33:40,619 --> 00:33:42,454
The evidence does
not back this up.
374
00:33:53,699 --> 00:33:57,769
By October 1895, Holmes
was standing trial
375
00:33:57,803 --> 00:33:59,705
for the murder of
Benjamin Pitezel.
376
00:34:00,872 --> 00:34:03,842
He was found guilty
and sentenced to death.
377
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:06,978
It was obvious that he'd
also murdered the children.
378
00:34:19,291 --> 00:34:21,927
He then proceeded to
confess to the murder of
379
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,165
27 people in Chicago,
Indianapolis, and Toronto.
380
00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:29,935
Some of the people that he
claimed to have murdered
381
00:34:29,968 --> 00:34:31,703
were in fact still alive.
382
00:34:41,747 --> 00:34:44,250
Bizarrely the Hearst newspaper
383
00:34:44,283 --> 00:34:48,487
paid him $7,500
for his confession.
384
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,956
Even at the point of near death,
385
00:34:50,989 --> 00:34:52,458
Holmes could not help himself
386
00:34:53,559 --> 00:34:55,527
and he spun a story
for the people
387
00:34:55,561 --> 00:34:57,863
that were happy to be conned.
388
00:35:05,804 --> 00:35:07,373
The confessions
were very quickly
389
00:35:07,406 --> 00:35:10,676
brushed aside as
full of fantasy.
390
00:35:10,709 --> 00:35:12,043
Money well spent.
391
00:35:20,852 --> 00:35:24,723
Yet, the legacy of
his fiction continued.
392
00:35:24,756 --> 00:35:28,727
Even today books, articles,
TV shows, and movies
393
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,497
continue to repeat
the so-called facts.
394
00:35:32,364 --> 00:35:33,899
Throughout the whole thing
395
00:35:33,932 --> 00:35:37,102
Holmes continued
to spin his tales.
396
00:35:37,135 --> 00:35:39,571
He gave several
accounts of his life
397
00:35:39,605 --> 00:35:42,073
all of them
contradicted each other.
398
00:35:42,107 --> 00:35:45,311
On the one hand it was
completely innocent,
399
00:35:45,344 --> 00:35:47,746
and then in the next
breath he was guilty
400
00:35:47,779 --> 00:35:49,748
and working for Satan himself.
401
00:35:56,522 --> 00:36:01,126
His statements cannot and
should not be taken into account
402
00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:04,029
because even those experts
who interviewed him
403
00:36:04,062 --> 00:36:05,264
knew he was lying.
404
00:36:10,536 --> 00:36:13,905
Holmes himself wrote
whilst in prison
405
00:36:13,939 --> 00:36:16,742
that his facial
features had changed
406
00:36:16,775 --> 00:36:19,110
and that now he
resembled the devil.
407
00:36:25,717 --> 00:36:29,054
On May the 17th, 1896
408
00:36:29,087 --> 00:36:33,058
the devil was hanged at
Philadelphia County prison.
409
00:36:33,091 --> 00:36:36,862
Until the end he was
calm and friendly.
410
00:36:36,895 --> 00:36:40,065
He showed no signs of
fear or depression.
411
00:36:40,098 --> 00:36:42,334
He did ask one thing,
412
00:36:42,368 --> 00:36:45,070
something that takes us
right back to his early days
413
00:36:45,103 --> 00:36:48,106
when he worked in
anatomy and dissection.
414
00:36:48,139 --> 00:36:51,843
He requested that his coffin
be buried 10 feet deep
415
00:36:51,877 --> 00:36:54,045
and covered in cement.
416
00:36:54,079 --> 00:36:57,816
He feared the grave robbers
and subsequent dissection.
417
00:36:58,684 --> 00:37:00,552
Amazingly there would be some
418
00:37:00,586 --> 00:37:03,855
strange karma in
this as we shall see.
419
00:37:11,196 --> 00:37:15,634
At the final hour it turned
out that his neck did not snap,
420
00:37:15,667 --> 00:37:19,004
and so he was strangled
to death instead.
421
00:37:19,037 --> 00:37:22,908
It took 15 to 20 long
minutes for him to die
422
00:37:22,941 --> 00:37:24,242
as he twitched and moaned.
423
00:37:45,331 --> 00:37:47,866
The death surrounding
this serial killer
424
00:37:47,899 --> 00:37:50,302
did not seem to end there.
425
00:37:50,336 --> 00:37:53,505
The prisoner Hedgepeth,
who had helped Holmes
426
00:37:53,539 --> 00:37:56,442
was shot dead on
New Year's Eve 1909.
