Pennsylvania, H, 1894-1997, Undated

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THIS MAN'S JOB

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(Continued from page 4)
jobs never seemed to leave any money
in his pockets and friends were reluctant
to advance him even such a small stake.

One brisk day in February, 1938, Hip-
ple decided to get the money for that
ticket. Town legend said there was
plenty of cash hidden in the frugal farm
home of Mr. and Mrs. John Porter. As
boy and youth, Hipple had often picked
up a dollar or two doing odd chores for
the Porters.

Armed with a_ .30-caliber rifle, he
walked the mile to their home. Mrs.
Porter invited him to step in for some
coffee and cookies to warm him up.

“T’m making the rounds of my traps,”
he told her, to account for his rifle.

After a short visit, he became restless
and left.

“I was going to shoot her then,” he
later told State Police, “but she kept
watching me.”

Three hours later, Hipple, fortified
with several drinks from a jug he had
concealed at home, returned to the farm
just as Mr. Porter was putting on his
coat to go into town. The youth walked
along with him but halfway down the
path through a wood, he bid good-by to
the older man and started for his mythi-
cal trap line.

M@ WITHIN A few minutes, he was back

at the Porter farmhouse. Mrs. Porter,
although she may have been surprised at
his sudden reappearance, again cordially
invited him into the house. She sat at
the kitchen table dunking cookies in a
cup of coffee while they chatted. Sud-
denly, as the woman’s gaze turned away
from him for an instant, Hipple picked
up his rifle from the kitchen table and
fired. Mrs. Porter fell dead with a bul-
let in her neck.

Dragging the body into a bedroom,
the youth left immediately and, notwith-
standing that the motive for the killing
was to give him freedom to search the
house for the supposed hidden wealth,
hurried down the path to the village.
He stopped outside the town to give
his rifle to a friend in whose care he
often had left it after hunting trips.

State Police, summoned by Sheriff
Obert after Porter reported the murder,
were puzzled over the apparent lack of
a motive for the crime. They, too, had
heard stories about money hidden in the
farmhouse. The murderer, they con-
cluded, had either lost his nerve or had
been frightened away before he could
search the house.

A few minutes’ conversation with Por-
ter was enough to cause them to pick up
Hipple on the strength of his being prob-
ably the last known person to have seen
Mrs. Porter alive.

For nine days, at State Police Head-
quarters, the youth vehemently denied
the shooting, although investigators, in
tracing his movements, soon found the
rifle which matched the caliber of the
fatal bullet. <A ballistics expert con-
firmed that a bullet from Hipple’s rifle
had killed the woman, but that only
made his denial more insistent.
One of the policemen had an idea.
sent for a lie detector.

“You can lie to us but not to a ma-

He

chine,” an officer reminded the suspect.

Curiously, Hipple watched as the ba
was strapped around his arm. He |
gan to perspire freely.

“Remember, you can lie to us but!
to a machine,” the officer repeated.

Hipple got through only a few routi
questions before he “broke.” That co
fession was read into the records of t
three-man court which sat to hear t
timony on the degree of guilt, after
entered a formal plea of guilty. Findi
no extenuating circumstances, the coi
fixed the guilt at first degree murder a
the sentence—death.

Lawyers appointed by the court to ¢
fend Hipple had little upon which to bz
their case except the defendant’s me
tality. Psychiatrists concluded he h
an immature mind. The State Suprer
Court, concerned only with matters
law, affirmed the conviction and se
tence, and his lawyers were left wi
only one more appeal—to the Sta
Board of Pardons, which must pass up
all murder cases.

The Board was not much impress
with Hipple’s plea. Samuel S. Lew
long a public figure in Pennsylvania, pn
sided over the Board in his capacity |
Lieutenant-Governor of the State. On
number of occasions Lieutenant-Govea
nor Lewis had expressed skepticism ov
reports of psychiatrists, indicating in h
opinion they tended to favor the sid
which employed them.

But Hipple’s lawyers obtained a re
prieve from the Governor and the Par
don Board agreed to a re-hearing. Othe
alienists were called to examine Hippl
Their findings were counted upon b
defense counsel to carry great weight :
the second hearing. To Hipple, too, th
new hearing held high hope.

“He’ll get off,” one of the townsme
had wagered with a newspaperman afte
hearing the results of the mental test

LJ * *

In the state capitol at Harrisbur
members of the Pardon Board filed int
their chamber. The case of the Com
monwealth vs. Ernest M. Hipple wa
first on the list.

Seated on the bench was the full mem
bership of the board—the Secretary 0
the Commonwealth, the Secretary of In
ternal Affairs, the Attorney General an
Lieutenant Governor Lewis. Hipple’
lawyers were there to plead for him be
cause condemned men are not permitte
to appear in person.

Counsel for Hipple approached th
bench.

“You may proceed,” the Lieutenan
Governor said, but as the lawyer bega
his argument, Mr. Lewis interrupted:

“The Board is fully aware of the evi:
dence and the record in this case, Pleas
confine yourself to any new facts.
Other members nodded approval of thi:
procedure.

“Then I will present the findings of the
new examination by alienists,” the law.
yer said.

“Hipple,” the attorney read from the
report, “possesses no moral sense, shows
no remorse nor pangs of conscience and
is unable to comprehend the gravity of
his crime.

“When asked whether stealing $100,-
000 is a more serious crime than mur-
der,” the report (Continued on page 67)

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*HAEL_ DEN-
_ oseph Dandio,
irrie, Bari. Viola-
2 Federal Narcotics
‘ward: TRUE DeE-
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inches; weight, 16C
ur, black, graying
Two brown liver
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(Continued from page 6)

2
‘gid, “‘he is hesitant and uncertain and then
‘concludes that it is, because it is a large
‘sum. The prisoner shows no signs of in-
‘sanity but is feebleminded. He has the

#mind of a boy of ten.”

“The Lieutenant Governor interposed:
'“Is it your contention that Hipple is un-
able to carry on an intelligent conversation
and that he has no understanding of what
is going on around him?”

“On the basis of this report, I would say
yes,” the attorney replied.

«Let us assume,” the Lieutenant Gover-
for persisted, “that a stranger met Hipple
as a member of a general group. If, after
a long general conversation, the stranger
was unable to tell by his remarks which of
them was Hipple, it would indicate he could
,eonverse intelligently and did know what
was going on around him, wouldn't it?”
~The lawyer, obviously perplexed at this
line of questioning, admitted that it would.
*/“And if he believed he could fool the
examining physicians by giving wrong an-
-swers to their questions or by deliberately
acting ‘queerly,’ that would indicate both
-intelligence as well as an appreciation of
the situation he was in, would it not?”
The attorney nodded.

“And if he later boasted of fooling the
doctors by ‘playing dumb’ and said that the
next time he intended to ‘play damn dumb,’
that would confirm it, wouldn’t it?”

Again the attorney nodded.

“Well, that’s what he is doing,” the Lieu-
tenant Governor said. “When I talked to
him his remarks made so much sense I
ewouldn’t have known who he was had he
not told me.”

“When you talked to him!” a colleague
exclaimed. Other members of the Board
leaned forward and stared hard at the
Lieutenant Governor. Spectators sat up-
right in their seats expectantly.

The defense attorney hurriedly leafed
through the lengthy report to see if he had
missed any intimation of the new turn the
case was taking.

“But Hipple has been in Sullivan County
jail continuously since his arrest,” a Board
member spoke up. There was a long pause.

“Yes, he’s there right now and so are two
other prisoners,” the Lieutenant Governor
said slowly. “But last week there were
four prisoners in that jail. I was the fourth.”

Mr. Lewis then revealed that after his
Jail term” had ended he had visited the
‘murder scene, talked with witnesses and
‘questioned townspeople, some of whom had
heard of Hipple’s boasts of fooling the
s“damn dumb doctors.” None of the towns-
‘people had recognized the man who took
' such an interest in their local murder case.
. When the Lieutenant Governor had com-

pleted his story, the Defense Attorney

started to gather up his papers, a thought-
“ful expression on his face. “Gentlemen of
the Pardon Board,” he said, “I’m afraid that
concludes my case.”
~ Half an hour past midnight of the follow-
ving Sunday, April 24th, 1939, Hipple, flanked
aby two guards and led by a chaplain inton-
ing the 23rd Psalm, walked through the
Hittle brown oak door at Rockview Peni-
‘Mtentiary.
% The last act in the drama came when
‘one of those “dumb doctors” whom Hipple
“gorned, turned away from the electric
“cair and spoke to the twelve witnesses
“in the little chamber:
*-“Gentlemen, this man is dead.”

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(Left, top to bottom)
Ernest M. Hipple, 22-
year-old Berga
slayer, convicted of

fatal shooting of an
elderly woman, paid
for his crime in the
electric chair at Rock-
view Penitentiary,
Pennsylvania. ‘“Dap-
per Don” Collins, his
career as a swindler
ended, is shown on the
train en route to a
New York state prison
to spend the next fif-

after his mother was
found murdered in her
apartment, confesses
that he must have shot
“in a dream”

(Right, top to bottom)
Crime did not pay for this
nineteen-year-old ‘‘tough
guy,”’ Walter H. Wiley, sen-
tenced to Sing Sing Prison,
New York, for terms total-
ling 25 to 40 years. He was
convicted of a series of
armed robberies. John Bel-
linger slew a girl because
after a two-year courtship
she refused to marry him,
He was sentenced to twenty-
five years to life in Sing
Sing. Bucking the law since
school days, Harry Tenney,
paroled convict ends his in-
glorious career at twenty, be-
ing sentenced to life impris-
onment for armed robbery

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OCTOBER,


Cragin: 2,

SE a a Re

-strode to the door and, turning, .admonished:

“ OCTOR, come quick! Something terrible has hap-
pened over at John Porter’s place.” ... With
this urgent plea still ringing in his ears, Doctor
J.D. McCallum of Canton, Pennsylvania, flung on

his overcoat, got into his car and began the long, cold

drive to the Porter farm—which lay about eight miles
distant and well up in the bleak mountain district.

As the doctor drove rapidly over the Pennsylvania
mountains, stark and treacherous with snow, the dark
afternoon lay as a pall and he was uneasy until the out-
lines of the Porter farm loomed into view. Looking at
his watch, the doctor noted that it was 4:30 p. m.
Briskly he stepped into the house, a rambling, unpainted
structure typical of this backwoods district.

John Porter, a big, overall-clad farmer, greeted him
nervously and pointed at the figure of a woman gro-
tesquely sprawled on the floor.

“What happened, John?”

“Gosh, Doc, went up to mail some postcards ’n’ when
I came back Jennie was like this.”

As the doctor bent down to examine the body of the
frail woman, clad in rags, there was no doubt in his
mind that she was dead. The odd position of the body
and the trail of blood leading to the kitchen, instantly
caused a flame of suspicion to flare up in his mind.

“What’s the matter with her? Can you do anything?”
questioned the husband, tugging at the doctor’s coat
sleeve, —

“I’m afraid not. Jennie is dead,” replied Doctor Mc-
Callum as he rose from his examination.

Glancing at the faces of the small group of neighbors
who had stood by in awed silence, the doctor said
quietly: ‘Something looks mighty strange here!”

“What’s the matter, Doc? What d’you mean strange?”
queried Ward Norton, Porter’s nearest neighbor and the
first person summoned to the scene.

“Well, death may not have been from natural causes.
I don’t want to excite you but there may have been
foul play. This is plainly a case for the coroner.”

“Foul play? How could it be foul play? Who’d want
to harm a body like Jennie?” quavered John Porter.

Amid a profusion of excited queries, Doctor McCallum
“As I
said, this is a case for the coroner. Someone go call him
and don’t touch the body until he arrives.” With this
caution, he left. RECN TAS oe

Ward Norton hastened to the Kilmer farmhouse and
phoned Coroner Dreier at Dushore. Coroner Dreier, in
turn, immediately phoned :Sheriff Ralph Obert at La-
porte. Obert immediately assigned Deputy Ed Meehan
to assist the coroner. :

A half hour later, driving up the twisting mountain

68

DENTON and CRAIG SCOTT

road toward the little settlement of Shunk, two miles

‘from the Porter farm, Coroner Dreier began to question

Deputy Ed Meehan concerning the people they were
about to contact.
“What do you know about the Porters, Ed? What

type of people are they?”

“Well, they’re rumored to be a nice old couple—al-
though the woman was a bit eccentric.

“In what way was she eccentric?”

“Well, for one thing, she was supposed to have quite
a bit of money and yet she dressed in old, patched
clothing.”

“How old are they?” asked Dreier.

“Oh, I'd say that John Porter is nearly sixty and =
Jennie was all of seventy.

“The one thing in particular that convinced me she
was a peculiar woman,” continued Ed, “was her mania
for cats. She must have nearly thirty of them about
the place.”

“Thirty cats! Where on earth did she keep them all?”

“Keep them? Why, those cats have the run of the
house.”

Pulling up beside a milk platform which marked the
entrance of a steep, precarious road, the coroner and
Meehan left their car.

The dark hulk of the farmhouse lay ahead of them
in the indigo-filled hollow, was bordered by a thick
forest that loomed, coldly etched, against the weak,
filtering light of the winter moon. The coroner and the
deputy tramped through the light covering of snow
and soon stood knocking at the door of the Porter house.

As the door creaked open, Meehan turned his flash-
light full on the melancholy face of the man who ap-
peared in the doorway.

The coroner spoke, “I’m Coroner Dreier and this is
Deputy Meehan—”

“Yes, yes, come right in. I’m John Porter. It’s my
wife we called about.”

rPtHE men went through the kitchen and into the bed-

room where a woman sat staring dully at the lifeless
figure lying twisted on the floor—head near the foot of
an old-fashioned bed and the legs astraddle a small
stove. The coroner bent to examine the body by the un-
certain light of a single snoke-smudged kerosene lamp,
which flickered dismally and cast queer shadows upon
the walls.

The woman who had been sitting beside the re-
cumbent figure arose and went over to stand beside
John Porter.

“No matter what you find, I know it’s foul play. It's
foul play and nothing else,” she whispered as if she knew.


ne . “Climb in here a minute, Ernest,” ‘the casts of the -prints found in Porter’s He appeared quite interested and asked
Corp. Santee called out. “We want to yard. numerous questions - as the device was
g. One ask you a few questions.” The report was not long in coming. A attached to his arm. When the record
th slug. Hipple got in the car without comment = pair of shoes found in the home of Emory was complete, Hipple reached for his
beyond and sat down on the back seat. Jackson matched the casts. _ coat. “If you fellows are through with
bullets “Ernest,” Sheriff Obert. said accus- The youth paled when he was told of me,” he said, ,'I d like to get back home.
n. | ingly, “you told us you didn’t have a this evidence against him. “You arent going home for a long
ome of twenty-two rifle.” ; “Sure, I made those tracks,” he ad- _ time, Ernest,” Santee told him softly.
ho had “[ don't.” Hipple declared belliger- mitted. “I knew John was going over “Maybe never, The chart says you are
che day ; ently. “And you can check up on that, there that day. I stopped at the house, guilty of murdering Jennie Porter.’
if you don't believe me..” intending to walk over with him. I called Hipple was stunned. “Do you mean to
“Let’s 3 ; “We know you don’t own such a gun,” a couple of times but the front door was say that machine can really tell if I lie
hot he Santee told him. “But we also know that locked and no one seemed to be around, or not?’ .
you borrowed Jock Landers’ rifle and But I didn’t see anyone and I didn’t go “You're a fool it you think it can’t.”
he gun ieft it with Emory Jackson on the day __ into the house.” Ernest looked at the meek-appearing
ted. It Mrs. Porter was killed.” Corp. Santee’ was impressed by the polygraph with new respect. “Okay,” he
f Jock “That's a lie!” Hipple declared an- straightforward manner in which the said. “Let’s try it again.”
owil of grily. “T borrowed that gun, yes, but | youth told his story. “We have ways ot The request was granted. Once more
esa gave it to Emory last fall. He’s had it finding out if you are telling the truth,” | Hipple was asked the routine questions.
s home ever since. he cautioned. “Are you willing to sub- The result was the same. The needle
Both men were placed under arrest, mit to a test?” The man said that he was. leaped accusingly when he claimed he
rolling while officers searched their homes and Ernest Hipple was equally cooperative hac not committed the murder. .
- slung brought back every pair of shoes they and both men were subjected to a test “There’s something wrong with that
could find. These were submitted to the on the polygraph or lie-detector machine. thing!” Hipple, suddenly realizing his
laboratory experts to be checked, against Hipple was selected for the first test. precarious position, was nearly frantic.
und up : “You can’t pin this on me \"
yeapon. Detective work showed that Mrs. Porter was seated in the chair (1) when slain. “] think we can,” Sheriff Obert said.
Her killer had been sitting in the chair (2) before the strange and fatal shot was fired. “There’s no use in your denying it now.”

RUE tothe sheriff's prediction, Ernest
Hipple did not put up much of a fight
after losing his bout with the lie detector.
After the machine gave Emory Jack-
son a clean slate he was exonerated.
Charged with murder, Hipple finally
broke under interrogation and signed a
complete statement admitting his guilt.
He had needed money, he said, and be-
lieved the Porters had some. He had
watched the place for some time, hoping
to find both old people away. Failing in
this, he had walked part way to the
neighbor's farm with John Porter, then
cut back through the woods to the Por-
ter home.

Entering the house, he had seated him-
self in the kitchen. Then he shot the un-
suspecting woman in the back as she sat
eating her dish of fruit at the table.
Frightened, he then locked the front door
and dragged the body into the bedroom,
where it would not be so readily seen.
Not daring to stop and search for the
money he had slain to obtain, he re-
joined the unsuspecting John Porter at
the other farm.

For sheer stupidity, this callous mur-
der for gain has few parallels. Hipple
must have known, had he given it a sin-
gle moment’s thought, that the discrep-
ancy of the missing minutes in his alibi
would be checked out and discovered.
This apparent lapse of reasoning charac-
terizes many criminals who depend on
“the breaks.”

Ernest Hipple went on trial for his life
in September, 1938. Attorney William
G. Schrier was appointed a special pros-
ecutor in the case. Despite an appeal,
Hipple was sentenced to die in the elec-
tric chair and on April 24, 1939, he paid
his debt to society.

(The names Emory and Woodward Jackson and

Jock Landers as used in this stery are fictitious te
protect the identities of innocent persons. Ed.)

83

a
ta
2
%
‘a
A
a


856 Pa.

Seem the sole q
is wheth

repeatedly ans
‘the authorities

means of it,

a promise which would tend to
untrue confession, it wo

Spective of guilt. This
ways has been univers
igmore on Evidence,

65 Am.St.Rep. 852,

[7] The statement by the officers, “Yoy

Ww

Ee , " .
e ‘ . ° KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
can lie to ys but you cannot lie to this r
machine,” in substance amounts to no more

than the familiar phrase,
ter for you to te]

Goodwin, supra; Com. y

cers told him ¢

the lie detector was not offer
Since the use of the device Ww

[8 97" Theica

So far as the trick involved h a serious case by such a.
Produce an minor Matter, iat
uld operate to ex-
» because it Was a

1 case justifying mit; ation,”
Page 957, sec, 841; . :
Com. y, Spardute, 278 Pa. 37, 122 A. 161;

Com. y, Goodwin, 186 Pa. 218, 40 A, 412,

- Spardute, supra, {. Mines and mi

penalty,

Saba aa in the language of that court, “We have
Principle is and al- i

Sought in vain to. find

Judgment and sentence affirmed, and
record remitted for the purpose of execu-
tion, tf

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,
Jan. 9, 1939,

nerals p24
In the absen

ining
Operations as to leave intact the overlying
estate,

‘

2. Mines and minerals C12]
The absolute right t

Oo support of an over-
lying mineral esta

te from an underlying
Mineral estate is not to be taken away by

mere implication from language which does
not necessarily import Such a result,

3. Mines and minerals C121

Where lessor leased underlying seam of
coal with the right to use Surface to mine


¥
3
if
2
Ra
i

352 Pa.

“The dates on which the acts complained
of are alleged to have been committed ap-
pear from paragraphs 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
and 18 of the bill. We think that an ana-
lysis of the averments of said paragraphs
leads to the conclusion that the inexcus-
able delay of the plaintiffs in asserting their
alleged rights should bar them from relief
in equity. * * *

-“All of the data on which the bill of
complaint is predicated has been available
to the plaintiffs throughout the period in-
volved. They have been in a position to
inform themselves with respect to every
act complained of shortly after such act
was committed. The plaintiffs could have
ascertained the manner in which the af-
fairs of the Lytle Coal Company were con-
ducted, of which complaint is now made,
at any time after they had interested them-
selves to ascertain what course of conduct
was being followed. After they discovered
the alleged wrongs in 1930, they made no
effort to assert their rights by beginning
litigation until a period of almost seven
years thereafter.

{6] “If laches is apparent in the bill
itself, it can be taken advantage of by the
filing of preliminary objections. Kinter
v. Commonwealth Trust Co., supra; Mc-
Kessen v. Doyle, 312 Pa. 591, 169 A. 80;
Riley v. Boynton Coal Co., 305 Pa. 364,
365, 157 A. 794, During the period of time
that plaintiffs delayed in asserting their
rights, the situation of the parties has been
changed by the death of ‘one of the defend-
ants. In the language of the Supreme
Court in Kinter v. Commonwealth Trust
Co., supra, at page 440, 118 A. at page 393:

“His mouth is sealed by death. He is
not here, either to defend himself or the
others, against the charges of fraud. His
evidence is denied to the defendants, be-
cause of the delay of the plaintiff in bring-
ing his bill. The condition of the defend-
ants has become so changed that it cannot
be restored, and it is extremely doubtful
whether they could produce evidence neces-
sary to a fair presentation of the case on
their part.’

“Throughout the entire period of which
they complain, the plaintiffs, as stockhold-
ers of the Lytle Coal Company, had the
right to examine its books, An examina-
tion of the books would have disclosed
every matter of which complaint is now
made. There is no contention that they
made any effort whatever to acquaint them-
selves as to the real situation. There is no

3 ATLANTIC REPORTER, 2d SERIES

allegation that the plaintiffs at any time
sought any information from any officer,
stockholder or employee of the company
until the making of the alleged audit by the
accountant in 1930 and 1931, and even
after having ascertained the facts which
they allege the report of the auditor re-
vealed, they waited an additional period of
seven years before asserting their rights.

[7,8] “Where ignorance of rights or
wrongs is relied on to account for laches,
this fact must be plainly alleged in the bill.
A general averment of plaintiffs ignorance
of his rights is insufficient; he must allege
why he was so long in ignorance and the
means to keep him so, that the facts could
not have been discovered by the exercise
of due diligence, and must acquit himself
of all knowledge of the facts which would
put him on-inquiry. Patton v. Common-
wealth Trust Co., 276 Pa. 95, 119 A. 834.

“There is no contention that from the
period 1904 until 1930 any one of the plain-
tiffs made any effort to determine how the
company in which they were stockholders
was being operated. There is no averment
that during this period of twenty-six years
there was any attempt on the part of any
of the defendants to mislead the plaintiffs
or withhold such information from them.
It is not charged there was any conceal-
ment of the manner in which the busi-
ness of the company was transacted. Dur-
ing this entire period the plaintiffs were
apparently satisfied to sit down and do
nothing.

“The major complaints relate to matters
alleged to have taken place thirty-four
years ago and even the most recent cause
of complaint (other than the erection of
the power plant in 1924) had its inception
nineteen years before the present bill was
filed. After this protracted delay, it would
be unreasonable to require the defendants
to make an exhaustive examination. of the
books and records of the company from
1904 that would obviously be required to
prepare the case for trial. * * *

“In the recent case of Grange National
Bank of McKean County y. First Natl.
Bank of Bradford, 330 Pa. 1, 198 A. 321,
Mr. Justice Drew summarized the applica-
tion of laches as follows [page 322]:

“‘Laches bar relief in equity whenever
in the chancellor’s discretion a: party has
by his delay disentitled himself to the un-
usual remedies equity affords to those who
deserve them. Riley v. Boynton Coal Co.,
305 Pa. 364, 157 A. 794; Kinter v. Com-

COMMONWEALTH v. HIPPLE
3 A.2d

monwealth Trust Co., 274 Pa. 436, 118 A. 5. H

392. Plaintiff knew of its rights in 1918;
indeed, it brought an action of law to en-
force them. But not until 1927 was there
any resort to equity. Meanwhile nothing
was attempted atall. * * * It makes no
difference that laches were not pleaded in
defense. When the fact of laches appears
in the evidence or on the face of the bill
the court may in its discretion and on its
own motion deny’ relief on that ground.
Sullivan v. Portland & K. R. R. Co., 94 Uz
S. 806, 24 L.Ed. 324; Calivada Coloniza-
tion Co. v. Hays, C.C., 119 F. 202; Akley
v. Bassett, 189 Cal. 625, 209 P. 576; Ray-
theon Mfg. Co. v. Radio Corp. of America,
286 Mass. 84, 190 N.E. 1; Taylor v. Slater,
21 RI. 104, 41 A. 1001. Plaintiff cannot
complain because it has been visited with
the consequence of its inexcusable delay.’ _

[9] “We conclude that the delay of the
plaintiffs in asserting their alleged rights
has disentitled them to relief in equity and
that the preliminary objections should be
sustained.”

© -& KEY NUMBER SYSTEM,

anms

COMMONWEALTH v. HIPPLE.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Jan. 9, 1939.

1. Criminal law €=1144(13)

The Supreme Court, in reviewing the
record to determine whether the essential
elements of the crime charged were pres-
ent, accepted as true all the evidence adverse

to accused.

2. Criminal law G1158(1)

Where defendant plead guilty to mur-
der, credibility of witnesses was for the trial
court and not for the Supreme Court on re-
view.

3. Homicide €=253(1)

Evidence sustained conviction of murder

in the first degree.

4. Homicide 237
In prosecution for first degree murder,
evidence showed accused to be mentally com-
petent.
3 A.2d—23

Pa. 353

omicide €=354

In prosecution for first degree murder,
where accused knew what he was doing at
time of crime, understood consequences of
his act, and deliberately committed murder
with intent to perpetrate a robbery, court
did not abuse discretion in imposing death
penalty on defendant's plea of guilty. 18 P.
S. § 2222.

6. Criminal law €=523
A confession obtained by a trick is ad-
missible in evidence if not calculated to pro-

duce an untruth.

7. Criminal law €=523

In prosecution for first degree murder,
‘confession which was obtained only after ap-
plication of “lie detector,” at which time offi-
cers told accused that “You can lie to us
but you cannot lie to this machine,” was ad-

missible.

8. Criminal law C>1169(11)

In first degree murder prosecution, ad-
mission in evidence of a check upon which
accused had forged deceased’s name was not
prejudicial error.

9. Criminal law €=517(5)

The whole of a voluntary confession
made to police officers is admissible, notwith-
standing it may contain admissions of other
offenses unrelated to the one for the commis-
sion of which accused.is on trial.

oe

Appeal No. 308, January term, 1938,
from Court of Oyer and Terminer, Sullivan
County, No. 1, June term, 1938, judgment
and sentence of Edward B. Farr, President
Judge.

Earnest M. Hipple was convicted of
murder in the first degree, and he appeals.

Affirmed.

Argued before KEPHART, C. J., and
SCHAFFER, MAXEY, DREW, LINN,
STERN, and BARNES, JJ.

Robert W. Trembath, of Tunkhannock,
and Chas. E. Mills and Mills & O’Connor,
all of Sayre, for appellant.

Albert F. Heess, District Attorney, of
La Porte, and Wm. G. Schrier, of Athens,

for the Commonwealth.

DREW, Justice.

The defendant, Ernest M. Hipple, was
indicted for the murder of Jennie D. Por-
ter. He pleaded guilty. After a full hear-

a

‘oqtum fy qseurgy ‘aIddTH

“6661 “IZ Trady wo (*0D ueaTTINS) eTueatTAsuueg peqynoe.z4oeTe


354 ~—s=~Pa.

ing and due consideration of all the evi-
dence the learned court below adjudged
him guilty of murder in the first degree
and fixed the penalty at death. Defendant
appealed from the judgment and sentence
imposed.

The chief error assigned is that the court
committed an abuse of discretion in sen-
tencing the defendant to death, the conten-
tion being that the punishment should not
exceed that of life imprisonment. There
are two other reasons assigned as error,
to wit: a ruling of the court that a con-
fession made by defendant on February 16,
1938, induced by the use of a so-called lie
detector, was voluntary and in admitting it
in evidence; and in admitting evidence
concerning the prior forging by defendant
of the name of Jennie Porter on a check
belonging to her.

[1-3] Although the finding of first de-
gree murder is not challenged, it is in-
cumbent upon us to review the record to de-
termine whether the essential elements of
first degree murder are present. In doing
so we accept as true all the evidence ad-
verse to defendant, since the credibility of
the witnesses was for the court below.
Commonwealth v. Shawell, 325 Pa. 497,
191 A. 17. We have made such examina-
tion and find all the necessary ingredients
of murder of the first degree present in the
case.

To determine whether the appropriate
penalty was imposed, we must consider the
history of the past life of the defendant, as
well as the facts of the crime. At the time
of the murder, February 7, 1938, the de-
fendant was twenty-one years of age; he
left school when he reached the seventh
or eighth grade to go to work; he worked
very irregularly, sometimes caused doubt-
less by the fact that he could not get work
to do; he was much given to hunting,
which made him familiar with firearms;
he had contracted a forced marriage and
was the father of'a child; he had the usual
incelligence of one of his years who was
born and reared in a mountainous and
isolated community. In general, his life
was that of a woodsman and mountaineer,
and his meager livelihood was. made prin-
cipally by hunting and trapping, by fishing,
and by hiring out to farmers for work
in the fields.

In the same neighborhood in which de-
fendant had spent his life lived Jennie D.
Porter, the wife of John Porter, a woman
of about seventy years of age. She and

8 ATLANTIC REPORTER, 2d SERIES

her husband had known defendant since
his birth. He was a frequent visitor at
their house and for a short time prior to
the commission of this crime he had been
a daily caller. He had learned that Mrs.
Porter kept money in the house, this fact
being common knowledge in the neighbor-
hood. After her death $110 was found
in her pocketbook hidden in the house.
The defendant decided it was necessary to
destroy her in order to get her money and,
according to his own confession, he de-
liberately planned her murder four days
in advance of the cruel act. He said:

“I went down to Porters and went in and
she was eating. The door was locked and
she opened it up and left me in and said,
‘Oh, it’s you.? She sat down and started
to eat again. I sat down on the chair in
front of the feed bags. I sat there a few
minutes. Everything seemed to blur a few
minutes and then I shot her. She fell off
the chair sideways toward the right. Then
I set my gun down by the door that goes
out towards the back. Then I drug her

in the bedroom by the feet. Then I got

scared and left.

“Q. When did you first decide to shoot
Jennie Porter so you could get some of the
money that you always thought she kept
around the house? A. I had in mind for
sometime to try to get some money off
Jennie in some way and when I asked my
cousin Roy Guisewhite if he had any .22
cal. ammunition I had then made up my
mind that the only way I could get the
money would be to shoot her.”

The day following the commission. of the
crime the defendant was taken into custody
by the State police, and nine days there-
after, during which time he was frequently
questioned about the crime with apparently
no results, he made a full confession. . Sev-
eral hours prior to this happening a lie
detector was applied to the defendant by
the officers. Its operation was explained to
him, and he was told that he could lie to
the officers but he could not lie to the
machine. The defendant inspected it,
asked to have it applied again so that he
might see it work, which was done, and it
was then he broke down and stated that he
committed the crime. He was immediately
returned to the jail from the place where
he was examined, and two hours later the
officers went to him and asked him if he
desired to correct his previous statements
and to tell the whole truth, to which he
replied that he did, whereupon he made a

COMMONWEALTH vy. HIPPLE Pa. 855
8 A.2d

full confession in which he acknowledged
his guilt.

The principal assignment of error stated
that the court below abused its discretion-.
ary power in inflicting the extreme penalty.
The defense insists that he should have
the benefit of the lesser punishment, name-
ly, life imprisonment, for the reason that he
does not have the mentality of the average
person but only that of a moron. It is ad-
mitted that his mentality is such that he was
capable of understanding the difference be-
tween right and wrong. This was conceded
by the defense, both in the opening address
and in the testimony of Doctor Fish, its
chief witness. The latter concluded that
the defendant fulfilled “the definition of
what Webster’s Dictionary regards as a
moron.” He added: “A moron is an in-
dividual whose brain advances only to the
age of eight years. He never exceeds the
mentality of a child of twelve years.” Dr.
Fish and the mother, sister and wife of the
defendant were the only witnesses called by
the defense to throw light upon his mentak
capacity. Dr. Fish saw the defendant for
the first time the day on which he took the
stand and he spent only one hour in obtain-
ing the history of his life and making his
examination. He admitted under cross-
examination that he talked only to the de-
fendant and his mother, that he did not
speak with his school teachers or neigh-
bors, and that he was unfamiliar as to how
the defendant conducted himself towards
those people.

The commonwealth called four school
teachers who had taught the defendant.
Mr. L. W. Williams, one of the school
teachers, knew the defendant all his life.
He testified that he had not discovered any-
thing to indicate that the defendant was
feeble-minded or mentally defective, or a
problem child. This testimony was sub-
stantiated by E. R. Fanning, George Heims
and Jesse Williams, the other school teach-
ers; the last named witness testifying as
follows:

“Q. From your observation of his man-
ner and his conduct and his appearance,
taking into consideration the fact that he
was a pupil of yours, did you or did you
not discover anything in him that lead you
to believe that he was feeble-minded or
mentally defective? A. I did not.

“Q. As a school teacher, did you consider
him a problem child? A. I did not.”

The commonwealth also called C. M.
Williams, Lynn Kilmer, Charles Shadduck,

Earl Ayers, and Amy Kaseman, all of
whom had practically a life-long acquaint-
ance with the defendant and who testified
that there was nothing to indicate that the
defendant was mentally defective. Mrs.‘
Nina Fiester and Mr. Lawrence Baumunk
testified that they were store keepers, that
the defendant traded in their stores, and
from their observation of him there was
nothing to indicate that he was mentally
defective, Gleason Porter testified that the
defendant lived at his home for at least a
year and a half; that he did not discover
anything which would lead him to believe
the defendant was feeble-minded or mental-
ly defective. The learned Judge of the
court below said in his opinion: “* * *
For about three days we observed the de-
fendant during the hearing rather careful-
ly. * * * He presents no appearance of
a dullard but on the contrary seems bright
and alert. If he had been queer or mental-
ly deficient, his neighbors, associates and
teachers, would have been the first to dis-
cover it.”

[4,5] There is not room for the slight-
est doubt concerning the mental compet-
ency of the defendant. It was not until
after he had committed this dreadful crime
that any one thought to question his men-
tality. His habits of thought and action
had always been those of a normal person
among the people with whom he spent his
life. He knew perfectly well what he was
doing at the time of the crime, the details
of which he had carefully arranged, and
he understood the nature and consequences
of his act. Commonwealth v. Hawk, 328
Pa. 417, 196 A. 5. He deliberately commit-
ted murder with the intent to perpetrate a
robbery. It was not an abuse of discretion
to impose the death penalty. It was the
uniform penalty imposed by the law itself
in all first degree murder cases prior to the
Act of May 14, 1925, P.L. 759, 18 P.S. §
2222, which vested in the court, when suf-
ficient mitigating circumstances are pres-
ent, the power to impose a sentence of im-
prisonment for life.

[6] The confession of defendant of
February 16, 1938, was properly admitted
in evidence. There was no promise, force
or threats used in obtaining it. Common+
wealth v. James, 294 Pa. 156, 143 A. 910.
The objection seems to be to the use of the
lie detector. The defendant was told when
this device was placed upon his arm that
he could lie to the officers but that he
could not lie to the machine. It would

ee ae eee


HODDAPP, Joseph Frederick, white, 30, hanged at Norristown, Pa., Feb. 6, 1867,

"Norristown, ‘ednesday, Febe 6, 1867-0n the trial of Hadolph, a chain of circum-
stances were woven which clearly provdd that he was the murderer, and he was convicted and
sentenced to be hung, The prisoner, who speaks and understands English very in-
differently, during the trial, denied that he was guilty. In December last, Governor
Curtin s warrant for the executionvwas read to him, The prisoner appeared penitent
and spent most of his time in prayer, and he made profession of the C,tholic religion,
He was one of the revolutionists in 188, and served in the same company with Gen,
Sigel. During the lage rebellion in this country he served under Gen, Sigel again.
About an hour before his deatch he walked up and down his cell with a priest in
military style and endeavored to divert his mind, As the hour drew near for the exe-
cution, he became dejected and weak, and liquor was administered to keep him up.

The prison was surrounded by a great number of people, and considerable excitement
existed throughout the town, Tickets of admission were issued to a number of

persons by the Sheriff and the jail-yard was considerable crowded, An enterprising
individual was engaged in selling admission tickets at $3 each, The prisoner was
pale, but seemed resigned to his fate, The drop fell at 11:)5 o'clock, The body
quivered and was convulsed for ten minutes, and motion ceased after he had hung 20
minutes, He was then pronounced dead and the body was cut down, The prisoner made

a speech on the scaffold, andé&clared that he was innocent," TIMES, New York, N.Ye,
February 7, 1867 (1/7.)


oh ¥ nee)

: Sroperty?- eteiming. ney nave: ‘eendsre-
Hens On: iteamounting to $30,000... Judge

oo ) FRANKLIN, UE. "
ne Mikoia. Hoika was hanged. am the “eounty.
> Sail’ here thia morbivg for the mirder: of

+ Potice. Captain Edward) Meeban, There:
were 73. persons present which inehuted}
“elergy men, MAR EONR. | county. officials)
o SRewepaper men and several representa.
Se tives of the law Tron: adjoining eoliniies,,
The hangman was a setranger® and his
E daentlty Tremaine: * Sint Date EIN: Bhecttt
‘Frank. Wiliams. : 8
“The -death: Ssimtence won, i Garthed: pti’
‘pedately: and: ax from ‘from’ sensational
arch han, a2 it was “possibly” to make: the}
_ firet hanging th this- county in 40 years):
Prose ~ who dad) matte ef ‘di missten:
trom the aherif. were ‘wAmitted ta .the of-
fee and temained '*here anti? within. tive:
Tninates of the. Npape sbefiee tor: ee SXACOLION,

i: the fall were:
te es. Of The. tracy hele. ‘shat: ‘ott by
ails and solid iron.

‘s beeen’ the ‘office the eal the: jal proper.
the, pine g wae ‘ao constructed that the,
, d The entrance. to the?

ta news special grand. jory,: juat: empan- |
Velod was héaring witneszes:{n. riot cases

thay citizens were holding «a meeting to-.
ot Nedde ‘the antagonism between ‘whites: and)
|dlacka,” already. responsible. for: seven:

| Geaths and scores of injuries, resulted: in.
s Aoddauaend Hko @ strike ‘of coal miners.
Pre minera at the: Wo : edal-mine. |
a mile. put af town. and:at the Tuxhorn

: seat four miles ‘distant,’ ‘refused to weet |
with the negroes: “The two mines employ}.
[about $00 men. about:160 of whom are;
Tcolored.” The white minérs:came to Prea-|
{ident Clark,” of. the Bpringfield : aud-Ate-
firtet of the United Mine Workers with.

the declaration. that the pegrove. were
armed: and they did) not feel safe in ‘the.
mderxround’ darkhéeas with. them. -
“On'the other hand: i 1a aaid that. the
negroes: hate srmed with nO thought of
taking initial: action; ‘but to protect: them-~-
‘getyes in the event of x Tepitition ‘of. the
rioting: of: Friday! and Saturday” nights.
‘Presidént Clark sald: ‘that: go: far: aa he
knew there. had been no clashes. between |
pachsteee and blacks in: the: mines. ap
“They are: just nervous, I: ues,” coms
mentet the ‘organization : jeader, ‘Both
races. belong ‘to. the union, end’ the union |
j-will wee that: no: serious: trouble arises."
“Mr: Clark's of®ce waa flied with white!
 inere ‘determined “not. to take: chances
under present conditions, — _ Bald: ® young
[miver with a rich brogve: pid { they ain't
armed, they ought to be nd if they ‘are |
they ought: tebe: dinarmed. Yoo can't
ep blame om: ‘for being: neryoud, and you
“rant ‘piame.ua for. wetting away from the

T kind. of pertousnese that carries a rasor.

qit a chunk’ ag coal broke lacee and fell
bn someone he Might think, with all this

talk, that: rioting had started again. Then
‘there: would: be Arouble, © 1° dan't ee

eed sap ne tg Web Ga tke cli onease te the execu.
oe hot -renged- ‘+hercecived. at the rear
erin OE the corridor: there was Bsbort wait.

