The Hotel of Horrors There was a man with a name of Herman Webster Mudgett, but most people know him by the name of H.H. Holmes(“H.H. Holmes”, 2017:Grey, 2016: Upton, 2014). I had first heard about this weird part of America’s history through one of my favorite television shows, Supernatural. He is known to be one of the most cruel serial killers in the United States, and no one really know the exact amount of people he has killed. But how did he kill so many people without getting caught sooner, or there being an exact number that he had killed? Herman Webster Mudgett is one of America’s first serial killers that has been recorded. He was born in New Hampshire to a family that was somewhat wealthy in 1861, and was smart from a young age …show more content…
Holton(“H.H. Holmes, 2017: Upton, 2014). He later bought the lot across the street from the pharmacy he worked at, and began construction on the infamous “Hotel of Horrors” or the “Murder Castle” as we know it today (Grey, 2016: Upton, 2014). It was designed in a way that the first floor was a new pharmacy for him to work in, the second floor was apartments, and the third floor was supposed to be used as a hotel during the World’s Columbian Exposition/ Chicago’s World’s Fair (Grey, 2016:Upton, 2014: “H.H. Holmes”, 2017). A lot of people who went to the World’s Fair ended up staying in Chicago instead of going home, so a few missing people wouldn’t raise questions at that time, and Holmes took advantage of it (Upton, 2014). WIth the demented design of the building Holmes was able to murder several people, in various ways; including locking someone in a room where they would starve, asphyxiating them with gas,or hang them (Grey, 2016: Upton, 2014). There were also doors that opened into walls, staircases that led to nowhere, and became a “maze of murder” (Grey, 2016:Upton, 2014). His main target was “young, usually blonde, women” (Upton, 2014). He had several different victims besides young blonde women though. There was a mound of clothes and bones in the basement of his ‘hotel’, and in it was found animal bones, women’s clothes, and the bones of a child around the age of six-eight (Grey, 2016:
William Heirens should have been sent to a mental institute rather than spend his life rotting away in prison. He was diagnosed with premature madness. Schizophrenia is a highly serious mental disorder and should be taken seriously, which the judges did not do. They thought that Heirens was saying things to keep himself out of jail. His mental condition was very poor, which led him to start murdering people, including a 6-year-old girl. By examining William’s early life, the influences he had while growing up, and his capture and questioning, it is apparent that he had become a vicious butcher.
Erick Larson wrote in Devil in the White City, “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing – I was born with the Evil One standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered in the world, and he has been with me since” (Troy, Taylor). This statement was a quoted confession from Dr. H. H. Holmes himself in 1896. Holmes was the first major serial killer in America, even though he came after many others in his time. Thomas Neil Cream, the Austin Axe Murderer, the Bloody Benders, and Jack the Ripper came before him. His name was originally Herman Webster Mudgett. He was born on May 16th, 1860 in Gilman, New Hampshire. He was raised by his mother and father, who was a wealthy and respected citizen for 25 years. As a boy, Mudgett was always in trouble and was well known in his community for his rather sociopathic behavior. He would show cruelty to both animals and other children. The only thing keeping hope to society was the fact that he was an excellent student. He later changed his last name to Holmes in order to pursue both his medical and criminal careers. He had many other aliases in which he would hide under and try to derail the cops from finding him (Juan, Blanco). Holmes was medically trained to be a doctor and received his degree from the University of Michigan. He was not just into insurance fraud scams. His evil doings included forgery, claiming to find the cure for alcoholism, real estate scams, and pretending to have a machine that turned natural gas into water. He was quite the ladies man, had many wives, whom often had become his victims. Many of his medical partners became subject to him, also. He once even had three wiv...
... middle of paper ... ... According to Criminal Justice, almost every murder has a motive (Bender), and these areas from Ridgway’s past is what most likely caused him to go on his killing spree. Even through multiple interrogations, Ridgway has left people asking the same question, what caused him to commit the most murders in American history? Works Cited Bender, L. David, and Bruno Leone.
He is known to have killed at least five prostitutes between August 7th and September 10th, although he is suspected of many other murders. He chose prostitutes as his targets on purpose. They were easily accessible and the prostitutes first initiated contact with him, which appealed to his asocial personality. The murder of prostitutes, or other lower class citizens, was not uncommon in London’s East End at the time. The district was known for the violence and crime brought over by immigrants looking to make a new start for themselves. However, these murders were different than any other violent crime of the time, because of the sadistic and sociopathic manner of the murders. However, the killer did not just murder these women, he mutilated their bodies by removing their organs. This action really stood out at that time because it showed the killer had a mind for violence that no normal citizen could even comprehend.