427
00:37:57,643 --> 00:38:00,379
The caretaker of The
Castle a Mr. Quinlan
428
00:38:00,412 --> 00:38:03,449
appeared to have committed
suicide with strychnine.
429
00:38:03,482 --> 00:38:05,684
He left a note that simply said,
430
00:38:05,717 --> 00:38:07,919
"I could not sleep."
431
00:38:07,953 --> 00:38:10,456
He had been haunted
by hallucinations.
432
00:38:16,728 --> 00:38:19,731
In 1895 The Castle itself
433
00:38:19,765 --> 00:38:22,501
was almost destroyed
by a mysterious fire.
434
00:38:23,369 --> 00:38:25,203
Two men had been seen entering
435
00:38:25,236 --> 00:38:27,673
at the back and leaving again.
436
00:38:27,706 --> 00:38:30,376
A half empty gas can
was later discovered.
437
00:38:38,116 --> 00:38:42,087
Today the building is completely
new and a post office,
438
00:38:45,323 --> 00:38:48,293
and so we arrive
at the modern era
439
00:38:48,326 --> 00:38:50,061
and the fantasies
that have emerged
440
00:38:50,095 --> 00:38:52,263
surrounding the con
artist and bigamist
441
00:38:52,297 --> 00:38:53,665
who liked to murder people.
442
00:39:00,071 --> 00:39:03,274
Claims that Holmes had in
fact never been executed
443
00:39:03,308 --> 00:39:08,113
were so strong that in
2017 his body was exhumed.
444
00:39:08,146 --> 00:39:10,849
The world awaited the results.
445
00:39:10,882 --> 00:39:13,785
The cement he had so
strongly insisted on
446
00:39:13,819 --> 00:39:18,123
having cover his coffin actually
helped the investigators
447
00:39:18,156 --> 00:39:21,159
because the body
was well preserved.
448
00:39:21,192 --> 00:39:24,295
His clothes and
mustache were intact.
449
00:39:24,329 --> 00:39:26,698
His teeth records
and DNA analysis
450
00:39:26,732 --> 00:39:29,401
researchers proved beyond doubt
451
00:39:29,435 --> 00:39:33,138
that the body they exhumed
was that of H.H. Holmes.
452
00:39:39,010 --> 00:39:42,981
But as ever the conspiracy
theorists will not rest.
453
00:39:43,014 --> 00:39:44,783
Belief is a powerful thing.
454
00:39:51,690 --> 00:39:54,225
But let us just step
backwards a moment
455
00:39:54,259 --> 00:39:57,062
into the infamous murder
hotel, The Castle.
456
00:40:03,368 --> 00:40:06,037
We now know that
using his abilities
457
00:40:06,071 --> 00:40:07,906
as an expert con artist,
458
00:40:07,939 --> 00:40:10,408
he managed to build the
so-called Murder Castle.
459
00:40:11,309 --> 00:40:13,378
It is the method of construction
460
00:40:13,411 --> 00:40:16,047
which begins to open our eyes.
461
00:40:16,081 --> 00:40:17,883
Over the period of building,
462
00:40:17,916 --> 00:40:22,287
Holmes hired and fired a
series of construction crews.
463
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:26,057
He held the architectural
plans close to his chest
464
00:40:26,091 --> 00:40:27,793
revealing what he needed to.
465
00:40:29,194 --> 00:40:32,130
Nobody seemed to know the
whole plan except him.
466
00:40:37,836 --> 00:40:40,305
In the building
there was a basement,
467
00:40:40,338 --> 00:40:42,574
a series of shops
at street level,
468
00:40:42,608 --> 00:40:44,843
and two-stories sitting
on top of the shops
469
00:40:44,876 --> 00:40:46,678
that comprise the hotel.
470
00:40:48,113 --> 00:40:50,381
His intention was to have
the property finished
471
00:40:50,415 --> 00:40:52,450
by the time of the World's Fair
472
00:40:52,484 --> 00:40:54,953
also known as the
Columbian Exposition.
473
00:40:56,555 --> 00:41:00,291
When complete the hotel
was a amaze of hallways,
474
00:41:00,325 --> 00:41:03,529
soundproof rooms that often
locked from the inside,
475
00:41:04,696 --> 00:41:07,398
and gas pipes that were
controlled by a panel
476
00:41:07,432 --> 00:41:08,834
in Holmes own closet.
477
00:41:14,706 --> 00:41:17,242
Additionally,
closets had peepholes
478
00:41:17,275 --> 00:41:19,745
and secret panels that
led to passageways
479
00:41:19,778 --> 00:41:21,179
which Holmes passed through.
480
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:24,315
Trap doors in
floors and ceilings
481
00:41:24,349 --> 00:41:26,184
and horrifying greased chutes
482
00:41:26,217 --> 00:41:28,754
that funneled his
hapless victims
483
00:41:28,787 --> 00:41:30,421
to the basement of the building.