‘The doer of the ceil of the condymned:
eirane open aad at the regdest of g.3.Paes- a
 SWilttans all bats were remove. | Hotes
- Swaiked from ‘Biseel to the steps jeading

Ca oa

ele ay oot

tawhether. “themen next to me: has got &
gun of katfa bat] suppose he has, and
}aman can't mige coal freling that way.
“The. whote:
examining Beard which spent the day
quisting both blacks and <whiles as to
wWarlike 6perations, tf any, Gown tn the

a |e

matter wae refetred to am]

LE isoeees ‘he, Auge 1.—white| Pree

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mal ceren
of the:
held - here
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party ‘fo
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ly toe tt
adopted:
June, tat
in his Cin
‘clean of
man ase.
Roosevelt
timaue of th
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people r
“fsaue at:
rule,” Mr
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meaning.
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Be Seta 2 rie

spits San « Ses


H. H. Holmes, master of Chicago's sinister murder mansion,
as he appeared in a rogue's gallery portrait ‘after arrest

seta

HE May morning sunlight

I was bright as young Wilma
Mae Wilson, a small satchel
clutched in her hand, walked up the
steps of the huge, rambling new
mansion at the corner of Chicago's
63rd and Wallace Stréets. The great
house, though built only the year
before, was dark in color and already
seemed much older than its true age.
Wilma Mae tugged at the old-
fashioned bell pull. She was only 19,
with fair hair, a fresh complexion
and blue eyes that glowed with ex-
citement mixed with a little worry.
Only a few months before she had
never even seen a large city. Now
she was not only in Chicago, but in
a few hours she expected to be on
her way to New York, fabulous
metropolis of which she had read so
much but never dreamed she'd see:
Furthermore, she would be in
New York as a working girl, a con-
fidential secretary, supporting her-
self. And only a week after she had

finished business college, too! It was

no wonder that excitement brought
color to her cheeks as she waited

for the door to open.

A Chicago policeman, twirling his
nightstick, strolled past. He gave the
girl on the steps a casual glance,
and saw the door before her open,
saw her step inside and disappear.
Then the door closed. The stout

22

officer walked on. Neither then nor
later did he dream that he was the
last living = outside that
strange, huge house, who would ever
see Wilma Mae alive.

The man who opened the door to
admit pretty, scared, excited, happy
Wilma Mae Wilson was tall. He had
dark hair slickly combed down on
his head, and dark, magnetic eyes
seemed to hold the gaze in an al-
most. hypnotic: manner. When he
spoke his voice was low and well-
modulated, vibrant with power and

reassurance, It was very easy to be-.

lieve anything he chose to tell one—
fatally easy, as other girls before
Wilma Mae had learned to their
horror.

“Good day, Miss Wilson.” The
master of thé huge house’ was polite
and formal. “Please step in. Ah, I
see you have your bag with’ you.”

“Just what I'll need on the train,
Dr. Holmes,””. Wilma ‘ Mae said
breathlessly. “My other baggage is
checked at the terminal. But I—I

Be vi ars Sra Gk sae

Emilie Cigrand, one of the women Holmes duped and murdered.
Her beauty is typical of the loveliness of his many victims

didn’t want to let this bag out of
my sight.”

“Very wise, very cautious of you,
Miss Wilson,” the man,. H. H.
Holmes, whose self-assumed title of
“doctor” was a completely false one,
replied. ‘Please come upstairs to my
study and I will give you your ticket.
and final instructions,”

Courteously he carried Wilma
Mae’s bag, and let her precede him
up the long, steep stairs to the sec-
ond floor. On the way she could see
very little of the house, indeed. She
saw other stairways, leading to un-

guessable places, many doors, all.

closed, and small halls leading off
the main one—far more halls, stairs
and doorways than any normal house
should need. j

But this was no normal house.

It was, in fact, one of the strangest:

houses ever built—one of the strang-
est and most sinister. And the
smoothly-talking, handsome, mag-
netic man behind her was one of the
strangest and most sinister men ever

MR aplees8 b yh

to exist in modern society. But of
that young Wilma Mae had no ink-
ling; nor did anyone else for many
months to come.

She was alone with a monster of
murder so diabolical his crimes,
when they were revealed, were
scarcely believable. There was no
living soul anywhere who could save
her, But for the moment she had
no knowledge of what was to come,
and happily she. tripped ahead of
H. H. Holmes, up the stairs and
into the room he indicated as his
study.

Rages man seated himself at a large

roll-top desk. Self-consciously,

Wilma Mae tucked in a wisp of her
fair hair and waited for him to
speak, her eyes downcast. Holmes
stared at her with a strange, glitter-
ing appraisal in his eyes. -

“Now, Miss Wilson,” he said,
“you've followed -out all my instruc-
tions?”

“Oh, yes, sir,” Wilma Mae said

‘eagerly. “I wrote my family that I

was leaving for New York today,
that I had a fine job there. I said
I'd write them as soon as I was
settled. 1 packed everything and
checked my trunk at the terminal.
Then I drew my money out of the

- Savings bank and came here, just

as you instructed.”

“CRIME FILE DETECTIVE

-May, 19.6, Vol. I, No.

at Philadelphia, ‘ennsylvania on May 7, 1896.

sree heer Wiest |


+ +,

_ REPORTED By

baie ans S Mae oh Fe

“IT see.” For a moment, Holmes

toyed with a pencil. “And what did
you tell your friends at the board-
ing house, Miss Wilson?”

“Why, just that I was going to
work as’ confidential secretary to a
big drugstore owner in New York
named Mr. Thompson, that’s all.
They all envied me, I can téll you!”

“I'm glad to see you obey orders
so well, Miss Wilson,” Holmes com.
plimented her. “You didn’t mention
my name at all, then?”

“Oh, ‘no. You said .not to, be-
Cause you don’t want other girls to
come pestering you for jobs, too.
So I didn’t.” Wide-eyed and com.
pletely innocent, Wilma Mae stared
at him, and Holmes, convinced,
nodded, ~

“Excelent,” he said: “But please
don’t stand, Miss Wilson. Sit down
- +» No,” he added, as the girl made
as if to, sit ‘in the nearest chair,”
He smiled at her. “Here, let’s be
friendly, Sit on my knee.”

He reached out and 8rasped her
hand. Startled, Wilma Mae tried to
tug away from him.

“Why—no!” she said in agita-
tion. “I—I couldn't dream of it,
Please, Dr, Holmes!”

“There’s no reason to be so stand-
offish,” Holmes urged. He stood u
and tried to put his arm around
her trim waist. “There’s nothing to
be afraid of. You're a very pretty
girl, and I am much attracted to
you. Very much attracted to you.”

He tried to kiss her. In increasing
agitation, the girl cowered away,

“No!” she 8asped. “Dr. Holmes!
You mustn’t! I—p]] scream.” Her
breath was coming agitatedly. She
struggled to free. herself, and as she
saw the curious glitter in the man’s
eyes, terror seemed to seize at her
heart.

But abruptly
Holmes returned to his chair,
“There is no need to be fright-
ened, Miss Wilson,” he said Suavely,
“Please control yourself. I was only
testing you,”

“Testing me?”
bewildered.

‘Yes. You see, New York is a large
Metropolis and you will be exposed
fo many temptations there.”
Holmes’ voice was completely reas-
suring. “The Position you are to fill
calls for the ‘completest moral in-
tégrity and ability to resist any temp-
tations that might arise. Consequent-
ly, I had to make sure that you are
ot one of these foolish girls who
might respond to untoward familiar-
ities,”

“Oh, I see.” Wilma Mae's breath-
ing became easier, A flush crim-
soned her ‘soft young theeks. “No,
Dr. Holmes. I’m not that kind of
girl. I—1 was well brought up,”

“So I see. You have passed the
test with flying colors, | am com-
pletely satisfied,” Holmes said, but
a curious roughness in his voice
might have made a more experienced
woman wary of his. words, “Now
Please come with me, Miss Wilson,
I have the tickets in another room,

the glitter died.

The poor girl was

“You will he

AAU C RRA CR IRA

eM SN ne

taking the noon train,
Leave your bag here for now.”

He stood up_and stalked abruptly
out of the room. Wilma Mae, after
a moment’s hesitation, followed. For
4 moment she had been terrified. But
now her terror seemed silly — the
kind of thing to ibe expected of a
foolish girl. Of course the doctor
had to make sure of her reliability,
It seemed a strange way to test some-
one, but—

She followed him down the hall.
It was a tremendously long hall,
Past door after door they went, and
every one was fast shut. There was
not another sound in the house save
their footsteps. It might have been
a deserted old mansion in some for-
eign country, instead of an almost
new house in the midst of busy,
bustling, modern Chicago.

Wilma Mae’s fears began .to re-
turn, She fought them down. But

still they had almost convinced her

fo ‘turn and run when the man
ahead of her paused, flung Open a
door, and bowed.

“Please step in, Miss Wilson,” he
said, holding the door open.

Automatically the pretty blonde
girl stepped forward into the almost
dark r6oni. Just inside the door she
paused, as the frightening strange-
ness of the room struck her. There
were no windows in it, No other
doors. No furniture whatever, Not
even a rug. All these details took
her a moment to discern, for the
only light came from the hall be-
hind her. Then in new panic she
whirled about.

“Dr Holmes!” she cried,
to—”

(But she never had time to say that
she wanted to leave the house at
once. Her decision had come too
late—a fatal fraction of a minute
too late to save her soft young life,
For the door slammed loudly in her
face and she heard a lock click.

The girl flung herself at the door,
seized the knob and tugged with all
her strength. It. did not yield a frac-
tion of an inch, She tugged again,
knew that she was locked into this
dark, Strange, empty room, and be-
gan to scream as she pounded her
fists against the unyielding wood un-
til the flesh was bruised and torn, So
terrified was she that she did not
even notice the sweetish, strangling
odor:in the room for several mo.
moments, did .not even hear the
soft, deadly hissing until it had been
going on for nearly half a ‘minute

eee

“T want

HE man outside in the hall,

turned a valve, listened. He could
hear the girl’s muffled cries, hear
the pitiful pounding of small hands -
against the stout wood of the door,
The sounds did not move him in the
least, did not cause the slightest
change of expression on his ‘face,
For a moment he stood there. Then
he calmly strode downstairs:and en.
tered the drugstore which he opera-
ted on the first floor.

CRIME FILE DETECTIVE :

Ad


ngles Toumey_&
heduled By ©
orseshoe Club

gies tournament abe ns
utter of if Pranks
Ub. “This: @ib bea, zoubte'

re PD Sar charset

pet evertwith setae UW ie oes ier
_ Trephars wer be -Zisea ithe Venanzo Cony jak was wee ‘Netw eri ‘the. ck w <0 By wh and

e ates aad runreraip! igh each | scene, él an cxecution— marking 3 5: 70. ‘The dcop Oe yes red at 16 f

oo.’ Arrangements < are. in;
wt. of Bilin etki! Atk

aise will os held "3 the: 5

eytcurney for. members ard:

= ives ab which time the sore
i he presented

player is shaent's at the tine

; matehe he. will not be allowed;
ake it op as-thé schedule is al-
y Set and he: ‘Will dose by for.
Best of three: Sipoint “s 4
decide each. match. bs ;

esday, Thursday" ‘and Friday,
‘elon “matches: for. Tues-
_éladé Hefferman vs. Ark-

H on Court 1; Hughes vs. Shorts |. ire

ourt 25° Sarver: ¥s.- Paulson ont
3: Gilmore vs.°’ Brown-‘ on}
t he: coc regheaeae mi, start

Sahel fatthes: acting al
esday_ will include Ludwig: vs.
ntire’*on'Court.1;_ Proper’ vs.
fart: on_-Court: 2%; ‘Kachik “YS.
ence-on Court -3;" Beers vs.
ore Court 4. Schedule’ for ‘fol-

g¢ matches. willbe. in Wednes-
s. paper. Itvis requested. that
ers not, aia should comet;
and keep. score. :

| the Greek. Catholie Church; not’

the “second and.the ‘final time:
jailsat Franklin

Chatley;: of 512 Grant Street has™
Heome across at hus home brings:
to’ mind “some of the ‘details of:
“the execution and’ the change in}
the law which now provides that’
capital. punishment sentences bei™

esi with the electric. chair used: in

ublaw,. -states>.
& “Admit- the: Bearer

cout 3 Jak; ‘Franklin, Pa.
“4 oe August, 18. 1908.
4 10-a> m= Pi ER.
Prank i: Williams; “Sheriff.” apts
~ According to the Franklin’ Eve-
ning: ‘News. ol that. date: “There
‘were some 50 or 60 people from).
all-parts of the county: at: ‘the ex-
ecution which everybody. said
was: remarkably: free from the}:
sickening- incidents that. often at:
ténd * hangings.: There: was quite}
2 crowd) of: morbidly curious}
people about the jaif-for: an hour}:
before and eye an a after the)
execution: sian os Ame

“ Holka, canis “ f the ian
“ing: of: Police’ Captain “J: = Ed

ty for. the crime; but he never:
admitted his guilt before or af-
ter he. was: convicted" by. the:
-court: He was: a member: ‘of -

‘the: Roman. Catholic, ‘but: Fath:

in ver’ Donohue; of St.. Patrick's:

an was: (papounced: today i:

homas: Patton, state. chair-
and assistant’ ditector, - “Ag
tural Extension; ‘Penn: State! -

| Bding betwee Tura: and At

nee with: Asay before” ies ee end onthe 21st, For the: period

| completed as She Nek ste

: ecution: *.

‘The iNéwe eoneiak “The execu-
tion was conducted with commend-
able semen ‘The death: warrant |

carried out “inthe penitentiary: |

“} foree,’* accounts: ‘continue, Th

Jing fo-a report’ issued’-yesterday:

p'clock ‘and i5 iinutes. “Raber the

that. a prisoner was. hung in the’ physicians said that We was: ex

“tine, Death tesul Hed foe a be
5k pass tehich RSS NN

ken, Beck,

were Rise 66 aA “expetionds

jedan from out of the ity: whose:

ident Shenff Wiilams. ‘said “he
as bound” ot to reveal, Ry Megtcy

de “The: certine for ‘hich Mike®

aoe

;

James: Edward ‘Meehan, a splen-

| did fellow: ‘and one: of: fhe: bes:

} officers: that. ever: served on: th

F erime: was commitied about’. 10%:
“o'clock: on: the night: of Nov. 23,

be companions’ of: Holka, Big
Louie. ‘Apolka«: and © Little ’ Louie
Apolka; *

Visitation Of
‘Drake Park Is
High: This Yea

A dniisnione: at ‘Drake ‘Well Me:
‘morial: ‘Park, while: Tunning’ be-

“hind the ‘huge influx. of” the Cen-: a
‘ward’ Meehan,. paid: the. penal- 4 tne ue x.

times.’ greater than:1958; aceord-

by: A. C.. , Thompson,’ the: curator.
“The: “park's reporting: “months

ending: ‘Aug. 2t; ‘total. “visitation 7 in
1960. -was 6,681; for: 19591 -3t, 162;
for. 1958, 2,845, Sedge E

During: thes same; : peticd. ‘ade

ric sev Morte Lae i
“Ends: Signal: Coy se:

“Army Recruit Richard volt:
Viarenge son i of Mr; and Mrs =.
tard H. Peterson; Franklin RD 2,

pn one “insta ion

wt bh (7 +2 2 IGLA

ee Moners1 ‘fcom: Pacrniecione “goes
into. the ‘Historicak Preservation}

Fur ninistered: by.. gars 7 ae
sylvania Historical and Museu
Commission: ‘This fund, entirély3 ;

were = “apprehended: - “by a

Orficer ‘Meehatr Rime. a i tat
-{sentence; of James N° Strail of|-

“) Rousevillé, “convicted “of murdere|.

tennial ‘year of 1959, are. more |
than double those -of 1958." ‘How:
ever, revenue. ‘from’ the.sale’ of}.
‘| souvenirs this year is. nearly: five}:

mission {ées’- totaled * $2,029. this. A rae

Re

oe Minaged Office Here.

ea Se jeaving’ with the: Apotka.

Meehan. released ys prise:
oncrs-to return fire In, UW skir-*
nish, all darted up. Howard Steet;

pens Ane Keystone 2 Hotel ‘and ‘Hol. $10;55:p. if Thutsday

4 a3 78 ioe: gun WS th,
“four $ spent t shells
persone Olficer: 3
di $ slater au theF

The Tex day,” a Tuesday, Hietka

Twas, ‘arraigned: “the grand jury. poy}
“Helka today: suffered ‘death: was earned: a true - Jury. e

€S stead’ of a rope’ The pass, which?

7 belonged to: Sir, Chatley’s fathers} the; Killing. of « Police “ Officer:

cst matches. will at al 5:43;

second matches. ‘at-7 p,m. witat
n-minute: waiting period: before}
biting. The days°of the. tourney}

bill “ea: Wednesday:
} The: trial Started that: afternéon,

iHolka being: represented by’ Attor~\<:

éy -Q2D. Hastings:* and< in jess;

ithan.two-days the: duryireturved a

yordict-of Eu y ee ke
= Holka~ about. 20 was: a naltivel:

ot ‘Austria and had ® been in this.

country. ‘about ‘three years: ‘wher a

“drinking: spreeled to-his encoun-

ter with the: laws:
‘At the time ‘of the. execution, a
controversy was. raised when the

ing tris wifeswas Sees fe lle f:

H imprisonment, .

i The first Reveration in the:
“county took place’ on® Oct.-30;
A868; when Thonias McCarty.23, 4
“gave. his’ life for the murder of*
David Barry a( Niles in French-:
_ creek Township. Barry'was shot.
‘in: his home: with: chis wife: as:a-
‘witness, and ‘from. testimony ath:
“the: trial: no. ‘apparent: reason™
aye given for: the: crime, ies’.

* McCarty BE his’ ‘escape ‘alter
‘the murder: but: was captured near
Girard by Railroad Engineer’“‘Hi”’

Jones; who brought:him to Frank-|7~

lin, Jones refused to turn the pris-

oner: over’ to. Sheriff Gray-at Ray=}

milton and. brought him‘in perso

to Franklin,:making< certain that |
“the would ¢ollectthe $300: reward

offered’ for, McCarty’s capture.: .

LT y

‘It Loses Shape

“Those. we ares watched” the:

le-} separate from the general tind’ SEINE enna make « ats nightly} “6

Ob

= na sbet cane: trom behind. and cal
9g

the: forme: r

OF Brokerage Firm’

“Tayior,: 80. of 710
‘manager: on the jo-
office of! ‘Laidlaw, and Com:,
panvugince: ‘coming’ to-Oi’ City “in.

Apr a, 1927, “died in the’ ‘Resp. fa) af,
Bh, Swit

: Gkor ge We
Inns *Strect::

OMe “Taylor was born on Jane

Mesh ed es abd Mary Jane ‘Short T ayler a

He” 15% ‘survived by his *wife;-
Florence Charlton)
yand® One. son, William_C. Taylor)
‘of Oi City, four gtandchildren
and twa: great: grandchildren.

‘The body “has “been taken: to|
the ‘Charles-A’ “Morrison Funeral!
Home where friends” may ¢all!
after’? pom: today: atti :

«Funefal. Services will be: heid‘at}
2:30 p. mh. Saturday. inthe funeral)
@/home with Dr ‘Thomas L. Small |
rector: of Christ Episcopal Church, |
‘officiating. Interment, will be in Sun-|
set Hal Mémorial Park. ; Ree

$

Congress Hill
| To Have Final ©
Drive-In Event

The final Service in a series “ot
drive - in ‘programs. being held at!
the: Congress ‘Hill Church. of ;God;
is scheduled for PaMony at's: 330 P: 4
ree 3

The Rev. “Raymond Martin: pas!
tor: ‘of the church, Ske deliver: the:

2 Sermon.’

 Therdrive - in'se services were eld
during July and August, as-a new,
feature forthe church.) + ~~.

a) NewcoweR?

or has someone Le
- knoe cs

Site

es¢osec
SS ene


Be Rr |

m-| 4512 Cordey alley, was

ae ee

ge Slayer Must Hang.

. Feranton, Pa.. August 17.--Tudge R
ani ® Archbald, of the Federal gare Jast
ca. | Righe declined to interfere with the

sentence of death which wlll be exe-
.qg {cuted Tuesday next on, Michael Halko,
who was convicted of pasar @ po-

jr | l!ceman, Edward J. Meshan, of Frank-
lin. Pa 1

}-—>.—-
ter Boy Is Drowned.
As| Se1z6d with cramps vfpile swimming in
ul-; the ANegheny river. r Ross Grove,
it! Thomas Murphy, aged j14 years. of No
wned yesterday
afternoon. Companiong made futile at-

ver | tempts at rescue. hody was re-
ou! covered.

“| Motor Cyclist Killed,

ed Paterson, N. J., st 17.—In the

n-| presence af several ousand aspecta-

ve|tors at the Clifton cyple s jum yes-

ve|terday, “Sonny” Bridg¢, a motor cyclist

r- and former Pty pugilist, was

tg,’ thrown from @ motor
. ing on_the track.

{> a

instantly

total 932 years,
tury Club,” and
monev for ana
bers are over

all applications
persons whose

were turned do

not expect to
folks" '
Two of the m
197 yearr old,
years, got into
the relative me
and were only 9.
threat br anoth

Firemen of No
called to the r
of No. 6808 Bo
8:30 o'clock thish
covered in the
siderable smoke
frremen arrived.

cle he was test-
killed. |

Gtacoveted the m4

moevenes Vis peel Vs Iti HAUL, sac ePUIicg

the holdup to the police.

/

rvs lk
FOREIGNER PAY

CRIME’S PENALTY

Franklin, Pa., Aug. 18—Mike Holka, a
forelgner, was hanged at 10:30 today for
the murder of Police Captain Meehan. The
condemned man mounted the. scaffold
without a tremor, accompanied by two
priests, whom he told he was ready to
expiate his crime. Death resulted from a
broken neck. This is the first hanging In
Venangn county since 1868.

-}  Pittsburgers in Metropolis

By Hearst News Service
New York, Aug. 18.—The following Pitts-
burgers are registered at the New York
hotels today: W. C. Haldwin, W. G. Ing-
ham, W. A. Baker, Grand; W. A. Bonitz,
G. D. Beck, R. J. Davidson, V. E. Young,
W. J. Patton. Holiand; H. J. Brill, F. E.
McElfresh, Astor: O. T. Durling, Gilsey;
Cc. F. Edlestein, H. W. Myers, Broadway
Central: J. Kenney, C. Weldman, Broztell;
F. T. Lovejoy, Albermarle; L. Marshall,
Union Square; F.’J. Denholm, Hermitage;
W. A. Groetzinger, Hoffman; C. M.
Blanchard, Manhattan; C. L. Kelly, Marl-

borough; J. D. Campbell, Bayard.

al Poteet, le
Rete ke YS

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Benjamin Pitzel was to be Holmes’ partner in a fake

ys
& :
+t, ‘ Led a?

death to collect insurance. But Holmes double-crossed
him and killed him—and was hung. (See record below)

In the store he busied himself for
a time, giving orders to a clerk who
could not dream of the dreadful
drama taking place on the floor
above. There he remained an hour
or so, Then, without bothering to

excuse himself, he went back into
the main part of the eet house,

walked upstairs, turned the knob
that controlled the gas jets within
the room where Wilma Mae was
locked, and then opened the door.

NG MA

Cebus: each

Georgie Anna Yoke, Holmes’ third wife. He married her

while fleeing the police, and she stuck to him to the
end, testifying at his trial in an effort to save him

The gas in the room escaped
through a hidden vent. In a few
moments the air was clear enough
for him to enter. Carefully refrain-
ing from lighting a match, lest there

. Still be enough gas to cause an ex-

plosion, he stepped in. A_ pitiful
feminine body was crumpled on the
floor at his feet, close to the door,
where the unfortunate girl had

"struggled to open the locked door

until unconsciousness from the gas
flowing into the room had overtaken
her.

Holmes lifted the body of his vic-
tim. She was frail and light in his
arms, and the body was still warm
from the life which had fled only
brief moments before. The girl’s face
was flushed with the curious color
that indicates. gas asphyxiation,
Holmes did not hesitate. Stepping

across the room, he pulled open an.

iron cover in the wall and disclosed
the gaping black maw of a chute
that shot downwards. Casually he
thrust the body into the chute,
heard it slide down out of sight into
the basement ‘far below, then left
the room, taking with him the girl’s
purse, which now lay upon the floor.

In his office, Holmes examined his
loot. Pursuant to his instructions,
Wilma Mae had drawn all her small
account from the bank. It was a
pitiful amount for which to take a
human life — something between a
hundred and two hundred dollars.

The man thrust the bills into his
wallet, then carried the purse and the
valise that had been left in the office
back to the sinister room in the rear,
sent them both down into the cellar
through the: chute, and once more

OF MURDER

TNR a TERRY PEK cus.) une eee sat Crate

returned to his drugstore to take up
his work. He showed no evidence
of being disturbed. The room was
nothing more nor less than a private
execution chamber —and_ this was
by no means the first victim he. had
callously disposed of in it.

For: the rest of..the-day;-Holmes

worked in his drugstore, one of °

several stores which occupied the
first floor of his murder mansion,
That evening he ate’a good dinner.
Then, quite late, when he could be
sure he wasn’t going to be inter-
rupted, he descended to the cellar.

The cellar was as weird and fright-
ening as the rest of the house. In
its dark, dank rooms were strange
equipment and diabolical bits of ap-
paratus. Into it opened the chute
from the lethal chamber above—a
dark mouth which disgorged only
death into the quiet depths of the
house. '

Holmes now went directly to the

room where the | chute opened, °

There, crumpled on the floor, were
the mortal remains of young, child-
like, fair-haired Wilma Mae Wilson,
stiff and cold in death now. On top
of the body lay her looted handbag
and her satchel containing the piti-
ful finery which she had been taking
to New York—so she thought—for
her wonderful job there.

OLMES’ first act was to force

open the satchel and look
through it. There was nothing in it
on which he could realize any
money, so he lifted both it and his
victim’s body onto a table and started
a hot fire in a crude furnace which
served as an amateur crematory.


southeast of Decatur, have always
served as natural barriers to develop-
ment in the county. ‘The officers
realized at once the danger of the

‘ fugitive escaping by water; but the

rivers were too wide and cold for
him to cross without aid. So one of
their first moves was to station
guards at every road, bridge and
ferry and temporarily immobilize
every small boat on the rivers.

While the trail was still warm

Creed Shelby, sheriff of Walker
county, Georgia, arrived with Queen,
his bloodhound. The dog quickly
recognized the scent of her prey and
led the hunt through clumps of
bushes, across muddy fields and over
barbed wire fences until in the early
morning she lost the trail in a water-
covered forest three’ miles from
Decatur. ‘
” By midnight Decatur swarmed
with cold, hungry men. Those not
on some special duty crowded into
the one small hotel and’ the
tiny telephone exchange building
and sprawled on the floors for a
little rest before daylight.

All day Sunday fatidieds of men,
armed and determined, tramped over
woods, hills, fields and swampland,
Not a house, barn or likely hiding
place of any kind was passed with-
out a thorough inspection. Roads,
bridges and ferries remained under
constant watch. With such vigilance
it seemed impossible for any human
being to escape the net being drawn
around the area. But somehow the
desperate killer did it. Not a hair of
him was discovered before the frosty
night brought the exhausted men
back of their headquarters.

On Monday, the third day of the
search, the Georgia commissioner
posted a reward of $1000 for Coates,
dead or alive. :

Atlanta headquarters radioed that
the police there had spotted a car,

bearing a Missouri license, in which °

two brothers, dangerous ex-convicts,
Lester and Ace Gillette, were riding.
This information was coupled with
the warning that these men had

probably come east to aid Coates, a
former prison pal.

This intelligence gave impetus to
the official opinion that if Coates
was still alive within the surrounded
area he was receiving aid from some
unknown source. But this belief was
discarded when Olin Ware, living
near Decatur, arrived breathlessly re-
late that some one resembling
Coates had tried to steal his car.

“He took my flashlight from the
car and ran when I started out to
see about the noise in the yard,”
Ware told the excited hunters.

Sheriff Shelby and his son Eugene,
and Ted Rosser, Solicitor General
of the Rome circuit: in Georgia, fol-
lowed by many others hurried to the
scene. They were searching an oak
thicket near Ware’s home when the
weary fugitive suddenly leaped out
of the underbrush. J

“You can’t do this to me!” he
screamed with startling, maniacal
fervor. His weaving, dodging form
was caught in the rays of several
flashlights as he ran, and some of
the men raised their guns but failed
to fire, fearing to injure members of
their own party. The fleet-footed
runner was smart enough to keep
some of his pursuers always in the
line of fire until he disappeared in
the inky darkness again. Chase failed
to catch him.

The next day was Christmas, and
for the men engaged in the hunt, it
was a cold, dreary holiday. But they
stuck to their posts with grim de-
termination, even when darkness
brought the fifth chilling night of
the séarch,

Then came the break they had
been waiting for. Patrolmen P. A.
Peacock and Vance Davis, of
Geogia, checking traffic four miles
out on the Decatur-Athens. highway,
signaled down a car coming from
Decatur. They watched it slow and
stop. Then suddenly its light began
receding rapidly.

“That fellow’s turning around,”
Peacock remarked, watching intent-
ly. “Reckon he’s our man?”

_13 GRAVES IN HIS CELLAR

© (Continued from page 25) *

pretty Texas girl, Minnie Williams,
to the house. She lived there for
many months, and in time Mrs. Con-
ner and her daughter Strangely van-
ished. That two of the graves found
later in the cellar were theirs is
almost certain, because among the
bones found were the skeleton of a
child. That it was easy for Holmes,
by now a master of murder, to re-
move them is not to be doubted.

H H. Holmes, strange, suave,

sinister master of the mansion
of murder, was during these days
taking in money from various
sources, mostly illegal. He tried to
cheat a furniture compan by order-
ing several. vanloads of urnishings,
then hiding them in one of the 'se-
cret rooms and plastering over the
doorway so that the goods could
not be found.

52

seach linda

A janitor whom he had enraged
gave this scheme away. For $25, he
revealed the secret to the furniture
company’s investigators. Whether he
knew anything of what went on in
the dark, dismal cellar we cannot
tell. He offered to make more dis-
closures for additional money, but
for some reason no one was inter-
ested enough to inquire further. And
in time, the. janitor too vanished.
No doubt Holmes shut his mouth in
the most certain way he knew.

Now the World’s Fair of 1893
was keeping Chicago full of visitors,
old and young, men and women and

girls. Many girls, like Wilma Mae

‘Wilson, came to Chicago to see the

Fair, acquired a taste for city life,
and settled. down to learn ‘short-
hand and get jobs. These were
Holmes’ choicest prey. By the meth-
od already described, he acquired

“Look!” Davis exclaimed. "He's
backing into that ditch.” The lights
of the mystery car flashed skyward
for an instant as its black bulk dis-
appeared behind a _ perpendicular
bank at the side of the road, a sheer
drop of fifteen feet. The officers
started toward the spot on a dead
run. A few moments later they were
standing at the road’s edge, their
flashlights turned upon’ the gro-
tesque shape of an overturned car.

“It’s empty,” Peacock said, play-
ing his light around the wreck. “I
wonder if he’s under there?”

“No, he’s not. He; jumped out and
ran across the road.” The officers
turned at the voice of a man who
had just come up. “I live right over
there,” he continued, inting to a
smail cottage a short distance away.
“I saw him climbing up that bank
over: there after the lights from his
car swept around.” : “

A few minutes later the over-
turned car, a Chevrolet coach, was
identified as having been stolen that
night from Robert P. Robertson’s
garage, a mile from where it was
ditched.

Word was sent immediately to
Decatur where Dolph Arms, Assist-
ant-warden and dog trainer for nine-
teen years at Brushy Mountain pri-
son, Petros, Tennessee, had been
waiting with his dogs for a fresh
trail. Twenty minutes later Mose and
Nix, educated trailers, were on the
warm scent while Rocket, squat and
heavy-bodied, trained to kill, pulled
against the leash which held him
back. :

With scores of flashlights blinking
like tiny eyes around him, Arms
yuickly took the lead up the heavy
wooded slope. The trailers moved
rapidly. Rocket, the killer, kept his
leash taut with eagerness. _

The carbide lamp on Arms’ cap
furnished a dim, flickering light as,
responding to Rocket's insistent pull
on the leash, he stumbled through
underbrush, dodging overhanging
limbs, covering ground rapidly. The
other men were gradually left be-

hind, ;

The sounds from the trailer dogs
grew dim, then completely faded
out. Arms knew that they had
topped the high ridge he was climb-

-ing and gone down the other side.

He ran recklessly to the top, listen-
ing as he ran. The long-drawn barks
sounded again through the woods.

When he reached the top of
another rise and heard the dogs he
knew that they had their man at
bay. Then Arms glimpsed a figure
fifty feet away, weaving through the
underbrush. He dropped Rocket's
leash. The dog raced ahead. Coates
abruptly fell on his face, cringing
from the slavering fangs of the dog.
Arms fell upon him and wrenched
away his pistol. The capture, at long
last, had been” made.

Charles Coates, fugitive killer, was
now hardly more than emaciated, his
clothing in shreds, exposing cuts and
bruises on his legs and arms. His
face had a deep cut.

Arms held Coates until Peacock,
Davis, Farris and Commissioner Sul-
livan arrived. The Georgia chief and
his Lieutenant, O. W. Whiteside,
quickly placed Coates in an automo-
bile and took him to. the Fulton

_ County jail in Atlanta.

In prison, Coates received medical
attention for his injuries. His feet
the doctors found so badly frostbit-
ten that it was necessary to ampu-
tate his toes.

Brought to trial on February 6th,
Coates denied that he had fired the
shot which killed’ Corporal Fred
Black, shifting the blame on an al-
leged companion, Charles Butler.
But the jury did not believe him.
Twenty-one minutes after hearing
the judge’s charge, they returned a
verdict of guilty. Judge John C. Mit-
chell sentenced Coates to die in the
electric chair on March 8, 1941. An
appeal and other legal steps, how-
ever, delayed the execution until
March 12, 1943, when it was finally
carried out, thus putting a final end
to one of the South’s greatest man-
hunts.

scores of secretaries. And when some
of them vanished—well, methods of
crime investigation were crude in
those days. It was not hard for him
to hide his trail.

Sometimes he mingled with the
crowds in the Fair grounds, and
strolled until he spotted a likely
victim—a good-looking, inexperi-
enced-appearing girl to whom he
managed to introduce himself, by
offering to direct her to where she
wanted to go. From then on, after
making sure his victim was alone in
the town, Holmes’ task was easy.
Handsome as he was, hypnotic of
manner, there were few victims who
became suspicious in time to save
themselves. The “execution cham-
ber” and the grewsome implements
in the cellar were kept busy that year
of 1893.

But what drove this monster on
in his course? Why did he kill? No
one has ever been able to answer
that satisfactorily. In part, it was cer-
tainly the lust for taking human

life. But he had also been a medi-

cal student, and so became interested
in dissection, He had studied hypno-
tism, and was a student of the ef-
fects of mesmerism on the human
body. ;

Down in his- basement were
strange pieces of equipment. There
were racks that looked like medie-
val torture instruments, There were
sharp knives and long tables and a
crude crematory furnace. There were
surgical implements. ‘There were pits
containing quicklime and acids,

Was it possible that not all the
unfortunate. victims who breathed
their last in that house were dead
when they entered the cellar? Were
they still alive—and there in the si-
lent darkness, were they subjects for
strange experiments by the sinister
murderer? It seems not only likely;
it seems most probable. :

But in the end, money was
Holmes’ chief object. Possibly he tor-
tured his victims to extort from them
secrets of hidden wealth. No one
knows. But it was proved later that
Holmes turned an occasional penny

CRIME FILE DETECTIVE


from another strange b gw of
murder, Through an ad he hired a
needy little man whom he took down
to a cellar room—one safely separa-
ted from the section where he dis-
posed of his victims.

This little man was a skeleton ar-
ticulator, or an assembler of skele-
tons for the médical trade. For, con-
trary to popular belief, a true ‘skele-
ton is not all in one piece, well held
together as one sees them in mu-
seums and medical schools. The
bones must be wired together—and
that was the little man’s job.

To him, Holmes showed several

boxes of fresh-looking human bones. :

“I have connections with under-
takers,” he said tersely. “From them
I occasionally get skeletons of pau-
i who die without families to

ry them. You assemble the skele-
tons. I'll sell them.”

The little man must have believed 3)

the story, for he assembled, or ar-
ticulat several skeletons, which
Holmes sold to medical institutions
for study purposes. As to how
Holmes got the skeletons, imagina-
tion is not necessary. We know, all
too well,

Even to this day, it is safe to say
that the last remains of some of
Holmes’ unfortunate victims may
still be found in medical schools—
anonymous, unavenged, to be for-
ever unknown.

IF Holmes had stuck to the simple

trade of murder in Chicago, so
well arranged by now that he vir-
tually ran no risk whatever of de-
tection, he might have been alive to
this day—and possibly still carrying
on his grewsome tind . But he was
anxious for more money, and he
‘was trying to raise it by various con-
fidence schemes. He even tried set-
ting fire to his murder mansion and
endeavoring to collect .insurance.
But the scheme was so transparent
that the insurance company would
not pay, and Holmes was lucky to
escape jail.

His luck all around was running
out now. A group of creditors band-
ed together and swore out warrants
for his arrest. Holmes fled Chicago,
and wound up in Denver, where he
married once again, bigamously of
course. This third “wife” was Miss

DETROIT MYSTERY SLAYING

Brutal aides of Mrs. Gladys Marsden, above, gave Detroit

— a new mystery to solve recently. Her body was found

ehind a schoolhouse brutally

Georgie Anna Yoke, tall, slender
and beautiful. Bue Holmes did not
remain free of the law long. Soon
after, his schemes caught up with
him, and he was sentenced to jail
in St. Louis. And here in jail he
dreamed up another scheme which
in the end brought about his down-
fall} after his release a few months

Jater.

The scheme was another insur-
ance swindle. A partner in the
scheme was to be a certain B. F.
Pitzel, whom Holmes had known
for some time. As Holmes outlined
the scheme, he was to insure Pitzel’s
life for $10,000. -Then, substituting
another body, he was to identify it

| THE HAMMER SLAYER

(Continued from page 15)

to stay around a while until some IM FANWHILE a thorough can-
a

of the hotel employes can have
look at you.”

So far as Fredericks knew, he
said, Leona had no men friends in
Mississippi, or anywhere else in the
South,

He asked permission to view the
body of his fiancee, and Angalada
consented, saying that he would
like the sergeant to make the for-
mal identification of the victim.
Fredericks accompanied Major
Brown to the undertaking establish-
ment,

‘vass of laundries and tailor
shops disclosed no bloodstained
garments. On Angalada’s orders a
request went out to police all along
the bus route from Denver to con-
tact Western Union and telephone
company offices to make certain that
no messages or calls had been filed
for Sergeant Fredericks by the dead
woman during her trip.

Word was received from Denver
that Leona’s former husband had
been cleared completely, He had
not been out of Denver in some
time,

CRIME FILE DETECTIVE

beaten, the face smashed in

as Pitzel and claim the insurance.
Pitzel fell in with the scheme.
They tried it out in Philadelphia
—with one small change. Holmes ac-
tually killed Pitzel, and caused an
explosion in the office yd had
rented—an explosion which burned
the body badly. Then Holmes pro-
ceded as he had planned, collected
the insurance—ostensibly on behalf

.of Pitzel’s widow—and seemed safe.

But an ex-convict to whom he had
incautiously mentioned the scheme
during his period in jail ‘in St. Louis
wrote the police, tipping them off.

That was the end of the career of
H. H. Holmes, murder. extra-ordi-
nary. It took the police and the in-

surance company a little tim
him, but in the end they did.
went on trial for Pitzel’s
in Philadelphia.