When he first started he targeted mostly prostitutes and other young runaways. The women were usually between 15 and 40 years of age. He had no particular ethnicity he would go for, did not matter if they were black, white, hispanic, or asian. He did not care about their physical features either, but rather convenience. The one thing he typically chose was if they seemed to be “vulnerable”, or “east to get alone”. All these occurrences happened near his home in Seattle, Washington. He would pick the women up where the girls had been reported to have disappeared and he would often bring them home. He would show them pictures of his son, Matthew, in order to gain their trust. He would have sex with these women, but would tell them he would pay them after they were finished. When he first started, he would strangle the women after sex by hand, but as he later progressed he started using ropes and belts and other ligatures so it would not draw as much attention. He either killed his victims in his home or his truck. Later, would dispose of the bodies in what he called “clusters” along the banks of the Green River, where he would then go back and have sex with the
Rumain Brisbon,Tamir Rice, Kajieme Powell, Michael Brown, John Crawford III, Eric Garner, San Bland, Andy Lopez, Deion Fludd, Kimani Gray, Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Jones ( seven years old) were a child to a mother, a brother or sister, a father, a uncle. Someone knew these people. They were their biggest pride and joy. Can you imagine how it feels to no longer have your pride and joy within a split second, due to the way they look? The excruciating pain of having to live with the death of a child is a mother's worst nightmare. In the city of Ferguson, Michael Brown was an unarmed black teen shot by police; this was the beginning of an uprisings against police brutality nationwide.
After Prohibition Joe Ball opened his own tavern and sometimes host his own cock fights for entertainment. At some point in time of him owning his tavern, he went and caught his own alligators and put them in that concrete pool behind his tavern. He would let his customers come and toss small animals such as cats and dogs in the pool to watch the alligators eat, which would help keep his customer coming back. He started hiring women to bartend, be waitresses, and to be dancers. Soon weird things started happening when barmaids and dancers would just end up disappearing. In 1934 he met Big Minnie and fell in love with her and ball had her run the bar but at the same time he started seeing another barmaid named Deloris and she fell in love with him even though he would beat her. Big Minnie didn’t like that and would show that she didn’t like that so one night Big Minnie just suddenly disappeared. In Sept...
Urdiales first victim was Robbin Brantley who he killed on the night of January 18, 1984 Robbin was walking to her car after a school concert. Urdiales could have chosen anyone but he picked Brantley and approached her from behind and began stabbing her. An autopsy...
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
Richard Chase is known as the “The Vampire of Sacramento” (Richard Chase). He killed six people in California over a time period of one month. His trademark was drinking his victims blood and eating their insides out. His parents and doctors are partly to blame for not keeping him in special care but letting him go off on his own after he got blood poisoning from drinking a rabbit's blood. They way he would decide on who to kill was if their door was unlocked. After his sixth murder he was convicted and charged for murder. He was given the death penalty but killed himself before that happened.
Ted Bundy was one of the most vicious serial killers in American history. He confessed to 28 grotesque murders in the 1970’s but the actual number of his victims remains
Many casualties’ happened within the two years between 1982 and 1984. However, when the first body was found in 1982 in the Green River in Kent, the police didn’t have the technology they have today, such as DNA testing which made the case very intricate. This meant identifying bodies that had been in the water for a while had been difficult, and the police were very versatile at this. Also without DNA testing, they could not take samples of the dead victims that showed up all around King County. In early October of 93, the police needed some insight into the mind of a serial killer, which is where Ted Bundy came in to facilitate. Mr. Bundy gave them advice by stating, “that the killer likely knew some of his victims. He also said more victims were probably buried in the dumping areas where victims had been found. Bundy also put a lot of significance into the different areas the bodies had been left, suggesting that each cluster or
H. G. Wells Research Paper What if an alien species invades Earth? What if mankind could go forward, backward, and even pause? H. G. Wells’ novels are very convincing of these incidents. His writings are very detailed, and he has predicted many future gadgets in his books.
Richard Ramirez, also known as “The Night Stalker” or “The Valley Intruder” terrorized the greater Los Angeles area in the mid-1980s. He was a serial rapist, killer, burglar, and self-described Satanist. The man spent a year breaking into people’s homes, robbing them, then raping and mutilating – often after he had already killed them. Despite the countless murders and sexual assaults that he committed, not once did Ramirez ever show a hint of remorse or fear of the consequences of his actions. When he was finally sentenced, his demeanor did not change and he, along with his cult-like followers simply smirked and laughed. His killings were seemingly random – he killed men, women, and children of all ethnicities and races. He did not kill to prove a point or to make a statement; he killed simply because it gave him pleasure, made him feel powerful and dominant. He wanted to watch the world burn knowing he was the one to cause it. He taunted the police and deliberately left clues behind, laughing at their inability to link him to the crimes. He was arrogant, but in the end he was taken into custody; when that happened, the world breathed a sigh of relief. The mad-man known as the Night Stalker was no longer a threat. It is unclear where Ramirez picked up his sociopathic tendencies – or if he always had them – but regardless, Richard Ramirez was responsible for over forty-three combined counts of murder, attempted murder, sexual assault, and burglary in the end. He was doubtlessly one of the United States’ most infamous serial killers, and still is today.