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H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer

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I think it's safe to say that we can separate serial killers into two categories--let's call them "A" and "B"--when discussing their name recognition. Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Jeffrey Dahmer, Henry Lee Lucas, Jack the Ripper, and Charles Starkweather would definitely fall in the former. Thanks to the media, the public is all too aware of these vicious killers. Numerous books, articles, documentaries, and movies describe their exploits in nauseating detail. The second tier murderers, no less appalling in their capacity to take human lives, would draw mostly blanks if you dropped their names into polite conversation. Albert Fish, Beck and Fernandez, William Bonin, and dozens of others fall into this category. One name that, until recently, also garnered blank stares was Dr. Herman W. Mudgett aka Henry Holmes aka H. H. Holmes. Thanks to a best-selling book entitled "The Devil in the White City," Holmes is finally receiving his due. I haven't read Erik Larson's treatment, but I have read dozens of serial killer compilations over the years. Holmes made the grade in all of them. I decided to reacquaint myself with this monster recently by watching John Borowski's documentary "H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer."

Borowski's production, which runs a scant sixty-four minutes, gives the viewer everything they ever wanted to know about this notorious butcher. Holmes grew up in New Hampshire in the 1860s and 1870s, a brilliant but troubled child who eventually attended medical school. After running an insurance scam involving stolen cadavers from school, Holmes disappeared for a number of years before popping up again in Chicago in 1885. Then the nightmares began in earnest. He bounced around the city running numerous scams and running up debts before beginning construction on an enormous mansion across the street from a drugstore he owned. An odd structure indeed, this castle, considering that it boasted close to sixty rooms and a most unusual floor plan. Moreover, Holmes continually hired and then fired workers laboring on the building. One reason was to get out of paying for services rendered. Another reason, and a far more ominous one considering what would soon take place in the mansion, was Holmes's fervent desire that no one but himself would now the ins and outs of the building's design. You see, Dr. Holmes had a specific purpose in mind for his new domicile, a purpose that involved trapdoors, slides, and a murder pit in the basement.

Over the next four years, Holmes lured dozens upon dozens of women to the castle. Some came to rent rooms from the good doctor, others seeking employment. No one really knows how many women H. H. Holmes killed. It is generally acknowledged what he did with the bodies, however. After dispatching a victim, the murderer would send their body down to the basement where pits full of acid and quicklime ensured that all traces of the corpse would vanish--after he sold the victims' skeletons to medical schools across the country, that is. Holmes's murderous career started to unravel after police arrested him for running a con in St. Louis. While in jail there he swindled famed train robber Marion Hedgepeth, a swindle that came back to bite him later on when Holmes reneged on a promise to pay the criminal money for securing legal assistance. Hedgepeth eventually rolled over on the doctor, reporting to the authorities an insurance scam Holmes planned on running once out of jail. The Pinkerton Detective Agency got involved in the case, and the rest, as they say, is history. The horrors of the Chicago mansion soon came to light, and H. H. Holmes eventually went to the gallows for his terrifying crimes.

Whew! Boy, am I leaving a bunch of stuff out! I could go on and on about H.H. Holmes, about his numerous affairs with women, his cons, and his treatment of the Pietzel family. The fact that Borowski managed to stuff this much information about Holmes's activities into sixty minutes is an impressive feat indeed. The documentary looks like something you might see on A&E or the History Channel. It shows us the pictures of places and people central to the story of Holmes, contains interviews with serial killer experts like Harold Schechter, boasts several black and white reenactments of significant events, and even has Tony Jay doing the narration. If you don't know this guy's name, don't worry; you'll certainly recognize his voice. He's one of Hollywood's premier voiceover talents, having worked on dozens upon dozens of shows, movies, and videogames. Definitely a great choice to tell the creepy story of one of America's worst serial killers! My only problem with the picture is the title. Sorry, but H.H. Holmes wasn't America's first serial killer. Jesse Pomeroy killed numerous victims several years before Holmes was born. Moreover, serial killers existed in Europe long before America became a country. Gilles de Rais and Elizabeth Bathory are just two examples.