484
00:41:35,894 --> 00:41:38,163
When police finally
raided the building
485
00:41:38,196 --> 00:41:39,898
after Holmes' arrest,
486
00:41:39,931 --> 00:41:42,200
they found a human sized oven
487
00:41:42,233 --> 00:41:45,203
that could heat up
to 3,000 degrees
488
00:41:45,236 --> 00:41:48,740
turning his victims
to untraceable ashes.
489
00:41:55,046 --> 00:41:56,915
While many who went missing
490
00:41:56,948 --> 00:41:59,384
after checking
into Holmes' hotel
491
00:41:59,417 --> 00:42:01,452
simply disappeared forever,
492
00:42:01,486 --> 00:42:05,323
Holmes was also known to sell
skeletons to medical schools.
493
00:42:06,524 --> 00:42:09,094
It's unknown how many of
those prepared cadavers
494
00:42:09,127 --> 00:42:12,497
were actually his victims
hidden in plain sight.
495
00:42:17,936 --> 00:42:20,038
Because of all this uncertainty
496
00:42:20,071 --> 00:42:23,441
and the devilish fantasy
he wove around himself,
497
00:42:23,474 --> 00:42:26,244
we will actually never
know the entire truth
498
00:42:26,277 --> 00:42:27,646
about the Murder Castle.
499
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,450
We will never know how many
victims and who they were.
500
00:42:32,483 --> 00:42:34,786
This was the 19th Century
501
00:42:34,820 --> 00:42:36,655
and records of births and deaths
502
00:42:36,688 --> 00:42:38,790
were not what they are today.
503
00:42:44,596 --> 00:42:48,266
As if the whole story of Holmes
was not difficult enough,
504
00:42:48,299 --> 00:42:51,302
it now turns out there is
another twist to the tale
505
00:42:51,336 --> 00:42:56,341
and one that has a lot of
people convinced H.H. Holmes
506
00:42:57,743 --> 00:43:00,712
was none other than
London's Jack The Ripper.
507
00:43:02,380 --> 00:43:05,083
Yes, you heard right.
508
00:43:13,091 --> 00:43:14,525
Let us just take a moment
509
00:43:14,559 --> 00:43:17,663
to delve into the world
of Jack The Ripper
510
00:43:17,696 --> 00:43:21,066
to remind ourselves of this
particular serial killer.
511
00:43:27,806 --> 00:43:30,676
The year is 1888.
512
00:43:30,709 --> 00:43:34,045
The location
Whitechapel, London.
513
00:43:39,384 --> 00:43:42,921
The name came from a
letter sent to the media
514
00:43:42,954 --> 00:43:46,124
claiming to have been
written by Jack himself.
515
00:43:46,157 --> 00:43:50,195
It is believed to be a hoax
and yet the name stuck.
516
00:43:55,566 --> 00:44:00,438
From Jews to Irish immigrants,
the East End of Whitechapel
517
00:44:00,471 --> 00:44:04,009
had swelled in numbers
during the 19th Century.
518
00:44:04,042 --> 00:44:08,113
It was overcrowded, poor,
and in a terrible state.
519
00:44:15,286 --> 00:44:18,890
Violence, theft,
murder, alcohol abuse,
520
00:44:18,924 --> 00:44:20,892
and prostitution were rife.
521
00:44:26,064 --> 00:44:30,568
Whitechapel was notorious
and grew worse when
522
00:44:30,601 --> 00:44:34,339
in 1888 a series
of horrific attacks
523
00:44:34,372 --> 00:44:36,107
occurred on prostitutes.
524
00:44:41,379 --> 00:44:45,250
Nobody knows how many women
were killed by Jack himself.
525
00:44:45,283 --> 00:44:46,517
There were so many.
526
00:44:52,490 --> 00:44:57,495
We know of 11 murders between
April 1888 and February 1891
527
00:44:58,997 --> 00:45:02,300
that were included in the
official police investigation.
528
00:45:03,468 --> 00:45:06,972
Five of these are known
as the canonical five
529
00:45:07,005 --> 00:45:08,406
and known to be his work.
530
00:45:14,345 --> 00:45:18,316
There are certain indications
that give him away.:
531
00:45:18,349 --> 00:45:20,385
deep slashes to the throat,
532
00:45:20,418 --> 00:45:23,121
abdominal and
genital mutilation,
533
00:45:23,154 --> 00:45:27,826
removal of internal organs,
and facial mutilations.
534
00:45:45,476 --> 00:45:49,314
We need not run through all
the victims and circumstances.