As soon as he was taken |
tody, investigators btoke i
great house at 63rd and
Streets in Chicago and |
search that left them dumbf
They went through room aft
finding the asphyxiation ¢
the. cell-like rooms where
may have kept victims locked
all the other curious’ rooms
mentioned. Then they desce
the cellar. —

Here the greatest shocks st
to come. With bulging eyes
lice inspected the crude cre
the pits of acids and quickli
gleamingly sharp surgical kni
racks that looked like tortur
Then their gaze fell upon |
turbed places in the dirt floo
dug—and found the graves.

rave after grave they .
In them were the remains of
13 human beings, some so f1
tary it was hard to be sure tw:
or even four victims had n
buried together.

In the end, no tabulat
Holmes’ victims proved p
Even he could not rememb
many there were before he \
the gallows at Moyamensing
Some investigators estimated
had killed a minimum of
victims. But others felt this
figure far too low.

Chicago in 1893, they point
was teeming with visitors
World’s Fair. Great numbe:
ished—never to return home.
of course, simply shook off u
able ties of home and fami:
others, including hundreds of
women, were undoubtedly t
tims of criminals. How m
these were Holmes’ victims? !
could say.

But several police officials,
dence they considered conv
declared that H. H. Holmes, «
man W. Mudgett, if you pre
real name, killed at least 200 ;
mostly women, in a few years |
cago. And he was only 35 wi
was hanged.

Which certainly establish
claim to infamy as. America’:
sinister murderer of them all.

EE

Soon afterward the Western Un-
ion checkup produced results. De-

spite what Fredericks’ had told the .
, officers, a message had been sent

from Lake Charles, Louisiana, on
Monday night, February 26, to the
soldier at Keesler Field asking him
to meet Leona in Biloxi at 11 a.m.
Tuesday. Then on Tuesday morning
a wire was sent from New Orleans
informing Fredericks that the bus
had been delayed seven hours and
would not arrive in Biloxi until
about 6 p.m. ;

Investigation showed that the bus
actually arrived in Biloxi at 7:30
Tuesday night. :

“Get hold of that bus driver, no
matter where he is, and see that
he’s questioned about the trip,”
Angalada ordered Officer Rosetti. "I

want to know if he rem
Leona and whether she ‘sat
anyone, Maybe she met some
the bus.”

Late that night the hotel
clerk and the bellboy
Fredericks and both ann
rag that he was not th
who had registered at the hi
Edward Johnston. Moreover,
Keesler Field came an offici
nouncement that two telegran
been received: for Frederic]
Wednesday morning and stil!
unopened. The time stamp:
them proved definitely that
ericks had not seen either m

It was nearly midnight .w
report on the fingerprint fou
the hotel cottage telephone
through, It was traced to


Mrs. Benjamin Pitzel, wife of Holmes’ victim, did not
guess he had slain her husband. She entrusted three of
her children to his care. Holmes disposed of all three

This young physician, Dr. Leacock, was one of Holmes’
early victims. He usually killed for money, and some-
times: sold his victims’ skeletons to make a bit extral

When the fire was hot enough, he
destroyed the satchel, its contents;
and dreadful to relate, also its owner
in the flames.

Much later, raking out the scorch-
ed bones which only that morning
had been a pretty young woman, he
dug a hole in a corner of the cellar
and buried them. When he had fin-
ished smoothing back the earth, he
paused for a moment and looked
about him. There were other spots in
the dirt of the cellar where, a keen
eye could have told, digging had
been done, The spots were graves—
graves which hid the grewsome evi-
dence of the man’s crimes. The re-
mains of at least 13 persons, and
probably more, reposed under that
dirt, as shocked and horrified inves-
tigators were to learn—but not until
more than a year later. For a whole
year at least, the.monster of Chi-
cago’s murder mansion was to con-
tinue plying his trade of wholesale
death,

There. was no danger that anyone
would ever trace to him the murder
of poor Wilma Mae Wilson — not
quite her true name. For he had been
clever. There was no witness to the
scenes that have been described, of

course—Holmes was far too clever’

for that. But in the light of what was
later learned about him and his meth-
ods, the reconstruction of the event
is a reasonable one.

First. he had advertised for a
stenographer, young, no experience
necessary. He .preferred his stenog-
raphers young, did this murder mon-
ster, for he fancied himself quite a
ladies’ man, He had made many con-

Bhs tas ee, eee

EXECUTION

te
aire esata ress)

t

CRIME FILE DETECTIVE

quests of his victims — before he
slew them.

A young stenographer, often fresh
out of business college, was first in-
terviewed. If she seemed promising
—that is, if she admitted to having
a little money Holmes could get his
hand on, or if she was so pretty that
she attracted his fancy—she was en
gaged. In the case of some, like
Wilma Mae, she was told that the
job would be in New York, however,
not in Chicago.

Thus he had worked with pretty
young Wilma Mae. He had promised
her a job in New York, given her a
fictitious name of a non-existent em-
ployer, and told her to write her
family that she was going to New
York. He had warned her to pack
her things and to draw her money
out of the bank. Thus, when she
vanished, all her friends thought she
had simply taken the train East. Her

‘family thought the same thing.

When at last they became worried,
and instigated a search in New
York, there was nothing to be found.
Long since the killer had claimed her
baggage and destroyed it. The trail
was absolutely blind, i

If Wilma Mae had not rejected
the advarices made to her that morn-
ing, she might have lived longer—
a few days, or a few weeks, But
once she had spurned his attempted
familiarity so resolutely, her doom
was sealed: Others, who did not
spurn him, worked sometimes several
months. But in the end Mr. Holmes
was always back at the newspaper
offices, inserting a discreet ad for a
new stenographer.

ale Witty. i
Bat SERRE

CHAMBER, A CREMATORIUM

eet

Rare:
salt

BU just who was this strange
and sinister figure of murder,
and what was the great, mysterious
house he had built for himself at
the corner of 63rd and Wallace
Streets—a house tnat was still stand-
ing only a few years ago?
His real name, it seems, was Her-

man W, Mudgett. His birthplace had

been in New, England. He studied
medicine at the University of Michi-
gan. He had married and become
the father of a child back in New
Hampshire. Then he had deserted
his ‘wife and child and turned up in
Chicago, some fifteen years before
the turn of the century, where he
had married again, bigamously.
From that time on, for ten years,
his career in Chicago was a busy one.

A. swindler and a deadbeat, he made |

money by shady real estate deals, by
defrauding furniture companies of
large orders of household goods, by
actual confidence schemes. And ai-
ways his glib tongue kept him out of
trouble. He managed ‘somehow to
acquire a drugstore on the corner
opposite ‘the one where later he

built his great mansion. .

' And he ‘got hold of a little money
—enough to start construction of
the great mansion in the basement
of which, only three years later,
astounded investigators were to find
at least 13 graves. ,

The. building, as it went up, was
an amazing edifice even incomplete.
This was the year 1892, and all Chi-
cago was abuzz with the plans for
the great World’s Fair which was
to be held the following year.

Holmes let it be understood that he
was putting up the building as a

BURIAL

hotel for the many visitors expected
in Chicago for the Fair. Actually, it
never housed any.

The architects and the work-
men changed frequently, so that no
one save Holmes himself knew how
strange the building actually was.
Altogether, it contained ‘eighty
rooms or more. Some of these had
no windows. Some had many doors.
From Holmes’ bathroom a trapdoor
led to a secret stairway which
opened through another hidden
doorway into the “execution cham-
ber,” where Wilma Mae and other. .
of his victims came to their ends.

There were stairways that seemed
to go no place, passageways that
ended abruptly in a solid wall, walls
that were hinged, and other strange
architectural quirks. In all, almost
forty rooms of the house were in
some way peculiar or sinister. It
was an edifice ideally suited for
the residence of a master murderer,
and that was what Holmes became
after he moved in—a wholesale kil-
ler unique in the history of America,

When the place was completed,
Holmes did move in. He had a wife
and three children; living in a home
in nearby Wilmette. He did not,
however, bring this family—which :
was in addition to the family he had
deserted back in New England—to
live in the new house. Instead he
left them in Wilmette, and installed
a certain Mrs. Julia Conner in the
house. The neighbors thought she
was “Mrs. Holmes,” and Holmes
made no attempt to correct this im-
pression.

Sometime later he also brought a

(Continued on page 52)

GROUND,

te.
eke


The mystery of human existence is always taken for granted:
and it is only when it is removed by violence, in a personafized
way, that most of us are shocked and fascinated by the sudden
nothingness of the person, or persons, who we learn is, or are,
no longer alive, as we are. .

This chilling condition mesmerizes us. All of us vividly re-
member the first corpse we have stared at. As a five-year-old boy
I was taken by my mother to visit the home of a neighbor who
had lost an infant through illness. While my mother held my
hand I stared at the tiny girl dressed in white resting in the
small coffin on the dining room table. I held my breath as I
stared at the child.

“She’s sleeping,” my mother whispered. But I knew she wasn’t.

Today, men die in jungles eight thousand miles from home;
other men met their end in helicopters, or on bombing missions,
also far away. Television brings us this news, yet does not allow
us to witness the final act of expiration. Sometimes we are given
glimpses of twisted -bodies, still figures, as a silent canjera pans
across the fatal ground, We are moved. These boys are our sons,
our brothers. They are Americans. Yes, we are moved.

Yet we are not really mesmerized, shocked, or titillated, until
we pick up the morning newspaper and learn that someone tn
the next street has been murdered in an elevator, or stabbed on
the Fourteenth Street subway platform at 7:15 last evening, just
a half hour aiter our own train pulled out of Ubai station.

Wars are terrible tragedies, the greatest on earth; but their
very hugeness (if they are not taking place close by) overwhelms
us; and the clichés uttered by politicians and full-time patriots
concerning the noble causes for which men die wash over us so
often that we are strangely and unfeelingly mute most of the
ume.

But when a juicy murder springs upon the front pages, espe-
cially a murder mystery, we prick up our ears and are immediately
involved and fascinated. Though the bombing goes on, though
our statesmen meet in secret and plot our salvation or destruc-

tion, though our very lives are seemingly menaced by the Bomb

itself, we glue our eyes to the printed details that tell us how and
where that single body was found, and we yearn to know who is
the suspect, and if the police have any definite clues.

With these remarks, I usher in Part 1 of this volume. Flere,
reader, you will find murder mysteries that will send chills down
your spine as you sit near your silent TV set and munch your pea-
nuts, until the hours tick by and even the late late show is for-

gotten. .

216 PEA

fa Charles Boswell

e NIGHTMARE
CASTLE

and Lewis Thompson .

at

WHEN Dr. H. H. Holmes

(Herman W. Mudgett) was arrested by the police for a score or
more murders of women and children, he instantly became world
famous. The bizarre circumstances of the mysterious killings
captured the interest of newspaper readers “as far away as Eng-
land and South Africa. The fact that he made confessions, almost
daily, that contradicted previous confessions only stimulated more
interest, whetting the appetite of millions and boosting news-
- paper circulation. The Holmes Castle itself, with secret passages
and over one hundred rooms, was enough to_ arouse intense
curiosity.

If Holmes had not been a murderer, he could have been per-
haps one of the great con men of his time. He possessed a winning
personality, especially in the company of women, and doubtless
could have sold North Pole mining stock to affluent widows and
spurious New Mexico real estate to wealthy virgins.

Instead, he cremated most of his “customers’’ for a few paltry
thousands. Being a druggist, or chemist, he did it in an interesting
fashion in the fantastic edifice he erected on the South Side of
Chicago. 3
~ Many authors have been fascinated by the career of this man.

to be the best of the crop.

Something over a half-century ago, there rose, at the corner
of Sixty-third and Wallace Streets, in Chicago, a strange,
“ungainly, brick-and-clapboard structure which came to be
_known—infamously—as “Holmes Castle.” Its name derived

~ But I found the story by Charles Boswell and Lewis Thompson -

“ON 1") Ls o : BET:

*“SHWIOH

+
Ra

"96QT-L-5 **eg “eTydtepettuq peGuey feqtum ‘*H °H

218 oy The Chicago Grime Book

from several sources. First, because of its one hundred-odd
rooms and its three stories above the ground and tw i
it was as large as a castle; and then, because of the sham
turrets and battlements which adorned the roof and cornices,
it resembled one.

Its builder was a Dr. H. H. Holmes—a name assumed, as it
later turned out. On the second floor of the edifice, the
doctor occupied private living apartments, and in various
stores on the street floor he operated a number of curious
businesses as well as an apothecary shop.

Holmes was most of the year 1892 engaged in the rough
construction of his architectural fantasy—a fact puzzling to
even the most astute residents of the vicinitv. True, the
outlines of the emerging building were enormous, but then
again skilled labor was cheap and plentiful, and if, as Holmes
proclaimed, he wanted it ready by 1893, he needed to hurry.
This latter year heralded the opening in Chicago of the
Coluinbian Exposition—the first Chicago “World’s Fair’—
and it was Holmes’ plan, so he said, to run the third floor of
his property as a sort of hotel, catering to Exposition visitors.

All told. Floimes was an eager fellow—much more eager.
indeed, than any of his neighbors realized. They had known
him for five years, but only casually, and if their knowiedge
bad been more penetrating they might have had a better
understanding of what accounted tor his snail’s-pace progress
in rearing his building. Labor was cheap and _ plentiful,
certainly, but Holmes,: who pretended to considerable
wealth, was actually without the funds “(except when he
could borrow or perpetrate a swindle) to pay even the iowest-
waged carpenter or bricklayer, and for other, more sinister
reas@gs, he had to exercise extreme caution in gust ting the
men who werked for him.

Within the outer walls of the monstrosity, various mtri-
cate—and secret—details of construction were in the making.
Their inacabre and grovesque nature was the final factor im
giving, afew years later, the place its name and its national—

Fe

N ightmare Castle ee : 219

if not international—notoriety. For no castle can be truly

termed a castle unless it smacks of the medieval—an age
which conjures up remembrances of dungeons .and torture

chambers, of alchemists and imprisoned damsels. Thus

Holmes looked for either of two qualities in a potential
employee. Before he would hire an artisan, he had to be sure
the man was close-mouthed. That, or he had -to be equally
sure that if the man should disappear, no one cared enough
about him to come around and ask any embarrassing
questions.

As fantastic as all this sounds, it is no more fantastic than
the career of Dr. Holmes prior to and after the building of
his castle. His entire history, so far as possible, was later
patiently traced and faithfully documented by the joint
efforts of the Chicago police, the Philadelphia police, and
operatives of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. For Holmes,
there is no doubt, was a master in thg not-so-gentie art of
making people vanish—dozens of people—and that sort of
thing leaves a man open to investigation.

The doctor’s name, as bas been said, was not Heimes at all.
He was born Herman W. Mudgett, on May 16, 1860, in
Gilmanton. New Hampshire, the son of the village post-
master. As a child, he was quiet and studious and a regular
attendant at Sunday School. Not until he was welt in his
teens did the desire for sexua! experiences intrude upon hi
consciousness, but when it did, its effect was positive a
lasting and became, indeed, the most dominating factor in his

“life.

The boy manned early, on July 4. 1878, when he was not
yet two months past his eighteenth birthday. His bride. Ciara
Lovering, was a pretty unsophisticated girl, also from Gul-

~~ manton. Questioned years later as to how and why she'd
_ gotten herselt mixed up with the man the Hew SpapeTs were
-ealling the “Arch-Criminal of the Century,” she said: “I
~~ don’t really know, It was his eyes, I guess; they fascinated me.
~~ When he looked at me, I felt weak and helpless and unable to

320 The Chicago Crime Book

do other than what he told me. Herman always hada great
interest in mesmerism. Looking back, I’m fairly certain he
mesmerized me, but I didn’t realize it at the time.”

On the other hand, it’s perhaps easier to answer a question
relating to why Mudgett, or Holmes, married Clara. The gir]
had a lovely body—and money.. The last was no fortune, but

it was enough to see Holmes through his academic years ata
college at Burlington, Vermont, and he appropriated it for
just this purpose.

His wife's funds exhausted, Holmes continued nevertheless
to make fiscal use of her. With an arts degree in his posses-
sion, he went west f enter the medical school of the Univer-
sity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and Clara, trailing along, tor
a time acted as the breadwinner of the family by becoming a
dressmaker. a,

But then , after a year, a child was born to the young
couple, and its nursing and care prevented Clara from profit-
ably employing her needié: Holmes ordered her back to New
Hampshire, where she went, dutifully, unaware that she was
not to again see her husband for a decade and that when she
did, his unenviable role would be that of the most wanted
fugitive in America.

Lacking his wife’s support, Holmes made his way at Ann
Arbor through the practice of sundry frauds which, though
petty, give some indication of the shape his character was
taking. He contracted to build a barn for a widow, for
instance, and then, after getting advance payment, failed to
live up to his bargain. Similarly, he managed a student
boarding house for a pretty divorcee who'd not long since
comm to town, diverting the proceeds to his own use. When

the woman threatened to expose him to the authorities, his
blandishments and the promise of marriage weakened her,
and not for many months, during which period he was
sleeping with her, did she learn he was already married.

Again, while he was a medical student, another facet to the
rapidly forming personality of Holmes first revealed itself.

Nightmare Castle 2el

He showed little interest in the lectures his professors de-
livered, frequently absenting himeelf from the classroom, but
spent many more hours than were required in the anatomical
laboratory. Fellow students afterward recalled that he was

morbidly intrigued with the work of dissecting corpses and

that‘on one occasion, when.a holiday was in prospect and the
laboratory consequently closed, he took the cadaver of an
infant home with him to cut up during his free time.

After graduation, Holmes, curiously, served no internship
and did not enter upon the practice of his profession. Instead,
during the course of a single year, he held a number of
completely unrelated jobs. First, he was receiver for a bank-
rupt store in St. Paul, then a salesman of trees and shrubs
throughout New York state, afterward a schoolteacher in
Clinton County, New York, and finally assistant to the admin-
istrator of an insane asylum im Norristayyn, Pennsylvania.

There is no record of him acquitting himself other than
well and honorably in any of these posts excepting the last,
where he became the subject of a considerable scandal. The
asylum had a wealthy inmate who, so the story went, desired
very much to escape and offered Holmes five thousand dollars
to facilitate the matter for him. Directly thereafter, the
inmate was found drowned, his wallet empty, in a pond on
the asylum grounds. Holmes denied accepting the bribe or
having a hand in the man’s death. He immediately quit his
job, however, and, though known to be short of funds prior
to this incident, soon turned up in the town of Wilmette,
Thnois (a suburb of Chicago), plentifully supplied with
money.

ft was at this point that Holmes began calling himself

‘Holmes, for until now he had gone under his true name of

_ Mudgett. In 1885, in Wilmette, he met and married Myrta
Belknap, the daughter of a well-to-do merchant. The union
Was bigamous, of course, since Holmes had not bothered to
ivorce his wife, Clara, back in New Hampshire, and yet,

: espite its illegality, it Seemed to progress well—for a time.

222 The Chicago Crime Book

After a respectable interval, Myrta had a baby. Holmes ;

demonstrated his occupational versatility by establishing
himself in a photostat business he called. the ABC Copier
Company, in Chicago, from which point he commuted back
and forth to Wilmette daily. But then, in less than two years,
a situation arose which caused Holmes, once again, to change
his manner of making a living and to forsake the hearth
whereat he spent his evenings. _

Myrta’s father, it seemed, found to his horror that he was
being slowly poisoned. His Suspicions turned on Holmes
inasmuch as that worthy stood to benefit indirectly should
Myrta inherit the family wealth. Accused of attempting to
get rid of the older man, Holmes, of course, denied it, but the
denial, to Mr. Belknap’s way of thinking, rang not so much of
truth as of fabrication. “Young fellow,’ he told Holmes,
producing a shotgun, “—get out of here! If ever ] lay eyes on
you again, I'll let you have it—both barrels!”

Holmes took the not-so-subtle hint and decamped forth-
with, abandoning his wife and child. His flight, however. did
hot carry him tar--ouly to downtown Chicago, where. over-
mght, ne soid his photostat business, and then out to Sixty-
third and Wallace Streets, where, fortuitously, he landed the
job of manager and pharmacis: in an apothecary shop. This
was in 1887 and the shop was located diagonally across .the
street from a vacant lot on which, five years later, Holmes was
to erect his infamous castle.

‘The apothecary business was owned by a Mrs. Holden,
who had recently inherited it from her late lamented hus-
band, a druggist. I: is a tribute io Holmes’ glib manner and
pegsuasive tongue that he talked the widow into letting him
take complete charge, which included keeping the books. For
a couple of years, Mrs. Holden made no complaint about the
infinitesimal profit she was realizing, but then she began
insisting that an accountant be called in to check over
Holmes’ figures. :

This was the fast: Chicago saw of Mrs. Holden. To in-
quirers, Dr. Holmes explained that she had gone to Cali-

223

. Nightmare Castle

fornia and that he had bought the business from her. He was
: reluctant ‘to say, however, just wHere she was iri California,
and if any inquirer had been curious enouch to check,
through official sources, on the alleged purchase, he would
have found no record of it.

Even so, through some legerdemain, Holmes, in 1892. was
able to mortgage the business, and with the sum obtained, he
bought the lot across the street. Then he mortgaged the i
began building his castle and moved the apothecary over to
occupy one of the street-floor stores. ee

During this period, another woman came into Flolmes life
in the person of a captivating young brunette named Julia
Conner. The doctor looked on her with lascivious eves and
she returned his gaze in kind. Only one obstacle stood in the
way of the two living together. This was Julia’s husband, seas
exhibited symptoms of jealousy. The symptoms, as it turned
out, proved devastating, for it was not long before the green-
eyed Mr. Conner disappeared, following in the wake of Mrs.
Holden.

As Holmes’ mistress, Julia must have been puzzled by
of her lover’s activities. In the stores adjoining the apothe-
cary, he ran various businesses, one of which was severed to
the sale of fake gems and another to the articulation of
human skeletons for use in medical schools. Holmes was close-
mouthed concerning where he got the skeletons, ietiing it be
known only that he had an “unfailing source of supply.’

‘After the first floor was completed, the rest of the castle
went up by fits and starts, depending on the availability e
-.. the only kind of Jabor Holines could employ and the state of
his credit and his ‘pocketbook. As the latter emptied, he
refilled it through the sale of sundry “discoveries” and “in-
ge ‘Ventions.” One of these was, he claimed, a sure-fire cure for
alcoholism: another, an elixer of youth; and a third, a device
~ for making illuminating gas out of water. Later on, it was
- proven, of course, that they were all frauds, and that the
Icohol-cure” tablets for instance, consisted only of sugar

and bismuth.

a | -
py some


ho
by
oh

The Chicago Crime Book
a

Completely changing his story, he declared that there had
been no substitute corpse and that the body had really been
that of Ben Pitezel, who had drunk himself to death. “We had
planned to get a cadaver,” he went on, “but then when I
found poor Ben dead, I saw it wouldn't be necessary.”

A second exhumation of the patent shop corpse gave the lie
to Holmes’ most recent version of what had happened. It was
Ben’s body, all right, according to Mrs. Pitezel, but now the
coroner found in it chloroform in sufficient quantity strongly
to suggest that Holmes had given his confederate a fatal dose
of the anaesthetic—a prime example of the double-cross.
Thus, with murder in the picture. a possible light was
thrown on what had motivated Holmes’ curious and secret
movements with the Pitezel children. Alice Pitezel, it was
remembered, had, in September. identified the body as that
of her father—and Alice had had no knowledge of the insur-
ance fraud plot. So, clearly, it had become necessary for
Holmes, during his flight, to keep Ahce away from her
mother lest the child should revea! that her father was realiv
dead. And then, by the same token, once Alice had joined
Nellie and Howard, and had, presumabiy, infected them
with this information, it had been just as urgent for Holmes
to prevent all three of the little Pitezels from communicating
with tne rest of the family.

The old question veasserted itself: what, actually, had
become of Alice, Nellie and Howard? With their father in a
Potter's Field grave, it went without saying that they hadn’t
gone to South America with him, and thus it became impera-
tfe for Holmes, since they had been last in his custody, to
offer an aleernative explanation. ‘They're in England,” he
countered, his stories getting wilder and wilder. “J had them
in Niagara Falls, but a girl named Minnie Williams kid.
napped them from me—out of spite, 1 think, to get me in
trouble. Minnie was jealous. Some time ago, she murdered

her sister, Anna, just because she thought Anna was making

eyes at me. [ disposed of Anna’s body for her, in a lake, but

Nightmare Castle 235

she was never one to recognize a favor. Minnie ran off to
England with the kids and a chap named Ed Hatch. Maybe
she’s calling herself Mrs. Hatch by now. I don’t know for
sure, but I have an idea she’s running a massage parlor in
London. I daresay if I inserted an advertisement, addressed to
her in cipher, in the London papers, she would answer.”

By now, the case was no longer in the hands of the Fidelity
Mutual, but in the more authoritative ones of the Phila-
delphia police, who moved for and obtained an indictment
against Holmes for Ben Pitezel’s murder, Some members ot
the department were sufficiently credulous to put faith in
Holmes’ Minnie Williams kidnap story and to actually assist
him in placing his cipher ads in London newspapers, but at
least one detective wasn’t. This worthy, Franklin Geyer,
began backtracking along the itinerary Holmes had taken
following Pitezel’s death, and although the investigation,
extensive as it was, occupied him for several months, it
eventually proved conclusively what had happened to the
murdered man’s three missing offspring. They had met, of
course, the same fate as their father. Detective Geyer jound
the dissected and burned body of little Howard Pitezel in the

-cookstove of an abandoned house in Irvington, Indiana, and

the bodies of little Alice and Nellie Piteze! buried in the
cellar of a house at 16 Vincent Street, Toronto.

The news of these awful discoveries gave the Chicago
police the needed impetus thoroughly to inspect, in their
city, the premises at Sixty-third and Wallace Streets— Holmes
Castle. All¢his while, remarkably, the property had not been
attached and seized by Holmes’ creditors, probably tor the

--reason that, unable to tind him, they had been unable also to
-serve him with the necessary papers. Be that as it may, the

castie, for better than a year, had not been entered until a

~ squad of Chicago detectives broke into it during the summer

For days on end, a description of what they found occupied
«olumn after column on the frent pages of leading news-

SF

>)
Nos
bo

The Chicago Crime Book

especially that later developed, the flight of Holmes assumes
the character of perhaps the most complex and devious jour-
ney ever undertaken by a fugitive from justice. With him
went Alice, Nellie, and Howard Pitezel, and his “‘wife,”’
Georgie Anna. But Georgie Anna did not know that the
children were along on the trip, and, by the same token, the
children were unaware of Georgie Anna's presence. The two
parties traveled on’ the same trains, but in different coaches,
stopping overnight in the same cities, but in different hotels.
{In Indianapolis, on October 10. Holmes met. Mrs. Pitezel,

Dessie and the baby Wharton, but failed to acquaint them
with the fact that the others were also in town. “Have you
seen the newspapers?” Holmes asked Mrs. Pitezel. “The
Fidelity Mfutual knows what’s happened and is after us. Ben
has the children and has gone to Detroit to hide. [1] meet
you there.

On a sidetrip out of Indianapolis to the town of Irvington,
Indiana, Holmes caused litthe Howard Pitezel to vanish.
Then, on reaching Detroit, he took another sidetrip across
the Canadian border to Toronto, where Alice and Nellie
Pitezel followed their brother's example. Thus, except for
Georgie Anna, Holmes was now unencumbered, but he soon
re-encumbered himself by keeping his rendezvous with Mrs.
Pitezel and her two remaining children in Detroit, on Octo-
ber 18. “The imsurance company is hot on our trail,’ he
again warned the bewildered woman. “Ben and the other
three have gone Fast. Come with me and we'll meet him.”

En route Fast, the Pitezels were again ignorant of the fact
that Georgie Anna was traveling m the same direction, and
she that they were. In Burlington, Vermont (where, it will
be remembered, Holines had gone to college), he rented a
house for the Pitezels, and then, in Boston, installed Georgie
Anna in a hotel. Following this, the doctor made perhaps his
most curious mauve during the entire hegira: the went back to
the tawn of his ‘birth-Gilmanton, New Hampshire--and
there paid a visit to his first and only true wife, the former

Nightmare Castle . 233

Clara Lovering. Then, borrowing $300 from a brother he
hadn’t seen before in ten years. the fugitive left Gilmanton as
quickly as he had come and joined Georgie Anna in Boston.

It was here, on November 17, that the Pinkertons caught
him, just as he and Georgie Anna were about to board a train
for New York. He told them, readily enough, exactly where
they could find Mrs. Pitezel, Dessie and Wharton, but was
not in the least specific when it came to the matter of the
whereabouts of Ben Pitezel, Alice, Nellie and Howard.
“They are somewhere sn South America,” was all he would
say. “Ben took the kids and flew the country.”

Returned to Philadelphia, Holmes admitted the insurance
fraud, stoically declaring himself willgng to take his punish-
ment. The corpse he'd used to simulate Ben’s, he said, he'd
obtained from another doctor ie declined to name, who had
had it for a few days beiore selling it. Te Ciaim Manager O.

Laforrest Perry, of the Fidelity Miutual. the story sounded too
pat, and he became convinced of its falsity when, on the
arrival of Mrs. Pitezel in Philadelphia, she told him she
hadn’t seen her husband since besore the alleged “accident.”
nor three of her children since ent usting them to Holmes.
Reviewing the file on the case, Perry came across 4 startling
discrepancy. According to the coroner, the body in the patent
shop had been in a state of rigor mortis consistent with death
having taken place within a matter of hours prior to its
discovery, and yet, 1 Holmes’ story was to be believed, the
corpse was that of a man dead several days. In a dramatic
‘imterview with the prisoner, the claim manager asked him:
“Holmes, you're a medical man and doubtless know about

= guch things. You know, for instance, that a bedy stiffens soon
-. after life has expired, but that this stiffness is a characteristic

for not too long a while. Then tell me this. After rigor. mortis
had disappeared from the hody you claimed you used, how
did you return it to that state?”

Up to this point. Holmes had been wondrously calm, but
mow he exhibited symptoms of complete befuddlement,


<

236 The Chicago Cryme Book

papers throughout the United States, and the job of trans-
lating this description into believable terms exhausted the
talents of some of the country’s best reporters. Here, in short,
was a murder factory. Here was a real-life ogre’s den in
which dozens of voung girls—and assorted men—met their
deaths and then suftered the ignominy of having their bodies
cut up and reduced to basic chemical constituents, Here was
the abode of a fiend, the lair of a tiger-like madinan, the cave
of a mythical monster who, in this terrible instance, was not
mythical, but actyal.

Holmes’ private apartments, on the second floor of the
castle, were connected with the third floor by secret staircases
and passageways giving onto, by means of sliding panels, the
third-floor “hotel’’ bedrooms. Also on the second floor, aside
from the private apartments, there were a number of win-
dowless, soundproof, and nearly airless cells, each outfitted
with a gaspipe, the control for which was not in the cel] itself,
but operated from_a master patiel outside the cell block area
Bypassing the first flocr. chutes led from trapdeors on the
second story to the basement and sub-basement, where stood
dissecting tables, a crematorv furnace, vats containing Corro-
sive acids, and a pile of Heshless human skulls and fleshless
human bones. When the business of one of the doctor’s first.
floor stores is recalled, the inference is all too obvious and
need not be dwelt on. Holmes, clearly, had snatched his
“ouests’” irom their rcoms: hustled them along a passageway;
gassed them; dropped them down a chute; chopped them up,
and then, as a byproduct of his sex, robbery, and murder
racket, sold their denuded bones—after articulation with wire
—as medical school skeletons. ;

By the end of the summer of 1895, Holmes found himself
under indictmvens for murder aot oniy in Pennsylvania, but
in Ulinois, Indiana, and Canada. Should the Philadelphia
trial fail of conviction, the authorities in the three other
jurisdictions waited avidly to grab him. The proceedings in
the Pitezel case opened on October 25 and lasted for six days.

Nightmare Castle 337

Holmes, who claimed himself penniless, refused the offer of a
court-approved and court-paid attorney and conducted his
own defense, browsing during recesses through a weighty
volume of Stephen’s Digest of the Laws of Luidence. Until
now, Georgie Anna, his latest “wife” had stood by him, but
when the trial got under way, she appeared as a witness for
the prosecution.

At the end of the proceedings, the jury reached a verdict in
something less than 60 seconds. They found Holmes guilty of
having killed, with malice aforethought, his weak-willing co-
conspirator, Ben Pitezel, and sentenced him to hang. He
went to the gallows at ten fifteen on the morning of May 7,
1896, but, before doing so, confessed to twenty-seven mur-
ders, which, he said, was all he could remember.
€ "The good doctor was always a modest man,” wrote one
newspaper commentator, “—not to Mention something of a
liar. Authoritative sources place the number of his victims
not so close to twenty-seven as to four times twenty-seven.
However, from the standpoint of justice. it no longer matters
how many he killed. A man can oniy hang once, and T had
the pleasure of seeing Dr. Holmes do that very thing cay

| morning.” :

sresiden-
ntest,

J. Bryan
Carlisle.
fact that
s\tion on
id #s now
hen de-
Mr. Car-
ntotake
or it’ one
the sec-
face his
hem, he
ts adopt
and at-
science.

mecratic
adopted
lard, op-
attempt
favoring
‘oast de-
ration of
lleglance
pressing
The del-
nvention
len Me.

us

1.
mocratic

ay nom-.

for gov-
odward,
‘hbanks,
*tors for
contains
adminis-
was not
referred
hes were
it Cleve-

hibition
iney C.
‘lected a
irge and
on. The
inciples;
il affairs

minit an

» ¢
o’clock
‘tS were
pl r
0 Vani
and in-
lace of
e Aigh-
pted to
ad just

TE her

ye

) OF HO)

'

END

He Declares on the Scaffold That’ He
Was Responsible for But Two Deaths,
and Was Innocent of the Pit-
sel Murder.

Philadelphia, May 8—H. H. Holmes war
hanged Thursday morning. The drop fell
at 10:12. It was not until 15 minutes later
that he was pronounced dead. His neck
was not broken by the fall. The marvelous
nerve of the man nevér deserted him to the
very end. Even on the scaffold he was prob-
ably the coolest person in the solemn as-
semblage.:

Holmes spent the greater part of his
last night on earth writing letters. At
midnight he went to bed gnd slept soundly
until six o’clock Thursday morning. It
took two calls to awaken him. Promptly
arising, he received a visit from his spirit-
ual advisers, Fathers Daly and Macpeak,
of the Church of the, Annunelation. They
administered .the last sacrament and did
not leave him until ‘nearly nine o'clock.
During their absencé \he ate a breakfast
of eggs, dry toast and coffee.

March to the Gallows.

At 10:02 o’clock the sheriff called together
the official jury, an@ after each man had
answered to his nameand subscribed to the
certificate. the solemn march to the gallows
was begun. ;

As the gathering stuod in silence before
the scaffold a murmur came from behind
the partition erected immediately ‘back of
it. It was the dolorous chant of the two

H. H. HOLMES,

priests, accompanying the doomed mdn
to the scaffold. They were uttering Ahe
psalm
platform. A momént of prayer followed,

EXECUTION.

‘“‘Miserefe,’’’ They _mounted/ the |.

and then Holmes stepped to the front of |.

Holmes was

Tex.,
horsé;stealing
larceny.
delity)
delph

and for

to th¢ insurance Fraud.
momert, dream that he
ed ofjthe mu
Phil

that

man
tend

“confessions,” |
to tell the truth,

Holmes jsaid/ about
‘Say anything abou
cept that the}

es told

t

the scaffold and, resting his -hands on the
ee AD WR Mane Hane Gna ve we, ‘ ’ ae

supreme co and the
cent | refusal ¢ /tO grant
respite, are so well known that a narratior
af. these facts) is unnecessary) |

the strength|of a telegram from Fo
where he was! wanted fo

that time officials of the

Mutual Life associati mn, of Phila
ts were/hot 6n Holmes

fraudjn

itzel’s death, the latter be

e-stealing to beh

nectiqn with

ing insured for this amoun
accused beligved horse
high crime in Texas, ‘he vol
feased to Dep

ty Juperintend nt Hanscc

der fi Pitzel, a
ut requisition pape

He expressed |a willingness t be tried h
on aye conspiracy charge in reference
f horse stealing at Fort Worth,

. Between this time and his

&piragy to defraud th ‘Insurance com
to which he pleaded guilty,

avolded doing .so, Nobody
itzel,

children were |
Londo

ofa cipher pugzie
York paper, for
yenie Williams
rom Europe. |
Mir little faith in wh

him, but:the “ad” |
port of last and hopeless |e

in Toronto, Holn
Hled |them. When Hod

nsyly

other charges mi

‘trail for du-
10,000 In con-

+ and as

tarily co

He
was

fd not, fo
hen suspe
d he came

but he sedulou
Heved w
nd he wo

t the children

wasip

and J

ahd
still alive, e@
mely dramatic.
Catholic. ‘faith

by warm baths with
gentle applications of (
the great skin cure, w)
Sold throughout the world
neane Be. 4 Rtsouveary sc
pr

axp Cusy. Corp., Sale
aa~" How to Cure kvery | .

Pee eet

: ’ 3 :
trict attorney,a veri-
6 Pitzel family


and

ces
tter
lice
nce

Ed
and

ago.
nd
ned
ned
fed
aire
ople

way,
hose
d to
‘hich
old
was
Then
:tairs

stairs
ound
1 had
were

‘ivate
. This
vhich
t all.

i and ,

the
Ow if
h the
as if
siness
affair
aire to.
> and

sicago
vegan.
.reaus
1¢ and
Ore of
ca had
‘olmes.
10 had

Texas,
, some
y. She
aing to
d gone
at the
ith her
of them
var ire
ped the
n Hold-

cad also
‘er rela-
vo years.
_ a nurse
position
ither she
e then.
deeply in
hile they
long lists
the Pink-

+, seeking

lan, who
as janitor
1, a man
nt drink,
. that job.
going on.
know just
they’d all
the creeps.

n had ac-
dant infor-

mation. He had learned that Holmes’ true
name was Mudgett, that he had attended
medical school at the University of Mich-
igan. He had also found out that Mudgett
or Holmes came originally from Gilman-
ton, New Hampshire. Quinlan had learned
this because Holmes would visit his home
town from time to time. He left the ad-
dress with Quinlan in order that the
janitor could communicate with him just
in case “anything went wrong.”

Gaylor relayed this information to John
Cornish, superintendent of Pinkerton’s
New England headquarters in Boston.
Cornish, accompanied by two other opera-
tives, set out for Gilmanton.

In Gilmanton, the investigators learned
that Dr. Mudgett, as he was known there,
had been in town a few weeks before. It
was discovered that he had bought a
railroad ticket for Burlington, Vermont.
Cornish and his men went to Burlington.
There they found no trace whatever of
their quarry. But, rather to their surprise,
they discovered that Mrs. Carrie Pitezel
and her two youngest children, Wharton
and Dessa, were living in a house at 26
Winooski Avenue.

Cornish promptly paid a call on the
widow.

He found her distraught and on the

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verge of a nervous breakdown. She was
in no condition to evade when Cornish
questioned her. “It’s my husband,” she
said, sobbing. “I think he’s really dead.”

Cornish was astonished. “Of course, he’s
dead. You identified the body yourself
in Philadelphia.”

“Pm beginning to think Holmes really
killed him. I should have known by the
wart on his neck.”

A faint light began to flicker in Cornish’s
brain. He said, “Your husband is posi-
tively dead. The insurance company had
his dentist identify the teeth. There isn’t
any doubt about it.”

Carrie Pitezel shed fresh tears. When

she had recovered she told Cornish of the

entire plot to fake her husband’s death by
planting a corpse in the Callowhill Street
house.

What had actually happened became
immediately clear to Cornish. Holmes,
doubtless, had been unable to find a corpse
which would serve his purpose. But he
was of no mind to relinquish his share of
the insurance. So he had murdered Pitezel
himself without apprising the widow of
that fact.

Carrie Pitezel went on to tell the de-
tective that Holmes had obtained most of
her share of the insurance money on the
pretext that Pitezel who was in hiding
needed it. Mrs. Pitezel had insisted that
if her husband wanted the bulk of the
cash, then he must take care of the three
elder children, Alice, Nellie and Howard.
After some argument, Holmes had taken
the cash and the children, promising to
deliver them to the hiding Pitezel. But
gg had never communicated with his
wife.

