H. H Holmes Murder Castle Sparknotes

Murder Castle

“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 into the world, and he has been with me since.” (qdt. in Roland 12) Mudgett, better known as H.H. Holmes, said this during a confession in 1896. Holmes is diligently studied and sometimes admired because, not only was he America’s first major serial killer, the depths of his intelligence for crime remain unchallenged. Herman Webster Mudgett was the most prolific killer in American history because of the elaborate design of his Murder Castle, ingenious ways of disposing of evidence, and finally the abundance of methods he uses to finance his lifestyle.

Holmes’ Murder Castle shows the dedication he had for his craft since he built it to aid in his appetite to destroy. Building plans began in 1892 as a method of attracting patrons for the World’s Fair scheduled for 1893. Acting as his own architect, Holmes concealed the

Holmes also used the basement for cleaning bones so he could sell the skeletons to medical schools and museums. Less frequently, Holmes buried his victims in various places like the basement of a sweet shop he owned and taking his victims out of town where he was not known so if the remains were found it would be difficult to trace the crime back to him. Finally, in Holmes’ confession, he tells of a man, that he declined to name, that he sold many of the bodies to for amounts between twenty-five and forty-five dollars per body. Between selling remains and insurance frauds Holmes many times profited from his murderous crimes. Mudgett’s creativity was well documented in the numerous forms of evidence disposal he