535
00:45:49,347 --> 00:45:53,418
Instead we'll take a look
at the canonical five.
536
00:45:53,451 --> 00:45:57,288
Their names were Mary Ann
Nichols, Annie Chapman,
537
00:45:57,322 --> 00:46:01,893
Elizabeth Stride, Catherine
Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly.
538
00:46:11,903 --> 00:46:14,072
Nichols' throat had been cut.
539
00:46:14,105 --> 00:46:15,773
Her lower abdomen ripped open.
540
00:46:20,578 --> 00:46:21,980
Chapman's throat cut.
541
00:46:22,013 --> 00:46:25,350
Her abdomen slashed
open and uterus removed.
542
00:46:31,622 --> 00:46:34,092
Stride and Eddowes were similar.
543
00:46:34,125 --> 00:46:35,593
A clear cut to the throat.
544
00:46:36,962 --> 00:46:40,098
Stride's body had no
mutilations to the abdomen
545
00:46:40,131 --> 00:46:43,634
leading some to claim the
Ripper had been interrupted.
546
00:46:49,540 --> 00:46:52,377
Witnesses all gave
conflicting accounts
547
00:46:52,410 --> 00:46:54,779
of a man they thought
they had seen.
548
00:46:54,812 --> 00:46:59,817
Smart, shabby, fair,
dark nobody knew.
549
00:47:01,019 --> 00:47:02,587
In fact one theory
claims that there
550
00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:04,822
never was a single
Jack The Ripper.
551
00:47:11,930 --> 00:47:14,032
Eddowes body was the same,
552
00:47:14,065 --> 00:47:16,301
throat cut, abdomen ripped open.
553
00:47:16,334 --> 00:47:19,770
Her left kidney and most
of her uterus removed.
554
00:47:19,804 --> 00:47:24,109
Graffiti found nearby seemed
to implicate the Jews.
555
00:47:24,142 --> 00:47:26,244
Fearing anti-Semitic riots,
556
00:47:26,277 --> 00:47:27,946
the police had it washed away.
557
00:47:34,886 --> 00:47:36,988
Kelly's body was found in bed.
558
00:47:37,022 --> 00:47:39,457
The throat cut down the spine
559
00:47:39,490 --> 00:47:42,293
and the abdomen emptied
and the heart missing.
560
00:47:50,568 --> 00:47:53,271
All these murders
happened at night.
561
00:47:53,304 --> 00:47:56,507
The mutilations seem to
have been getting worse.
562
00:48:05,483 --> 00:48:07,685
Although Kelly is
considered by many
563
00:48:07,718 --> 00:48:10,588
to have been Jack's
final victim,
564
00:48:10,621 --> 00:48:13,959
there are others who
believe he continued.
565
00:48:13,992 --> 00:48:17,228
These later murders
were all record.
566
00:48:17,262 --> 00:48:20,198
These include decapitations,
567
00:48:20,231 --> 00:48:23,969
torsos ripped open and
more gruesome atrocities.
568
00:48:32,077 --> 00:48:34,545
The Pinchin Street
torso for instance
569
00:48:34,579 --> 00:48:39,217
was headless and legless and
found beneath a railway arch.
570
00:48:39,250 --> 00:48:40,685
She was never identified.
571
00:48:47,725 --> 00:48:50,061
Vigilantes started
to roam the streets
572
00:48:50,095 --> 00:48:53,931
because quite simply the
police were dumbfounded.
573
00:48:53,965 --> 00:48:56,567
A great many were suspected.
574
00:48:56,601 --> 00:48:59,104
Butchers, surgeons, doctors,
575
00:48:59,137 --> 00:49:01,939
and even occult ritual
practices were blamed.
576
00:49:08,179 --> 00:49:12,317
A report from Inspector
Swanson to the home office
577
00:49:12,350 --> 00:49:16,854
confirms that 76 butchers
and slaughters were visited
578
00:49:16,887 --> 00:49:20,225
and that the inquiry
encompassed all their employees
579
00:49:20,258 --> 00:49:21,926
for the previous six months.
580
00:49:30,568 --> 00:49:32,603
Even the queen herself
581
00:49:32,637 --> 00:49:34,739
thought the murders
pointed to a butcher.
582
00:49:39,244 --> 00:49:41,779
Jack The Ripper is
in fact the earliest
583
00:49:41,812 --> 00:49:44,449
police profiling on record.
584
00:49:44,482 --> 00:49:47,952
Police surgeon Thomas Bond
investigated the process
585
00:49:47,985 --> 00:49:50,388
and surgical skill
of the Ripper.
586
00:49:50,421 --> 00:49:54,025
He wrote, "All five
murders no doubt
587
00:49:54,059 --> 00:49:56,627
"were committed
by the same hand.