Cornish was horrified at the idea of a
wholesale killer traveling with three chil-

dren tucked under his murderous wing.

“Have you heard from any of the kids?”
he asked.

Mrs. Pitezel nodded and produced some
letters. They had been written by Alice
and Nellie. Some were postmarked In-
dianapolis, Indiana, others had been mailed
from Toronto, Canada. The letters stated
that the children had not yet seen their
father, that they were still with Dr.

Holmes.

The police of both those cities were
promptly notified and descriptions of Dr.
J. J. Holmes or Herman Mudgett were
telegraphed across the country.

Five days later, a little man with a
large black mustache and possessed of
glittering, crafty eyes, walked into Boston’s
Adams House Hotel and registered as
A. C. Hayes of Chicago. His description
tallied exactly with that of J. J. Holmes.
Within three hours he was arrested

Calmly, he admitted his identity. Taxed
with the Callowhill Street affair, he said
blandly, “All right, I’m a crook. I faked
that murder, planted a cadaver in the
house.”

“Then where is Pitezel?”

“In South America.”

“Where are the Pitezel children?”

“With their father.”

Both the Boston police and the Pinker-
tons were sure Holmes was lying. Forty-
vias hours later they had definite proof
of it.

Toronto officials learned that Holmes had
arrived in that city accompanied by Alice
and Nellie Pitezel. Howard was not with
him. The house which Holmes had rented
at 16 Vincent Street was carefully exam-
ined. In the cellar the detectives found
an expanse of newly laid concrete. They
dug beneath it and exhumed the bodies
of Nellie and Alice Pitezel.

Word of this was flashed to Indianapolis,
the last city where little Howard Pitezel
had been seen alive. There, Holmes and
the children had lived in a rented cottage
on the edge of town. The house was ex-
amined and the garden dug up. Buried
beneath a clump of sycamore trees was
the body of Howard Pitezel.

In the meantime, the Chicago officials
had definitely pinned several murders on
J. J. Holmes. Part of a gold watch was
identified as belonging to Julia Conner. A
baby’s skeleton found in the cellar was
presumed to be that of her baby. Teeth
were identified as having belonged to the
Williams sisters. Certain jewelry rem-
nants were those of Ameila Cigrand. The
medical school officials told of acquir-
ing a large number of skeletons from
Holmes.

Holmes was sent to Philadelphia, there
charged with the murder of Benjamin
Pitezel. G. S. Graham conducted the
prosecution. Holmes insisted that he was
guilty only of an insurance swindle.

But even if that story had been believed
it would have done him little good. For
if he had been acquitted of murder in
Philadelhia, the Chicago police were
ready to seize him, charge him with mur-
der a dozen times over.

That, however, wasn’t necessary. A jury
found him guilty and he was sentenced to
be hanged. He was, in October of 1886, at
Pennsylvania’s Moyamensing Prison.

Probably no one had ever killed for such
a variety of reasons. On two occasions at
least, Holmes had murdered for insurance
money. At other times he had murdered
his victims in order to rob them, as in the
case of the Williams sisters. In many in-
stances he had slain only to collect the
fee for his victims’ skeletons. The Pitezel
children he had done away with merely
because they were encumbrances.

He had killed on at least 30 occasions.

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He was hanged only once. THe Enp

Tea eaaaneeemneneemmmnumala

67


ers, |

DR. HARRY. RD
. HOWAR

aldol Murdering.” fie

ple was his favorite pastime

. After dissecting the bodies of his
victims the arch fiend threw the

pieces into this vat of acid.
1 g The
i evidenc
¢ . had un
. : face. B
y finding:
; had ac
r poisoni:
the ex]
* the ma
’ This ©
at the
; ry’s dea
i erythin;
| of the:
ye. a verdi:
i A fey
By W. T. BRANNON called
HEN the vacant house at "| got a good business,” he Tuesday, the landlord detected ae
| 1319 Callowhill Street in told Johnson. "I don't have to a peculiar odor and entered
Philadelphia was rented, have a lot of customers. I've got Perry's rooms when he could not
s i some of the neighbors were one good one—Mr. Holmes from rouse his tenant. After a quick THE
curious about the new tenant. - Chicago.” search of the premises, he called
; One of his first acts was to put Johnson noted that Holmes the police.
t up a small sign. It said, simply: called often during the month of The officers found the body of DR
“ } B. F. Perry, Patents. August, 1894. Then one Sunday a man on the back porch. The
William Johnson, Perry's next evening, early in September, he face was burned beyond recog-
door neighbor, met him one night was at Perry's office for a short _ nition. Near the body was 9 MO.
in a nearby saloon and they _ time, but left hurriedly. pipe, with some matches scat-
* struck up an acquaintance. Perry The following day, Perry was tered around. Nearby also, was
was a heavy drinker. not seen by anybody. But on a broken bottle that analysis LIV.
22 .
‘ erie Dyers, To
—_— -


MINNIE WILLIAMS: She | 2 We NELLIE PITZEL: Her body WARD. PITZEL: Ai
made a tragic. mistake was found ‘buried in the :
: when she fell in love with i ‘ cellar of a house the kill. §

the charming’ doctor. | d crazy monster had rented.

remaster

-

ie

showed to have contained ben-
zine.

What had probably happened
was clear enough. Perry had
been smoking his pipe with the
bottle of benzine in his hand.
The pipe had gone out and he
had attempted to light it. But
when he struck a match, it had
been too close to the benzine.
There had been an explosion and
the poor fellow's head had near-
ly been blown off.

The medical examiner perform-
ed an autopsy. There was ample
evidence of the explosion and it
had undoubtedly marred the man’s
. face. But the medical examiner’s

findings indicated that the man
had actually died of chloroform
poisoning. The autopsy indicated
the explosion had occurred after
the man’s death.

\ This was the evidence presented
at the coroner’s inquest into Per-

j ry’s death. The jury considered ev-
erything and, ignoring the findings

of the medical examiner, returned
a verdict of death by accident.
A-few days later, an attorney
called at the office of the Fidelity
and Mutual Life Association in
Philadelphia.
(Continued on page 44)

ilord deme
and entere
on he could not THE STARTLING

After a quick
aisas, he called

DRAMA OF A

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———

‘¥Zolmes’ name and address were

DENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES

(Continued from page 23)

“y represent Mrs. Benjamin F. The insurance company agreed
Pitzel,” the lawyer said. “She is that this was reasonable and wrote
the beneficiary of a life insurance Holmes to that effect.

policy in your company. The insur- When Holmes called at the office
ed was her husband, Benjamin F. of the Fidelity and Mutual in
Pitzel. He was known in Philadel- Philadelphia, he was accompanied
phia as B. F. Perry. The poor fel- by 2 14-year-old girl.

low recently met his death by “This is Alice Pitzél,” he explain-
accident. His widow has retained ed. “She is the daughter of Ben-
me to present the claim.” jamin Pitzel.”

He produced a policy for $10,000. Holmes and the girl were taken

The insurance official recognized it to the morgue. Holmes viewed the

at once as 2 bona fide policy. pody and came out sadly shaking
“well be glad to consider the his head.

claim,” the insurance official re- “jt’s him,” he said, his voice

plied, “Provided, of course, that you preaking. “It’s my old friend, Ben

can establish the identity of the Pitzel.”

man you say was the insured. Why The girl, Alice, was then:led into
was he using the name B. F. the morgue. She took one look at
Perry? . the remains, screamed and burst

Solely for business reasons, the into tears. Weeping bitterly, she was
attorney said. “perry, of course, taken away.

sounds much better than Pitzel. This was co nvincing proof to the

I agree with you there, said insurance company. The claim of
the insurance man. Still, we shall $10,000 was aid to Mr Pitzel with
need some proof that Perry and t f th Pp * a
Pitzel were the ncn” out further question. Holmes was
: reimbursed for his trouble and,

“perhaps someone on Callowhill
sic Set pied Soe he suggested. presumably, returned to Chicago.

The two men went to 1319 Cal- :
lowhill Street and looked about. AP a month and a half later

—in October 1894—a bandit
They finally contacted Johnson, :
who didn’t know of Perry's double named Marion Hedgepeth, who was

serving time in the St. Louis jail,
identity. Soiled in the warden and told him
a strange story. This is what he
related: -

In July, 1894, a man who was
charged -with selling some jand he
did not possess, was put in to share
Hedgepeth’s cell. The fellow was

“There was a Mr. Holmes from
Chicago who knew him pretty
well,” Johnson said. “Maybe he
could help you.”

Perry’s rooms were searched and

turned up.

The insurance company wrote to
Holmes in Chicago. In due time,
they received a reply signed, “Harry
Howard Holmes.”

- there was 4 most confident air
about him.

“How do you do?” the man said,

“tT am quite willing to come to offering his hand. “My name is

Philadelphia to determine whether Holmes. Harry Howard alnes, I
or not this man is my old friend, am a doctor of medicine. .
Ben Pitzel,” Holmes wrote. “But Hedgepeth gruffly acknowledged
I am sure that you will realize that the greeting. Then: “Tf you're &
I must lose time from my work. doctor,” he said, “what the hell

I must be properly reimbursed, not are you doing in here?”

only for the expenses of the trip, “A misunderstanding, my good
put also for the time lost from my fellow,” Holmes replied. “I shan’t
business.” be here long.”

TATE oF THE OWNERSHID. CIRCULATION, ETC. WEG y THE ACTH OF CONGRESS OF AVGUNT 24, 1812, AND
MAKCHE 2, 1933 of CONFIDENTIAL DET! £3, published bi-monthly a New y. tor October 1, 1943.

State York) os,

County York §

3. That the known bonthoklers, mortgagecs, ard other security hokters owning
or hokling 1 per cent or met amaint of tornls, morteages, Of other
Sreusities are: (If there are state.) None,

Before me, #
appeared Low!

kiving the names of the ow
nh onet only the stoe!
sks of the 6 ta

ie Weat 1
40 West Hire
fa corporation, Hts

2. That the owner is: (it
stated and ato immediately

nM
nesses ot

ow

Mrerourcier the naines aril alt te
br hokling one per cent OF more of total amennt ‘vf stock, Tf not owned
cporation, the names anc Slaresses of the individual owners niust be given.

Tay a firm, company, af other nenrporated concern, ite name ‘and ackiress. .

Tae those of cach indictdual mamber must be given) Clots Y'p, Ine., 160 worn to anal subscribed before me thts tet day of October, 1943.
Be inroadway, New York CH; Harold Hammond, 160° West Hroadway, New

York City.

MAT RICK COYNE, Notary Publte (oy commission expires March ae, 194.)

well-dressed and handsome and. .

a
!

po ona


il of
ered
tin
b, on

s, he

* hus-
Alice,
tened

good
i WKen-
know

d why
ol the
ildren
easily

e chil-
ce let-
Alice.
ndian-
ith and
ather’s
, was a
er was
» from

.T am
it three
ave aw-
metimes
They are
» not eat
tyes...

"his time.

part:

ght on a
wo dirty
Vhy dont
st a block
urd gota
and lost

ote:

ot life of

but now
>» morning
» the next

oe TRCTIVER

morning that he wanted him and he would
come and get him and take him out and I
told him and he would not stay in at all he
was out when he came.... We pay twelve
dollars a week for our room and board and I
think that is pretty cheap for the good meals
we have.... They are Germans.

The investigators saw in these letters
from the children good clues toward lo-
cating the place in which the children had
stayed in Indianapolis a month before.
They also sensed an ominous note in
Alice’s reference to Holmes’ proposal to
take Howard “out.”

Howard, the mother revealed, was a mis-
chievous little boy and, according to his
sister's correspondence, apparently had
been up to his tricks in Indianapolis. The
investigators feared that the child might
become so much of an annoyance that
Holmes would decide to do away with
him. Following this same line of rea-
soning, they concluded that if such a
thing happened, the girls would prob-
ably also be killed, inasmuch as they
would be living witnesses in the event
that an investigation was ever started as
to the fate of their brother.

@ IN FACT, the more the detectives pon-

dered the letters of the children, the
more they began to wonder just what had
happened since the time Holmes had taken
them away. Was there any connection
with what had taken place, whatever it
was, and the fact that the somberly clad
man had purchased the makings of nitro-
glycerin in the little New Hampshire
town? Could it be that he saw the
day coming when he might be asked to
produce Alice, Nellie and Howard and
that, against that day, he had planned to
blow up the house on Winooski Avenue,
killing the mother who would ask ques-
tions, to which he could give no satis-
factory answer?

It was felt that Holmes would head for
a closely populated center, since his pres-
ence in the sparsely settled Vermont town
had brought him close to the law. The
nearest place such as this was Boston.
Superintendent Cornish of the Pinker-
ton’s there assigned men to cover every
hotel. ''wo days after evading justice in
Burlington, Holmes walked into the lobby
of the Adams House in Boston and reg-
istered as A. C. Hayes of Chicago. He was
promptly arrested.

The prisoner had a large vein in his
temple that began to throb when Super-
intendent Cornish told him that he was
wanted for questioning in connection with
a matter in Philadelphia. He said he had
never been there. Gradually, he re-
gained his composure and the Pinkerton
official noticed that the vein no longer
throbbed. The next day, when insurance
company officials, whom he had met when
the Pitezel matter was adjusted, faced
him, the vein in his temple began to
throb again. The Pinkertons knew that
they had a valuable clue in that vein.

When Holmes saw that it was useless
to deny that he had had at least a con-
nection with the body found on Callow-
hill Street, he turned on that icy smile and
said: ‘Very well, I’m a swindler. I planted

-a cadaver there which I obtained from a

morgue in New York.”

“Then where is Pitezel?” asked one of
the detectives, withholding from the sus-
pect the fact that it was known that the
inventor had been murdered.

“Down in South America.” The vein
was not throbbing now.

“If you got a body from New York and
planted it in that house, how do you ac-
count for the fact that when it was found
the right arm was folded across the
chest?" Holmes was asked.

He smiled. “I placed it that way.”

Novemuren, 1941

“But rigor mortis would have set in on
a cadaver that was shipped from that dis-
tance and it would have been so stiff that
you couldn’t have manipulated any of the
limbs.” The blood began to pound again
in the prisoner’s temple. “No, you were
working with a freshly killed body on
Callowhill Street.”

Holmes and Mrs. Pitezel were taken to
Philadelphia where he continued to pro-
test that he was guilty only of an insur-
ance swindle. Philadelphia’s noted Public
Prosecutor, District Attorney George S.
Graham, who later served with distinction
for many years in Congress, was much
perplexed about the disappearance of the
Pitezel children, Alice, Nellie and Howard.
He strongly suspected that Holmes had
murdered these children also to relieve
himself of the incumbrance which their
presence would cause him in his probable
future criminal operations. Supporting
this theory was a letter secured by the
Pinkerton detectives in Vermont. It was
from Alice to her grandparents, and it
had been written on October 14th, about

a week after the previous ones from In- |

dianapolis. It was from Detroit and read
as follows:

Hope you are all well Nell and I have both
got colds and chapped hands but that is all.
We have not had any nice weather at all I
guess it is coming winter now. Tell Moma
that I have to have a coat. I nearly freeze
in that thin jacket. We have to stay in all
the time. Howard is not with us now. We are
right near the Detroit River. We was going a
boat riding yesterday but it was too cold. All
that Nell and I can do is to draw and I get so
tired siting that I could get up and fly almost.
I wish I could see you all. I am getting so
homesick that I don’t know what to do I sup-
pose Wharton (the baby) walks by this time
don’t he I would like to have him here he
would pass the time a goodeal.

District Attorney Graham made certain
deductions from Alice’s remark that
“Howard is not with us now.” The
Pinkertons had meanwhile established
that A. C. Hayes—the name that Holmes
or Mudgett now seemed to be preferring
—had registered children answering the
description of the Pitezels at the Circle
House in Indianapolis the previous month.
Thus, when Detective Geyer, acting under
the personal instructions of District At-
torney Graham, arrived in that city with
photographs of the youngsters, supplied
by their mother, he quickly established
that Nellie, Howard and Alice had been
brought to the hostelry by the man being
held in Philadelphia.

M@ MR. HAYES, the bartender at the Circle
House disclosed, had spent considerable
time with his foot on the brass rail, talk-
ing about Howard, whom he described as
ah incorrigible boy who was a problem to
him. It developed that when Mr. Hayes
took the children away from the hotel,
Howard was no longer with them.

The trail led to Detroit, where perusal
of hotel registers disclosed that a man
who looked like an undertaker had
stopped at a hostelry there with two chil-
dren who resembled the Pitezel girls. Just
where he had gone upon leaving with the
children could not be ascertained, but a
porter remembered that Mr. Hayes had
inquired about trains running from De-
troit to Toronto.

While the search was progressing in
that Canadian city and in the vicinity of
Indianapolis where, it was felt certain, the
clue to Howard’s fate would be unearthed,
Howe, the attorney who had handled the
insurance matter, returned to Chicago
and was arrested. Like Mrs. Pitezel, he
was indicted by a Philadelphia grand jury
for conspiracy to swindle the insurance
company but, like the woman, he had also
been merely a dupe of Holmes. Both he
and Mrs. Pitezel were later to be released

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business
that she
ute secre-
had been
hat H. H.
etting the
Street. It
ro porter,
1c under-
ul estate
e missing
had had

inkertons
reée, Mrs.
two years
son for
identified
being a
own eyes
on her.
relatives
was about
- and that
all of her
nd dollars.
.apsed into
cen.
ozen other
ed missing
, years un-
similar to
earances of
conner. In
he Pinker-
ch definite
apher who
an, or that
. the Pink-
ace more, a
que, empty
nut result.
t Holmes’
resorted to
newspapers
tacts, Pink-
through the
such adver-
ne reading

xy, Apply H.
Street. After

re than two
.e disappear-
nner and her
as instituted
sho followed
keletons to-
‘lly designed
dieal schools.

so were can-
s found to be
rooms of the
For about

he fire in the
supplied the
tion with sev-
-esented to the
culation work
vas at variance
had placed in

who had been
he time of the
lly put the in-
vf the missing
wrth, was again
- prodded in the
nents. The por-
Holmes for only
a man named
ro had noticed
his term of em-

1at Mr. Holmes,
-d him as being
zentleman, had
1¢ day when he

TRUE DETECTIVE

had entered one of the rooms to clean up.
He had accidentally stumbled upon the
master of the house and a young lady
who at the time Owens understood to be
Holmes’ secretary. The porter, embar-
rassed at what he saw, had turned quickly
and left the room, hastening down a cor-
ridor. He had been unaware that anyone
was following him, but suddenly he had
felt strong hands clutching his throat and
when he succeeded in extricating himself
from the viselike grip, he had beheld Mr.
Holmes. “His eyes was wide,” said the in-
formant, “an’ I never been so scared. But
then he laughed an’ said he guessed it
ain’t my fault.” The porter had not known
the identity of the man’s “secretary” but
he recalled that she was exceedingly
beautiful. Beauty, in fact, seemed to be
the one thing that Amelia Cigrand, Mrs.
Conner and the rest of the missing women
had in common.

Searching for Patrick Quinlan, the man
who had preceded Owens as janitor, the
Pinkertons found a _ sandy-haired in-
dividual in his forties who had, in the
space of two years, brought himself to a
precarious physical condition through
drink. The investigators wondered if
anything relating to the house on 63rd
Street might be preying on Quinlan’s
mind and causing his addiction to alcohol.

mM AN OPERATIVE set out to rope him

and soon succeeded in striking up an
acquaintance with the man. One day
the former janitor banged down an empty
yulass and said to the detective who was
standing alongside of him at the bar of a
smoke-filled South Side saloon: “I’m
killin’ meself on account of I’ve got the
creeps.” With the subject of the man’s
reason for heavy drinking thus opened,
the detective ascertained that Quinlan
had developed a highly nervous condition
and suffered from constant nightmares
during the time he was Holmes’ janitor.
“Women were all over the place, in every
room,” Quinlan mumbled drunkenly.
“Then they’d disappear.” He shrugged.
“God knows where they went.”

Simultaneously with the discovery of
Quinlan the Pinkertons found the man
who had answered Holmes’ advertise-
ment for a skeleton articulator. He was
M. C. Chappell, a thoroughly trustworthy
individual. He related the following
story:

When he had called at 63rd Street in re-
sponse to the advertisement, H. H. Holmes
had regarded him suspiciously. It had
been necessary for Chappell to supply
many references which, he had later as-
certained, Holmes had checked thor-

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109


oo

after the indictments were nolle prossed,

so We need not be further concerned with
these two.

The Pinkertons, working in close co-
operation with the Toronto police, Detec-
tive Gever, and Inspector W. KE. Gary of
the insurance company’s investigative di-

vision, covered the Canadian city. At the
Albion Hotel, Herbert Jones, the chief
clerk, identified photographs of Holmes-
Mudgett and Alice and Nellie Pitezel as
three guests who had stayed there under
the name of Canning late in October. They
had departed after a few days. The Pink-
ertons suspected that Holmes had prob-
ably remained in Toronto in the belief
that he would be safer there than in a
United States city. Word of this deduc-
tion was flashed to Philadelphia. Holmes
was asked the question: “How is it that
you were accompanied by the two Pitezel
children when you arrived in Toronto but
they were not with you when you left?”
The clue of the throbbing temple told the
investigators that they had hit it right.

@ THE PINKERTONS appealed to the

newspapers of the Canadian city and
stories were written giving descriptions of
Alice and Nellie. An elderly man named
Thomas William Ryves of 18 Vincent
Street came forward and said that he be-
lieved the two girls had been his neigh-
bors in a house at Number 16 for a few
days during the latter part of October. A
man who said he was. their father had
lived there with them. He had borrowed
a spade from Mr. Ryves, saying he wished
to plant some potatoes. in the earth that
formed the cellar floor. Two days later
the three occupants of the house had gone.

When detectives searched the premises
they found in the cellar a little wooden
egg which was in two pieces and which,
when opened, released an imitation snake,
It was known that Nellie Pitezel had de-
lighted in frightening her grandmother
with a toy like this. The searchers were
hardly surprised, then, when they dug
down into a soft spot in a corner of the
cellar and found the bodies of Alice and
‘Nellie Pitezel.

Inasmuch as Holmes had used a ‘house
for his crimes in Toronto, he was sus-
pected of having done the same thing in
the vicinity of Indianapolis. Real estate
men there were questioned and one agent
—Jasper Brown, of suburban Irvington—
remembered having rented a one and
one-half-story cottage to an impatient
little man during the week in which, ac-
cording to Alice Pitezel’s letter, Howard
had dropped from sight. The tenant had
rushed into Mr. Brown’s office and. de-
manded the keys for the cottage, saying
he had seen a For-Rent sign on the
premises. The stranger had. plunked a
month’s rent down in advance and taken
possession of the property without ever
having been inside of it, a rather strange
procedure.

A hardware dealer near by, Albert
Schliffiing, recalled a man who had un-
doubtedly been Holmes coming to his es-
tablishment and somewhat impatiently
requesting that the contents of a surgical
instrument kit be sharpened.

Two hours after these facts had been
revealed, the cottage, which was on a
quiet street and surrounded by trees, gave
up its dread secret—the body of Howard
Pitezel.

With four murders now definitely linked
to H. H. Holmes, it was decided to probe
to the bottom of the one-time medical
student’s activities in Chicago. While he
would unquestionably pay with his life for
the murder arising out of the insurance
swindle, the investigators were neverthe-
less grimly determined to pursue the
probe into the dark recesses of the life of

108

the man who now loomed as an infamous
slayer, ra

Painstakingly, the Agency operatives
went over records relating to missing
persons, particularly women, who had
been believed to have had Chicago as their
destination before dropping into the
limbo of the lost. Suspicion of murder
had not entered into these cases because
at the time of their occurrence there had
been no cause for that particular brand
of alarm. However, the known activities
of Holmes had placed an entirely differ-
ent light on such Chicago disappearances.

Within a month, the relatives-of an un-
usually pretty young lady named Amelia
Cigrand were located in Nebraska. Miss
Cigrand had, it developed, taken a course

The famous case told in the accom-
panying pages discloses still another
phase of that great organization,
Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency.
In this mystery the Pinkertons were
not active in the very beginning. Even-
tually, however, the resources of the
agency’s vast network—far more exten-
sive in scope than the general public is
aware of—were called into operation in
order that this particular investigation
be brought to a successful climax.

Over a period of many decades the
Pinkertons have worked hand in hand
with local authorities on many major
crimes. Yet the Agency is seldom men-
tioned in newspaper accounts of the
cases in question. That is because of a
cardinal rule of the Pinkerton organi-
zation—namely, that no operative shall
seek publicity or glory or reward for
himself and that he shall at all times
place cooperation above all else, with
whatever constituted authority he hap-
pens to be working with.

From time to time, there have been
newspaper and magazine references to
this same case, incomplete, to be sure,
compared with this particular story,
and in all of those other accounts the
Pinkerton name has appeared seldom,
if at all. It was only after the archives
of the Agency were opened to Mr. Hynd
that the role Pinkerton’s actually
played in this celebrated mystery be-
came apparent.

A code for operatives, written by
Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Agency,
before the Civil War days, specifically
forbade, among other things, any
Agency operative ever to accept a re-
ward under any circumstances, even
though the Pinkerton sleuth would nor-
mally be entitled to the recompense un-
der stipulations laid down at the time
of the offer. Thus, when a Pinkerton
detective goes to work on a case with
police authorities there can never be in
his mind, even subconsciously, any
question as to proper distribution of
credit after the case is solved.

Because the Pinkertons are today,
and have been since the beginning of
the Agency, more interested in making
a successful investigation and in bring-
ing malefactors to justice than in get-
ting publicity, they have the respect,
admiration and confidence of high.
ranking official peace-enforcement au-
thorities throughout the world.

There is a jealous guardianship of
this reputation, so carefully built up
over many years, and it is a safe pre-
diction that the Pinkerton status will
remain unchanged when all members of
the present organization have kept
their last vigil. For that code book
written by the Founder, long before
many of the present operatives were
even born, is indeed a remarkable
document. Down through the years it
has been read over from time to time
by Pinkerton officials with the view to
altering any part of it that might be
necessary to cover conditions that could
not have been foreseen when it was
written. The astonishing fact is that in
all the years not a comma has been
changed.

in stenography in a Chicase business
school and had written her kin that she
had obtained a position as private secre-
tary to a real estate man. This had been
a few months prior to the time that H. 1,
Holmes had been suspected of setting the
blaze in the ugly house on 63rd Street. It
was recalled that Owens, the negro porter,
had told the investigators that he under-
stood Mr. Holmes was a_ real estate
operator, A photograph of the missing
stenographer disclosed that she had had
a pronounced cleft in her chin.

In Davenport, Iowa, the Pinkertons
located relatives of a young divorcée, Mrs.
Julia Conner, who had about two years
previously left with her baby son for
Chicago at the behest of an unidentified
fiancé, whom she described as being a
physician with fascinating brown eyes
that had had a hypnotic effect on her.
Mrs. Conner had written to her relatives
stating that her husband-to-be was about
to make an investment for her and that
she had turned over to him all of her
money, totaling several thousand dollars.
After that, the divorcée had lapsed into
a silence that remained unbroken.

There were more than a dozen other
women who had been reported missing
in Chicago within the past two years un-
der circumstances somewhat similar to
those surrounding the disappearances of
Amelia Cigrand and Mrs. Conner. In
these other cases, however, the Pinker-
tons were unable to get such definite
clues as the one of the stenographer who
was working for a real estate man, or that
of Mrs, Conner. None the less, the Pink-
ertons suspected the worst. Once more, a
search was made of the grotesque, empty
structure on 63rd Street without result.

Realizing that a man of Holmes’
shadowy activities might have resorted to
the personal columns of the newspapers
in order to make certain contacts, Pink-
erton operatives began to go through the
back files of the papers for such adver-
tisements. They came upon one reading
as follows:

WANTED. Skeleton articulator. Apply H.
H. Holmes. 701 Sixty-Third Street. After
noon.

The ad had appeared more than two
years previously—prior to the disappear-
ance of Miss Cigrand, Mrs. Conner and her
son, and others. Search was instituted
among all men in Chicago who followed
the profession of joining skeletons to-
gether, work that was usually designed
for the anatomy classes of medical schools.

@ MEDICAL SCHOOLS also were can-

vassed. H. H. Holmes was found to be
well known in the anatomy rooms of the
Hahnemann Medical School. For about
a year, up to the time of the fire in the
63rd Street house, he had supplied the
anatomy class at the institution with sev-
eral skeletons. He had represented to the
school that he did the articulation work
himself, a statement which was at variance
with the advertisement he had placed in
the newspaper.

Owens, the negro porter who had been
employed by Holmes at the time of the
fire and who had originally put the in-
vestigators on the trail of the missing
Williams sisters of Fort Worth, was again
sought out and his memory prodded in the
light of the latest developments. The por-
ter had been employed by Holmes for only
a few months, replacing a man named
Patrick Quinlan. The negro had noticed
nothing suspicious during his term of em-
ployment.:

He recalled, however, that Mr. Holmes,
who had always impressed him as being
a kindly and courteous gentleman, had
become highly enraged one day when he

TCE DEP ROT INE


re _—_—

seem to have forzciten’ that today is
Saturday, : half-holiday. Our New York
bank closed a half hour ago.”

I clapped a hand to my forehead in
feigned dismay. “We'll haye to work
fast,” I said, grabbing up a phone and
going through Coe motions of putting
through a call to Ncw York, Weil ran
out into the brokerage, saying over his
shoulder that the manager, Strosnider,
would be able to help us.

But the manascr was, conveniently,
gone out of town for the week end. ‘The
Yellow Kid came tearing back and made
calls to several Chicago banks. All of the
officials were gone for the day, it seemed.

@ I KEPT putting in phony calls to finan-

ciers in New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia, St. Louis, Washington, D. C., and
other cities. It was of no use. All of our
financial [friends were gone to their
country homes for the week-end. We were
out of luck.

Weil and I sat in gloomy silence for a
few moments. Baker broke in with a
query. “How much money,” he asked,
“can you two gentlemen raise in cash?
Maybe this thing isn’t entirely hopeless.”

Yellow said he had about $18,000, and I
reported that I had $20,000. A total of
$38,000.

“Which means that you need $61,000,”
Baker said, “in order to be able to pay

. Tompkins his $99,000 at six o’clock.”

“That’s right,’ Weil replied, “and we
don’t seem to have a chance of getting it.”

Baker pursed his lips and whistled a
little tune. I couldn’t help but think how
much he looked like a weasel, with his
pointed nose and sharp little eyes.

“Perhaps I.might be able to help you,”
he proposed, “if you would be willing to
tuke me in as partner in the deal,”

Upon hearing that, I had to strain to
keep my face straight. Our fish was
hooked!

“Of course we're willing,” T said, “but
what’s the use? You haven't $61,000 in
cash with you, have you?” :

Baker smiled. No, he didn’t have that
much cash on hand. But he could get it.

' All he needed to do was to telephone In-

dianapolis: The money was in his office
safe. He could have a clerk bring the
cash to Chicago.

(Of course he could! I had known from
the moment he urged me to take an option
on the stock that he either had the cash
or could get it quickly, in order to buy if
Weil and I failed to raise the $100,000.)

We took him up at once. Baker, look-
ing like a cat in a cage full of canaries,
put through his call. The clerk arrived
in the offices at four o’clock. He had
$61,000 in a-satchel. Our worries were
over!

Jimmy Head, alias Mr. Tompkins, came
in at six. He handed us the stock—100,000
shares of beautiful green and gold United
Verde, Ext. We counted out $99,000—
$61,000 of Mr. Baker’s money and the re-
mainder of our own. Tompkins departed.

And now that the deal was completed,
I made a handsome gesture. I handed
Mr. Baker the stock certificates, saying I
wanted him to keep them for security.
He accepted them, and remarked that he
would like to return to Indianapolis to
spend Sunday with his family.

Yellow and I put him on his train, He
was entirely happy, being confident that

he was going to double his $61,000. In ad-
dition. he believed we would buy his
factory for a million and a hall. Oh, what
a disappointment he was in for!

After Baker’s departure, Yellow and I
met Head ata bar. He gave us $100,000—
the thousand I had given him as a down
payment and the $99,000 he had received
in the office. We paid him a fee of $5000.

Another $5000 went to Strosnider. Also
under the heading of expenses came the

$1000 I had paid for rent for the office.
Incidentals, including our bill al the Sara-
toga, payment for our stooges, clc., came
to $3000. k

We had put out, in other words, about
$14,000. And we had taken Baker for
$61,000. That left Weil and me with a
net profit of $47,000. Not bad for our first
venture into high finance. Not bad at all!

“And this is only the beginning!” I told
the Yellow Kid. “We've got the best
proposition in the world! Why. I've got

1?

some ideas that are worth millions!

Nore: The name of Charles Baker, used in
this story, is not real, but fictitious. The true
name of this person is withheld in order to
save him and his family jrozn embarrass-
ment. The case never was prosecuted.

What will be the next exploit of the
author and his partner, Yellow Kid Weil?
Will they be able to continue their fabu-
lous careers of crookedness? Will their
criminal alliance with Barney Bertsche,
the fixer, continue to keep them out of
prison? These questions will be answered
—with an astonishing denowement—in
the December issue of TRUE DETECTIVE, on
sale at all news stands November 5th.

The Pinkertons and the Inscrutable Bluebeard

Continued from page 33—had any local
real estate agent rented property to him.

The detectives wondered if cither Mrs.
Pitezel or the vanished attorney, Howe,
was in town. A woman answering the
former’s description had, it was learned,
rented a two-story brick house at 26
Winooski Avenue. Surveillance | there
disclosed that the tenant was Mrs. Pitezel.
She seemed to be occupying the place
with the two youngest children, Wharton
and Dessa. The investigators hesitated to
strike, preferring to play a waiting game
in the hope of netting bigger fish.

The Pinkertons suspected that Holmes
had some connection with the house on
Winooski Avenue. This thought was veri-
fied by a local druggist who disclosed that
Dr. A. C. Hayes, who answered the de-
scription of the wanted man, had been in
just the day before and made several pur-
chases which, if blended a certain way,
could have been converted into nitro-
glycerin.

Where was Holmes—and what did he in-
tend doing with nitroglycerin? And
where were Alice, Nellie and Howard
Pitezel, with whom he was known to have
left Chicago? ;

The Pinkertons, having located Mrs.
Pitezel, «lecided to place her residence
under surveillance for a few days. lo de-
tect Holmes should he call there, which
it was logical to suspect he would do.
However, after several days’ watch,
Holmes not having been seen about the
place, Detective Cornish of Pinkerton’s
determined to break the surveillance wide
‘open and interrogate Mrs, Pitezel con-
cerning her knowledge of Holmes and his
whereabouts. This was done, with the re-
sult that Mrs. Pitezel frankly acknowl-
edged that Holmes had visited the house,
but had not been there for several days.
She also supplied further highly interest-
ing and important data concerning Holmes

106

and his activities. This was what she
revealed:

A year previously, when she and her
husband had been in dire financial straits,
Holmes, whom Pitezel had known for some
time, broached to the couple plans for an
insurance swindle. The wife had been
against it but the husband, a weak-willed
drunkard, saw in it a source of easy
money. Under pressure, Mrs. Pitezel had
acquiesced. y

The plan had been to stage an accident
along the Philadelphia pattern, making
it appear that the inventor was a blast
victim. Holmes had explained that he
would arrange to purchase a cadaver that
generally resembled that of Pitezel, fix it
up with acid to obliterate features that
were dissimilar, and collect the insur-
ance. A split was to have been made
between Holmes, the Pitezels and Howe,
the attorney. The “dead” man was to
have gone in hiding for a time.

Mrs. Pitezel, glad to unburden her con-
science to the Pinkertons, disclosed that
the plot had not worked out precisely as
planned. Holmes had managed to obtain
from her virtually all of the cash she
received from the insurance company,
stating that he and her husband had
planned to use it in a business venture
designed to multiply it threefold. Then,
too, the wife had received no word from
the inventor since the ‘“‘explosion.” Holmes
had told her that her husband was in
hiding, but the expression on Holmes’ face
caused the woman to be apprehensive.

The detectives looked at each other
knowingly. Just two days before they had
received a report from a Chicago dentist
who had worked on Pitezel’s teeth and

who had made an examination of the ones
taken from the body in potter’s field. The
dentist had promptly identified his own
work. Benjamin Pitezel had been deceived
by his mentor and instead of a body being

substituted for one supposedly his, he
himself had been slain!

The widow, who didn’t realize her hus-
band was dead, was asked where Alice,
Nellie and Howard were. She brightened
at this. “Oh,” she said. “they are in good
hands with a friend of Mr. Holmes in Ken-
tucky. Even if he is a swindler, I do know
that he is very fond of children.”

The Pinkertons’ operatives inquired why
Holmes had gone off with three of the
youngsters: “He said that five children
traveling together would be too easily
traced.”

@ ASKED IF she had heard from the chil-

dren, Mrs. Pitezel produced three let-
ters, one from Nellie and two [from Alice.
All had been postmarked from Indian-
apolis, Indiana, and dated October 6th and
7th—about a month after their father's
body had been found, which in turn was a
month prior to the time the mother was
located in Burlington. The Iectter from
Nellie read in part:

Dear Moma, We are all well here ...I am
in a hustle because Mr. H. has to yo at three
o’clock I don’t know where.... We have aw-

ful good dinners pie fruit and sometimes
cake at supper and this ain't hal}. They are
all men that eat at the table we do not eat
with them we have a room to ourselves...
Alices eyes hurts so she won't torite this time.

But Alice did write, saying in part:

The hotel we are staying at faces right ona
big wide bulvard ... Howurd is two dirty
to be seen out on the street today. Why dont
you write to me.... The hotel is just a block
from Washington Street.... Howard gota
box of collars and took one out and lost
box and all the contents.

On the following day, Alice wrote:
Howard wanted a book and I got life of
Gen. Sheridan and it is awful nice but now

he dont read it at all hardly. One morning
Mr. H. told me to tell him to stay in the next

TRUE DETECTIVE

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NOVEME

80

Working at fever pitch the police found
other evidence, linking the vampire to a
number of crimes involving the myste-
rious disappearance of women. Mauinnie
Williams’ will was discovered, as was the
letter from Mrs. Connor’s parents. Bones
of all shapes and sizes were cast up from
the pits. Before they were finished,. an as-
tounding collection had been accumulated.

When the news was broken to’ Mud-
gett, he appeared shocked. But) he shad
a ready explanation for what had been
discovered, me ;

“The secret passages were for my ten-
ants. who. wanted privacy.” © ,

“You .never had any tenants,” snapped
Inspector Gary. . “Besides, what about the
bones?” ies

“[’m an old hand at the game,” was the
reply. “This is not the first. time I’ve
hoodwinked an insurance company. The
bones were from dead persons, whom I
used in other schemes.” :

“You killed them,” charged Gary.

“™IO,” insisted Mudgett. “They were
already dead when | found them.”

But Gary knew better.

“We've. only scratched the surface,” he
later told his superiors. “No one will ever
know .what . really ‘went on behind the
walls of that murder castle.”

Events ‘were racing quickly to a Climax.
Chappel, the articulator, was shocked to
learn of the amazing rdle that he had
played in the Horror House, Te told the
police his story, and pointed out the skele-
ton of Amelia Cigrand which was still in
use at the medical school.

Patrick Quinlan aged overnight) when
his worst fears were confirmed. by the
startling disclosures.

‘Then on August) twenty-seventh came
the final blow, Once more [Inspector Gary
came to Moyamensing.

. “We've. found Howard Pitezel,” he an-
nounced to Mudgett.

| ‘The latter stared at the detective, and
his head began to throb. [low had they
followed. his track? Suddenly the whole
scheme of his life had gone crashing about
his ears, [His eyes were blazing as he heard
the Inspector relate how Detective Geyer,
after exhausting nine hundred clues in the
vicinity of Indianapolis, had come across
the real estate agent: who remembered
Mudeett's imperious demand for keys to
the Irvington house. Patient labor had
done the rest. The children’s broken
trunk had been identified by a strip of
blue calico Which Geyer had found under
the porch. It had been used to mend a
broken slat,

“In the cellar wall, Geyer found charred
yortions of the boy's torso and most of
his teeth,” said Gary. “lle didn’t miss a
thing. Even the hardware man who sharp-
ened your knives was located.”