Extras on the DVD consist of a commentary track with John Borowski, an informative making of featurette, several trailers, and a photo gallery showing how the places involved in Holmes's crimes have changed in the last hundred plus years. Good stuff. So why isn't Holmes as well known as Bundy, Starkweather, Gacy, and the rest? The documentary answers that question indirectly by having to rely on recreations of the crimes. Holmes operated in a time before television and film could capture the crime scene and the trial. Modern Americans need to see the horror, see the killer marching by on their television sets, for it to register. Nonetheless, I think Borowski's documentary does much to elevate Holmes to the ranks of the "A" grade serial killers.

I am one of Benjamin's great-grandaughters (baby Wharton was my g-pa) and my family waited 2 years for John's film. To state we were all very pleased, would be a gross understatement! John has told the story in a way that greatly exceeded our expectations, it was definitely worth the wait. The research he did is an accomplishment in itself, and John just could not have presented the story better, I often felt like I was "back in time" while watching, because of his meticulous eye for detail. The film flowed so well, better than most "major motion pictures" playing these days, and stuck to the facts of the story, which shows me just what a master John is in the art of film making, and in staying true to making a documentary. I know the story backwards & forward and yet, I was literally on the edge of my seat watching the film! And what can I say about Tony Jay? He was the ulimate choice for narration, and brought so much to the story, we can't thank him enough for his contributions. I really liked (& wasn't expecting!) seeing Harold presenting his thoughts & research, and Tom Cronin's insight gave additional "food for thought". The "making of" portion of the DVD was very interesting & equally enjoyable, it simply could not have been done any better. We greatly appreciate the time & effort John put into this production, he's earned my utmost respect & admiration. These events were such a source of shame for our family for so many, many years, John's shown the truth, bringing light to a very dark time in our family history, which we can now be proud of.

I look forward to seeing John's other productions, as he is a true artist, anyone would be proud to have him tell their "story", it is a priviledge to have had him tell "our story".

With overtones of Murnau's Nosferatu, this documentary/film about the life and crimes of HH Holmes is one not to be missed. It is a highly polished independant production that rivals the big studios. Borowski has done his research and takes the viewer on a journey into the dark annals of Chicago in the late-nineteenth century.

The eerie black and white re-enactments brings the case to life, with the suspense of the old monster films of the turn of the century. The haunting voice-over by esteemed actor Tony Jay gives the film it's final touch.

I look forward to future projects by John Borowski.

Amanda Howard
Author, River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims.

I watched this last night. For a new documentary filmmaker, John Borowski, is somebody to watch out for. This coumentary reminds you of old black and white thriller films but with great narration and commentary by Harold Schechter who wrote depraved about Dr. H. Holmes born Herman Mudgett. The criminal profiler reminds me of a blonde Chris Parnell and the forensics person is quite vague but explains the lack of forensics science during that time. Dr. H. Holmes was a frightening man who killed, slaughtered, dismembered humans and sold their skeletons for profit. He was truly a genius at manipulating poor men like Benjamin Pitezel and his family who were his greatest casualties. He was the first serial killer to become so notorious by the end of one century on par with England's Jack the Ripper.

H.H. Holmes was, as said in this this excellent documentary, a monster! His crimes were incredible even to this day, but few people know of him. That will change soon! This movie is great. Done with care, professionalism and respect for the material. Several techniques, montages, reinactments, interviews, etc., were used to bring this story to light. The decision to film in Black & White was good, IMO. It gave the production a sense of being in another time long ago.

This independent production rivals the documentaries found on A&E and the Discovery Channel, to name a couple. It could only have been better had old H.H. been there himself!

To those involved . . . please do the Albert Fish story!

After I read Erik Larson's wonderful book "The Devil in the White City" I was fascinated by the brief glimpses at Holmes' story. But this documentary was a phenomenal disappointment. The production is amateurish at best, complete with needlessly corny reenactments worthy of "Mondo Carne." With such a wealth of fascinating information available (court transcripts, etc) do we really need filler footage of some faceless actress wandering down dark hallways acting frightened? This man killed countless people and yet the producers of this documentary thought so little of their audience that they hired a narrator who sounds as if he is the chief ride operator of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Truly disappointing. Perhaps someone will make an interesting documentary of Holmes. This most certainly isn't it.

