Abstract
Herman Webster Mudgett, aka Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, is one of America’s first noted serial murderers. He killed at least 27 women during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (e.g., World’s Fair) in Chicago. In addition to murder, Holmes enjoyed performing extreme forms of torture and mutilation on those he lured into traps. He is perhaps best known for what would later be dubbed the Murder Castle, a two-story maze designed by Holmes with numerous trap doors, hidden passages, and torture chambers. Many researchers have been fascinated with peering behind the façade that Dr. Holmes contrived and looking into his formative years for clues to what might have led to his later atrocities. As is often the case with serial murderers, the childhood of Holmes was shaped by physical abuse, difficulties in socializing with peers, and cruelty towards animals.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Jerrod; Hickey, Eric; and Harris, Blake
(2015)
"H.H. Holmes: One of America's First Recorded Serial Murderers,"
Forensic Scholars Today: Vol. 1:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/forensic_scholars_today/vol1/iss2/4