Mudgett’s eyes were somber as he was

led back to his cell. [lis shoulders sagged.
He knew that it was the beginning of the
end,
With officials from Canada, Illinois and
Indiana pressing for the extradition of the
vampire, the Philadelphia authorities de-
cided to include all of the charges in one
case, and summoned witnesses from the
cities where Mudgett had committed his
crimes,

Since proof was now on hand that Mud-
gett had murdered the three Pitezel’ chil-
dren as well as the’ victims of the Horror
House, it was taken for granted that. Pite-
zel too had been slain. Accordingly, on
August thirty-first, gravediggers  disin-
terred the body of the mutilated corpse
that had once been the dreamy-eyed_ in-
ventor. A coroner’s assistant was present
when the body was lifted from the yawn-
ing earth. Quickly he severed the head
and put it in a bag. Back at the morgue,
it was scraped and cleaned. The teeth

Master Detective

were mounted and Mrs, Pitezel identified
them as those of her husband.

It took almost a month for District At-
torney Graham to prepare his case. Thirty
Witnesses were summoned from ‘Toronto,
Chicago and Irvington. The charred bones
of Howard Pitezel, and the stove were
shipped from the cottage.

On September twenty-eighth, with Judge
Arnold on the bench, began the trial of

-one of the most amazing murderers the
(world has ever known.

When Mudgett came into the densely-
packed courtroom he knew that he would

not be able to call a single witness in his .

defense. Yet he seemed the calmest man
in the room. His beard was full by. this
time, and as he sat at the counsel table he
looked like a sensitive artist. His old
poise had returned.

Attorneys William A. Shoemaker and
Samuel Rotan who had undertaken the
thankless task of the defense pleaded for
a postponement of the trial. When it was
denied, they startled the courtroom by de-
manding leave to withdraw from the case.

Mudgett was on ‘his feet immediately.
Here was his: chance to make a bid for
sympathy. His hands were pressed flat
on the counsel table before him.

“Your Honor,” he said softly. “I will
not keep my counsel against their wishes.
I will discH ave them and undertake the
defense in my own behalf.”

ADDITIONAL FACT
DETECTIVE STORIES

will be found in TRUE
DETECTIVE MYSTERIES,
a Macfadden Fublication.
TRUE DETECTIVE MYS-
TERIES is on sale at all
news stands the 5th of
each month.

A hurried conference at the bench  re-
sulted in a decision which allowed) Mud-
gett to fight the case himself. Quickly a
jury was selected, and the trial was under
way. The District Attorney launched into
his opening address and related) the pe-
culiar circumstances = surrounding — the
death of Pitezel at Callowhill Street.

The State contended that Pitezel had
been killed and that chloroform had been
injected -into. his stomach after death.
Medical experts testified that it was im-
possible for him to have inhaled or swal-
lowed .a sufficient quantity to cause death
without “inflaming’ the. tissues, and there
was no. sign of such inflammation,

‘But when an attempt was made to put
the’ vampire’s other crimes into the. rec-
ord;:the Court refused’ to allow it. The
Judge ruled that.only facts which bore di-
rectly on the death of Pitezel himself were
relevant. Hence Detective Geyer was un-
able to tell the story of his remarkable
search for the children’s bodies.

The. people’s case..was not any too
strong, the whole theory. of how Pitezel
died having been built up from conijec-
ture. Mudgett’s lawyers, who somewhat
sheepishly had returned to aid him, at-
tacked it bitterly. et

But’ on November third. when the jury
returned from their consideration of the
evidence, they found the vampire guilty
of murder as charged.

Vhe little man sucked his fleshy lower
lip as the dread words were pronounced.
Aside from this he gave no indication that
he heard. ‘

A month before he was doomed to hang,
he received a.visit from Detective Geyer.
The prisoner turned his somber eyes on
the man, who, more than anyone else, had
proved his undoing.

“What do you want now?” he asked
wearily. .

“Mudgett,” began’ the detective dispas-
sionately, “there's one thing that | could
never figure out. How did you kill the
Pitezel girls?”

The vampire was hesitant.

“You might as well tell me,” urged Gey-
er. “It won’t make any differenée now.”

“All right,’ murmured Mudgett. “I'll
tell you on one condition. You must say
nothing about it until after | am dead,”

Geyer. agreed. ’

“On October 26th, 1894, I killed the girls ©

by suffocating them in a trunk.”

“And Pitezel?” prodded Geyer.

“I did not kill him,” flared Mudgett.
“He committed suicide.”

Trust Mudgett to hedge a bit. Since he
had been convicted of Pitezel’s murder he
could still pose as one unjustly accused.

It was May seventh, 1896, when the last
nail was driven into the gallows standing
in the west end of the corridor at Moya-
mensing. ‘A black cloth screen covered
it, waiting for the grim unveiling.

Crowds were storming the prison walls
when Mudgett was led: from his cell. His
walk was brisk and jaunty, and if it were
not for the fact that all eyes were cen-
tered on him, he might bave been taken
for one of the oflicials, He stepped out as
if he was on his way to an interesting
social engagement,

Assistant. Superintendent | Richardson
stood waiting on the gallows. platform.
The black screen was parted, and Mud-
gett was led up the steps, Ele lowered his
head and the noose passed over his face.

“Have you anything to say?”

HE brightened at the thought. It was
his last chance to dominate a scene.

“Gentlemen, | have a few words. My
reason for speaking is that if 1 should. die
without making a statement | should seem
to acquiesce in my execution. | wish to
say that the only instance of my wrong-
doing was in the killing of two women
who died as a result of a criminal opera-
tion by my hands.

“LT also wish to state, in order to
prevent any misunderstanding from aris-
ing, that | am not guilty of taking the
lives of any of the Pitezel family, for the
death of one of which | am now to be
hanged.”

He stepped back a pace and nodded to
the hangman. A second later the trap was
sprung with a resounding crash. The rope
grew taut like a live thing to choke the
vampire’s last lie. When he dropped, his
feet swung in crazy circles, and i tasted
the bitter gall he had so calmly meted out.

A guard hurried forward to steady the
body. He reached up to unloosen the
knot. He: tugged at it. Another guard
came to his assistance. It would not
budge.

The knot remained tight, reluctant to
ield its hold on the throat that had so
tina evaded its grim caress.

Finally the noose was severed with a

- knife, and the vampire’s body was hur-

ried away. In compliance with a last re-
quest, his corpse was placed in a cement
mold. When the mass had hardened to a
stony chunk, it was enclosed in a wooden
box and buried. The reason? The vam-
pire had a horror of ghouls and autopsies.

There was an aftermath to the case.
One morning they found Patrick Quin-
lan dead by his own hand. The awful
secret of the hidden passages preyed upon
his mind and he could no longer sleep at
night. The Horror House had claimed its
last victim.

ee el

FIND

IMPORTANT!1
how many gallor
mation on a boil-a
here it is. See how
both freeze-up ar
won't boil off, no °
car isn’t on this ¢
fof temperatures |
with on:
and a half
Uf your co
il
MODEL
—_—_—

Aubure

20, 00, "32; 60, ‘33, "
90, 90, '33; 90, "34,
Coadiliae
370-D, "34, "3S
335-D, "34, "395; 80.
452-D, °34, "35; 90.
370-A, "30; 3SS-B,”

80, 90, 110, °36
73-Spl. 6; 72-8.
74.6, '3S; 80, °!
6, 8, '33; 6, 8


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ae EATS Se tee -

“As proof of my good faith,” Mudgett
went on, ignoring the remark, “I'll show
you the cipher. May | have a pencil?”

Linden pushed a pencil and paper
across the desk. Mudgett scribbled
busily.

_ “Here it is,” he said to Linden. “Read
it.”

“REPUBLICAN republican

abcdetghi j kilmnopqrst uvwxy4
thus CbepBa
holme s”

“! agreed to sign the name ‘Holmes’,”
said Mudgett. “I sometimes use it in busi-
ness matters. I'll place an ad in this
Sunday’s paper and within two weeks we
should hear from her.”

“AIL right,” replied Linden. “We'll see
if it works.”

The cipher was prepared and sent to
New York. Decoded it read as follows:

“Minnie Williams, Adelle Covelle, Ger-
aldine Wanda. Cable return children at
once. Important to hear before tenth.
Also write Mr. Massie. Holmes.”

Mudgett was returned. to Moyamensing
Prison and the authorities waited for re-
sults. When nothing happened they real-
ived that they had been tricked, There
Was no Vedar Street in London, and the
whole story was a hoax. Eight months
had passed since the children wete last
heard of and it was apparent that they
were no longer alive. Mudgett, hugging
his secret, scoffed at the idea that he had
murdered them. But the police, whom he
had baflled for so long, were not to be
put off this time.

“AVIVEE mea free hand,” pleaded Detec-
Ftive Prank Geyer, “and Vil do my
best. We shouldn't pay any attention to
what Mudgett tells us. Facts and de-
tective work will tell the real story.”

President Fouse was impressed by his
earnestness and promised) financial back-
ing. Superintendent Linden knew Geyer's
record for sticking to a trail and finally it
Was arranged that the detective would be
sent out to learn the fate of the three
children.

Geyer was fully aware of the difficulty
of the task. Preliminary work by agents
of the insurance company had resulted: in
failure, and-the only thing of value that it
produced was a sketchy itinerary of the
children’s wanderings, with the approxi-
mate dates of their arrivals and depar-
tures.

In addition there were the children’s un-
mailed letters which had been found in
Mudgett’s strongbox. After much deliber-
ation, Geyer decided to start his search
in Cincinnati, and the next day he was in
that city trying to pick up Mudgett’s
trail.

Meanwhile, in Moyamensing, the vam-
pire was confident that Geyer'’s work was
doomed to failure. He did not see how it
was possible for anyone, to trace his er-
ratic movements from city to city, hotel
to hotel, and house to house, especially
since he had used a liberal sprinkling of
aliases in each instance. Only one thing
worried him now and that was his appear-
ance, His face had taken on the yellow
prison pallor and his fleshy red lips looked
ugly. He decided to grow a beard to hide
the strain. Besides it would add to his
dignity.

The weeks passed. Mudgett’s beard
grew into a dirty brownish stubble. He
fingered it—discouraged, and wished that
it would hurry, for now he looked worse
than ever, Hence he was no longer suave
and debonair, when word came to him
that he was wanted in the Warden’s office
for an interview.

He found Inspector Gary waiting to see
him. The official seemed excited about
something. Mudgett stared at him icily.

December, 1936

“Well,” begat
on his knees, ”
Mudgett telt
beating. When
seemed tc
“They 3
“You k
Gary, rising. \
word from Gey
bodies in the
ronto.”
“What mak:
Mudgett.
“Geyer follo
of the way fr
to Toronto.
clerks, railway
who remembc
plenty of hard
vet. Before |
“But how d
Pitezel girls’
the threat.
“You left tl
you left a fev
a little woode
to par with.
and proves th
Besides, Mrs.
and teeth of |

UTWARI
calm. If
noose before
just stood the
it? was time |
But in the
tery of this |
brought to h
For in Ch
last decided
Sixty-third >
and a squau
the ghastly >
side door, an
bare and gr!
“Do you |!
Carthy?” as!
one of the de
“About wl
Fitzpatrict
adit floor
“These w.
am su
The
sideris
“May ue >»
thy. “What
“Split int
Sound out t!
let me know
McCarthy
floor. The t
strewn, He
hear nothin
hall and in
It was wit!
lit a candle
faucets on |
and when \
them, the :
most expire
breath of a
Puzzled :
since there
on the wal
his fist ban
panel in th:
swung inwa
black openi
Was the
its terrible
Heart
thrust the
The candle
en stairs le
The pane
Carthy to
perere
ed past th
Here th
strewn wit

Mudeett
IIL show
neil?”

1 paper
scribbled

“Read
UVWXYZ

lolmes'’,”
in’ busi-
in this
| eeks we

Ve'll see

sent to
lows:
le, Ger-
dren at
tenth.

mensing
for re-
ey real-
There
and the
months
ere last
at they

hugging
wane Y: 3 fd

he

be
Detec-
do my
ition to

ind de-
o

by his
| back-
Geyer's
nally it
suld be
e three

iliculty
agents
ited) in
that it
of the
pproxi-

epar-

en's un-
und in
deliber-
search
was in
idgett’s

e Vvam-
rk was
how it
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pecially
Jing of
e thing
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e

. to see
about
 icily,

December, 1936

“Well,” began Gary, slapping his hands
on his knees, “we've found the children!”

Mudgett felt as if his heart would stop
beating. When he spoke, his own voice
seemed to come from a distance.

“They are all well I trust.”

“You know how well they are,” blazed
Gary, rising to his feet. “I’ve just got
word from Geyer that he located the girls’
bodies in the cellar of a house at To-
ronto.”

“What makes you so sure?’
Mudgett.

“Geyer followed your route every inch
of the way from Cincinnati to St. Louis
to ‘Toronto. There are plenty of hotel
clerks, railway men and real estate people
who remember your face. He’s put in
plenty of hard work and he’s not through
yet. Before long you're going to hang.”

“But how do you know you found the
Pitezel girls?” insisted Mudgett, ignoring
the threat,

“You left the place in such a hurry that
you left a few likes behind. For instance,
a little wooden egg that Alice Pitezel used
to prey with, It was found in the house
and proves that Alice was there with you.
Besos, Mrs. Pitezel recognized the hair
and teeth of both girls.”

UTWARDLY Mudgett remained
calm. If he saw the shadow of the
noose before him, he did not show it. He
just stood there scratching his beard, until
it was time for him to return to his cell.
But in the days that followed, the mys-
tery of this man’s sinister past was slowly
brought to light. a

For in Chicago, the authorities had at
last decided to investigate the house on
Sixty-third Street. Inspector Fitzpatrick
and a squad of detectives were sent to
the ghastly structure. They entered by a
side door, and at first saw nothing but the
bare and grimy halls. i

“Do you notice anything peculiar, Mc-
Carthye” asked the Inspector, turning to
one of th detectives in the group.

“About what?”

Fitzpatrick indicated the walls of the
ground floor room they were in,

“These walls. They seem solid, yet I
am sure that there is space between them.
The rooms here are very narrow con-
sidering the width of the building.”

“Maybe you're right,” admitted McCate
thy. “What do you want us to do?”

“Split into groups, three men to a floor.
Sound out the walls. If you find anything,
let me know.”

McCarthy went upstairs to the second
floor. The rooms were dusty and rubbish-
strewn. He sounded the walls, but could
hear nothing suspicious. He went into the
hall and in the rear he found a bathroom.
It was without windows and McCarthy
lit a candle to illumine the interior. The
faucets on the zinc-lined tub were broken,
and when McCarthy bent over to examine
them, the yellow flame flickered and al-
most expired. The detective felt a cold
breath of air on his cheek.

Puzzled as to the origin of the draft,
since there were no windows, he pounded
on the walls. At one spot over the tub,
his fist banged hollowly. He pushed at a
panel in the wall, and to his amazement it
swung inward. Damp air rushed from the
black opening.

Was the infamous house at last to yield
its terrible secret?

Heart) = pounding madly, McCarthy
thrust the candle into the dark opening.
The candle rays fell upon a flight of wood-
en stairs leading to a narrow passageway.

The panel was just wide enough for Mc-
Carthy to squeeze through. Gingerly he
yroceeded down the creaking steps. They
ed past the first floor, into the basement.

Ilere the detective found three rooms
strewn with debris. But in the last room

’

parried

Master Detective

there was something else for him to pon-
der over. The guttering candle disclosed
what looked like a carpenter's bench. Its
surface was dusty, but beneath the thin
gray film he could see deeply etched
stains. And there were little nicks in the
wood that seemed to have been made with
a sharp knife.

The candle was burning low, so Mc-
Carthy hurried back to the secret stair-
way.

“Inspector,” he shouted when he once
again reached the hall.

Fitzpatrick came to him almost imme-
diately. His face was grim as he heard of
the discovery.

“Just what I expected,” he said. “The
place is honeycombed with secret rooms
and passages. Good work, McCarthy.”

A party of men were sent into the open-
ing to examine the basement, and no
sooner had they left for their task, when
the Inspector was summoned to the third
floor by the excited voice of Detective
Norton. The latter had come upon Mud-
gett’s office, and had discovered the huge
furnace.

“Let’s sift the ashes,” said the Inspec-
tor as he peered into the firebox.

Rummaging through the ash heap soon
brought to light a woman’s shoes, charred
and stiffened, and the melted portion of a
gold watch chain.

Fitzpatrick felt the heft of the lump of
metal.

“Now [ think | know what happened to
some of Mudgett’s lady friends.”

Ilis eyes swept the room and he spied
the vault dgor in the wall. The bolt han-
dle turned easily, The two steel doors
were opened, disclosing the chamber with-
in. Fitzpatrick struck a match and as the
i flared, he stared in horror at the

oor,

“Good God!” he cried. Norton peered
pee his shoulder and a chill went through

im.

Outlined in the dust were two human
footprints!

EALIZING that the vault was nothing
more than a death trap, Inspector
Fitzpatrick barked orders. thick on fast.
Ile summoned a score of detectives and
laborers to the scene. Soon the walls of the
sinister murder factory. were being torn
apart, ‘The grim dwelling was beginning
to reveal its long-hidden tale of horror.
The rubbish that littered the basement
was cleared avar and the workmen were
proceeding to dig into the earth when
someone, using a pickaxe in a corner of
the cellar, noticed that the ground re-
sounded hollowly, After a few lusty
blows, he praidenty discovered that he was
striking metal. :
The shovels flew, and soon laid bare a
strip of sheet iron. It was the ceiling of
the sub-cellar. Hours later, it was possible
for a few men to go down to the myste-
rious chamber, for the entrance used by
Mudgett had not yet been discovered. The
digging was commenced anew, and Inspec-
a Fitzpatrick anxiously awaited the re-
sult.
_ Concentrating their activities on the left
side of the room, the diggers uncovered a
woman’s shoe. Then as the dirt began to
pile up, a pungent odor cut through the
stuffy air.

Fitzpatrick sniffed.

“Quicklime!”

A few moments later, the workmen un-
covered one of the vampire’s fiendish
pits. Chunks of bones were the first indi-
cation that they had of its purpose.

Before long an entire skeleton was ex-
posed to view. It was small and light—
that of a child. Underneath the bones
were the tattered remnants of a jacket,
It was all that was left of Mrs. Connor’s
baby.

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ALICE PITZELL was only fifteen,
and she gaily wrote letters which
were never mailed while she. trav-
eled with the sinister doctor who
later wantonly took her life.

= 6 Two pathetic corpses

dave . in a cellar grave spur ' Women seemed
: : _Dr. Harry H.. Hob
. ~ come and go at his
detectives to NEWE Streets in Chicago
Williams, attracti:
k prolonged visit in
M ef the doctor were i
efforts in unmas the doctor sudden
and no one knew
° But the followi
ing Dr. Holmes headlines. The co)
found in his Phila
was arrested two
ance on the victin
and making it loo
Pitzell’s widow
three children, Ali:
to Holmes’ care:
appeared. Furthe)
what had become «
Questioned abo
the corpse had not
have taken the ci:
for he had talked «
Police already ki
believed he had ii
where were the chi
> Determined to fi
delphia began trac
the insurance. HW’.
children found in
Cincinnati, Indian:
Holmes and the c
Georgia Yoke, an
doctor’s secret fien
Then the trail le
in which Holmes
found the bodies of .
Howard Pitzell, the
known Holmes.

nea
GAZING at his watch fo time ™ |
the execution, Dr. Holmes let ye
gas flow into the trunk con- [/
taining the two tragic girls ji
until he knew they were dead.


ww

Castle of Death

(Continued from page 45)

had been cremated, For the same reason
he ruled out all evidence bearing on the
murders in Chicago,

“The only point at issue here,” he in-
sisted, “is the alleged homicide committed
by this defendant against one Benjamin
Pitzell.”

That automatically silenced some two
score witnesses who were ready to testify
against Holmes; and Holmes, leaning for-

looked about triumphantly, with a sydden
return of his old cocksure self-assurance,

-He was further enlivened at this point by

of holes. In a merciless cross-examination
they browbeat the pitiful little widow until
she entangled herself in a web of contra-
dictions and burst into tears. They con-
tended heatedly that the body found in the
office at 1316 Callowhill Street had never
been positively identified as the body of
enjamin Pitzell,

“And even if it was Pitzell’s body,” Rotan
shouted in a ringing voice, “how do we
know that Pitzell didn’t kill himself?
Where is the proof that anybody murdered
him? There is no such proof.” ‘

The attorneys went on to argue that the
State had failed to present any Case against
their client; and on the cold, bare facts it
seemed they were right. The State hadn't

proved beyond a reasonable doubt that _

Benjamin Pitzell had been murdered, nor
had the State shown conclusive proof that
Harry Holmes was guilty as charged in the
indictment.

So confident were Attorneys Rotan
and Shoemaker that Holmes would be
acquitted that they did not call him to
the stand, and they cut short their closing

a, a to the jury,
he}

€ jury retired to deliberate on Novem-_

ber 2, 1895. Court fans were making bets
on the verdict, and the odds were five to
one that the verdict would be, “Not guilty.”
e odds rose even higher when the jury
filed back after.a surprisingly brief absence.
_ Judge Arnold said to Holmes: “Prisoner,
rise and face the jury.” Then to the jury
foreman: “Have you reached a verdict?”
“We have, your honor,” said the foreman.
“Hand the verdict to the clerk,” said the
court,
The paper was given to the court clerk,
who started to read,
“We find the defendant guilty of murder
as charged. . . .”

HOLMES seemed turned to stone. He
stood stiffly at attention, staring straight
ahead, and when the clerk had finished he

rom his lips.
The spectators in the courtroom absorbed

dict, and then broke the momentary thick
silence by bursting into cheers,

Holmes’ attorneys. were on their feet im-
mediately, making a motion for a new trial,
but Holmes seemed not to hear them, or
care to hear. He sat at the counsel table
like a man in a daze, oblivious to what
was going 6n around him, looking glassily
at his small womanish hands.

In_ that paralyzing moment, with the
shock of doom numbing his brain, was he
thinking of the appalling crimes those hands
had committed ?

The judge set a date for a hearing on

60

INSIDE DETECTIVE

his er gi fe motion and court was ad-
(i

journed, Holmes was led back to his cell
tween two stalwart bailiffs, *,

A week later, after due consideration,
Judge Arnold denied the motion for a new
trial, and Attorneys Rotan and Shoemaker
filed an appeal. :

During this time, the police of a dozen
different cities were pinning other heinous
crimes on Dr. Holmes, He was wanted in
Columbus, Mississippi, for the murder of a
young girl, and Denver detectives unearthed
evidence that indicated he had killed an-
other girl there. From Texas, Vermont,
Indiana, Michigan, the reports kept pour-
ing in, all branding Dr. Holmes as king
of murderers, :

When questioned in his cell about these
and other crimes, Dr. Holmes answered in
the toneless voice of a man doomed :

“The reports are correct. All told, I have
killed twenty-seven persons—men, women,
girls, and children—throughout the coun-
try.”

It was the only real confession Holmes
msi —~ , 1 finall

is lawyers’ appeal fina ly came to
naught; and he was again taken before
Judge Arnold, who, robed jin black, pro-

nounced the sentence of death, The judge.

fixed the date of execution for the morning
of May 7, 1896,

At sunrise on that sparkling spring
morning Dr. Holmes mounted the thirteen

“Just a moment, Alex,” he said. “We
have plenty of time. I have a few words to
say before I give my life for a crime I
never committed.” Then he addressed the
spectators,

“Gentlemen,” he said in a clear voice,
you are about to see an innocent man
hanged. I have murdered many men in my
day, but I swear now before Almighty God
that I did not murder Benjamin Pitzeil. . , .”

The consensus of that group—as indeed
of the entire nation—was that Dr. Holmes,
even though innocent of the crime for which
he was being hanged, could justly be
hanged twenty times over for the other
crimes he had committed.

When he had finished speaking, Assistant
Sheriff Richard asked: “Are you ready,
Holmes ?”

“Quite ready, Alex,” said Dr. Holmes.
“Please don’t bungle.”

The assistant sheriff, who was far more
nervous than the man about to die, tightened
the noose around Holmes’ neck,

Sheriff Samuel Clement lifted his hand.

The trap was sprung, ~

Dr. Holmes dropped through, came to
a sickening jerk at the rope’s end, shud-
dered for a few moments, then was still.
The crowd looked on in fascination, but
there was not a gleam of regret in any
of the sixty men’s eyes. The murderous
villain who had dedicated his life to evil
~ not a single friend on earth when he
died,

Tue Enp

Eprtor’s Nore: This ends the saga of Dr.
Holmes, mass murderer of women and chil-
dren, except for a final episode that comes
forty-three years after his execution. Dur-
ing the past year his “murder castle” at
Sixty-third and Wallace Streets in Chicago
was wrecked by the Federal government,
and a modern postoffice building has now
risen phoenix-like from its ashes. -

Murder wi
Perfume

(Continued from page

him of the killing, He di
owing Miss Pehrson.

“She often called on me,”
tectives with a sang-froid that
to term him “The Stone Man.’
me razor blades, shaving soap

haven’t seen her for a wec

After hours of parrying q
suddenly changed his story
that he had found her murd:
room,

“I was scared to death,” he
“and crammed her into the cl.

I took it on high, My only t
to put distance between me and
ing house.”

“But who killed her?” questi:
tant State’s Attorney. Emmett

“I don’t know.” Kadlecek
cafloused hands wide. “Anyhov
on a two-day drunk. Things <
hazy. There were some fellow
with me in my room. One
mages pulled the job.” -

nvestigators found that the
shorts and undershirt were splat
blood. How, they wanted to
that happen? .

“T got it on there when I put
in the closet,” he explained calm)
was a: lot of blood.”

n and on went the questionin
a duel of wits. Kadlecek had
mind, and for a time he was a
his four o ponents—Captain
Lieutenant MeGloon Prosecuto
han and Sergeant Racek, all e
hands in such affairs,

“Now tell us exactly how you
body,” requested Captain McGu
tail every move.”

“I came home in the evening a
night,” related the Prisoner, “W
tered my room, I saw her lying |
bed. I realized at once that she »
I heard footsteps in the hallw:
closed the door, quickly picked

d hid her in the closet. But it
someone on the way to the t
I hurried out right away.”

“And did you go back?” asked
McGurn gently.

The suspected killer smiled sarc
He Tecognized the fact that the ;
ficial was trying to lead him intc

“I returned for my clothes.”

“Did you look into the closet ?”

“No, I didn’t go near the body

“Now, the first time you wer:
room, when you discovered her, h

id you remain?” .

“It was only a matter of m
maybe two or three.”

“TI don’t suppose you were the
enough to remove your hat and co
captain asked with feigned careles

“No, I didn’t take them off eith.
I was in too much of a rush.”

Captain McGurn leaned closer
eyes bored into those of Kadlecek.

“You killed her, I’m: positive
The police officer leveled his finger
supect. “If you didn’t take your
coat off, how in the devil did bk
on your underwear?”

adlecek’s face fell. For a lor
ment he said not a word.

“Gimme a cigarette,” he said a
He ‘got one, lit. it, and puffed ner
Then the “stone man” suddenly er:
to putty.

“Yeah,” Kadlecek said slowly.


ie home
ntruder
mied a
Awak-
opened
bout to
son lay
ie thief
ed floor
robber
owerful
ie time
olver.
Like
eynolds
“hen he
ereupon
safety.
olds in
rations
‘ly sum-

nee, on
climbed
thence
hich he
almost

Avenue,
h, mon-
a win-
This

iewels,

ikey
uc OUut-
it door,
himself
: vesti-
rere he
(fronted
other
ched on
e. Rey-
ied this
st once
ncluded
would
aste of
attempt
lis jim-
it. He
ut re-
in five
He had
visit to
oy fill-
ation
e stole
driver!
minutes
eynolds
r. Go-
several
1 cash.
Street,
a quick
ed by a
for this
lar?
ir, Rey-
He

57)

was

Chicago’s Murder Castle

Sound-proof rooms to muffle screams —a giant stove to cremate

. human. bodies—vats of chemicals to destroy the remains! Such

was this house of doom!

note left behina

when Patrick Quin-

lan, janitor of the
building at 701 Sixty-
third Street, Chicago,
committed suicide after
years of mental anguish.

Although absolutely in-
nocent of any part what-
ever in the many crimes
committed in this special-
ly-designed human slaugh-
tet house which was built
and occupied by the most
infamous criminal of the
century, the old Irish
janitor, who had assisted
in building the house,
never ceased to brood
over it after its diabolical
purpose was finally dis-
covered and to blame
himself for not having
suspected the murderer
and saving many lives.

This somewhat unusual
building—long known as
the Holmes Murder Castle
and designed by Herman
W. Mudgett, alias H. H.
Holmes, alias H. H. How-
ard—was a_ four-story
brick apartment structure
resembling a residence
and built in the early
nineties, according to
Holmes, for. the purpose
of running a_ boarding
house during the Chicago
World’s Fair.

This  scientifically-planned
Murder Castle was so well
designed for its dastardly
purpose by this arch criminal, whose number of murdered
victims has never been calculated, that he was able to
carry on his infamous schemes for years before he was
finally detected.

But clever as he was, it was this very Murder ‘Castle—
so carefully planned by this demon killer not. only with the
view to his executions but to the disposition of his mur-
dered and mutilated victims—which finally led to his un-
doing following a long and shocking career of crime which
started when he was a student in college and carried on
until middle life.

Seldom has there been a more rematkable piece of

“ COULD not sleep,”
] read the laconic

house, whose long,

By ARRETTA L. WATTS

H. H. Holmes, designer of Chicago’s human. blaughter
red record of atrocities places ‘him
amorig the most blood-thirsty fiends of all time

detective work than that
of the late Detective
Frank Geyer, of the
Philadelphia Police, who
discovered Chicago’s Mur-
der Castle some ten years
after its dastardly work
. had been going on. After
Holmes had been sus-
pected in Philadelphia of
murdering some children,
Geyer had been given the
assignment of finding the
children dead or alive.
The trail led to Chicago,
where, with the aid of the
Chicago Police, the mur-

cealed horrors _— were

brought to light.

On the top floor of the
building was a huge
stove—eight feet high and
three feet wide and
deep—large enough to re-
ceive an entire human
body. There were various
rooms, halls and closets,
all lined with asbestos
which had served to stifle
the sounds of screams and
prevent fire from spread-
ing when it had _ been
“necessary” to burn a vic-
tim in one of the rooms.

A dumb-waiter  ex-
tended from the top floor
to the basement in which
was an immense grate.
And, taking no chances,

Holmes also had large vats
of quicklime on the top floor
so that what the stove and
grate could not consume the
. vats would.

A trap door concealed by a rug led to the basement
where further precaution had been taken by arranging the
flagging on’ the floor so that slabs of stone could be lifted.
Beneath these stones, duting the investigation, police dug

up human ribs, sections of vertebrz, teeth and other parts -

of human bodies,

But one must go back to the beginning to attempt to
understand all about such a gruesome murder house and
the motives of such a diabolically scientific murderer.
H. H.'Holmes—the name by which this arch criminal was
most generally known—was born Herman W. Mudgett
and of respectable, hard-working (Continued on page 65)

43

der house and its con-


‘1, left
blocks
Chief
police,

Salada
nished

itioned
ansom

next
-rpiece
re un-
pidity,

ev to
led on
in the
ble to
Burke,
serton
t him
maha
id re-
< the
elers’
thiet
oO nO
lexas

Sansas
re dis-
\cPar-
12 that
d Pol-
: pris-
id as-
Burke

Con-
. Went
ollock.
tained
: Gov-
lorado

Was
endent
to be
ounty,

. Fra-
ed by
could
er, be-
of the
to the
follars
with a
lis de-
to kill
im in
im the

re-
dat
tenced

September, 1929

The Master Detective

Chicago’s Murder Castle

(Continued from page 43)

parents in Gilmanton, New Hamp-
shire. There was nothing about the
early boyhood of young Mudgett to
indicate that he was other than a nor-
mal, healthy child with an ardent love
of childhood pleasures.

He spent his boyhood days much as
other boys of the New Hampshire hills,
developing a particular love for climb-
ing, running and swimming in which he
often indulged after his home tasks,
which, incidentally, were always done
quickly and well. He was the pride of
his parents and teachers for he was ex-
tremely bright, ambitious and_ studi-
ous—so much so that he was often cited
as a model to less ambitious youths.
In fact, so diligently did he pursue his
studies that he had finished the district
school at the age of fifteen and at six-
teen was a teacher in a neighboring
country school. :

Two years later, young Mudgett,
who had not as yet, it would seem, so
much as thought of crime, married
Clara Lovering of Alton, New Hamp-
shire. She was one of the few wives
whom the man did not kill. Ambitious
for more schooling, Herman Mudgett
gave up teaching and with his young
wife went to Burlington, Vermont,
where he took up a medical course.
This branch of learning fascinated him
and after a year or so he entered Ann
Arbor to complete his education in this
line.

ia was here in 1881, when he was an

undergraduate student of twenty-one,
that Herman Mudgett started his crim-
inal career—his first taste of crime
growing out of a body-switching insur-
ance swindle. For his anatomical study
he had obtained possession of a body
which he discovered bore a marked
resemblance to a fellow student. This
student was his closest friend and Mud-
gett persuaded him to take out a life
insurance policy for $1,000 with him
(Mudgett) as beneficiary. The young
men placed the “stiff” in the bed of
Mudgett’s friend, who then  disap-
peared. Mudgett collected the insur-
ance.

Very little investigation was made of
the case. It was such easy money that
Mudgett, with his quick mind, was not
long in concocting other schemes. He
sent his wife home on a visit and then
he disappeared. Under ah assumed
name, he got a job in an insane asylum
in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He had
developed a morbid liking for the study
of diseased minds and this connection
gave him ample opportunity for such
study.

Mudgett’s next move was to Phila-
delphia, where he got a job as a drug
clerk. He loved to experiment with
drugs—dangerous tools in the hands of
one who had developed a taste for
quick money and who was learning
more and more about the human body.

He next went to Chicago and opened
a drug store of his own. Soon after-
ward he married Miss Myrta Belknap.

She soon disappeared and many think
she was perhaps the first victim of tke
Murder Castle which was built about
this time.

Mudgett, now known as Holmes, by
this time had developed into a very
suave, egotistical person with mild
manners and gentle, convincing air.

And now we come to the Benjamin
F. Pietzel family whose murders, one
by one, until Holmes had killed all save
three, form one of the most gruesome
and horrible series of killings in the
annals of crime.

Pietzel, a chemist, lived-in St. Louis
with his wife and five children—Alice,
Nellie, Dessie, Howard and Wharton.
Holmes, who had gone to St. Louis
where he purchased a drug store now
met Pietzel, whom he discovered to be
a mesmeric subject—just the sort of
person for whom this designer of mur-
derous schemes was looking.

With Pietzel as so much clay in his
hands, Holmes had no great difficulty
in persuading his new chemist friend to
join him in plans for an insurance
swindle such as he had put over before.
So, on November 9th, 1893, Pietzel,
apen Holmes’ suggestion, took out a
$10,000 policy with a Philadelphia
company, made payable to his wife.
The plan was to have Pietzel open an
office in Philadelphia under another
name while Holmes was to get a body
from some medical school or hospital
and. pretend that Pietzel had been
killed. 7
in was deemed necessary by Holmes,

for the purpose of collecting the in-
surance, to let Mrs. Pietzel in on the
plan of the swindle, so he and Pietzel
discussed it with her. Although she
strenuously opposed such measures for
providing for her family, Holmes won
out. Of course, neither Pietzel nor his
wife dreamed that their newly acquired
friend had any designs upon them, The
insurance scheme was, they thought,
simply a mutual benefit proposition
which would enable them to “get on
their feet” after a financial reverse they
had suffered.

So Pietzel was persuaded to go to
Philadelphia with Holmes where, on
August 17th, 1894, he (Pietzel) opened
an office under the name of “Perry.”
In front of the office hung a sign read-
ing: “Patents Bought and Sold.”

Not.a stone was left unturned by the
diabolical mind of Holmes, who had
prepared a laboratory for his chemist
friend. The stage was all set for his
victim to be blown into the other world,
Pietzel never suspecting that Holmes
was about to dou bincies him. F

Two weeks later—September 3rd,
1894—an explosion took place in the
Pietzel shop. A carpenter by the name
of ale gee Smith, who had been there
several times discussing an invention
with “Perry,” found a mutilated body
partly burned in the office. Smith took
It to be “Perry’—which it was—and
thought, of course, as did the general

65

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remodeled the room so that the safe could not be removed

without tearing down a wall.

“Take your safe,” he told the men, “but if you mar an inch
of this house in doing it I will have the law on you.”

He kept the safe.

In similar fashion he bought and kept the costly things
with which his “castle” was furnished. When the furniture
people called for their property it couldn’t be found. Nor. could
they find Dr. Holmes. He had moved the furniture, as well as
himself and his retinue of women, into the secret rooms that

only a master sleuth could locate.

OLMES, still languishing in jail in Philadelphia, under-
went another change when told that his “murder castle”
in Chicago had given up its grisly secrets. He again became
talkative. He said nothing about his many murders, grace-
fully sidestepping all questions about these, but he talked
freely and at great length about his many con games—par-
ticularly his insurance frauds. :
“T first got the idea,” he said, “when I was a medical
student at Ann Arbor, Michigan. That was back in 1882.
I insured the life of a fellow student for $12,000, then bought
a corpse in Chicago and passed it off as this student’s body.
The money was paid without any question, and the student
and I divided it between us.

TODAY THE SINISTER house of Holmes is no more, and Its
‘ « place at Sixty-third and Wallace Streets is occupied by the
modem Federal postoffice building seen in photo above.

“Tt. seemed an easy way to make money,” Holmes continued
with gusto, “and I worked the same game on several other
insurance companies, including the Fidelity. Everything was
going swimmingly until this Pitzell affair went wrong. I
didn’t kill Pitzell. He’s alive right now, and I shouldn’t
wonder if he turns up pretty soon somewhere in Mexico.”

Holmes still seemed thoroughly confident, despite all the
homicidal evidence against him, that he would be tried merely
for defrauding the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Associa-
tion. But in this he was grievously mistaken.

He was indicted by the Philadelphia grand jury for the
murder of Benjamin Pitzell; and on October 28, 1895, he
was brought to trial before Judge Arnold of the criminal court.

The entire life of this monstrous murderer, widely known
as Dr. Holmes, and sometimes as Dr. Horner and Dr. this
and that, though seldom known by his right name, Dr. Her-
man Webster Mudgett, had been extraordinary beyond belief.
Now that he was on trial for his life he continued to be an
extraordinary man, doing things that no normal intelligence
could understand. ‘

At the very beginning of his trial he dismissed both his °

lawyers, Samuel Rotan and William Shoemaker, and carried
on alone, conducting his own examination of .veniremen and
later cross-examining the State’s witnesses.

Among the first of these was his bigamous bride, the beau-
teous Georgia Ann Yoke, then starring at Hammerstein’s
Music Hall in New York.

Prosecuting Attorney Graham had established before the
court that Benjamin Pitzell had been done to death on Sep-
tember 2, 1894. Now he brought out, in his direct examination
of Miss Yoke, that it was on. the night of September 2 that
Holmes had hurriedly left Philadelphia.

“Your witness,” said Prosecutor Graham, and sat down..

Holmes stood up, twirling his mustache, and fixed a glitter-
ing eye on the blonde witness, who looked back at him with
a level blue gaze.

“How did I act,” he demanded, “on the night in question,
September second ?”

The lovely Miss Yoke, who had been so cruelly
betrayed by the doctor but was, one of the few
women who escaped him alive, did not hesitate.
She doubtless read in his magnetic eyes the glance
that seemed to say, “You still love me, darling, and
you'll tell a little lie to save me.” But Georgia Yoke
knew better.

“You acted strange and looked worried,” she re-
plied in a clear voice, “as if you had done some
terrible thing.”

Holmes’ jaw dropped. He stared at her for a
moment or two, blinking his eyes as if he could not
believe what he had heard. Then abruptly he sat
down, muttering something about “the perfidy of
women,” and looked around the courtroom for the
lawyers he had previously dismissed.