If you are one of the millions of people who read The Devil in the White City you'll greatly appreciate this superlative documentary concerning America's first serial killer. What motivated Dr. Mudgett aka Dr. H. H. Holmes to do what he did were the same anti-social forces that propel modern psychopaths to commit the crimes they do today. His story is timeless. Societal free riders such as Mudgett prey on the general population and get away with whatever they can until they are ultimately punished for their behavior. The psychopath is not in need of our understanding. What he requires is quarantine. They must be isolated and imprisoned. Mudgett's methods both fascinate and disturb us today but they provide an excellent education for those who wish to become familiar with the evil of which some humans are capable.

For those who've read Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" and become subsequently fascinated by America's first serial killer, this is a must. Filmmaker John Borowski does any excellent job telling the story of "The Devil," Holmes. Since it appears that a feature film about Holmes is (finally) in the works, this makes for an excellent stop-gap until its release. Also investigate "The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes" and "Expo" as well as "Devil in the White City" tours when in Chicago. Enjoy!

How angry H. H. Holmes would be if he knew how forgotten he is today. Here he is, dubbed (inaccurately) "America's first serial killer," a man who may have killed several dozen people (and definitely killed several children), a fiend who built a "castle" custom designed to expedite his murderous activities, a medical doctor, a first-rate confidence man, and even quite the ladies' man - and yet few people have ever heard of him today, and he rarely even gets a mention when people start talking about history's most infamous killers. Frankly, I don't find the man all that interesting - and I'm not entirely sure why. Given his deeds and my fascination with serial killers, this man should be up there with Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, and the Green River Killer for me - but he isn't. Maybe it's just because he was such a puny, cowardly sort of fellow who wasn't even man enough to do his work up close and personal. No, this guy relied on gas, poison, and asphyxiation to rob his innocent victims of their lives. He only grew a pair after the killing was done, chopping up and burning the bodies or, in several cases, stripping them to the bone and selling their skeletons to medical schools.

What should make H. H. Holmes interesting is the fact that he really doesn't fit the profile of your typical serial killer. For one thing, he was highly educated, having received his medical degree from the University of Michigan. He didn't exactly fly under the radar, either, as he was quite brazen in terms of conning people out of their money and buying things on credit and never paying for them. Then there is the "Murder Castle," the three-story, 60-room monstrosity he had built in Chicago. This was no boy next door, and I daresay you would have had a hard time finding any of his neighbors going on about how shocked they are and what a nice man he was once his true nature was revealed.

This documentary does an excellent job of following Holmes from his birth as Herman Webster Mudgett in 1861 to his death (by hanging) in 1896. The most interesting part of the story, of course, is the "Murder Castle," and the narrative goes into some detail as to the manner in which he killed his victims - such as by pumping gas into their sealed rooms or locking them (including one of his wives) in a giant steel vault to die a slow death by asphyxiation - and the postmortem liberties he took with their bodies (his basement boasted two giant furnaces, a stretching rack, pits of acid, a variety of poisons, and a bloody dissection table). The video also helps explain why he was not suspected of murder much sooner. First and foremost is the fact that these killings took place in the 1890s, long before the advent of modern forensics and several years before fingerprints were used by police. There's also the design of his "castle," which allowed for quiet killings in soundproof rooms and the quick removal of the bodies down a specially designed chute to the basement. Then there is the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Holmes rented out rooms in his "castle" to visitors, some of whom just never returned home. They were almost perfect victims because their friends and family back home would have no reason to link their disappearances to Holmes.

The documentary takes us through the international news event that was the trial and the defendant's shenanigans in court. Then we learn how, following the pronouncement of his death sentence, Holmes decided to take credit for all of his crimes and then some, only to recant for the most part on the gallows. As should be obvious, H. H. Holmes was uniquely diabolical and is thus most worthy of study. If the evil that men do lives on and on, then we need to understand the most evil of men, and H. H. Holmes definitely fits into that category.

You can't let the subject matter get to you if you are going to read this book. It's amazing that such an individual could live and practice as he did. You have to say he was an amazing individual....a true sociopath. He was able to do so much right in front of so many peoples eyes.