Comparison Of H, H. Holmes, And Gary Ridgway And The Green River Killer

Holmes had been born into a wealthy New Hampshire family and was given the name Herman Webster Mudgett (America’s Serial Killers). “If Mudgett or his brother or sister were bad, their strict Methodist parents sent them to the attic for a full day without speaking or eating,. Mudgett’s father was especially abusive after he’d been drinking - which was often” (Spikol). However, his father was a wealthy and respected citizen and had been the local postmaster for nearly twenty five years (Taylor). It is surprising an important member of the community was a child abuser. The abuse of his father may be one of the

Henry Howard Mudgett, better known as H.H Holmes, to most is just a ghost story. He is nothing more than a black mark on America’s extensive history, a part of history that is skipped over more often than not. However, H.H Holmes was an important part of United States history. Without the horrors of H.H Holmes, we would not have as strong of a law enforcement as we do today. H.H Holmes helped open a new world of research to psychologists and without him, psychologists would not have as much knowledge of the impacts of poor mental health as they do today. Because of H.H Holmes, the government would not know how to punish crimes of such high degree, or how to contribute certain factors such as mental illness for such crimes. H.H Holmes helped

During the time of the shooting, Holmes was using two psychiatric drugs. It is stated in the book that “Drugs distort individual’s thoughts, which enhances irrational

    During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, H.H. Holmes was one of the first serial killers of America. Holmes would lure his victims into his building which he transformed into his “murder castle.” First he would manipulate his victims by coming off as a

During the construction of the “Castle” Holmes hired a carpenter named Benjamin Pitezal as his assistant because Holmes deemed him to be unintelligent and easily manipulated due to alcoholism. The victims Holmes prayed on were generally young single woman with no social ties. Holmes used a variety of methods to kill the victims. After killing the individuals; Holmes stripped the corpses of flesh and paid an individual to assemble the bones into skeleton models to sell to medical colleges for money (Wilson & Seaman, 2011). When Holmes failed to pay his debtors he and his assistant went on the run. Holmes was arrested for fraud and bonded out, however while in his jail cell he bragged to another inmate about the insurance fraud who would later reveal the crime and link to the serial killers crimes. The pair moved state to state committing frauds and petty crimes. Holmes convinced Pitezal to fake his own death so the two could collect on a $10,000.00 in another fraudulent life insurance scheme (Schmid, 2006). Holmes turned on his assistant killing not only him, but three of his young children as well. Pitezals wife alerted authorities to her missing children and husband, she was informed the remains of her husband were discovered and the realization of what had occurred with her family was uncovered. Later the

Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy shocked our nation with their violent, brutal, and at times unbelievable crimes, although none of them were as notorious as Herman Webster Mudgett better known as Dr. H.H. Holmes. A man that carried himself as a smart, intellectual member of society, but in reality he was a smooth talking conman and very disturbed individual. A man who designed and built a building with torture rooms that would serve as his play house. Being born and raised in Chicago, I enjoy learning about its rich history. I had heard about this serial killer before, but I was not aware of his complete story. I am taking this

H. H. Holmes was born as Herman Mudgett on May 16th 1861, and lived in a rural town in New Hampshire. Holmes had a privileged childhood and expressed interest in the medical field. He grew up during the period of the civil war and newspapers were always filled with images of death on the battlefield. These images had a significant influence on Holmes and he used this as an outlet to practice his desire to become a doctor. Holmes would capture wild animals and begin experimenting on them by dissecting them with a pocket knife (Biography.com). This eventually evolved into Holmes entering medical school at the University of Michigan. This is where he studied and mastered the art of surgical dissection. Holmes graduated in 1884 at the top of his class as a surgical doctor (Dorfman). After college, Holmes moved around a bit until he settled down in the south side of Chicago Illinois where he worked for a

Priest Holmes was born on October the 7, 1973, in Fort Smith Arkansas. When Holmes was 13 years old he went with his Grandfather to Detroit and mowed lawns. He said that this was a great help in his work ethics. But before he could start that he had to learn how mowing in Detroit was done.

To clarify, Henry Howard Holmes known as H. H. Holmes was America’s first serial killer. As a child, Holmes was terrified of the doctor, however a few bullies from his school forced him to touch the real skeleton in their doctor’s office which started his obsession with human anatomy. When Holmes was a teenager he interned at his local doctor’s office and later went to Michigan State for a medical degree and became a skilled doctor. Holmes took out fake insurance policies on the bodies he used in medical school after pouring acid on their face so they were unrecognizable in order to afford college. In 1889 Holmes designed and built a hotel to assist his murders.

Samuel Hugh Dillin was born on June 9 1914 in Petersburg, Indiana. His father, Samuel Edgar Dillin, was an attorney in Petersburg. His mother was named Maude. Not much else is listed about his childhood.

Men, women, and children from all over the world came to experience the Chicago World Fair in 1893. Little did they know, about 200 of them would fall victim to Herman Mudgett. Herman Webster Mudgett, or more commonly referred to as H. H. Holmes was known as “America’s First Serial Killer”. Holmes had over 200 estimated victims, whom he had specifically picked out from the Chicago World’s Fair crowd. Chicago’s encounter with Holmes changed how people lived their own lives, people’s outlook on America, and even how the law was enforced and dealt with.

H.H. Holmes personifies the stereotypical murder. Throughout his killing spree, Holmes pretended to be a gentleman, even marrying some of his victims. When Holmes was interrogated later, he described himself as Satan.(6) Using a friendly outward appearance, Holmes was able to escape suspicion when the victims’ family questioned disappearances. Holmes gave those families false hope that the victims would be found, or had just run away and had not died. When in reality Holmes had brutally murdered each one and hid all of evidence.

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

When comparing the fundamentals of Holmes’s backstory to that of the Shelley’s classic Frankenstein’s monster, there are many aspects that are frighteningly similar. Behind both of their backstories, they both felt excluded from the rest of society because of their differences, they experienced a harsh early development period in their lives, and most importantly, they both have deep, personal logic developed from these two other factors influencing them to murder innocent people. Though in their own minds they were enforcing justice upon the world, the results of their actions damaged the lives of innocent people to a much greater degree than improving their own. This is what makes a monster. Though appearances have played a part in the defining what a monster is for some time, the monsters of the present are not necessarily visually monstrous. In their minds and souls, the modern monster acts as the traditional monster does. Their hearts are filled with wickedness and anger, obsession, and the lust to achieve whatever they may desire, no matter if taking or destroying lives is necessary to obtain it. This is what classifies a monster in fiction and nonfiction, and in the past, present, and future. A monster can be eight-foot tall abomination, or a twenty-four year old college student from Aurora, Colorado, all a monster needs is a motivation to drive

Ridgway’s childhood is more straight forward when it comes to affecting his future behavior. His mother was an intimidating woman who constantly asserted her dominance over both her son and her husband. She never did sexually abuse him, but he later admitted that her demeanor and dress made him feel some sexual attraction towards her. In high school, he was a D student who did not go on to college after graduating. After graduating he had a couple odd jobs and would eventually marry three women, on separate occasions, and then be divorced by all of them. His ex-wives and ex-girlfriends all reported him being abusive and sexually insatiable throughout all his relationships. He was not only like that with his significant others, but also with the prostitutes he used, explaining his victim type. He seemed to be judgmental about the prostitutes and their way of life because he frequently complained about them, but he still continued to use their services. While he was going from girlfriend to girlfriend after his second divorce was also when he performed the majority of his killings (Lackey, Jones, Johnson).