588
00:49:56,661 --> 00:49:58,929
"In the first four
the throats appear
589
00:49:58,963 --> 00:50:02,067
"to have been cut
from left to right.
590
00:50:02,100 --> 00:50:05,703
"In the last case, owing
to the extensive mutilation
591
00:50:05,736 --> 00:50:08,339
"it is impossible to
say in what direction
592
00:50:08,373 --> 00:50:11,776
"the fatal cut was
made but arterial blood
593
00:50:11,809 --> 00:50:14,845
"was found on the wall in
splashes close to where
594
00:50:14,879 --> 00:50:17,315
"the woman's head
must have been lying.
595
00:50:18,483 --> 00:50:21,186
"All the circumstances
surrounding the murders
596
00:50:21,219 --> 00:50:24,989
"lead me to form the
opinion that the woman
597
00:50:25,022 --> 00:50:27,625
"must have been lying
down when murdered,
598
00:50:27,658 --> 00:50:30,695
"and in every case the
throat was first cut."
599
00:50:31,862 --> 00:50:34,565
Bond refused to
accept that the Ripper
600
00:50:34,599 --> 00:50:37,368
had descent surgical knowledge.
601
00:50:42,507 --> 00:50:45,042
Holmes would have had
from his training.
602
00:50:46,211 --> 00:50:48,813
He believed that Jack
was a solitary man
603
00:50:48,846 --> 00:50:52,683
who had periodical attacks of
homicidal and erotic mania.
604
00:50:54,085 --> 00:50:57,388
His attacks may have
derived from a revengeful
605
00:50:57,422 --> 00:51:00,191
or brooding
condition of the mind
606
00:51:00,225 --> 00:51:04,061
or that religious mania may
have been the original disease,
607
00:51:04,095 --> 00:51:07,398
which I don't not think
either hypothesis is likely.
608
00:51:14,539 --> 00:51:16,741
Soon psychologies
believe that the
609
00:51:16,774 --> 00:51:20,245
penetration of the
victims with the knife
610
00:51:20,278 --> 00:51:24,014
leaving them on display in
sexually degrading positions
611
00:51:24,048 --> 00:51:27,352
with the wounds exposed
indicated that Jack
612
00:51:27,385 --> 00:51:30,921
derived sexual pleasure
from the attacks.
613
00:51:30,955 --> 00:51:34,024
It is true that the
majority of the poor victims
614
00:51:34,058 --> 00:51:38,763
that succumbed to the brutality
of H.H. Holmes were women
615
00:51:38,796 --> 00:51:41,432
just as in the case of Jack.
616
00:51:45,002 --> 00:51:48,005
Nobody knows who
Jack The Ripper was,
617
00:51:48,038 --> 00:51:51,409
and there is an almost annual
claim offered in the media.
618
00:51:52,610 --> 00:51:55,946
There are well over
100 suspects now,
619
00:51:55,980 --> 00:51:58,683
and we are still no
closer to the truth.
620
00:52:04,455 --> 00:52:05,923
But there is another theory.
621
00:52:06,991 --> 00:52:09,594
Holmes' great, great grandson
622
00:52:09,627 --> 00:52:13,298
has recently so come forth
with so-called evidence:
623
00:52:13,331 --> 00:52:15,933
two diaries he
claims were inherited
624
00:52:15,966 --> 00:52:18,403
from his great,
great grandfather.
625
00:52:18,436 --> 00:52:23,441
Experts, who we do not know,
analyzed the handwriting
626
00:52:24,609 --> 00:52:25,919
and concluded that
they were indeed
627
00:52:25,943 --> 00:52:28,846
written by the devil
incarnate himself.
628
00:52:33,351 --> 00:52:36,153
It details several
of his murders
629
00:52:36,187 --> 00:52:40,991
and a tale about how he was
raped as a child by a priest.
630
00:52:41,025 --> 00:52:45,062
It also claims that he
was never in fact hanged.
631
00:52:45,095 --> 00:52:47,998
That he staged
his own execution.
632
00:52:48,032 --> 00:52:52,503
Of course we now know that
he was hung and buried,
633
00:52:52,537 --> 00:52:56,341
and so this piece of
evidence is in fact not true.
634
00:53:01,646 --> 00:53:05,216
We also know that Holmes was
the world's biggest liar.
635
00:53:06,384 --> 00:53:07,985
The diary states that Holmes
636
00:53:08,018 --> 00:53:10,087
knew the identity
of Jack The Ripper.
637
00:53:11,222 --> 00:53:13,057
What is the problem
here is simple.