Both were gone,

Prosecutor Graham rose and asked: “Are you
through with this woman, Mr. Holmes ?”

“’m through with that woman,” Holmes bitterly
replied, still scanning the courtroom crowd for his
lawyers, “and all other women from this time on.”

Miss Yoke was dismissed’ and Mrs. Pitzell was
called to the stand. As the pathetic little widow
crept to the witness chair and sat down, her eyes
red from weeping, her thinness accentuated by her
shabby black dress and rusty black bonnet and veil,
many in the courtroom were moved to tears. Even
Judge Arnold and Prosecutor Graham were emo-
tionally stirred. Only Holmes remained unmoved.

He sat staring at her with his pale blue eyes, with
a sort of calculating coldness, while he flipped a
corner of his mustache with an effeminate thumb and
forefinger.

In a voice that was scarcely more than a whisper
she told how she had last seen her husband. alive with Dr.
Holmes—and had never seen him again until she saw his dead
body in the morgue. And then she started to tell how she
had given her three children into the care of Dr. Holmes,
only to learn later that all three had been brutally murdered.
But at this point Judge Arnold interrupted her.

“The matter of this witness’s children,” he ruled, ‘fs not an
issue here. We are concerned here only with the matter of
her husband, Benjamin Pitzell.”

The judge then excluded all testimony bearing on the mur-
der of the three children and refused to admit as exhibits the
trunk in which the little girls had been suffocated and the
stove in which their small brother (Continued on page 60)

45


', Carrie. Holmes
nsurance company,
a

ment of all. Chief
a letter from one
St. Louis for train:
‘rs about the death
$10,000 insurance.
mes some months
: had a scheme to
id be trusted. He
1 to such a lawyer,
isured for $10,000
rk the insurance
»ptha. Howe, and
that Holmes had
ind had told him
3900. It is hardly
Holmes held out

uiladelphia police,

2, had left town,
er all three were
', Attorney Howe
1 in Burlington, |
dropped out of
become of her,

J as Pitzell had
t he had died of
irse, was a fake.
th, the carpenter,
iid out as if for
‘omptly noticed.
2, charged. with
. Officials of the
insured Pitzell’s
vhia, and that the
's, said the state-
nulate burns and
ived the doctors
certified, Holmes
se face had been
' was buried as
s and Pitzell met

later at some prearranged spot and divided the loot.

The police, however, declared that it hadn’t happened that
way at all, There had never been any dummy corpse, they
said. Holmes had deliberately murdered Pitzell, probably to
avoid paying him part of the insurance money, and the body
that. was buried was really Pitzell’s.

Holmes, posturing in a cell in the Boston jail and still
very much the dandy, laughed heartily at all these accusations
and said to the newspaper men: “There’s nothing to this talk,
my boys. It’s too ridiculous for comment.”

In St. Louis, Attorney Howe indignantly denied any com-
plicity in the “alleged plot” and said he had acted in good
faith and solely for the interests of his client, Mrs. Pitzell.

Mrs. Pitzell, questioned in Burlington, Vermont, seemed
bewildered by the strange turn of events and could give no
explanation. =

Thé strange story burst forth in the nation’s newspapers.
Then from Fort Worth, Texas, came word that the authorities
there would like to question Dr. Williams about a certain
horse theft and, more particularly, about the unexplained dis-
appearance of two young ladies named Minnie and Nannie
Williams, orphaned sisters of Fort Worth.

HEN THE name, Minnie Williams, was mentioned to

Holmes his debonair pose deserted him momentarily.
But in the next moment he was joking about the horse theft,
as gay and nonchalant as ever.

“If it came to a choice,” he said, “ between facing a murder
charge in Philadelphia and a horse-stealing charge in Fort
Worth, I’d choose, Philadelphia. You know, boys, they hang
horse thieves in Texas.”

“And what,” a reporter asked, “do you think they'll do to
you in Philadelphia?”

“They won't hang me, at any rate. The worst they can do
to me there is a conviction of insurance fraud.”

“You admit, then, there was a fraud?”

Holmes answered guardedly: “There may have been a
fraud, but certainly there was no murder. Pitzell isn’t dead.
He’s alive this very minute. He’s either in San Salvador or
somewhere in South America—I’m not sure which.”

“Will you waive extradition and go back to Philadelphia?”

“Certainly, Why not?” °

And so he did, but on the way back he suffered a sudden
change of heart and attempted to bribe his way to freedom
by offering his guards $500.

-Mrs. Pitzell, a motherly sort of woman, was also brought
to Philadelphia, still dazed by what had happened.

“I am sure there is some mistake,” she kept repeating to
the police. “Dr. Holmes wouldn’t do anything wrong, I
know. Only,” she added wistfully, “I am a little worried
about my children.”

“Children! What children ?”

“J mean my three older children—Alice, who is fifteen years -

of age;. Nellie, thirteen; and Howard, aged ten. I haven’t
seen them since last September 24, when I turned them over
to Dr. Holmes.”

Holmes! The officers exchanged significant glances. But
why on earth, they wanted to know, had she given her chil-
dren to him ?

“TI was ill at the time,” she explained, “and had a young
baby to care for. Dr. Holmes had been very kind to me and
offered to take the older children off my hands temporarily.”

“And you haven’t seen them since?”

She shook her head sadly. “He said I would find them in
Burlington, Vermont, and I was looking for them there when
the police came and told me about all this other trouble. I
don’t know what to make of it all.”

Neither, for that matter, did the police. So they questioned

Holmes about it, and he readily admitted that Mrs. Pitzell
had intrusted her three children to him.

“And where are they now?” he was asked.

“So far as I know,” he said, “they are with their father.

He is probably on his way to South America now—at least he

casually spoke of going there when I saw him last.”

Holmes told the police how he had taken the three children,
Alice, Nellie, and Howard, to Detroit, where he had given
them to their father.

“It was then,” explained Holmes, “that Pitzell’ spoke of
going to South America, and I assume he took the three
youngsters with him.”

Holmes, however, was less interested in the topic of the
Pitzell children than in the matter of the insurance fraud.
He was ready to admit now that he and Pitzell had conspired
to defraud the insurance company and he was willing, even
eager, to tell exactly how they had done it.

“We got the corpse,” he said with gusto, “from a New
York medical friend of mine. On the day we got it we paid
the premium on Pitzell’s insurance. Then we put the corpse
in a trunk and shipped the trunk to Philadelphia.”

In Philadelphia, he continued, he had disfigured the face of
the dead man with a blow-torch, and then had lain it out
on the floor at the place in Callowhill Street, where it was
found.

“Pitzell became a bit squeamish,” said Holmes with a smile,
“so I had to do the whole job alone. And I think,” he added,
“T did a creditable job.”

It seemed plausible enough, and Holmes’ readiness to con-
fess was also understandable, for certainly it would be better
for him‘ to face an insurance fraud charge in Philadelphia
than a horse theft charge in Texas, or a murder charge any-
where. But there was a discrepancy in his story that made
the detectives doubt it.

The corpse found by Smith in Callowhill Street had been
stiff with rigor mortis and it bore no trace of embalming
fluid. If Holmes had obtained the body from a medical
student, it must have been embalmed, and it would have been
impossible for him to have doubled it into a trunk, then stiffen
it again to simulate rigor mortis,

No, the authorities decided—the body was really that of
Pitzell. But what of Pitzell’s children? -If the father were
dead, then Holmes of course had lied about Pitzell taking them
to South America.

They went to Holmes, “Tell us where you’ve hidden those
children,” they demanded.

“T haven’t hidden them anywhere,” Holmes stoutly replied.
“But...” He paused and sat in deep thought for a moment,
then slowly went on: “It just occurs to me, gentlemen, that
Pitzell may have sent those three youngsters to London with
Nannie Williams, a lovely young lady of whom he was fond.”

Holmes then gave them a description of Nannie of the
honey-colored hair and big blue eyes, and this description
was wired to the New York police, together with a description
of the missing children, While this lead was being checked,
Philadelphia detectives turned up a trunk that belonged to

- Holmes. In the trunk they found a packet of letters that had

an important bearing on the case.

The letters had been written by Alice, Nellie, and Howard
Pitzell, and all were addressed to their mother—but none
had ever been mailed! Evidently they had been given to
Holmes, who, instead of mailing them, had tossed them into
his trunk. In their childish way, the children prattled in the
letters about the exciting time they weg¢ having with Dr.
Holmes, traveling about the country with him, visiting big
cities, staying in hotels, seeing all the sights.

It was at this time that there entered the case a detective
named Frank P. Geyer.

Geyer had been on the Philadelphia police force for twenty
years, and was known less for his brilliancy than for his
commion sense, patience and pertinacity. He had started as
a patrolman, and in his slow plodding way become a sergeant,
and was now a plainclothes detective attached to the Depart-
ment of Public Safety.

He was a thickset man with a walrus moustache and sad-
looking eyes, and he always wore a derby hat, square-toed
shoes and a black suit and black string tie. An undistinguished-
looking man, Detective Geyer moved (Continued on page 56)

9

es

5
F

Kneeling beside the body, Officer Lew. made an examina-

tion and estimated the man had been dea! for at least a day,
probably much longer. Then he stood 1-5 and surveyed the
body with a puzzled look. “There’s some ‘ing perculiar about
this,” he said. “Notice the way that hi ly is lying, flat on
the back, with legs together and arms Straight at the side—
just as if somebody had laid it out for burial.”

Nevertheless, despite this peculiarity, the coroner’s jury
decided that Perry had met an accidental death, igniting the
benzine while trying to light his Pipe, and the case was
officially closed, But very soon it was to he violently reopened.

First, there came to the undertaking establishment where
the body lay, a distinguished-looking gentleman in costly
clothes, who introduced himself to the coroner as “Dr.
Holmes.”, With him was a fifteen-year-old girl.

“This body you have here,” he said to the coroner, “is
that of an old friend of mine, Ben Pitzell. This little girl is
his daughter,”

The coroner conducted them to the room where the body
lay. The child screamed, “Daddy!” and clung hysterically
to Dr. Holmes.

The coroner said: “But how can you be sure of your
identification, Doctor? As you see, the face js almost
obliterated.”

“My friend Pitzell,” said Dr, Holmes, opening his medica]
bag, “had several body blemishes that will Positively identify
him.” Then he took a pair of rubber gloves from his bag

corpse and cut off a deformed finger.

“See that these are preserved in alcohol,” he said. “They
may be needed later to establish identification.”

Next, there came a letter to the Fidelity Mutual Life In-
Surance Association from one Jeptha Howe, St. Louis lawyer,
Saying that he represented Mrs, Carrie A. Pitzell, in whose
behalf he was claiming $10,000 life insurance payable upon
the death of her husband, Benjamin F. Pitzell, otherwise
known as B, F. Perry,

Investigators for the insurance company looked into the
matter and found that the lawyer was correct. B. F, Perry
was really Benjamin F, Pitzell. They also found that Pitzell,
alias Perry, had been arrested in Terre Haute, Indiana, on a
bad check charge and that his friend, Dr, Holmes, had bailed
him out of jail. But that was no reason why a just insurance
claim should not be paid. And so, in the presence of Dr.
Holmes, Attorney Howe, and fifteen-year-old Alice Pitzell,

8

Marion
Hedgepeth (left), im.
Prisoned train robber,
squealed on Dr. Holmes |
and exposed his diabolical
plot in the Pitzell case,

METHODICAL Detective
Frank P, Geyer (right) of
the Philadelphia police
force, began one of Am-
erica’s most sensational
Pieces of sleuthing when
he set out to follow Holmes’
trail from start to finish.

e

the $10,000 was paid to Pitzell’s widow, Carrie. Holmes
wrote an elaborate letter of thanks to the insurance company,
which they later used in their advertising ,

And then came the most startling development of all. Chief
of Police Harrigan of St. Louis received a letter from one
Marion Hedgepeth, then awaiting trial in St. Louis for train
robbery, saying he had read in the newspapers about the death

ago,” added Hedgepeth, “and he told me he had a scheme to
make $10,000 and needed a lawyer who could be trusted. He
Promised to give me $500 for introducing him to such a lawyer,
He said he had Benjamin F. Pitzell’s life insured for $10,000
and that he and Pitzell were going to work the insurance
company for that amount. | sent him to Jeptha Howe, and
a few days later Howe came to me and said that Holmes had
introduced himself on my recommendation and had told him
the whole plot. I£ it worked, I was to get $500. It is hardly
worth while to say I never got the $500. Holmes held out
on me.”

Chief Harrigan flashed tlijs news to the Philadelphia police,
who went into action at once, .

The two conspirators, Holmes and Howe, had left town,
and so had Mrs, Pitzell; but late in November all three were
rounded up. Holmes was nabbed in Boston, Attorney Howe
in St. Louis, and Mrs. Pitzell was found in Burlington,
Vermont, Her young daughter Alice had dropped out of
sight. Where she had gone, or what had become of her,

chloroform. The benzine explosion, of course, was a fake.
It was also recalled that when Eugene Smith, the carpenter,
stumbled upon the body it was carefully laid out as if for
burial—something that Officer Lewis had promptly noticed.

Holmes and Howe were held by the police, charged. with

into pronouncing him dead. After death was certified, Holmes
revived Pitzell and substituted a corpse whose face had been
burned in the same manner. This corpse was buried as
Pitzell’s, the insurance was paid, and Holmes and Pitzell met

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For the better part of two days he spaded
up the floor of the basement—and found

nothing.

Then he spent another two days inter-
viewing cab drivers and truckmen. Finally
he found a cabby who had driven “a
gentleman and a beautiful lady” answering
the description of Holmes and Georgia
Yoke, to the central railway station. At
the station he found a porter who had
carried their baggage into the parlor car
of the Toronto Were. A little later this
same porter had seen the same gentleman
escort another lady, not so beautiful, to
the forward day coach of the same train.
Later still, he had seen the same gentle-
man place two small girls in a third coach,

So Holmes had left Detroit for Toronto
with Georgia Yoke, Mrs. Pitzell, and Mrs,
Pitzell’s children—for whom she was des-
perately searching—all on the same train,
and all unaware of one another !

WITH THE trail hot again, Detective

Geyer crossed the Canadian border,
But in Toronto he lost it, and it was many
months before he picked it up. Those
months were spent in endless plodding
through the Toronto streets and patient in-
quiries at stores, hotels, restaurants. His
photographs were now almost worn out
from the fingering of countless hands, all
to no avail.

At last, in July of 1895—when Holmes
had been in jail for more than eight months,
with still no proof of murder against him—
Detective Geyer’s persistence was again
rewarded. ,

He had gone to the Toronto Department
of Education, on the off chance that some
truant officer might have noticed the chil-
dren. He was showing his photographs
around, when the chief clerk, Frank Nudel,
happened to walk by. Nudel stopped and
picked up the photograph of Holmes.

Suddenly staring intently at the’picture,
he said: “I know this man. He rented my
house last October.”

“Where is your house?” asked Geyer
calmly, .

“The address,”. said Nudel, “is 16 Vincent
Street. This chap—I think his name was
Howard—rented it for himself and his two
daughters.” -

Detective Geyer showed Nudel the pic-
tures of Alice and Nellie Pitzell. “Are
those his daughters ?”

“Yes,” *said Nudel. “I remember them
both. Rather pitiful little tikes they weie.”

Geyer got Nudel’s permission to inspect
the cottage, which again was “to let,” then
started for Vincent Street. :

It was an attractive little house, with
rose vines enclosing the small front porch
and a flower garden in the rear, and when
Geyer fitted the key to the front door lock
he heard a pleasant voice behind him.

“Are. you renting Mr. Nudel’s place?”

Geyer turned and looked at the man,
“No, but perhaps you can tell me something
of the last people who rented it. Do you
live near here?”

The man said he lived next door at 18
Vincent Street. His name was T. Ww.
Ryves. : %

“I saw them move in,” he said, “but I
didn’t see them leave. They must have
pulled out late at night, for I usually know
what goes on around here.”

“What else can you tell me about them?”

“Well, for one thing,” said R ves, “the
man borrowed my spade and didn’t return
it. I had to go after it.” :

“T wonder,” said the detective, “if J might
borrow your spade—if I promise to return
it.”

RXVES, consumed with curiosity, fetched
his spade. Detective Geyer unlocked the
front door and stepped inside, then locked

{INSIDE DETECTIVE

INSIDE DETECTIVE

the door behind him. He walked slowly
through the three small rooms, bright with
midsummer sunshine, and saw they were
tastefully furnished, with” everything in

perfect order,

Then he went to the kitchen and looked
at the floor, which was covered . with a
linoleum rug. He rolled it up and found
a heavy iron ring embedded in the flooring.
He laid hold of the ring and pulled on it,
and a trapdoor came up, revealing a black
pit below,

A ladder led. down into the pit, and
Geyer took a kerosene lamp from a bracket
on the wall, lit it, dropped his spade into
the pit, then descended into the darkness
after it, holding the lamp above his head.

As he reached the bottom of the ladder,
he heard scampering bodies around him,
and something brushed against his leg.
Then, as the rays of the lamp pushed back
the darkness, he saw a swarm of rats
scurrying away from something in the
corner. When he moved in that direction
he saw he wouldn’t need Mr. Ryves’ spade
after all... .

The naked bodies of the two little girls
—Alice and Nellie Pitzell—lay side by
side in a shallow grave, where the rats
had uncovered them.

“There was some trouble afoot, but
the situation is now well in hand.”

Nearby stood a huge iron-ribbed trunk.
Geyer lifted the lid and looked inside. The
trunk was empty. .

' He returned the spade to Mr. Reeves,
then called the Toronto police. And then he
telegraphed the police of Philadelphia :

“Have found dead bodies of both little

irls, Will now continue search for little
joy.” ;

That was July 15, 1895: and before the
dawn of another day the whole nation was
horrified.

But the shocking discovery that Detec-
tive Geyer had made in the vine-clad cot-
tage on Vincent Street was merely a
Prelude to other discoveries that soon
transcended it in horror.

What did Detective Geyer find when he
renewed his search for little Howard Pit-
sell? What had happened to Minnie and
Nannie Williams, and to the many other
women who had fallen into the clutches of
Dr. Holmes? What did the C. hicago police
discover when they broke into his ecrie
“murder castle’? Look for the second in-
stallment of this famous crime: classic in

ruses: | eS a

(Ku

LoS

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MANY 1939
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next month’s issue of Instwe DETECTIVE.

57


Castle of Death

(Continued from page 9)

about like a slow-footed ox, and_ his
thoughts seemed to move in the same slow
manner. But it was this same Detective
Geyer who, in his methodical way, split
the Holmes case wide open and exposed
Harry H. Holmes as the most colossal
criminal of his time.

Unlike his brother officers, Geyer made
no attempt to question Holmes. He knew
he would get nothing from Holmes ex-
cept lies. But he spent hours with the
packet of letters found in Holmes’ trunk.
He sat down and read them repeatedly
until he had committed them to memory.

Not one of the letters, he noted, gave
the name of any city, and none bore any
dateline, save one written by Alice, dated
“Detroit, Michigan, Oct. 14, 1894.” But each
gave an excited description of what the
children had seen—public parks, monu-
ments, tall buildings, stores, hotels, res-
taurants, railroad stations.

At the Philadelphia public library Geyer
found several books that described in de-
tail the main points of interest of
America’s principal cities. He studied these
with the same painstaking care with which
he had studied the children’s letters. And
finally Detective Geyer went to his im-
mediate superior. *

“That fellow Holmes is lying about
those Pitzell children,’ he said. “I’d like
to backtrack over his trail and see what
happened to them.”

But that would take money, Geyer was
told, and there were no funds in the de-
partment .to cover such an expense. He
might as well forget about it.

eyer turned and walked out—but he
didn’t forget about it. Instead, he went
to the office of the Fidelity Mutual Life In-
surance Association and asked to see Presi-
dent Fouse. :

“I’ve reason to believe,” he told Mr.
Fouse, “that Holmes killed Pitzell’s chil-
dren, and if you will pay my expenses I
think I can prove it.”

The insurance company official, con-
vinced that his company had been swindled,
yet unable to prove it, was willing to pay
the cost of yer’s investigation on the
chance that it would bring the scoundrelly
Holmes to justice. He told Geyer to go
ahead and draw on the company for his
expense.

It was a cold trail that Detective Geyer
set out on, and all he took with him was a
photograph of Holmes anda picture of
each child—that and his memory of what
he had read. But he had unyielding per-
severance, and before he was through he
would need it all. .

His first stop was at Cincinnati. He tried
the hotels first, showing his photographs to
the clerks, and getting only negative
answers. Then he started in on the lodging
houses. He fared no better here, so he
fried the real estate agents, putting the
same question to each as he spread out his
four photographs-:

“Have you ever seen this man and these
children?”

In every case the answer was “No’—in
every ‘case but one. And as it turned out
the exceptional answer, “Yes,” led to noth-
ing. One of the agents remembered renting
a small cottage in the suburbs, about a year
before, to a man named Hayes, and this
man had three children, two little girls and
a boy. Mr. Hayes and his children had
moved away eleven months ago.

When a canvass of neighbors proved un-
availing, Detective Geyer moved on to his
next stop, Indianapolis.

When he checked in that night at the

56

INSIDE DETECTIVE

Indianapolis Hotel, the detective was an-
ticipating a repetition of his Cincinnati
séarch—a twelve-hour day and a seven-day
week tramping the streets and calling at
hotels, rooming houses, and rental offices.
But now, for the first time, he had an un-
expected lucky break, which he took with
no undue excitement. It would have taken
more than an earthquake to excite Detec-
tive Geyer.

After he had handed his bag to the
bellboy and signed his name on the register,
he reached into the pocket of his black
coat, almost from force of habit, and drew
out the small leather case in which he

carried the four photographs. He opened.

the case and showed the photographs to
the hotel clerk.

“Can you tell me,” he said, “if any man
resembling that picture has ever registered
here with those three kids?”

The clerk picked up the photographs and

' studied them one by one.

“Yes,” he said, “I seem to remember
those faces. Just a moment, please.” He
went to the vault behind the counter and
returned with a hotel register for the month
of September, 1894. He opened the big
book and. ran his forefinger down the
column of signatures. “Here it is,” he said,
and pointed to a name, “He checked in

“Remember,

you can’t
hold what HE says against me.”

gentlemen,

here on September 24 and checked out on
October 4. He had his wife with him as
well as the children—a very lovely young

-woman, as I remember.”

Detective Geyer swung the register
around and looked at the signature: Harry
Howard.

Harry Howard and Harry Holmes!
Geyer felt sure he had struck a hot trail,
for his twenty years of police experience
had taught him that when a criminal takes
an alias it usually corresponds with his
own initials, <

“Have you any idea where he went from
here?” he asked.

The clerk had no idea. “He paid his bill
and left with his family. That’s all I know.”

Geyer went out and started on a round
of the other hotels. At the third place, a
hotel of dubious character, he picked up
the trail again. ‘

On October 4 a man and his wife and
three children had registered there under
the name of Horner. They had departed
two days later, with no hint of their desti-
‘nation.

Early next morning Geyer was on the
job again, going from house to house, from
hotel to hotel, and calling on rental agents.
Jt was a rental agent who finally put him
on the right track.

“I remember this face,” said the agent,
studying the photograph of Holmes.
“Horner, I think his name was. He rented
a furnished cottage in Irvington for him-
self and children. He stayed there only a
week,” ;

Geyer showed him the photographs of the
Pitzell children. “Do you recognize these?”
he asked.

“They look like Mr. Horner's children.”

“Did Mr. Horner have his wife with
him?”

“He had no wife,” said the agent. “He
told me he was a widower.”

With his own opinion of what had hap-

ned to the “wife” of Mr. Horner, alias

oward, alias Holmes, Detective Geyer
athered up his photographs and started
for Irvington, a suburb of Indianapolis.

THE PRESENT occupants of the fur-
nished cottage could tell him nothing of
the previous tenants, but the neighbors
roved more helpful. They remembered
Mr. Horner and his children very well.
His two little girls were very sweet, but
he said he was having trouble with the
boy, and was going to place him in a re-
formatory.

“When they left,” asked Geyer, “were
all three of the children with him?”

No, only the two little girls, The boy,
evidently had been sent to some institution.

Detective Geyer: pondered this, debating
whether to keep on Holmes’ trail or stay.
and try to learn the fate of little Howard
Pitzell. His course was decided by a
ging remark made by one of the neigh-

rs: -

“As they were leaving, the littlest girl
said: ‘We're going to Detroit to see our
daddy’.”

The neighbor had thought that rather
strange, because, “I supposed Mr. Horner’:
was the father of the children. Maybe he
was only their uncle.” ;

“Maybe he was,” said Detective Geyer
—and caught the first train for Detroit,

Holmes had told the Philadelphia police
that he had taken the children to Detroit,
where he had turned them over to their
father, who then had started for South
America with them. But he regretfully
added that he couldn’t remember the street
address where the reunion had taken place.

Detective Geyer, however, found not
only one Detroit address. where Holmes
had been. He found three! a

He found that Holmes and a beautiful
blonde (later identified as Georgia Ann
Yoke, a music hall actress) had registered
at the Crescent Hotel as Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Howard; that he had: rented a
room in the neighborhood for another
woman (later identified as Mrs, Pitzell).
He had then taken a cottage at 241 East
Forest Avenue for himself and two little
girls, who unquestionably were Mrs. Pit-
zell’s daughters, Alice and Nellie. f

And neither the two women nor the two
little girls knew of the presence of the
others ! ,

It took Detective Geyer. more than two
weeks of plodding to learn these facts. And
when he did, he was chiefly interested in
the cottage on Forest avenue.

He found the house deserted and boarded
up, but the next-door neighbor remembered
the occupants. “The gentleman and his
two daughters stayed there only a few
days,” the neighbor said, “then all three
disappeared. He was very irregular in
his habits, coming and going at all hours.”

With a Detroit policeman, Detective
Geyer broke into the deserted house and
gave it a thorough going-over. The place
was dark and musty and meagerly fur-
nished, and he found nothing of import-
ance—until he descended into the dank
basement. The first thing he saw there,
when he lit a match and looked about, was
a cavernous hole in the shape of a grave

o

=} Peele od

last pe.

ive near here

what

Pulled out

ther
t late ;

Holmes looked
at the relaxed
face of Pitezell
and donned a
pair of gloves.

of the dean.

EA itive MUDGETT had to laugh when he thought

Relaxed, and lolling in a chair in a pool of lamplight be-

side his study table, he gave himself up to pleasant reflection of
the scene in the lecture hall that afternoon.
“A master at dissection,” that’s what the dean had called him.

“T wonder what he would have said if he’d known the truth,”

the dark, handsome medical student mused. “Suppose I had said,
‘Sir, I got the body from a graveyard.’ ”

He could picture the shocked silence: that would greet his’

words. The dean would finally gasp, “You robbed a grave?”
“Oh, no, sir, it was not that. You see, the gravedigger is a
friend of mine and I bought him a few drinks and he gave it to
me. As a matter: of fact, it saved him considerable labor, because
as soon as the ground thaws he would have had to bury it. It was
ina little vault, waiting. So he just gave it to me—in the name of
science, of course, It’s all quite safe—no one will find it for I

destroyed it with acid. And no one will mourn it, for it was name-

less, a derelict.” F
The clock in the hall downstairs struck midnight.
Undoubtedly there would be trouble if the story leaked out.

He probably would be ekpelled from college. But who would.

believe the
to leave. !!
his father’s
property to
of medical :
ends meet
Well, th
idea. Frou
could go |).
his sweet!
Lovering
He sat '
lines did n
At two
across the
knocked s:
.. “Do you
the keyho!
After a
sheveled, !
were so g!
“T was |
on in.”
“No, no
But Mu
“After |
about exa!
Early n
the Acme
insurance
He pa
functory :
By pr
beneficia:
Havin:
settled hi
gave hin
That \
worry hi
Now
since h
was fre
Four
- left coll:
carried |
contain:
Ostensi!
in realit
Benjani
In di
Pitezel!
Mudget
The
the cou:
Hern
He w:
he had
thought
about h
tears, h


Dorothy Ann
Harrison

vught Ae believe the tipsy gravedigger ? And anyway Mudgett was going & |
“to leave. He had: never really wanted to be a doctor. It was | “sage ’ _— |
ht be- ‘his father’s doings, and for it the old man had mortgaged his ere a aia ay Bo te |
ion of . property to the hilt and Mudgett had gone through five years . : : hie yes AIO RA
of medical school in actual ‘poverty, with barely enough to make H
d him. : . ends meet from one month to the next. |
ruth,” Well, that transaction with the cadaver had given him an |
| said, “idea. From now on he was going to make money. And then he
@ scould go back home to Gilmantown, New Hampshire, and marry |
tt his * ; his sweetheart, Clara Lovering. If he had money old Farmer
2 Lovering might be willing to accept him as a son-in-law.
risa  ___.. _ He sat there thumbing the pages of his book, but the printed
"e it to _. lines did not register in his seething brain.
secause At two o'clock, Ben Pitezell, a haw student, who roomed (RGM: ile Hasler ta gssssuOmNnens nn tURDe a 7
It was \™@ across the hall, noticed the light under Mudgett’s door and
iame of : knocked softly. :
it for I - . “Do you know what time it is?” he whispered sharply through
name- } the keyhole. '
_ After a moment Mudgett opened the door. His hair was di-
: sheveled, his handsome face flushed and unsmiling, and his eyes
-d out. % - were so glittering that Pitezell shrank back in fear.
would — “T was just thinking about you,” Mudgett murmured. “Come
on. in.”

e

“No, no,” Pitezell protested. “We have exams tomorrow—”
But Mudgett seized his arm and pulled him into the room.

“After I tell you my plan,” he said, “you won't give a hang
about examinations. We’re going to be rich!”

Early next morning, Ben Pitezell walked into the office of
the Acme Insurance Company and inquired about a $10,000 life
insurance policy.

He passed a. physical examination, answered some per-
functory questions and paid the first quarterly premium.

By pre-arrangement he had named Herman Mudgett his
beneficiary.

Having transacted his business, he went to a beer garden,
settled himself with a bottle at hand to wait for Mudgett and
gavé himself up to blissful plans for the future.

That Mudgett’s scheme was crooked, even dangerous, did not
.worry him. He saw it only as a means of getting rich in a hurry.
_ Now Carrie could have her baby in peace. For the first time
since he had married her on a trip home to St. Louis, his mind
was free of worry. °

Four months later, Herman Mudgett and Benjamin Pitezell
left college, giving lack of funds as an excuse. On the train that
carried them East was a plain pine box in the baggage car. It
contained a body they had obtained from the City Hospital.
Ostensibly it was for use in the medical laboratory of the college,
in reality it was to be buried in Connecticut under the name of
Benjamin F, Pitezell. Re

In due time, the Acme Insurance Company was advised that
Pitezell had died and they paid his insurance premium to
Mudgett who divided the check with his partner. ¢

The unscrupulous pair worked this racket in various parts of
the country for months.

“Herman Mudgett’s romance, however, proved a failure.

He wearied of Clara soon after marriage. He wondered what

ie had ever seen in her. The adoring glances he had once

~~

RCT

thought so attractive palled upon him. The pressure of her arms H. H. Holmes started his gruesome career by
a about his neck lost their thrill, And when she clung to him in robbing a grave as a medical student, and then
“tears, her very helplessness that had been so appealing, bored perpetrating an insurance fraud with the body.

55


Lovely Minnie Williams was ‘eriployed as
Holmes’ secretary and:then disappeared,
She proved to be another of his victims.

ams ra

ordeal.

After his son was born, Mudgett became more estranged,
showing no interest at all in the boy.

Finally, his disillusioned wife took her baby home to her
father who received her gladly, if a bit grimly, and with some-
thing of an I-told-you-so air. Mudgett had never fooled him. ~

The former medical student had resolved that this parting
was to be final. He had plenty of money now, and, at the age of:
twenty-five, slim, dark, and handsome, he left for the gaiety and
bright lights of Chicago.

There, in the dawn of the “Gay Nineties” era, he cut the last sie

tie with his old life by discarding his name, Thereafter, he was
known as “H, H. Holmes.”

HE dwelling he leased at 63rd and Wallace streets, which

he facetiously called “the Castle,” soon was the scene of wild
parties attended by beautiful women. Oné of these lovely females,
Miss Minnie Williams, was an heiress from Fort Worth, Texas,
who was so madly in love with Holmes that she fainted when he
proposed.

Holmes had not troubled to divorce Clara, and Ben Pitezell,
who knew this, was deeply shocked to learn upon calling at “the
Castle” that Holmes and Minnie were away on their “honey-
moon.’

Pitezell was a weak character, but genuinely in love with his

wife, Carrie, and he intended to rebuke Holmes; but the latter
suddenly returned, and, by his very manner, defied his partner *
to interfere.

_ him beyond description. ‘He was furious when he learned she
was to have a child, and Clara’s pregnancy was a “miserable

anti]

Piteze!
his silen
when he

Althou
from H«
ness to ¢
this ba:

“Alo:
off his
soon!”

“Oh,
weeks Vv
her. Bui
warm )

Both
silence.

But s
Pitezel!
ters, an
could s:
window
zell saw
time, t!
-someth

Was
Holme
warn h

His
bed, |
still.

Afte
moved
ventil:
feet,
ing t!

Int!
Piteze
ventil:
of thi:

visito:

At
a lead
a $10,
name
Holn:
Int
the coi
produ
buriec
settlen
zell t
mone?
eS
tucki)
Ho}
doesn
Pit
in |
said,
her.”
T)
quie’

St
met


which
f wild
males,
Texas,
hen he

itezell,

“the —

,oney-

ith his
> latter

sartner *

‘Holmes in the doorway who had come to

bed, but some intuition told him to lie

|» After a moment the shadowy figure

feet, the man turned and went out, clos- |

" visitor.

‘ money.

~ tucking away his wallet.

_ in Fort “Worth a month ago,’ he
ry said, “atid no one there had heard of her or seen

~

- Pitezell accepted a five thousand dollar check as the price of

his silence. And it was a winter afternoon, four months later,
when he came again to “the Castle.”
-» Although he was not expected, he received a cordial welcome

“from Holmes who said, “I’m glad to see you. I have some busi-

ness to discuss with you and. anyway it’s no joke living alone in

this barn.”

“Alone?” Pitezell echoed, allowing Holmes to help him take

.. off: his overcoat in the hall. “Don't tell me it’s all over so
. soo!” s

*“Oh, no, Minnie has been down in Fort Worth for a few

weeks visiting old friends. The house seems quite empty without

her, But a change will do her good, Come in and have a drink to
warm you up.”

Both men retired at ten o’clock and “the Castle” settled into
silence.

But sometime in the night a storm whipped across the city and
Pitezell woke to the sound of moaning wind and flapping: shut-
ters, and, in the faint light that came from the street lamp, he
could see the dead branches of the trees tossing against the
windows. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Pite-
zell saw a figure standing on the threshold. And, at the same

/ time, there came to his nostrils the faint but persistent odor of
-something burning.

Was the house on fire 2 Was that

warn him? |
His first instinct was to jump out of

still. ..

moved ,across the room to the heat
ventilator in the wall. Then, on noiseless

ing the door without a sound.

In. the morning, while he was dressing,
Pitezell. noticed that the shutter in the
ventilator was closed. He did not speak
of this or the episode of the nocturnal

At ten o’clock he went downtown to.
a leading. insurance company, purchased
a $10,000 policy on his life giving the
name of his best friend, Harry
Holmes, as the beneficiary.

In.the Spring of 1892, Holmes notified
the company that his friend had died, and
produced documents to show that he was
buried in Little Rock, Arkansas. After
settlement was made he summoned Pite-
zell to “the Castle,” and they split the

“STow's the missus?” asked Pitezell,

Holmes shrugged. “I wish I knew. She

doesn’t say anything about coming back.” ©
‘Pitezell was surprised. “I stopped

« her.” .* ‘
There was complete silence for a moment, then Holmes asked,
quietly, grimly, ‘
“You inquired?”

. “Yes. Why ?”
Startled by the fierce expression in Holmes’ eyes, he stam-
> mered, “Why, what was wrong about that ?” :

\

The three children of Mrs.
Pitezell vanished while in
Holmes’ care: she went to
the police who put Officer
Geyer, above, on the case.

Benjamin Pitezell, above, aided
Holmes in his insurance frauds;
later Holmes slew him, too, and
ironically claimed the insurance.

But any further conversation was
interrupted by a tall, dark girl who came
to the door.

“Shall you need me this afternoon ?”
her voice was low and pleasant.

Holmes regained his composure as if
with a great effort and said,

“This is my partner, Mr. Pitezell. Miss
Emeline Cigrande is my new secretary,
Ben.” ;

Pitezell declined an invitation to stay at “the Castle” that
night. A sudden uneasiness possessed him. He kept remember-
ing the last night he had spent under this roof, and, over the
forgotten months, his nostrils were assailed again by the ghostly
odor of a strange fire. .

Ben Pitezell had never discussed his “business” with his wife.
Carrie wouldn't understand, he told himself. And she was so
interested in her home and their three [Continued on page 93}

57

—

~ —


Heidnik —
executed, —
first in state

in 4 years

HEIDNIK FROM PAGE A-]

Ridge signed his death warrant
May 12, Heidnik was transported
here yesterday morning. He re-
ceived one visitor at about 4:30, his
daughter, Maxine Davidson White,
who stayed about an hour and was
not present for her father’s execu-
tion, Heidnik had his final meal,
black coffee and two slices of cheese
pizza, at about 5:30 and was, accord-
ing to Department of Corrections
press secretary Michael Lukens,
‘as cooperative as he could be.”
Heidnik spent the hours before
his death either resting or pacing in
his cell. He declined a medical exam
and made no requests to see any-
one or to issue any statement. His

first. in Pennsylvania since 1995,
when the state lethally injected Kei-
th Zettlemoyer and Leon Moser.
Prior to those, the state had not ex-
ecuted anyone since 1962.

determined unanimously that he
must forfeit his life,” Ridge said in a
statement issued at 10:45. “Tonight,
he paid that price. In doing so, he
suffered far less than the women he
tortured and killed. Our thoughts
and prayers tonight are with them.”

“Outside. the governor's Harris-
burg residence at about 9 p.m., a
dozen protesters quietly recited a
prayer. written by Sister Helen Pre-
jean, an outspoken oEOner of cap-
ital punishment. Ridge was at his
home in:Erie.

«Tt doesn't heal anything. It just

creates more sickness,” protester
Naed Smith said.

_, Heidnik was the 353rd person to
‘he executed by Pennsylvania, the

third by lethal injection and the first
person to have it done at Rock-
view’s new execution facility, a con-
verted hospital outside the prison
perimeter. -

In Philadelphia yesterday morn-
ing, lawyers argued before a three-
judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit
Court of Appeals.

‘Lawyers for th Defenders Asso-
ciation of Philadelphia represent
Heidnik’s daughter and asked the
court to allow her to appeal on be-
half of her father.

‘ But the Philadelphia district at-
‘torney’s office argued Heidnik was
competent to handle his affairs.

In a 2-1 decision, the court re-
fused. to delay the execution. The
ur 3rd ay later refused to hear

ea ‘

White's lawyers appealed to the
US. Supreme Court. The court noti-
fied the governor just before 10 p.m.

~~ At 10:18 p.m., a blue curtain over
the witnesses’ observation window
was pulled back to reveal a side
view of Heidnik strap d in a bed
bolted to the floor of the execution
chamber and covered to his neck by
sheet.

“A team of specialists adminis-
tered a lethal combination of barbi-
turates from a separate room
through an intravenous tube. Heid-
nik’s eyes never 0 ened. The cur-
‘tain was pulled shut at 10:28 p.m. He

was pronounced dead a minute lat-

phan

Gary Heidnik in an April photo

er.

Kathy Swedlow, an attorney for
the defender group, said Heidnik’s
daughter, White, was very upset.
“The state has executed an e€X-
tremely mentally ill and psychotic
man,” Swedlow said.

White, a student at Temple Uni-
versity, has declined to to re-

po :

Described as one of four children
Heidnik had with as many women,
she was placed in foster care as a
newborn because of her father’s
history of mental illness.

Heidnik, a disabled Army veteran
who had made a fortune in the stock
market and ordained himself bishop
of his own church, imprisoned six
women in a makeshift torture
chamber in the basement of his
home in 1986 and 1987.

