![]() ![]() The basement also contained furnaces large enough to incinerate human bodies, lime pits, and corrosive acid for quick disposal.ĭue to the connections Holmes had made in medical school, it was relatively easy for him to strip down the bodies and sell them as skeleton models, or harvest their organs for medical use. ![]() Stretched on a rack for Holmes’ attempt to create a race of giantsĬhutes and dummy elevators brought bodies to the basement, where victims’ bodies could be dissected in Holmes’ surgical area.Isolated in a solid brick room that could only be accessed by a trapdoor in the ceiling.Hanged in a secret chamber on the second floor.Burned to death in iron rooms fitted with blowtorches.Asphyxiated via gas lines in soundproof bedrooms.On the second floor, guests were murdered in the following ways: Holmes would select his victims among employees and hotel guests, who met their demise via the secret chambers and traps constructed throughout the second floor and basement.įrom strange, angled hallways to doors that only opened from the outside, every part of Holmes’ castle was constructed to disguise his inclination to kill. ![]() Holmes’ castle was a multi-use building with stores and services on the bottom floor, including a pharmacy. Here’s how he carried out the gruesome killings. Holmes and a victim.Īt the end of his murderous reign, Holmes confessed to 27 murders - although some numbers place his actual body count closer to 200. The truth, though, existed in the hidden rooms and torture chambers scattered among the Castle. Other people who interacted with Holmes had a strange tendency to disappear, which he would write off by explaining that they had moved away, gone to visit family, or simply vanished without a trace. ![]() However, his high turnover rate wasn’t because of issues with his employees - instead, Holmes constantly fired workers in order to prevent anyone from learning the layout of his murderous castle.Īrguably, the only person who knew the true nature of Holmes’ construction from the beginning was Holmes’ associate, Benjamin Pitezel, a carpenter with a history of lawbreaking and participation in Holmes’ insurance scams. While the hotel’s construction should have only taken six months, according to Chicagoist, it took three times as long because Holmes kept firing construction workers. It spanned an entire block and was dubbed “the Castle” by locals. When Holmes moved to Chicago, he purchased an empty lot and began construction on a custom hotel building. Holmes would take out policies on the deceased and then collect the money for himself - a habit he continued even after he left the university. His fascination with death brought him to steal cadavers while enrolled at the University of Michigan’s Department of Medicine and Surgery. Holmes?īorn Herman Webster Mudgett in 1861, Holmes had a hobby of dissecting small animals as a child. The first floor had shops, the third floor had apartments - and the second floor and basement were reserved for murder. Thousands of visitors to Chicago needed a place to stay during the world exposition, and Holmes had rooms waiting. But in 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was home to a more sinister marvel: H.H. In the 19 th century, world expositions were opportunities to show off the latest in industrialization and culture. ![]()
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