638
00:53:14,259 --> 00:53:16,627
That this statement
is being over-egged
639
00:53:16,661 --> 00:53:19,397
to reveal that Holmes
was Jack the Ripper
640
00:53:19,430 --> 00:53:21,566
and that he didn't die.
641
00:53:21,599 --> 00:53:25,002
We are being asked to believe
the words of a dead con man.
642
00:53:30,841 --> 00:53:34,044
We are also, with
next to no evidence
643
00:53:34,078 --> 00:53:36,180
being asked to
believe that Holmes
644
00:53:36,213 --> 00:53:39,384
was in London during
the Whitechapel murders.
645
00:53:39,417 --> 00:53:42,987
The diary describes them
as training sessions.
646
00:53:43,020 --> 00:53:45,856
But it could also be the
ramblings of an egotist.
647
00:53:47,325 --> 00:53:50,628
Yet, Holmes can be shown to
have committed fraud in the
648
00:53:50,661 --> 00:53:54,899
United States at the time of
most of the Ripper murders.
649
00:54:03,674 --> 00:54:07,244
In fact, Holmes
apparently had a trainee
650
00:54:07,278 --> 00:54:10,515
who was instructed to carry
out murders on prostitutes
651
00:54:10,548 --> 00:54:12,082
and to mutilate their bodies.
652
00:54:12,950 --> 00:54:15,219
Why would Holmes do this?
653
00:54:15,252 --> 00:54:19,457
Apparently to distract the
world from his own barbarism.
654
00:54:19,490 --> 00:54:22,026
Is this stretching the
imagination too far?
655
00:54:27,031 --> 00:54:30,368
While it is a wonderful
story that catches headlines,
656
00:54:30,401 --> 00:54:33,270
it is in fact as
ridiculous as Robin Hood
657
00:54:33,304 --> 00:54:36,140
having popped over the pond
to help the poor English
658
00:54:36,173 --> 00:54:39,577
before returning to America
to become Abraham Lincoln.
659
00:54:44,148 --> 00:54:47,251
The problem is that
Holmes was a massive liar,
660
00:54:47,284 --> 00:54:50,355
and nothing in his
diaries can be trusted.
661
00:54:50,388 --> 00:54:53,658
So no matter how logical
some of it may sound,
662
00:54:53,691 --> 00:54:56,927
it is being manipulated
to sell books.
663
00:54:56,961 --> 00:55:00,765
Indeed the author of
this new theory himself
664
00:55:00,798 --> 00:55:05,102
describes his own visions
of the ghost of Holmes.
665
00:55:05,135 --> 00:55:07,772
Alarm bells should ring.
666
00:55:14,078 --> 00:55:16,647
True hardened Ripperologists
667
00:55:16,681 --> 00:55:20,017
could literally
rip the story apart
668
00:55:20,050 --> 00:55:23,220
from dates, methods, and motives
669
00:55:23,253 --> 00:55:26,891
to the sheer fantasist
Holmes himself
670
00:55:26,924 --> 00:55:29,694
and it seems
subsequent believers.
671
00:55:34,732 --> 00:55:37,468
It was finally killed
with the discovery
672
00:55:37,502 --> 00:55:40,471
that Holmes was in fact
executed and buried.
673
00:55:45,510 --> 00:55:48,245
The Ripper murders
were not as is commonly
674
00:55:48,278 --> 00:55:50,047
and falsely believed
675
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:53,484
precise murders carried
out by a surgeon.
676
00:55:53,518 --> 00:55:56,721
They were frenzied and
no better than a butcher.
677
00:56:04,161 --> 00:56:06,631
All the evidence proves this.
678
00:56:06,664 --> 00:56:09,434
The Ripper went
out for his kill.
679
00:56:09,467 --> 00:56:11,235
He stalked the streets.
680
00:56:18,175 --> 00:56:21,111
Holmes lured his victims.
681
00:56:21,145 --> 00:56:22,947
He didn't stalk.
682
00:56:22,980 --> 00:56:25,215
He was precise with his murders.
683
00:56:25,249 --> 00:56:26,751
He took his time over them.
684
00:56:28,185 --> 00:56:31,221
Paper evidence proves that
Holmes is carrying out fraud
685
00:56:31,255 --> 00:56:34,291
and building his castle
in the United States
686
00:56:34,324 --> 00:56:36,126
at the time of the
Ripper murders.
687
00:56:42,467 --> 00:56:44,702
There are a lot of
claims being made
688
00:56:44,735 --> 00:56:49,139
that there was no evidence
of Holmes in Chicago in 1888.
689
00:56:49,173 --> 00:56:50,841
But they are simply not true.