All six women were black; Heid-

Heidnik has never raised a single

~ appeal to his 1988 conviction for the

who ever examined him has
testified that he is a chronic para-
noid schizophrenic and that he is
delusional.

“J say real or phony, they can exe-
cute me, because I am innocent and
I can prove it,” Heidnik said at his

trial.

“That is the end of capital punish-
ment in this ‘state. When you exe-
cute an innocent man, knowingly
execute an innocent man, you know
there will be no more Ca ital pun-
ishment in this state an possibly
anywhere else in this country. And
you know I didn’t kill them two
women. Go ahead and execute me
_.. Yes, I want you to execute an in-
nocent man so there will be no more
capital punishment.”

Heidnik was arrested in 1987
when a prostitute escaped from his
house and told police she’d been
held there for four months.

Police discovered three other
women there, halfnaked and
chained to beams in the basement.

Survivors said they'd been raped,
tortured with an electric prod an
forced to eat a combination of dog
food and human remains.

Those were the final non-institu-
tionalized days of the son of Ellen
and Michael Heidnik who, accord-
ing to court documents, themselves
lived tortured lives they passed on
to their sons. ,

Ellen Heidnik was a mentally ill
alcoholic who attempted suicide
several times and drank Corby’s

insatiably she sometimes had the
children steal the money to provide
her with it.

According to Heidnik’s brother,
pad on the night Ellen finally suc-

ed at suicide, she honed her

husband at a bar to te him she’d
overdosed on medicine.

His father, Terry said, stayed at
the bar to have another i

The Associated Press com-
tributed to this report.


Carolyn Johnson, left, and Tracey Lomax enter the press center at the

dnik's execution late yesterday. Each woman h
to witness his execution.

Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

State Correctional Institution at Rockview after witnessing Gary He+
ad a sister murdered by Heidnik in Philadelphia. They were among four relatives of victims

End comes for ‘House of Horrors’ murderer, 12 years after his arrest

By Gene Collier
Post-Gazette Staff Writer

BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Gary Heidnik, who
would stay mute because he was convinced
the devil had placed a cookie in his throat,
whose father would lock him outdoors in
urine-stained underwear for wetting the bed
and whose alcoholic mother killed herself to
escape her own mental illness, was put to
death last night by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.

Death for the pathetic Philadelphia
“House of Horrors” murderer came at 10:29,
less than an hour after the U.S. Supreme
Court denied the final appeal to spare him,
and some 12 years after a prostitute bolted
free from the cellar of his North Philadelphia
rowhouse to tell police about four months of
torture that resulted in the deaths of two
women and the rape of at least three others,
some of whom Heidnik had fed a combination
of dog food and ground human remains.

The 55-year-old former mental patient,
who experts said deluded himself into believ-
ing that his two victims had killed each other,

a

Bill Wade/Post-Gazette

Kim Higgins of Etna served on the jury that
on July 2,1988, convicted Gary Heidnik.
Why, she wonders, did it take the state so
long to carry out the sentence when it took
the jury only two hours to impose it?

Story, Page A-7

that the FBI could help him prove it, and that
his perceived innocence in death would end
capital punishment in Pennsylvania and per-
haps the United States, was walked 20 feet in
handcuffs from a holding cell to the death

chamber at 10:17 p.m. by officials of the State
Correctional Institution at Rockview. Inside
the former inmate hospital near the prison,
he was strapped to a linen-covered gurney by
10 belts, eight black ones across his body and
two brown ones at his head and feet.

In accordance with Pennsylvania law, 12
witnesses, six from the media and six citi-
zens, were assembled in the customized
viewing area. In addition, there were the
maximum four witnesses associated with the
murder victims, Sandra Lindsay and Debo-
rah Dudley.

They were separated by a partition from
the other observers, but their reflections
were visible in the glass viewing window and
their voices were audible.

Media witnesses said one witness associat-
ed with the victims exclaimed, “Thank you
Jesus” and mumbled obscenities after Heid-
nik turned red and then ashen just before be-
ing pronounced dead by Centre County Coro-
ner Scott Sayers.

In isolation at SCI Pittsburgh since Gov.

SEE HEIDNIK, PAGE A-7

hw

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Gary Heidnik: Killer

Death
for
killer?

by Gloria Campisi
and John M. Baer

Daily News Staff Writers

Gary Heidnik’s hell on
earth may soon end.

Gov. Ridge yesterday
signed a death warrant or-
dering that the sex and tor-
ture killer be put to death by
lethal injection on April 15.

Heidnik, 53, a genius-IQ
madman, had ordained him-
Self-bishop of his own
church and successfully par-
layed his way to wealth in
the stock market by the
1980s.

Then he kidnapped six
women between November,
1986, and March, 1987, and
killed two of them, cooking
and.serving parts of the
body of one to his other cap-
tives, at his macabre house
of horrors in North Philadel-.
phia. Since then, Heidnik
has expressed repeatedly the
wish to die.

He was unsuccssful in a
New Year’s Day, 1989, suicide
attempting, gulping a fistful
of the anti-psychotic drug
Thorazine in his prison cell
at the State Correctional In-
stitution at Pittsburgh.

In 1990 he asked the US.
Supreme Court to let his exe-
cution go forward. The re-
quest was denied.

Still, on learning the news
of the death warrant, Heid-
nik’s attorney, A. Charles
Peruto Jr., said he planned
to appeal to the U.S. Surpeme

ourt to have the death sen-
tence commuted to life im-
prisonment.

Peruto refused to say
whether he *-2 conferred
with T.c:anik about trying to
save him from execution.

“I don’t want to comment
on any conversation I’ve had
with him,” Peruto said.

He said the death sentence
should be commuted be-
cause the state had failed to.
put Heidnik to death “in a
timely fashion.”

See HEIDNIK Rage. 31.

e,. 3593
PSM er

BAe eke Ae


PAGE 31

HEIDNIK

Continued from Page 3

“lm asking the Supreme Court
to commute the sentence based
on the fact they waited too long
and made him suffer too much
mentally, keeping him on death
row without executing him.”

He said Heidnik “can’t go out of
his cell without fear of a beating
and that adds to our claim they
should have executed him in a
timely fashion.”

A jury rejected Peruto’s insan-
ity defense and convicted Heid-
nik of first-degree murder and a
number of other crimes. The
judge was Lynne Abraham, now
Philadelphia district attorney.

But a psychiatrist who testified
for the defense said yesterday
Heidnik was “totally insane” at
the time of the crimes and should
receive a new trial exploring in
depth his traumatic early life and
schizophrenia.

Dr. Clancy McKenzie has stayed
in contact with Heidnik and said
he last visited him in prison
about 15 months ago.

He said Heidnik was “delusion-
al” and expressed the desire to
die.

“At that time he was saying he
wanted to die, he wanted to be
executed, but it was for a delu-
sional reason.”

“He was convinced that his exe-
cution would bring an end to all
executions.

“J think he might feel the same
way until they wire him up.

“He vaccilates on [death]. Some
months he was feeling good” and
was “horrified” at the thought of
execution.

“Yet, at other times he’s quite
removed from it, as he can be
removed from reality. Then he
says, yeah, he wants it.”

McKenzie said that when Heid-
nik is in a rational state, he is
shocked by the brutality that oc-
curred in the basement of his

. home on North Marshall Street.

Questioned about one act of tor-
ture, the psychiarist said, “he
nearly vomited.”

One of the victims, a retarded
woman, died while chained to a
basement rafter. Heidnik sawed
up her body and fed parts of the
remains to his other captives, ac-
cording to testimony at is trial.

Another died when he touched
live wires to her chains as she
stood in a pit of water.

Efforts to reach the survivors
failed yesterday.

But the grandmother of one of
the women said she is now mar-
ried and has a family, but is still
not over her ordeal.

“She hasn’t recovered from it.
She’s sick from it,’ the grand-
mother said. “She never mentions
it. She just gets nervous,” and is
being treated for a nervous condi-
tion.

Heidnik said he took the women
to his home so he could father
babies by them.

McKenzie said the killings oc-
curred after Heidnik’s wife, Betty,
left him and then informed him,
by postcard, that she had had his
baby.

Betty Heidnik has stayed in con-
tact with her husband since his
arrest, McKenzie said.

She could not be reached yester-
day.

Ridge yesterday also signed a
death warrant for Mevlin Speight,
24, of Philadelphia, convicted of
the shooting deaths of two rival
gang members. Speight won a stay
of an earlier execution warrant
put the Supreme Court denied his
appeal last month. He is sched:
uled to be executed April 10.

Ridge has signed 74 death war-
rants but only two have been car-
ried out. @

ESTATE ADMINISTRATION=)
BOULEVARD

LAW CENTER
1-888-MY-ESTATE

f=

215-969-6550 ,


Pa. top court blocks Heidnik execution

The U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for his
execution. But then the state court issued its stay.

By Michael Matza

: INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The US. Supreme Court last night
overturned the stay of execution for
torturer-murderer Gary Heidnik,
but an hour later the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court issued a temporary
stay. pending further review.

After the 5-4 vote by the US. Su-

preme Court justices at 9:15 p.m., the
state immediately scheduled a 2 a.m.
execution. But that was quickly
stopped by the state justices, even as
Heidnik was being transported from
Graterford Prison to the death
chamber at Rockview Penitentiary.

A federal appeals court in Phila-
delphia had blocked his execution

earlier in the day, triggering the
emergency appeal to the US. Su-
preme Court.

As a precaution, lawyers for Heid-
nik had filed for the state stay even
while the U.S. Supreme Court was
deliberating.

“It was a short motion incorporat-
ing all the issues we had previously
raised,’ Heidnik lawyer Robert
Dunham said.

When the U.S. Supreme Court rul-

ing came down, Dunham and his.

partner, lawyer Billy Nolas, append-

ed the high court’s terse order to
the state Supreme Court appeal. The
essence of their argument is that
the U.S. Supreme Court — which is-
sued its order without an accompa-
nying opinion — didn’t rule on the
merits of the case. That is the re-
view they are seeking by the Penn-
sylvania Supreme Court.
“This case typifies much of wha
is wrong in the capital-litigatio
process. For the last decade, [Hej
nik] has consistently maintained
See HEIDNIK on A141

Saturday, April 19, 1997

THE PHILADEL

Court stays Heidnik deat

HEIDNIK from At

desire not to appeal his death sen-
tence. He has specifically been
found competent to do so by two
judges, in two separate evidentiary
hearings,” lawyers for the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania said yester-
day in an application asking the U.S.
Supreme Court to let Heidnik’s exe-
cution go forward.

The gist of the commonwealth’s
argument on why Heidnik’s execu-
tion should proceed is that the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Third Cir-
cuit in Philadelphia exceeded its
powers of review when it substitut-
ed “its own judgment of the defend-
ant’s ‘rationality’ for the fact-find-
ing done by the state and federal
district courts.”

“The district court understood
that the ultimate question before it
was not whether the defendant was
delusional, but whether he was de-
lusional to the degree that he was
not competent. ...

“The fact that (Heidnik] was not
able to articulate [his] decision [to
. die] in the noble or religious terms
that might have satisfied the [Third

Circuit] is of no moment. ... The de-

fendant competently elected not to
challenge his sentence, and no out-
sider has the right to do so now out of
opposition to capital punishment.”
Responding to the government’s
application, lawyers for Heidnik
maintained that the commonwealth’s
psychiatric expert “misrepresented
key facts” about Heidnik’s mental
state when he pronounced him sane.

W 7 oe ee may _—

“This doctor worked with the

prosecutors in this case and was not
an ‘independent’ evaluator,” Heid-
nik’s lawyers argued.
The appeal, which Justice David
Souter referred to the full bench at
7:30 last night, seemed as if it would
be the capper on another frantic
day of litigation until the late-break-
ing state stay.

Working late into Thursday night
on a decision they released in the wee
hours yesterday, the Third Circuit re-
versed the lower federal court and
ordered that Heidnik’s 19-year-old
daughter, Maxine Davidson White, be
granted legal standing as her father’s
“next friend” in order to wage her
legal battle to save his life.

White says her father is mentally ill
and his waiver of appeals is an irratio-
nal decision by a delusional man. Act-
ing on a death warrant signed by Gov.
Ridge, the commonwealth says it’s
time for Heidnik to die. ;

Heidnik himself has never ap-
pealed his 1988 conviction and sen-
tence for the torture of six women
and murder of two. In fact, for more
than a decade, he has petitioned to
be put to death as soon as possible.

Just days before his scheduled ex-
ecution, anti-death-penalty lawyers
intervened, triggering a weeklong
welter of litigation.

In state court on Monday, an agi-
tated Heidnik testified. He main-
tained that he is innocent, that his
Victims actually killed themselves,
and that he’s choosing death be-
cause his unjust execution by lethal

injection would trigger a social up-
heaval to end capital punishment.

Philadelphia Common Pleas
Court Judge John J. Poserina found
Heidnik competent. His lawyers ap-
pealed to federal court.

After hearing the testimony of
several psychiatric experts, all of
whom but John S. O’Brien opined
that Heidnik is out of his mind, U.S.
District Judge Franklin Van Ant-
werpen concluded that the “House
of Horrors” killer is a paranoid
schizophrenic. But he also deemed
him competent to choose death.

The Third Ciréuit flatly dis-
agreed.

“While there is no dispute as to
Heidnik’s considerable intelligence
and expressive powers ... there is
no evidence, and no finding, that
Heidnik could make a rational deci-
sion,” the court said.

Citing what it called “a fundamen-
tal flaw” in the commonwealth’s po-
sition, the Third Circuit went on:

“In short, the record does not sup-
port a rational explanation as to why,
even if Heidnik has rationalized to
himself that he was innocent, he
could, despite his delusions, make a
rational decision to die. A psychiatric
expert might have supplied this, but
O’Brien did not.”

With the clock ticking toward the
midnight deadline tonight on Heid-
nik’s death warrant, the federal
court ordered an indefinite Stay of
his execution followed by the on-
again-off-again status of the execu-
tion late into last night.


strained weekend in a bizarre case:

The execution was off. Then it was on. Then it was off
again. Yesterday, his: daughter won a temporary reprieve.

By Michael Matza
and Monica Yant
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
On Friday night, he was hastily
driven halfway across the state for a
wee-hours date with death that would
not be kept.

Yesterday, his daughter visited with
him in a building just yards from the
execution chamber while a half-dozen
justices debated whether to order Gary
Heidnik’s death.

By late yesterday, after a flurry of
faxes, the “House of Horrors” killer was

being prepared for a trip back to death
row in Pittsburgh to wait, again.
Heidnik was spared, damned, then
Spared again as attorneys, judges and
court staffs worked with minimal sleep
and maximum speed. The U.S. Supreme
Court got involved not once, but twice.
In the end, the convicted double-mur-
derer was spared’ execution — at least
for now — by a 4-2 vote of the Pennsyl-
vania Supreme Court. Heidnik was
granted a stay of execution seven hours

‘before his death warrant expired.

The one-page order grants Heidnik’s
19-year-old daughter, Maxine Davidson
White, the right to argue to the Com-
mon Pleas Court in Philadelphia as a
“next friend” — on his behalf, but
against his wishes — that he is mentally
ill, and thus.should not be executed.

In a dissenting statement, though, two
justices took Heidnik’s lawyers to task
for “inexplicable tactics” and the rapid
round of appeals.

Heidnik lives

Given Gov. Ridge’s policy of not issu-
ing death warrants during pending ap-
peals, it could be weeks before the exe-
cution issue resurfaces.
Heidnik ‘is to be returned to the State
Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh
from Rockview State Prison in Belle-
fonte, Centre County, where prison offi-
cials had been preparing to administer
a lethal injection.

“Frustrating is the word that comes to

See HEIDNIK on A17

Tomorrow,:

Gary Heidnik


Court delays Heidnik’s death,
frenzied weekend

cappin oa

_ HEIDNIK from A1
mind,” said Tim Reeves, Ridge’s
press secretary, of the weeklong se-
ries of late-night, last-minute ap-
peals and decisions. “Gary Heidnik
was sentenced nearly a decade ago.
All these issues could have been ex-
plored years ago, if they were truly
issues of burning justice.”

Robert Dunham, Heidnik’s attor-
ney, was relieved.

“Obviously, we’re pleased,” he
said. “We have seen this case go
from defeat to victory to defeat to
victory and back again so many
times. I don’t think anyone thinks
they could have a week like this.”

On that, even the opposition
agreed.

“The things that have happened
Here this week, I haven’t seen be-
fore,” said Ronald Eisenberg, the
deputy district attorney gearing up
for. another round with the case.
“The process has not been a good
one.”

The ping-pong action of litigation
began in the early-morning hours
Friday when a federal appeals court
blocked Heidnik’s execution. At 9:15
p.m. Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court,
in a 5-4 vote, overturned that ruling.

The state immediately responded,
making plans for a 2 a.m. execution.
Butan hour later, the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court issued a temporary
stay pending further review. That
stay was in effect when the US. Su-
preme: Court, in a ruling handed
down at 12:15 am. yesterday, re-
fused to vacate it.

“This case typifies much of what
is wrong in the capital-litigation
process,” lawyers for the common-
wealth argued in their first applica-
tion to the U.S. Supreme Court. “For
the last decade, Heidnik has consis-

tently maintained his desire not to.

appeal his death sentence. He has
specifically been found competent
to do so by two judges, in two Sepa-
rate evidentiary hearings.” .

The state Supreme Court took up
the matter yesterday, working in
separate offices and communicating
py telephone. If it had lifted the
stay, the Department of Corrections
had until midnight, when the death
warrant was to expire, to carry out
the execution.

The dissenting statement, written
by Justice Ronald D. Castille and
joined by Justice Sandra Newman,
chastised Heidnik’s attorneys for
enveloping the legal system in “her-

culean efforts to try to sift through
the numerous and at times merit-
less filings” made on behalf of a dis-
approving client.

“|. Eleventh hour tactics such as
those ... can unnecessarily jeopard-
ize the interest of a client, and are
inexcusable,” the statement read,
“especially where the interests at
stake are literally a matter of life
and death.”

Dunham dismissed the sugges-

tions that he and his nonprofit Cen-
ter for Legal Educa-

waiver of appeals is an irrational de-
cision by a delusional man.

In state court on Monday, an agi-
tated, hollow-eyed Heidnik testified,
carrying a Bible on which he had
scrawled, “Help Me Reach the FBI.”
He maintained that he is innocent,
that his victims actually killed
themselves, and that he is choosing
to expedite his death because his
unjust execution would trigger a So-
cial upheaval to end capital punish-
ment.

Philadelphia Com-

tion, Advocacy and De- . H mon Pleas Court Judge

fense Assistance were Two justices, John J. Poserina found

using Heidnik for poe IN@ dissenting ‘Heidnik competent.

litical purposes. statement His lawyers appealed
’

“We have repeatedly

been referred to as chastised
anti-death penalty law- Heidnik’s

yers who are orches-

trating _ last-minute lawyers for
pleadings in order to “inexplicable
tactics.’

throw the courts into
chaos,” Dunham said.

“That is simply not
the case. It suggests a political.
agenda as opposed to our legal re-
sponsibility, which is to represent
people on death row. That’s like re-
ferring to Colin Powell as being pro-
war because he’s in the military.”

For almost a decade, Heidnik’s
1988 sentence went unghallenged.
He waived all appeals and main-
tained he wanted to be put to death
as soon as possible. An automatic re-
view of his death sentence was af-
firmed by the state Supreme Court
in 1991.

Thereafter, he actually petitioned
to go to the head of the line of pris-
oners awaiting death.

“He believes that he is innocent
because the victims killed them-
selves. That is plainly delusional,”
Dunham said. “He believes that his
arrest and his prosecution is a prod-
uct of a massive conspiracy against
him involving the Philadelphia po-

lice, the victims, a stock broker .

from Merrill Lynch and a variety of
imposters. That, too, is plainly delu-
sional.”

It was only after CLEADA, a Phila-
delphia legal-services organization
that provides lawyers for people on
death row, took his case that it has
come under intensive review.

Last week, CLEADA lawyers Billy
Nolas and Dunham began represent-

ing Heidnik’s daughter, who says

her father is mentally ill and his

to federal court.

After hearing the
testimony of several
psychiatric experts, all
of whom but John S.
O’Brien opined that
Heidnik is out of his
mind, US. District
Judge Franklin Van
Antwerpen concluded that the
killer is a paranoid schizophrenic.
But he also deemed him competent
to choose death.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit flatly rejected that

‘reasoning, setting in motion the

marathon of litigation that played
out like “Beat the Clock.”

“The [federal] district court un-
derstood that the ultimate question
before it was not whether the de-
fendant was delusional, but
whether he was delusional to the
degree that he was not competent,”
the state maintained.

“The defendant competently
elected not to challenge his sen-
tence, and no outsider has the right
to do so now out of opposition to
capital punishment.”

Lawyers for Heidnik maintained
that the commonwealth’s psychiat-
ric expert had “misrepresented key
facts” about Heidnik’s mental state
when he pronounced him sane.
“This doctor worked with the prose-
cutors in this case and was not an
‘independent’ evaluator,” Heidnik’s
lawyers argued.

A battery of defense psychiatrists
concluded that Heidnik was severe-
ly mentally ill — neither competent
to waive his appellate rights, nor of
sound enough mind to be executed
legally in the United States.


hair behind the right ear. By golly! That looks like
a bullet-hole!”

“It is a bullet-hole!” responded Swain. “What'll we
do now?” he interrogated excitedly. “Shall we phone
Rex?”

Calling Rex Sopher Sr., at Sylvania, they reported
their startling discovery. When the elder Sopher ar-
rived and examined their find, he agreed that it defi-
nitely bore close resemblance to a bullet-hole. Despite
the late hour, he immediately phoned the coroner, in-
forming him of the amazing turn of events,

“J’m sure it’s a bullet-hole, coroner. We’ll leave the
body exactly as it is until you arrive.”

“P]] be over first thing in the morning,” the coroner

told him.

Cae mountain morning broke cold and_ sharp.
Apathetically, the Winter sun threw its half-hearted
warmth on the road where Charlie Shadduck and Lynn
Kilmer struggled to start Shadduck’s stalled truck.

Finally the motor roared into life again, shattering
the silence with a series of explosions.

“Now the boy can get started on that milk route,”
Shadduck breathed in relief.

As the boy drove away in the truck, Kilmer turned to
Shadduck saying, “Have you been over to see poor
John yet, Charlie?”

“No, I haven’t, Lynn, let’s go over now. I’d like tuh
give him my sympathy. It’s an awful thing, Jennie
dyin’ like that. It’s the last thing I’d expected.”

Science finds the

A |
ON THE FLOOR——
of a bedroom, the
body’ lay in a pool
of erimson. blood.

Bent on consoling their neighbor in his time of sor-
row, the two men hurriedly walked the short distance
to the Porter home. Little did they know the tale of
mystery and horror they were about to encounter. .

“Hello, John,” they greeted Porter. “Sorry we
couldn’t get over sooner. Is there anything we can do—
any chores we can take care of? You know how we
fee] about this.”

“No men,” Porter answered slowly. “I'd rather take
care of things myself. Makes me feel better to be

>»

workin’.
Stepping into the kitchen, the two visitors nodded and

spoke to Porter’s sister who was washing the breakfast
dishes. te

“How did it all happen anyway, John?” asked Charlie
Shadduck. “Jennie hadn’t been sick, had she?”

“No, that’s the strange thing about it, Charlie. The
whole thing seems mighty mixed up.”

“Mixed up is no word for it,” broke in Porter’s sister
tartly. “Someone killed Jennie!”

“What's that?” exploded Kilmer as he and Shadduck §
stared aghast at the woman. Ss

“Now, Neva, who’d do a thing like that?” objected &
Porter.

“Listen to me, John Porter,” she snapped. “It was no
secret that Jennie mistrusted banks. There’s plenty of &
people who could have sneaked down here bent on get- &
tin’ their greedy hands on some of her money. I tell
you someone ought to look into this thing further. I
know right well that Jennie didn’t just up and die. I’m

truth in

c ah 4 ‘i i

E
uUu

T

°

c

“2° NEIGHBOR— | n
Charles Shadduck r
found the murder- :

er’s elusive trail.

“aan P
~ % be

rn

TROOPER—— ‘
Howard Kisner
assisted in obtain- |
ing a confession.


Tl, SO eee a SRT
a fF ag

The coroner quickly rose from his examination.
Deputy Meehan shot a glance at the woman who had
just spoken. “What makes you think it’s foul play?” yf. .

“I just feel it in my bones. Jennie’s never had any hee
trouble before and I just know something terrible’s
happened.” :

“Who are you, madam?” asked the coroner. |
“This is my sister, Mrs. Neva Brown,” offered Porter. |

|
I

Qu >

Naturally a fastidious, thorough man, Coroner Dreier
wanted to make certain that his diagnosis was a ‘correct
one. “Please get me a comb and some warm water,” he
requested. “I think Mrs. Porter had a fainting -spell
\ and fell, striking her head. This blood could be caused
\py a cerebral hemorrhage. But I'll re-examine to make
ertain.”

F’\ Again the two men bent over the lifeless form and,

iid ee : oo \ WA washing the blood away, they combed the hair with a
1e a ' § fine-tooth comb, searching diligently for
some slight.clue that niight indicate murder.
1e This time, as the coroner. arose he said,
d “It’s death from natural causes, brought on
by cerebral hemorrhage.” Porter’s sister was
mn silent. :
‘k “Mr. Porter, with your permission, I'll \
k, have the body taken to the mortuary at
1e “=. \Dushore,” said Dreier.
Ww ‘ “Coroner,” said Porter slowly, “our people
e. ave always been taken care of at Rex
1- \ Sophers’ place in Troy. If’n it’s all right by
= t,:you, I’d a heap rather have her taken there.”
a... Later, the same night, the Sopher hearse
is a\pulled up before the isolated Porter home.
a \Frank Swain and Rex Sopher Jr. entered the
ly gloomy farmhouse and carried away the
“Spody’ of Jennie Porter.
At the funeral home, bright overhead
i- lights threw a glare full upon the form that
ss lay before them as the two undertakers fin-
of ished using the embalming processor. Frank
ill Ei cat 4, Swain was combing the hair back, drying it
1- we / out, when a slow drip, drip, sounded.
Pp, ‘ may, “What's that, Rex?” questioned Swain, in-
on Klicating a trickle which seemed to fall from
behind the right ear of the figure on the
oe bable.
je wy” “I don’t know, but I do know that we used
more fluid than usual,’ rejoined young
t’s Sopher., Then, bending closer, he added,

“Here it is, Swain. It’s a tiny hole under the
69


ve

he

)a mountal

GRAVE——
of the victim buried deep
in the deserted hills.

HUSKY——
Ernie Hipple (at top)
was a ne’er-do-well.

THE TRAIL—— CORONER——
of the killer ended in Joseph Dreier (above)
a field near the house. won against heavy odds.

not the only one suspects there’s foul play been done
neither. The people of the community are whispering
it around and, if it ever does come to light that she’s
been murdered, it’ll look mighty bad for you.”

“Maybe she’s right, John,” said Shadduck. . “Did you
notice anyone ’round the house yesterday?”

“No, the only one who was here was Ernie Hipple.”

“Hipple!” exclaimed Kilmer, shooting a glance at
Shadduck.

“Did he stay here while you went to'the mail box?”
excitedly queried Shadduck. Ms

“No, Ernie went along with me part way ’n’ cut off
into the woods. He wasn’t gone long though. I went
over to Ward Norton’s after I mailed the cards nm. At
wasn’t long afore Hipple joined me.”

“John, Ernie was carrying his gun, wasn’t he?” sug-
gested Charlie. ce _!

“Wa'al, yes,” muttered Porter. “But he wouldn't
harm Jennie. We've been too good to that boy. Fed him
‘n’ let his folks grow potatoes on our land. Naw, it
couldn’t have been Ernie.” :

“ve got it,” shouted Shadduck. ‘“There’s still a nice
tracking snow. Let’s pick up Hipple’s trail and find
out for ourselves just where he went.”

“Now hold on there, Charlie,” complained Porter.

runnin’.

BA TFRIEND— :
Earl Ayres (at
right) shows where
Jennie's body. lay-

i

n murder mystery

“That boy didn’t have a blamed thing to do with Jen-
nie’s dyin’ and I ain’t goin’ to direct no suspicion on
him.” aes

“There’s one thing you haven't thought of, John,”
softly rejoined Shadduck. “They might try to lay this
thing on you. You might have to free yourself.”

The expression that came over the face of the old
man, upon Shadduck’s suggestion, was pitiful to behold.
Amid sobs he managed to say, “Why, Charlie, people
know I wouldn't kill Jennie.”

“yes, John, we know it,’ Charlie assured him. “But
everyone doesn’t know you like we do. Outsiders might
look at things different than you and me.”

“Come on, John, let’s give it a try,” said Kilmer. “Tf
Hipple is innocent, there’ll be no harm done and it will
make us feel a darn sight easier.”

“All right,” weakly consented Porter. ‘“T’ll do it.”

Following the clear imprint of two sets of footprints
that lay undisturbed in the snow, they came to the
spot where Hipple had veered off. Eagerly the three
traced Hipple’s movements, commenting and conjectur-
ing upon what he may have done.

“He sure was in a hurry,”’ pronounced Shadduck.
“Lookit the distance between tracks. He must’ve been

Moving farther along the trail, the trio crossed a small
creek and Shadduck stopped abruptly.

“Look, here’s where he jumped across the creek. He
must've slipped and fell. See the perfect outline of
his body.”

“you're right, Charlie. There’s the print of his gun.
Just like a picture, ain’t it?” supplemented Kilmer.
“And these marks must be where he dug his fingers
in the snow.” —

A few rods from the house all traces of the trail dis-
appeared into a field. As the (Continued on page 100)

71


100

“Sure I got a plant. I told you

muggs all I had to do was come down °

here. Listen, it’s the Persian Room in
the Hotel Plaza. Come on over and
spread out till I give you the high
sign.”

si moved away and waited for the
woman I had overheard to step out.
It was Dorothy Stirrat!

I forgot all about Brenda and about
phoning Jim. Instead I hurried back
to the table.and told Tommy to get
the check. “‘There’s going to be plenty
of fireworks here tonight, and I don’t
want to be in it,” I said, and repeated
what I had heard Dorothy Stirrat
say over the telephone.

Leaving the Persian Room that
night was one of the smartest hunches
I ever had. But I didn’t find that out
till the next morning, when all the
headlines blazed forth the story of
the latest and most brazen jewelry
stickup yet.

Mrs. Forrestal, the woman whom
Dorothy Stirrat had been observing
so closely, was robbed as she stepped
out of her car in front of 27 Beek-
man Place, in the exclusive Murray
Hill section of New York. She was
relieved of gems worth more than
$75,000. °

It was this case, incidentally, which
caused such a howl from the general
public and the insurance companies,
that the police redoubled their ef-
forts and eventually picked up so
many jewel thieves that we broke
our own gang up.

ON account of all the heat being
put on, Jim began to work very
carefully, and we spent a long time
casing a job before it was attempted.
It was probably only because of this
and pure luck that we managed to
stay out of jail, because I began see-
ing stories in the newspapers about
the different men who were picked
up in connection with jewel robber-
ies.

Joseph Schaefer, who pulled the
Waldorf-Astoria jewelry shop job,
was sent away for five to ten years
in Sing Sing. Harry Rezka, who later

ETECTIVE

three stood staring at the field, Shad-
duck spoke: “This is enough for me,
John. Let’s call the Law.”

Agreeing, Porter asked Kilmer to
phone the sheriff at Laporte. Kilmer
departed and the other two returned
to the house to discuss their discovery
further.

A the junction where the dirt road
that dipped into the hollow of the
Porter farm, joined the black-top road
leading into Wheelerville and on to
Canton, two cars coming from oppo-
site directions, pulled up simulta-
neously. One machine bore Sheriff
Obert and Deputy Meehan; Coroner
Dreier and three State Troopers were
in the other. .

Recognizing the Trooper at the
wheel as Corporal Charles Santee, one
of the most brilliant men on the Penn-
sylvania State Police force, Sheriff

CRIME DETECTIVE

confessed to the $72,000 gem robbery
at 565 Fifth Avenue and the $93,000
stickup of Sally Milgrim in her Long
Island home, and the robbery of Mrs.
Murray Furman of 13 West 81st Street
of jewels wb6rth $60,000 was also
picked up.

Finally, Dorothy Stirrat, the wo-
man I had overheard speaking on
the telephone in the Persian Room,
was arrested. She was charged with
participation in the robbery of Mrs.
Forrestal!

On October 21, 1940 she came to

trial in General Sessions, and from .

the very beginning the case was a
walkaway for the State. I guess
Dorothy herself knew it was all over
whtn Assistant District Attorney Her-
man T. Stichman put Rubin Klansky
on the stand.

Rubin, a bald, nervous little ex-
dope peddler who was part of the
mob, turned State’s evidence and de-
scribed the Forrestal robbery in de-
tail, from the time Dorothy and

Pickles Girsch first put the finger on:

Mrs. Forrestal till she called the mob
at their hotel on Fourth Avenue and
Twenty-ninth Street and told them
to come to the Plaza.

He not only put Dorothy on the
spot, but by his testimony he brought
in other alleged members of the mob:
Michael Lomars, business agent of
the Confectionery and Tobacco Job-
bers’ Employes Union and Joseph
“Moishe” Weiss.

Dorothy, whom all the newspapers
named Mme. Lady Finger, tried to
deny the whole thing, but the testi-
mony against her was overwhelming.
Lomars claimed he had never seen
her before the trial, and tried to dis-
credit Klansky. Klansky, he said,
was trying to involve him in the crime
for revenge, because he had refused
to give him a union job. His reason
for this refusal, Lowars added, was
that Klansky was an ex-convict.

A surprise witness, Lewis (Doc)
Fiddleman, who operates a barber
shop at 172 Eldridge Street, identified
Dorothy, Lomars and Weiss as hav-
ing frequented his barber shop for

Obert stepped from his car and ad-
vanced toward the other machine.

“Hello, Corporal,” greeted Obert.
“Porter had someone phone me. He
‘says that his wife has been murdered
and he thinks he knows who did it.
Who rang you boys in on this thing?”

“She’s been ‘murdered all right,”
responded Santee. “Embalming fluid
opened up the bullet hole. It was
under the hair behind the right ear.
Look’s like a .22 bullet did the trick.
Dr. DeWan of the Robert Packard
Hospital in Sayre is trying to recover
the bullet now. The coroner here
called me.”

“It was black as pitch in that house
last night,” recalled Meehan, who had
come up behind the sheriff. “No won-
der the coroner and I didn’t find that
bullet hole.”

Santee turned toward Meehan. “You
are right, Deputy. It would be almost

JENNIE IS FOUND DEAD

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)

the purpose of meeting and conversing.

Joseph Roy, a private watchman,

testified that on the night of the rob-

bery Lomars stopped his car in front
of the home of Katherine Cornell, the
actress, at 23 Beekman Place, but was
told to drive on. This address is only

a few doors away from Mrs. Forres-
’ tal’s home.

They even brought in a few of the
boys who were already in prison for
other jobs to testify. Harry Rezka,
one of the best men in the business
and who has probably stolen better
than a half million in gems at one
time or another, told the court that
Dorethy Stirrat and Weiss had
bragged to him several times that
they “took” Mrs. Forrestal.

Joe Schaeffer, who is serving time
for the Waldorf-Astoria job, gave the
same testimony.

As I say, the trial was almost an
open and shut case, and I didn’t even
wait for the end of it before I beat
it for Scranton, Pa. New York was
getting a little too hot. Jim went
with me. The other boys split up and
hit out for various resort cities.

I figure we all made a good thing
out of it, and -plenty of money while
it lasted but it’s too dangerous for my
taste. The cops have picked up too
many of the big boys who really know
their stuff, and getting Dorothy Stir-
rat was just the death knell as far as
Jim and I were concerned. Of course,
I myself am completely in the clear.
I have no police record, I’ve never
been picked up for anything.

I doubt very much that the Stirrat
gang was the original stickup bunch
that started the cycle of Park Ave-
nue-night club jewel stickups. Those
first boys were smooth and cultured,
and from what I’ve seen of the Stirrat
gang, they’re just muggs.

Do I feel repentant, now that I’m
out of the racket and no longer fin-
gering jobs? Not exactly. [ figure
any woman who ties a hundred thou-
sand dollars worth of emeralds and
rubies around herself probably has
more where they came from and de-
serves to be taken over.

impossible to see a wound like that
under those conditions.”

The dominant personality of Cor-
poral Santee regimented the others
into the background. He immediately
took charge and, with Troopers How-
ard Kisner and George Boyer, accom-
panied Sheriff Obert, Deputy Meehan
and Coroner Dreier to the house. Once
inside, Santee hurled pertinent ques-
tions fast and furiously.

“Who claims they know. who com-
mitted this murder?”

Porter, Shadduck and Kilmer | all
spoke up.

“All right,” snapped Santee. “Who
did it?”

_Shadduck answered. “The day Jen-
nie was murdered, John claims that
pod Hipple was the only one around

ere—” :

_ “Who are you? What’s your interest
in this case?” asked the corporal.

off into

Porte:

melted,”

ITE
out
started 1
Porter’s
up to the
near the


224 The Chicago Crime Book

o 3

In January, 1893, when the castle’s one hundred rooms

were all finished, they naturally enough needed furniture.
To a man of lesser imagination, in Holmes’ financial circum-
stances, the job of acquiring it might have seemed stageering.
But Holmes bore up well under the strain. He made a small
down payment on a single set of furniture and promised to
pay the balance in installments. Then, for cash, he sold what
he had purchased, and with tke money realized was able to
make down payments on several sets. Thus, repeating the
process again and again, he finally had his enormous struc-
ture nicely fitted out with the requisite number of beds,
tables, chairs, couches, and whatever else was required.

At this time of his life, Holmes was approaching thirty-
three, stood 5’ 7”, and weighed between 145 and 150. He was
sandy-haired, with a high forehead, a strong chin, and he
sported a drooping walrus moustache. Pictures of him indi-
cate that he was a stylish dresser, and even in his pictures, his
hypnotic gaze (marked by Clara Lovering, his first wife) is
ciearly evident. Indeed, Holmes must have practiced hyp-
nosis, for nothing else explains how he enticed to his castle
the veritable harem of young women who occupied it, for
varving iengths of time, during the spring, summer, and early
fall of ge.

Different authorities have put this number of girls at
anywhere from 50 to i50, but the mean figure of 100 would
appear to be a fair estimate. Most of the young women seem
to have been visitors to the Columbian Exposition, but some,
1€ is known, held jobs in Chicago. and others even worked for
the master of the castle, for brief periods, in one or another of

hf shady enterprises. It is fairly certain, however, that the»

members of this latter group were not aware that their
etaployer was a crook, since. by and large. the girls appear to
have come from good. families and a high percentage of them
were probably of means, if the expensive clothing and jewels
they wore are any indication.

i¢ was this financial means. of course, that Holmes was
after—once a girl had satisfied him sexually. Many of them

Nightmare Castle 995

became his mistresses, although it is not meant to be sug-
gested here that he was successful, in this respect, with all.
Many more, in all probability, he merely robbed. But the
horrifying thing is that a great many of the girls, once they
were installed in the castle, were never seen again. Holmes,
the expert at causing people to vanish, was playing hard at
this sport during the season of ’93.

Ruminating over all this, one wonders, reasonably enough,
what the neighbors thought of the strange goings-on in the
grotesque building at Sixty-third and Wallace Streets, and
one wenders, too, concerning Julia Conner’s position in the
weird household. As to the first, it is to be remembered that
Holmes, during the construction of his castle, had announced
that he would operate the third floor as a hotel, and the
assumption must be that the other residents of the vicinity,
seeing a horde of young women going“in and out, caine to the
conclusion that they were hotel! guests.

