Dr Henry Howard Holmes Murder Castle

Herman Webster Mudgett, more commonly known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H.H. Holmes, was convicted of the murders of 9 people. Holmes later confessed to 30 murders and may have been responsible for the death of as many as 200 people. Holmes’ legacy does not, however, come from the number of deaths he is responsible for but from the way in which he committed these heinous crimes. Holmes’ crime spree lasted 22 years. From 1872, when he was just 11 years old until he was apprehended at the very young age of 33 in 1894. Holmes was very sadistic and depraved in his ways, giving him the title of America’s first serial killer with a death count that could have been much higher had he not lacked honor among thieves. The layout of “Murder Castle” proved just how sadistic Holmes actually was. Contrary to popular belief, Holmes’ castle did not burn to the ground. It was in fact demolished in 1938 to build a post office (Adam). Despite the upper floors being gone, the basement of Holmes’ castle still resides under the post office

The building of the castle took a solid year and a half and 500 total craftsmen. Not one construction worker worked on the castle for more than 3 weeks before Holmes fired them. This process of hiring and firing and then re-hiring caused a tremendous amount of delay in the construction of the castle but there was a method to Holmes’ madness. Holmes had the whole tower built for less than $100 and since no one ever built more than ½ of a room in the castle, only one person in the whole world knew the complete layout of the infamous “Murder Castle.” The castle was open to the public while Holmes was still living there. The first floor contained small shops run by Holmes and other local businessmen. The third floor held 36 rooms. The