690
00:56:52,042 --> 00:56:55,279
It is also claimed that
the Ripper's handwriting
691
00:56:55,312 --> 00:56:59,216
was proven to be the same as
the handwriting of Holmes.
692
00:56:59,249 --> 00:57:03,954
Again not true because
there are no proven records
693
00:57:03,988 --> 00:57:06,356
of the handwriting
of Jack The Ripper.
694
00:57:11,261 --> 00:57:14,364
There are dozens of
different examples
695
00:57:14,398 --> 00:57:16,534
and none of them are proven.
696
00:57:16,567 --> 00:57:20,004
Indeed the whole Holmes' story
697
00:57:20,037 --> 00:57:24,174
has and is becoming a
new fantasy in the media.
698
00:57:29,647 --> 00:57:32,249
It seems to have been this way
699
00:57:32,282 --> 00:57:35,385
since the first news stories
about the Murder Castle.
700
00:57:40,324 --> 00:57:42,993
There have been dozens
of books on the subject,
701
00:57:43,027 --> 00:57:45,462
and they all seem to
contradict each other.
702
00:57:46,564 --> 00:57:48,733
There have been
copious documentaries,
703
00:57:48,766 --> 00:57:53,037
TV plays, theater
productions, and movies.
704
00:57:53,070 --> 00:57:55,172
There has even been an opera.
705
00:58:00,277 --> 00:58:04,414
We began this investigation
in an attempt to be forensic
706
00:58:04,448 --> 00:58:06,684
to analyze the mind of the man
707
00:58:06,717 --> 00:58:09,186
through his actions and deeds.
708
00:58:09,219 --> 00:58:11,421
We have discovered that his life
709
00:58:11,455 --> 00:58:14,224
was one very big lie
from beginning to end,
710
00:58:21,732 --> 00:58:25,469
and the lies continue
even after his death.
711
00:58:30,708 --> 00:58:32,677
Was he really bullied in school
712
00:58:32,710 --> 00:58:35,580
and forced to stand
before a skeleton?
713
00:58:35,613 --> 00:58:38,282
This it is claimed
was the reason
714
00:58:38,315 --> 00:58:40,818
for his fascination
with cadavers.
715
00:58:40,851 --> 00:58:44,555
Problem is we have only
his word on this tall tale.
716
00:58:45,990 --> 00:58:49,259
The facts we have reveal he
was born into an ordinary
717
00:58:49,293 --> 00:58:52,763
hard working Methodist family
of farmers nothing more.
718
00:59:00,370 --> 00:59:03,741
We do know that his
fascination with cadavers
719
00:59:03,774 --> 00:59:07,978
seems to have begun
just prior to university
720
00:59:08,012 --> 00:59:10,414
and it was there that
his ability to use
721
00:59:10,447 --> 00:59:13,618
the corpses as methods
of making money began.
722
00:59:20,958 --> 00:59:24,194
Somewhere his moral
compass went wrong
723
00:59:24,228 --> 00:59:26,897
and started pointing
in every direction.
724
00:59:33,938 --> 00:59:36,473
It is difficult to know where
725
00:59:36,506 --> 00:59:40,544
but sometimes just the
simple necessity to survive
726
00:59:40,577 --> 00:59:42,913
can cause humans to
do terrible things.
727
00:59:50,220 --> 00:59:55,225
When those crimes have proven
to work and nobody's any wiser
728
00:59:56,627 --> 00:59:59,730
then the temptation to proceed
to up the game increases.
729
01:00:04,334 --> 01:00:08,205
Could it simply be that
Holmes was a opportunist
730
01:00:08,238 --> 01:00:10,407
who kept taking the risks
731
01:00:10,440 --> 01:00:13,077
until the final one
was one too many?
732
01:00:18,182 --> 01:00:20,317
It is a pattern in crime.
733
01:00:20,350 --> 01:00:23,253
It is also a pattern
with psychotics
734
01:00:23,287 --> 01:00:25,690
that they secretly
wish to be caught,
735
01:00:25,723 --> 01:00:28,158
to be known, to be famous.
736
01:00:33,831 --> 01:00:36,166
He definitely had little empathy
737
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:38,468
for his fellow human beings.
738
01:00:38,502 --> 01:00:41,806
He mimicked it because he
was an excellent con man.
739
01:00:43,040 --> 01:00:45,910
Psychotic people are
very often believed
740
01:00:45,943 --> 01:00:49,246
to be friendly,
intelligent, and methodical.
741
01:00:53,383 --> 01:00:55,652
Holmes has all those traits.
742
01:00:57,087 --> 01:01:00,257
His methods of making
money was so well planned
743
01:01:00,290 --> 01:01:03,894
that he constructed a building
to extract money and bodies.
744
01:01:03,928 --> 01:01:06,797
He had no compassion
for the people.
745
01:01:06,831 --> 01:01:09,166
It was a challenge to
his psychotic mind.
746
01:01:14,038 --> 01:01:18,608
His building had 51 doorways
that opened unto brick walls,
747
01:01:18,642 --> 01:01:22,847
100 rooms without windows,
stairs that led to nowhere,
748
01:01:22,880 --> 01:01:26,316
chutes for bodies, gas
holes, secret passageways
749
01:01:26,350 --> 01:01:28,318
and a huge incinerator.
750
01:01:28,352 --> 01:01:31,655
It was planned and
executed very well.
751
01:01:31,688 --> 01:01:36,593
It was a castle of fantasy
for a psychotic fantasist.
752
01:01:44,434 --> 01:01:46,470
It was a mirror of his own mind.
753
01:01:53,643 --> 01:01:57,714
The true psychological
analysis of H.H. Holmes
754
01:01:57,748 --> 01:02:00,150
does not come from his lies
755
01:02:00,184 --> 01:02:03,353
but from the bricks and
mortar of the Murder Castle.
756
01:02:03,387 --> 01:02:05,089
It reflects him.
757
01:02:11,428 --> 01:02:16,433
During his confession in
Chicago in 1896 he said,
758
01:02:17,367 --> 01:02:19,970
"I was born with
the devil in me.
759
01:02:20,004 --> 01:02:23,540
"I could not help the
fact that I was a murderer
760
01:02:23,573 --> 01:02:28,012
"no more than a poet can
help the inspiration to sing.
761
01:02:28,045 --> 01:02:30,414
"I was born with the evil one
762
01:02:30,447 --> 01:02:33,750
"standing as my
sponsor beside the bed
763
01:02:33,784 --> 01:02:36,520
"where I was ushered
into the world
764
01:02:36,553 --> 01:02:39,056
"and he has been with me since."
765
01:02:47,564 --> 01:02:50,467
We cannot believe
his confessions.
766
01:02:50,500 --> 01:02:53,703
We cannot believe
his so-called diaries
767
01:02:53,737 --> 01:02:55,806
if indeed they are real.
768
01:02:55,840 --> 01:02:58,943
We can only believe
the evidence.
769
01:02:58,976 --> 01:03:01,812
Holmes was a bigamist, fact.
770
01:03:01,846 --> 01:03:04,949
He was a superb con man, fact.
771
01:03:04,982 --> 01:03:08,018
He was a serial killer, fact.
772
01:03:08,052 --> 01:03:11,588
He was Jack The Ripper,
extremely doubtful.
773
01:03:20,865 --> 01:03:24,001
In the 21st Century
nothing has changed
774
01:03:24,034 --> 01:03:28,405
from the 19th Century when
his evil deeds emerged.
775
01:03:28,438 --> 01:03:30,841
Within his own
lifetime people were
776
01:03:30,875 --> 01:03:34,144
making up tales about
him and his life.
777
01:03:34,178 --> 01:03:38,582
In subsequent generations
those lies have been spread
778
01:03:38,615 --> 01:03:42,086
altered, improved
upon, and regurgitated.
779
01:03:47,324 --> 01:03:50,027
Just because his
words are spoken
780
01:03:50,060 --> 01:03:52,462
it does not make them truth.
781
01:03:52,496 --> 01:03:54,564
Just because they are repeated
782
01:03:54,598 --> 01:03:57,034
it does not make them gospel.
783
01:03:57,067 --> 01:04:00,871
Just because they are turned
into documentaries and movies
784
01:04:00,905 --> 01:04:03,140
it does not make
them gospel truth.
785
01:04:08,946 --> 01:04:11,015
The facts are the facts.
786
01:04:11,048 --> 01:04:13,450
He was an egotistical liar
787
01:04:13,483 --> 01:04:16,820
who believed he was superior
to the rest of mankind
788
01:04:23,660 --> 01:04:26,530
just as is the case
with the vast majority
789
01:04:26,563 --> 01:04:29,799
of serial killers
modern and ancient.
790
01:04:35,973 --> 01:04:38,475
We place them on
the silver screen
791
01:04:38,508 --> 01:04:42,746
and make icons out of them
and their Chinese whispers.
792
01:04:42,779 --> 01:04:46,083
He was evil but
he was not Satan.
793
01:04:46,116 --> 01:04:48,285
He was mentally deranged.
794
01:04:48,318 --> 01:04:50,754
But he was not Jack The Ripper.
795
01:04:50,787 --> 01:04:53,991
That story is yet
to be revealed,
796
01:04:54,024 --> 01:04:56,393
and it will be an eye opener.
63550
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