As for Julia, it goes without saying that she did not stand
idly and peaceably by while her lover exercised himself with
a muititude of other charmers. indeed, there is evidence to
the effect that Holmes, in order to carry on his many affairs,
was hard put to it to pull the wool over her eyes, and that on

_ Several occasions, when she caught him in the bed of a rival,’

there was scratching and hair-pulling all over the place.
Holmes tolerated her tantrums—but only for a time. Then it
became Julia’s turn to disappear. “She’s gone to join her

husband,” the doctor explained to the friends she’d made in

the neighborhood. “Do I think she’!] return? No, I’m afraid

_ she never will.” -

AS. a repiacement for the former favorite in his harem,
Holmes chose the most beautiful girl with whom he'd ever
“effected a liaison. She was a delicately featured blonde—

_ twenty-one-year-old Minnie Williams, who, although a native

of Mississippi, came to Chicago by way of Fort Worth, Texas,
where she'd inherited from an uncle a picce_ of real estate

226 The Chicago Crime Book

henchman of his named Banjamin F. Pitezel, and Pitezel, at
this point, is worth perhaps a few words of delineation. To
begin with, he was a hopeless, watery-eyed alcoholic, incapable
of making a living either for himself or his tamily—and his
family was far from small. Pitezel had a wife and five chil-
dren. The eldest, Dessie, was in her late teens, and the
youngest, Wharton, an infant in diapers. In between came
Howard, Nellie, and Alice. It is necessary so to enumerate
them, for all the Pitezels were to figure prominently in
Holmes, later advéiitures. This is particularly true of the
father, Ben. Ben Pitezel was completely under Holmes’
power, since the doctor, aside from providing his weak-willed
cohort with food and shelter. also gave him che drink he
craved and for which he would perform any task, no matter
how terrible.

Installed in the star’s dressing room at the castle, so to
speak, Minnie Williams must have been celuded into think-
ing she was soon to take on the role of Holmes’ wife. In June,
she wrote her sister, Anna, in Texas, to come to Chicago for
the wedding--a wedding that never occurred. The invitation
was extended, doubtlessly, at Holmes instigation, for at
about this time, he learned, to his chagrin, that the Fort
Worth property had been left not to Minnie alone, but to
Anna also, as joint beneficiary. Holmes, of course, coveted
the property, and he knew that in order to get the signatures
of both sisters on the deed, he would have to ture Anna to
Chicago.

Ske came, and signed—once he turned his hypnotic gaze
upon her. In July, she wrote to triends back in Texas: “Dr.
Holmes is a wonderful man, He’s taking Minnie and ine to
Germany, where | shall probably study att. He says Tl never
want ior anything for the rest of niy life and the folks back
home need ‘never worry about me.” It was directly after this
that Anna vanished, although how Holmes explained to
Minnie what happened to her is a poit lost to history.

By now, the Fort Worth property was in Helmes’ name.

Nighimare Castle 22

*

That the transaction might not readily be traced to him,
however, he deeded it over to Ben Pitezel and then, in the
last summer, the two left for Fort Worth to see what they
might realize on it. Arrived there, Pitezel could not with-
stand the temptation to steal a horse. Texas justice being
what it was in such matters, Holmes and his contederate
found it necessary to depart from Fort Worth even more
rapidly than they had come.

Back in Chicago, the unholy pair found the doctor's finan-
cial affairs in a perilous state. In his absence, the holders of
his innumerable chattel and real estate mortgages had got
together and determined that he owed them, all told, nearly
one hundred thousand dollars, and that assets he'd repre-
sented as his own to some creditors were actually the prop-
erty of other creditors. The group retained a lawyer, who
gave Holmes the alternative of raising the hundred grand m
thirty days or going to jal! for fraud.

The doctor waited unul the twenty-ninth day and then
made an on-ihe-fence decision. Locking and barring up the
castle, he fled Chicago, taking Minnie Williams and the seven
Pitezeis with him. In St. Louis, he lett the Pitezels with some
of their acquaintances and then he and Minnie concnued on
to Denver.

In the Colorado city, the doctor dropped the name of
Holmes, temporarily, and began calling himself Henry
Howard. Under this alias, he met a good-lookmg redhead
named Georgie Anna Yoke, wiio had lately come out fo
Denver from her home town of Franklin, Indiana. Appar-

ently, Holmes couldn't have what he wanted of Georgie
- Anna without marrying her, and so this he did. at Denver

City Hall, on January 17, 1894.
The marriage is curious since the groom already had two

living wives, neither of whom he'd divorced. Also curious is
the fact that Minnie Williams appeared as a witness at the

wedding. As the young Southern girl stood there and

“watched her lover plight his treth with another woman, one

228 The Chicago Crime Book

3 Nightmare Castle 229

wonders what could have been going through her ‘mind.
Conceivably, she was again in a state of hypnosis, but there is
also room for other conjecture. By now, perhaps, Minnie was
aware of Holimes’ criminal tendencies, but was determined
nevertheless to throw in her lot with him. And perhaps, too,
she figured the ceremony he was going through with Georgie
Anna was only that he might better victimize his latest
female acquisition.

If so, nothing could have been further from the truth.
Soon after the marriage, Holmes sent Georgie Anna home to
Indiana for a visit With her parents, and then he and Minnie,
under cover of night, sneaked back to Chicago and the castle.
At this port, Minnie disappeared, following her sister and
the bevy of other young women in whose fate the doctor had
a directing hand.

In April of 1894, Holmes, trav cling alone, turned up at the
Pitezels’ in St. Louis. He h: id a scheme, he told Ben~Pitezel,
to make a quick ten thousand dollars. A simple fraud and by
no means an original one, it involved the brocurement of
imsurance on Ben's life, his simulated death, and the substitu-
tion of a cadaver with which to fool the insurance company.
“Philadelphia,” said Homes, “would be the most likely city
to pull this. [ have a friend there im a medical school who can
supply me with a corpse.” After a tew drinks, Ben expressed
himself willing to partieipate. He dutifully got himself in-
sured. with the Fidelity Mutual Life of Philadelphia, but
before any further step could be taken to advance the
swindic, Flolmes ran inte troubie on another front.

ig order to meet current expenses and pay the initial
msurance premium, it s oe the doctor had obtained a
mortgage on a- piece of St. Louis real estate that he did not
own. Before he could get out of town, the subplot had been
discovered, and the mortgage holder had had him clapped in
jaul. in spite of his countless crimes, this, so far as is known,
was the first time he'd ever been brought to book for any of
theni—and he deeply. resented the incarceration.

In the jail, Holmes got friendly with a fellow inmate
named Marion Hedgepath, a notorious train robber. The
two plotted to escape and during the course of their discus-
sions on the subject, Holmes ise to Hedgepath the
insurance fraud he had in mind. “It won't be as easy as you
think,” the bandit cautioned. “Suppose the insurance com:
pany refuses to pay—you'll need a lawyer. Let me introduce
you toa good man, who knows the ropes and how to keep his
mouth shut. Colonel Jeptha Howe—he’s right here an St.
Louis.”

At Hedgepath’s summons, Howe visited the jail and con-
ferred with Holmes. In return for the introduction, the
doctor promised to cut the train robber in for a $500 share
should the insurance fraud succeed. Soon atter this, Georgie
Anna, in Indiana, heard of her husband’s plight. She bor-
rowed from her family and hurried to St. Louis to perform
the wifely function of bailing him out. Thus Holmes and
Hedgepath had no opportunity to put into execution their
joint escape plans, but when the doctor departed the jail,
under bond, he swore eternal friendship with the bandit he
left behind him.

At this late date, it would be all but impossible to guess In

~what light Georgie Anna he id the character of the husband

who, within a few months of their marriage, had turned out
to. be a jail bird. Whatever she thought, she stuck with him,
although there is no reason to believe that she had any
inkling of his intentions with Pitezeil. After his release,
Holmes deposited his bride in Baltimore, while Pitezel lett
Ais family in St. Louis. Then, in August, the two men visited

Philadelphia egret and rented a two-story building at
- 1316 CaHowhil! Street that had a store on the street floor and
“Tiving quarters above.

Across the window of the store, they lettered “B. F. Perry—

= Patents Bought and Sold,” and equipped the place with the

radimentary accessories of a physics laboratory. On August
Ba eerpecnet pained Lugene Smith wander ed by, saw the

230 The Chicago Crime Book

 F
sign, and entered. Holmes remained upstairs, but Pitezel
talked with him. Smith had invented a device for sharpening
the teeth of saws, he declared, and wanted to market it. ~

“Do you nave a model of your invention?” asked Pitezel.

“Not yet,” said Smith, “but I’m working on one.”
“When you get it finished,” suggested Pitezel, ‘‘bring it in,
and I'll see what I can do for you.”

On September 4, Smith returned, model in hand. He
found no one in the frout room of the store, and so, after
calling out and announcing himself, continued on to a rear
one. There, he naade an awful discovery. A man lay dead on
the floor. his face blackened as though by an explosion, and
nearby were strewn the fragments of a shattered belljar, a
pipe containing unburned tobacco and a number of matches.
Smith called the police, and the police, the coroner. This
latter official, alter assessing the situation (but none too
astutely, as it turned out). pronounced it death by accidental

jeans. In the opinion of the coroner, the victim had at-
tempted to light his pipe too near a bellyar filled with some
highly inflammabie gas or liquid and nad, as a consequence,
blown himself up. The body was still in a state of rigor
mortis, indicating that death had taken place during the past
few hours. The coroner removed it to the morgue, held it for
ten days, and then, when no one claimed it, buried it in
Potter’s Field. |

On September 20, Colonel Jeptha Howe arrived in Phila-
de!phia from St. Louis, as attorney for Mrs. Pitezel and the
children. He explained to the coroner and to a claim repre-
sgut tative of the Fidelity Mutual Life that the dead man was
Benjamin F. Pitezel, although, tor business reasons, he had
been operating his patent business under the style of B. F.
Perry. The Fidelity Mutual, said Howe, owed Mrs. Piteze!
ten thousand dollars, per the terms of an insurance contract,
under which the woman, as widow of the deceased, was
benef ary.

his was all right with the Fidelity Mut ual, except for one

N sgiimnare Castle 231

important detail: they wanted positive and indisputable
proot that the dead man was Pitezel. “Exhume the body,”
Colonel Howe suggested, “and I'll have two. unimpeachable
witnesses identify 1t—Mr. Pitezel’s fourteen-year-old daugh-
ter, Alice, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, his personal physician.’

Notified that their presences in Philadelphia were in de-
mand. little Alice Pitezel came on from St. Louis, and Dr.
Holmes from Baltimore. The exhumation was held, the
identification established, and the Fidelity Mutual handed
over its $10,000 check to Colonel Howe. Then Holmes sent
Alice to a friend of his in Kentucky while he returned with
Howe to St. Louis. The check cashed, Howe got his fee and
Holmes the balance. The doctor pena to Mrs. Pitezel, who
was in on the cadaver substitution plot, that the division had
been made in this way so that he might take to her husband
the bulk of the proceeds. Ben, ha, said, was in hiding in
Indianapolis, and wanted his wife and children to join him
there. “It might be wiser,” he told Mrs. Pitezel, “for us to
travel in two parties. I'l] take Nelhe and Howard, pick up
Alice in Kentucky and go on ahead. You follow with Dessie
and Wharton.”

By October 1, ali concerned had departed from St. Louis.
It was a fortunate withdrawal, for on this day Marion Hedge-
path, languishing angrily in the St. Louis jail, decided to
speak his mind. He had seen the story of Pitezel’s fatal
accident and the $10,000 insurance payment im the news-
papers, and its perusal, in the light of Holmes’ failure to give
him his promised five hundred dollar share, had contri! buted
‘not at all to the esteem in which he now held the doctor. Ina
vindictive letter to the Fidelity Mutual, Hedgepat! i squealed,
and the insurance company, just as vindictive at the thought
of-having been fleeced out of $10,000 through the use of a

- corpse not that of their insured, took summary action. They
hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency and turned loose a

squad ot operatives on Holmes’ and Pitezel’s trail.
: Studied from the serndipornt of ali available evidence,

42

Medical student who entered imto insurance fraud found he
lacked a corpse, decided to manufacture one—by murdering

when the annonymous cadaver had been brought into the
dissecting room. Mudgett had observed that the nameless
body bore a marked resemblance to his roommate, Cle-
ment Hardy.

He wasted no time. Hastily, he talked Hardy into be-
coming his accomplice, then he insured his roommate’s
life for $5000, naming himself as beneficiary.

Two days later, at midnight of October 9th, 1880,
Mudgett and Hardy had quietly entered the dissecting
room and kidnaped the cadaver. Now it lay peacefully in
Hardy’s bed while Hardy hid, under an assumed name, in
a Detroit rooming house.

The next step of the plot required Mudgett, also, to
absent himself for a few days. To this end, he announced
that he must visit an ill relative in Chicago. He disap-
peared from the campus for a week.

On October 16th, Mudgett returned. In shocked accents
he reported the demise of Hardy to the college authorities.
Immediately after that he notified the insurance company.

These, of course, were the days before scientific crime
detection, before medicine had achieved the tremendous
advances of today. If the insurance company was aware
of the missing cadaver, if it was suspicious of a death
within a week after it had issued a policy, it had no con-
clusive evidence of a conspiracy. Reluctantly, it handed
over $5000 to Herman Mudgett.

At this point, it seemed rather foolish to Herman Mud-
gett to bother traveling to Detroit for the purpose of
handing $2500 to Clement Hardy. Hardy was in an un-
tenable position. He could searcely call upon the law for
aid; he couldn’t even make the fact of his existence known
without laying himself open to a charge of conspiracy to
defraud. ;

It appeared more than reasonable to Mudgett that he
should keep all the money. It also appeared prudent that

he should leave the university and change his name. He
did all these things. A week later he arrived in Chicago
with the $5000 intact in his pocket. He was no longer Mr.
Herman Webster Mudgett. He was now Dr. J. J. Holmes.
The record of the next few years of Dr. Holmes’ life is:
misty and vague. He lived for a period in an elaborate
house in Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago. There he was
known variously as a physician, an inventor and a wealthy
manipulator of the stock market. However, it is definitely
established that some time in 1882 Dr. J. J. Holmes pur-
chased for cash an ugly three story brick house situated
at 701 68rd Street in Chicago. There he set up a medical
practice and let it be known that he was also engaged in
several important inventions. . ; &
In addition to doctoring and inventing, Holmes devel-

oped a thriving and lucrative sideline. He became the

largest purveyor of skeletons in the Midwest.

In those days medical schools were taking their science
more seriously than they had done before. Thousands of
students were clamoring for instruction. Skeletons were

badly needed. The supply was woefully short. The Hahne- ~

mann Medical School acted as a clearing house for human
skeletons, buying them wherever they could in Chicago,
shipping them to various other schools throughout the
country. Dr. Holmes got in touch with them, offered them
all the skeletons they could handle, provided the price
was right.

The bargain was made and Dr. Holmes sedulously kept
his side of it. No one apparently noticed that during this
period the turnover among Dr. Holmes’ secretaries was
amazingly high. They were all young girls, and pretty.
Most of them came with excellent references as to their
general competence. However, they rarely remained on
the job for more than a couple of months. The doctor
announced that some had left to get married, others had
returned home, others had acquired better salaried posi-

Claire, wife of the dissecting doctor, never realized the
gruesome business that thrived beneath the medic’s offices

erran
ends ;
On
a sch
to Be
ow
A gor
mout
Be
abou!
it?”
“T
one.
Mut:
life,
prem
Th
we ™

we ¢

Dr

as

66

SKELETONS FOR SALE

(Continued from page 43)

second floor where I conduct my experi-
ments.”

Now the Pitezels settled down to patient
waiting while Dr. Holmes found a corpse
which would answer the specifications.

On August 18th of 1885, Holmes an-
nounced to the Pitezels that he had, at
last, come upon precisely the cadaver they
needed. It was of Pitezel’s height and
weight and bore an amazing facial resem-
blance to the chemist. He would leave for
Philadelphia that night to make the final
arrangements for the fake death of Ben-
jamin Pitezel.

On September 4th, Eugene Smith, a car-
penter, who had helped B. F. Perry make
the house on Callowhill Street more habit-
able, called to collect. some money which
Perry still owed him. There was no answer
to his knock. However, he observed that
the front door was ajar.

Smith entered the house and an_ odd
medley of odors assailed his nostrils. There
was an unpleasant smell of noxious chemi-
cals mixed with what appeared to be
decomposing carrion. Smith followed his
nose, which led him to a room at the
rear of the second floor.

A dead man lay in the center of the
rcom. The flesh of his face was half
rotted away. Nevertheless, Smith was cer-
tain that this was B. F. Perry.

Smith raced from the house, found a
patrolman on Callowhill Street and blurted
forth his news. A few minutes later, several
officers under the command of City Detec-
tive Frank P. Geyer were examining the
body and the house.

There were charred marks on the walls
and several shattered bottles which had
contained various chemicals on the floor.
At the side of the corpse was a corn-cob
pipe filled with fresh tobacco. In the dead
man’s fingers was a blackened match.

The matter seemed open and shut. Perry,
apparently, had_ carelessly attempted to
light his pipe during an experiment. A
lethal explosion had resulted. This was
how it appeared to the police, and a few
days later, a coroner’s jury concurred. The
autopsy revealed the fact that the dead
man’s lungs were badly seared.

Since B. F. Perry evidently had no
funds, since no relatives came forward,
the corpse was buried in Potter’s Tield.

On September 11th, the Fidelity Mutual
Insurance Company, whose home office
was on Philadelphia’s Walnut Street, re-
ceived a communication from Chicago:
“B. F. Perry,” announced the missive, “is
in my opinion Benjamin F. Pitezel of Chi-
cago. He recently took out a policy with
your company naming his wife, Carrie
Pitezel as beneficiary. Mr. Pitezel has for
some time been in financial difficulties and
it was for that reason that he went to
another city and assumed another name.
Mrs. Pitezel tells me that the name her
husband used in Philadephia was B. F.
Perry, which you will notice contains his
own real initials. She further informs me
that she has in her possession letters from
Mr. Pitezel from a Philadelphia address.
These she has temporarily mislaid but as
soon as she finds them I shall be glad to
forward them for your perusal and we can
then make arrangements to effect iden-
tification.”

It was signed, “J. J. Holmes, M.D.”

The letters, of course, were duly found.
They seemed to establish completely that
Perry was Pitezel. Moreover, the mention
of the pipe and the danger of an explo-
sion appeared to explain exactly how
Pitezel had been killed. The body was
ordered exhumed and Carrie Pitezel and

Dr. Holmes traveled to Philadelphia to
make the proper identification. Mrs. Pite-
zel viewed the corpse and announced it
was that of her husband. Holmes, rather
more subtly, frowned as if in doubt, then
said, “Turn him over. There should be
a wart on the nape of the neck.”

Carrie Pitezel gasped, stared at Holmes
and murmured, “But he has got a wart
there!”

“Of course,” said Holmes hastily. “That
is how we shall positively identify him.”

The corpse was turned over. There was
a dark wart on the nape of the neck.
Holmes and Mrs. Pitezel returned to Chi-
cago. The insurance company was more
or less convinced that the dead man held
their policy, however, they decided to
make absolutely sure.

They learned that their Chicago office
had found a dentist who had done a great
deal of work on Pitezel’s teeth. He was
brought to Philadelphia, shown the teeth
of the corpse. The dentist agreed with
Hobnes and Carrie Pitezel. He identified
the body as that of Benjamin Pitezel!

The insurance company was Satisfied.
They paid the $10,000 to the dead man’s
wife. But if the insurance company had
marked the matter closed, Detective Geyer

eeoree COCCTRESEEESOESOSOHOSOOESEEOCOOOOES

BOSVOROSOSS

PPYTTTETI

had not. The more he thought about the
matter, the more he thought it odd.

He recalled Mrs. Pitezel’s remark at
Potter’s Field: “But he has got a wart
there!” It seemed to him it could only
indicate that the woman doubted if this
actually was the body of her husband.
Moreover, Geyer recalled another peculiar
circumstance. Mrs. Pitezel had said she
had read of her husband’s death, under
the name of Perry, in a Philadelphia news-
paper which she had bought in Chicago.
It seemed queer to Geyer that a Philadel-
phia newspaper would carry the, story of
an accidental death of a nonentity in an
out of town edition. And the more he
thought about it the queerer it seemed.

At last he checked ‘with the local jour-
nals. He found only one of them had run
the story of the Perry death and had run
it only in a single local edition. At that
point, Geyer took his suspicions to Hid.
Linden, superintendent of Philadelphia’s
police. Linden notified the insurance com-
pany, who put the matter in the hands of
the Pinkerton Detective Agency, whom
they retained. .

In the meantime, Linden had communi-
cated with the Chicago police asking if
they knew anything about a Dr. J. J.
Holmes.

They did. It’ appeared that they were
looking for him. Only a week before, a
building owned by Holmes had caught
fire. The blaze had been easily extin-
guished but the fire department suspected
an arson attempt. The police wished to
question Dr. Holmes, but apparently he
had disappeared.

This, naturally, put an even more sus-

picious light on the affair. In that day and
age the Pinkertons, with regional offices
throughout the country, were far better
organized than the various local police
departments. Financed by the insurance
company, the Pinkertons, in charge of Ed
Gaylor, began an investigation.

Gaylor, accompanied by Arch Noble and
Charles S. Butler, traveled to Chicago.
Like the Chicago police they failed to find
any trace of Dr. Holmes. They turned
their attention to the building he owned
on 63rd Street. What they found horrified
them as it later horrified Mrs. Claire
Holmes, the doctor’s wife, and people
throughout the entire nation.

At the rear of the first floor hallway,
Gaylor discovered a secret passage whose
entrance was a movable wall. It led to
a dirt filled room in the center of which
was a dissecting table covered with old
bloodstains. In the middle of the floor was
a rusted sheet of corrugated iron. When
this was lifted, a narrow flight of stairs
was revealed below.

The Pinkertons descended the stairs
into a dark subcellar, where they found
three beds of quicklime. Bones which had
the appearance of being human were
strewn about the debris littered floor.

Upstairs, leading off the doctor’s private
office, was a second secret passageway. This
led to a six-foot square steel vault, which
was lightless and admitted no air at all.
Its walls had been fashioned of steel and
asbestos.

After a thorough examination of the
house, Gaylor said, “I still don’t know if
this Holmes had anything to do with the
death of Pitezel. However, it looks as if
he was in the wholesale murder business
here in Chicago. After the Pitezel affair
he decided to make a getaway, set fire ta.
this building to destroy the evidence and
collect the insurance.”

Gaylor communicated with the Chicago
police, and a full scale investigation began.
A check with missing persons bureaus
across the country brought interesting and
suspicious results. More than a score of
people who had apparently vanished had
had some connection with J. J. Holmes.«
Most of them were young girls who had
worked for him at various times.

Minnie Williams of Fort Worth, Texas,
who with her sister was heir to some
$60,000, had been a Holmes secretary. She
had written home that she was going to
marry him. Her sister, Anna, had gone
to Chicago to act as bridesmaid at the
wedding, taking $20,000 in cash with her
as Minnie had requested. Neither of them
had been heard from again. Similar cir-
cumstances of mystic nature enveloped the
disappearance of shapely Mrs. John Hold-
en, another secretary.

Amelia Cigrand of Nebraska had also
worked for Holmes in Chicago. Her rela-
tives hadn’t heard from her for two years.
Julia Conner of Davenport, Iowa, a nurse
with a baby son, had taken a_ position
with Holmes a year before. Neither she
nor the baby had been seen since then.

While the Chicago police dug deeply in
Holmes’ building for evidence, while they
checked carefully against the long_lists
of missing persons, Gaylor and the Pink-
ertons combed the entire country, seeking
the whereabouts of J. J. Holmes.

They found one Patrick Quinlan, who
had been employed by Holmes as janitor
of the grisly building. Quinlan, a man
addicted. to strong and constant drink,
said, “I never should have taken that job.
I knew something queer was going on.
All those young girls. I don’t know just
what happened to them, But they’d all
disappear. That house gave me the creeps.
That’s why I quit the job.”

But before he had quit, Quinlan had ac-
cidentally picked up some important infor-

mation. He he
name was Mu
- medical schoo!
igan. He had :
or Holmes car.
ton, New Ham:

this because H:

town from tin
dress with G
janitor could «
in case “anyth
Gaylor relay
Cornish, supe
New England
Cornish, accor,
tives, set out /
In Gilmante:
that Dr. Mudg:
had been in tc
was discovere
railroad ticke:
Cornish and h
There they fc
their quarry. |
they discover
and her two
and Dessa, we
Winooski Ave
Cornish pre
widow.
He found h

SOUT

“In San F:
took 20 pc
ski boots o
from the pc
ing gocds :
worth $700
trouble dis;
for boots, s:
samples—n

verge of a_ner\
in no condition
questioned her
said, sobbing.
Cornish was :
dead. You ide.
in Philadelphiz

“Tm _ beginnir
. killed him. I s:

wart on his ne

A faint light |

brain. He saic

tively dead. T».
his dentist iden
any doubt abou

Carrie Piteze
she had recove:
entire plot to f:
planting a corp:
house.

What had «
immediately cc):
doubtless, had |
which would ¢s
was of no minc
the insurance. ¢
himself withou
that fact.

Carrie Piteze
tective that Ho)
her share of th
pretext that Pi
needed it. Mrs
if her husband
cash, then he m
elder children, .
After some argi
the cash and t!

deliver them to
Pitezel had nev.
wife.
Cornish was }
wholesale killer


all right?
apply for

true this
‘ecompose
ition. You
che money

4d went to
yur hands.
smetimes I

alone with
| ever been
s, the last.
to demon-

It was a

irky mind

‘

‘BY D.L.CHAMPION

Minnie Williams (U.) and Amelia Cigrand (r.) vanished while in
doctor’s employ; Ben Pitezel (¢.) died in insurance double cross

41


tions. All of them were now better situated, happy.

ie. He It was curious that they never again were seen in their
‘hicago old haunts. It was odd that neither friends nor relatives
ser Mr. ever received any letters.
tolmes. In any event, Dr. J. J. Holmes, who had begun his
life is financial career with a corpse stolen from the medical
aborate school of the University of Michigan, was doing very well,
he was indeed.
wealthy Then, in the spring of 1884, he met Benjamin F. Pitezel.
finitely Pitezel was a legitimate inventor and a chemist. He
es pure seemed to have a gift for failure. None of his inventions
situated quite panned out. None of his jobs as a chemist ever
medical lasted. His sole success in this world was as a sire. He
caged in had five children. :
Holmes and Pitezel became quite friendly. On occasion,
devel- Holmes paid Pitezel to perform various confidential
me the - errands. Still, Pitezel never could quite make his financial
2 ends meet.
science One evening, Holmes, who could invariably conjure up
sands of a scheme for making a dubious dollar, made a suggestion |
as were to Benjamin Pitezel and his wife, Carrie.
Hahne- “What you people need,” he said, “is a chunk of money.
‘human A good amount all at once. You've been living hand to
*hicago, mouth all your lives.”
out the Benjamin and Carrie Pitezel found nothing to argue
od them about here. “But,” said Pitezel, “how are we going to get
> price it?”
. “I have an idea,” said Holmes, who was rarely without
ily kept one. “Tomorrow morning Carrie will go to the Fidelity
ing this Mutual Life Insurance Company. She. will insure your
cies was + life, Ben, for ten thousand dollars. I shall pay the first
| pretty. premium.” ;
to their The Pitezels looked puzzled. Carrie asked, “How can
‘ined on we make money that way? Ben would have to die before
e doctor we could collect.”
pa had Dr. Holmes smiled. It was some eleven years since he
ed posi-

ealized the
die’s offices

had faked the death of Clement Hardy at the university.
It had worked well then. It would work again now. The
doctor unfolded his plan. It was more elaborate than the
original, After the policy had been issued, Holmes wanted
Pitezel to ¢o to Philadelphia under an assumed name and
set up shop as an inventor. He explained that he was
entirely too involved in other affairs in Chicago, which
was mark) understatement; he wished the phony death
to oecur in another city.

When the time was ripe, Holmes would provide a
corpse of the same general build as Pitezel. It would be
planted in Pitezel’s Philadelphia establishment and an
explosion would be set off. Then Holmes and Carrie
Pitezel would identify the body as that of Pitezel. The
insurahce «ould be collected and split two ways, half to
Holmes, hii! to the Pitezels. ©

Mrs, Pitevel objected to the plan as illegal, immoral and
dangerous. Holmes argued with her plausibly while

-Pitezel acclaimed him as a genius. Pitezel considered it a

brilliant idea. He added his urgings to those of Holmes.
Eventually, they won Mrs. Pitezel over.

Three days later the Fidelity Mutual issued a_ policy
on the life of Benjamin Pitezel in the amount of $10,000.
A day after that Benjamin Pitezel set out for Philadelphia.
There, he rented a brick house situated at 1316 Callowhill
Street and gave his name as B. F. Perry. Then, on Holmes’
orders, he wrote a letter to his wife back in Chicago.

It was an ingenious epistle calculated to aid in the false
identification of the substituted corpse, also to explain the
planned explosion. It read in part: “I am hoping to make
good here under my new name. I am hard at work on
several experiments. They are dangerous as I am working
with some deadly chemicals. I only hope for the sake of
you and the children that nothing happens to me. I con-
stantly fear that some day I shall forget myself and light
my pipe in a rear room of the (Continued on page 66)

CRIME FILE ;

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
BUREAU OF POLICE,—DeTecTiVE Seavice.

YW MACAENM 2
fae MFM.
snénce FA co gy i, collate Occupation PE ijsrasnn’ Descent 0 06

a bafta tony CMe tin, Hdd. Ganen Mag.

rors gora:. Dist. No. sete wbeiur Pa
fo Gee Baasag =. Dale Mf 20 Judge (sete
Precteus crominal record 9/196 ~ Thang tow Bhokar Crvanty Pisces

/ Reg. Now
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’

Cncrse Cnegane

Seaheatce ¢

Mee 4
‘ones MARKS, OCARS AND NOLEA.
ewan fe Ahrannn & Asan
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“8 tas e0ts At, CRB
Stage Van OF 4 eet sad x

2 : “ Nee
est oS sof ff Krad la fh pmtAd ayn? a

Police record of H. Mudgett might have warned Mrs.
Holden, who qualified as secretary—then lab skeleton

43

—

i all vanished.
iat, in addition
e, Mrs. Pitezel
‘n, including a
The furniture
which she and
‘ed for several
‘losed that the
days previous-
her destination
she expected to
en with her the
youngest of the
rtons wondered
lice, and the two
and Howard,
ae respectively.
these three had,
re their mother’s
ith a little man
who was dressed,
ervant and curi-
undertaker.” It
s man had been

e’mysterious the
on went. Inquiry
ilding where the
we had had his
in individual an-
-ription had been
the lawyer for a
i year. This bore
Philadelphia that
nad been putting
quarreled in the
gave the impres-
met as strangers.

the suburb where
it was found that
use that was rent-
hat had been re-
therefore, was for
nave packed their

iborhood disclosed
id posed there as
accomplishments.
s a dentist, others
ntor, while he was
»y drug store as a
of the records in
hat Dr. Holmes, as
‘if, had personally
eseriptions which
When the blanks
investigators were
things—specimens
‘iting, which had
ag characteristics,
that the chemicals
m the apothecary
: component parts
of the most power-
a then or since.
nette residence and
‘shed attorney dis-
» investigators had
-d that the Pitezel
yarren of anything
ey came across a
the inscription:

»m Bennie

‘at this was a pic-
© fate was in such
mption was borne
was sent to Phila-
ed by Smith, the

THUG DMTECTIVE

carpenter, as that of the man he had
known as Perry.

It occurred to the Pinkertons, in view
of the shadowy background of this man
Holmes, that he might have a criminal
record. Consultation with the Chicago
police brought results. More than a
year previously the little man with the
large yellow teeth and the quick,
nervous smile had been questioned in
connection with a fire in a house at
701 63rd Street. Mr. Holmes, it de-
veloped, had been one of the officers
in a company holding the property in
question and when it was learned that
some rags that smelled suspiciously of
kerosene had started the blaze, he had
been suspected of arson.

The evidence, however, had not been
sufficient to press charges and the mat-
ter had gone no further. Yet, the Po-
lice Department had kept records of
the case and from these the Pinkertons
learned that Holmes had made the same
kind of an impression on the Chicago
Police Department that he had made on
those in the house of death at potter’s
field in Philadelphia.

However, as Holmes left Chicago
after this incident, so far as the local
police had been able to ascertain, fur-
ther police investigation was deferred
pending the return and renewed ac-
tivities of the man.

The Pinkertons looked over the house
on 63rd Street. It was an ugly brick
structure of three stories, with stores
on the first floor and jutting, rounded
front windows on the second and third
floors, which gave the structure a top-
heavy appearance bordering on the
grotesque,

The place was still vacant and a cur-
sory examination of the dank interior
disclosed that it had long been unoccu-
pied. Certainly, it gave no clue as to the
present whereabouts of the man in
black who had formerly occupied it.

—™ PERUSAL OF the incorporation

papers of the company that had
held title to the 63rd Street property
at the time of the suspicious blaze dis-
closed that the organization consisted
of six persons—A. S. Yates, Hiram S.
Campbell, H. H. Holmes, Herman W.
Mudgett, Henry Owens and M. R.
Williams. The only one of these six
whom the Pinkertons were able to lo-
cate was Owens. He turned out to be a
negro porter who had once worked in
the 63rd Street residence when Holmes
had made a business of keeping
boarders there.

The porter had no idea as to the iden-
tities of Yates, Campbell or Mudgett
mentioned in the incorporation papers,
but he disclosed that M. R. Williams
might have been Minnie Williams, a
vivacious young lady who had been
Holmes’ stenographer at the time the
property was incorporated. The negro,
who said he had understood Mr. Holmes
to be a real estate operator and board-
ing-house proprietor, did not know
where Minnie Williams had come from
-r what had become of her. It so hap-
pened, however, that the porter had

riginally come from Texas and he re-
called that the stenographer had talked
luxe people “back home.”

soVEMMER, 1041

The probe stemming from the ugly
house now took two directions. One
trail led to Texas where the hunt was
on for a girl named Minnie Williams
who had been in Chicago a year previ-
ously. The other covered medical
schools, the idea being to ascertain
if Holmes, under his own name or any
of the three in the incorporation papers
that had not yet been run down, had
ever studied to be a doctor.

Records of the University of Michi-
gan at Ann Arbor showed that Herman
Webster Mudgett had studied there for
two years a decade previously. The
young man, then about twenty-five,
had left the institution under a cloud.
He had been suspected of stealing
money from other students and there
had been an indefinable something
about his demeanor that produced an

unpleasant impression on his instructors.

Spreading fanwise now, the Pinker-
tons interviewed physicians who had
been students at Ann Arbor when Mud-
gett was there: An arresting story came
from a young Detroit doctor. Mudgett,
he said, had been quite friendly with
another student who, like himself, was
doing poorly in his studies. One day
the second student was apparently
found dead in bed. Simultaneously, a
cadaver was reported missing from the

. laboratory.

“I had noticed,” the Pinkerton in-
formant went on, “that this cadaver,
which had just come in, bore quite
a resemblance to Mudgett’s friend.
Whether there was any connection be-
tween the similarity of appearance and
the disappearance of the cadaver I

. don’t know, but I always suspected

that something queer went on around
that time because both Mudgett and
the fellow who was supposed to have
been found dead in bed were cunning,
slippery fellows.”

The man-hunters obtained the name
of the student who was supposed to
have died. It took them just three days
to learn that, a decade previously, a

G. S. Graham, District Attorney,
County of Philadelphia, directed

prosecution of the Bluebeard

Mid-Western insurance company had
paid $5000 upon the death of this stu-
dent to the beneficiary, Herman Web-
ster Mudgett.

Birth certificates in Fort Worth,
Texas, put the Pinkertons on the trail
of a girl with the same name as that of
Holmes’ former stenographer. Follow-
ing this clue, they discovered that a
Minnie Williams had, two years previ-
ously, left Fort Worth for Chicago.
She wrote back to friends that she had
met a fascinating physician in that city
‘and was going to marry him. A little
later, Minnie’s sister, Anna, had gone
to Chicago to be bridesmaid at the cere-
mony. For a short time afterward
friends heard from the sisters and then
the two girls lapsed into a silence that
had not been broken up to the time the
Pinkerton agents came across this in-
formation.

@ THE WILLIAMS sisters, orphans,

had been heirs to $60,000 in Fort
Worth real estate. Delving into realty
records, the detectives learned that
shortly after the second of the sisters
had left for Chicago they had raised a
$20,000 cash mortgage on their prop-
erty. A man named Benton T. Lyman
had come to Fort Worth from Chicago
for the purpose of negotiating the deal,
which was handled through a local
bank. Bank employees remembered
Lyman very well. Hc had been tall,
gangly, hawk-featured and addicted to
intoxicants. This description ‘struck a
familiar note. Presently a photograph
arrived in Fort Worth for the Pinker-
ton operatives and they showed it to
the bank employee. ‘Yes,” he said,
“that’s Mr. Lyman, all right.”

The photograph was that of Benjamin
F. Pitezel.

Delving into every available public
record of Cook County, in which Chi-
cago is situated, in the belief that there
might be found there some further
trace of past ‘activities of Holmes, or
Mudgett, the Pinkerton operatives
learned that he had been married about
eight years previously and that he had
on that occasion given his birthplace
as Gilmanton, New Hampshire. This
was at variance with information he
had supplied upon entering the Medi-
cal School of the University of Michi-
gan, at which time he had stated his
birthplace was Chicago.

Three detectives under the direction
of John Cornish, Superintendent of
Pinkerton’s Boston offices, quietly fil-
tered into the little New Hampshire
town. There they learned that Herman
Webster Mudgett was the son of a re-
spected family. Moreover, townsfolk
told them that Dr. Mudgett, as the little
man in black was known in his birth-
place, had been there for one of his
infrequent visits and had departed only
a few days before.

Because of Holmes’ rather singular
appearance, he was a person people
remembered. Through railroad ticket
agents and trainmen he was quickly
trailed to Burlington, Vermont. Here
the man-hunters struck a snag. No one
answering Holmes’ description had
registered at any of the inns or board-
ing-houses nor Continued on page 106

33


a eeeenmemnetinnene nods SR

The attorney’s letter went on to state
that Mrs. Pitezel had learned of the
explosion through reading the Phila-
delphia newspapers, a habit she had
acquired since her husband had gone
to the Quaker City.

There was no such thoroughfare in
Philadelphia as Hallowkill Street but
the insurance company assumed that
Mrs. Pitezel had made a natural error

‘in trying to remember the name of

Callowhill Street, the actual scene of
the death. This thought was satis-

‘factorily borne out a few days later

when Attorney Howe forwarded letters
that had been written to Mrs. Pitezel
from the address where the patent
dealer had been found.

Beforé payment of the insurance,
amounting to $10,000, formal identifica-
tion would be ‘necessary. ‘But, blood
relatives would not be. sufficient con-
firmation in this respect. The company
had a rule requiring that at least one
outsider view the remains.

Thus it was that E. H. Cass, an official

‘of the Chicago branch, where the policy
had been taken out nine months
previously, asked Mrs. Pitezel for the

names of close friends of her late hus- .

band. The widow stated that the in-
ventor had been a peculiar man and had
only one intimate acquaintance of
whom she knew—H. H. Holmes,
another inventor, who resided in Wil-
\mette, a Chicago suburb, and who had
once employed Pitezel as a chemist.

‘MR. HOLMES was out of town

when Mr. Cass called at his resi-
‘dence, but his wife said that she would
_get in touch with him and that he would
_ communicate with the insurance com-

pany.
The result of all these negotiations
was that Howe, the. attorney; . Alice
:Pitezel, aged fifteen, a daughter of the
, deceased; and H. H. Holmes arrived in
Philadelphia and sat in the death house
of potter’s field where the body was
taken after having been disinterred.
Mrs. Pitezel, the lawyer explained, had

Superintendent John Cornish (above) directed the chase
from his Boston office as the net drew tighter. It was he who
sent the three operators to the Winooski Avenue hideout

been unable to make the journey be-
cause she was prostrated by gricf.

The girl, Alice, was permitted to look
through an opening in a sheet that dis-
closed only the dead man’s teeth. She
identified them as those of her father,
owing to peculiar spacing between cer-
tain of the incisors.

When the child was led out of the
room, Mr. Holmes—a small man whose
shirt was the only part of his apparel
that was not black—looked upon the
remains. His gaze roved coldly and
professionally: over the victim. Then
his large, brooding brown eyes sought
out those of insurance officials and
Coroner’s attachés. “If you’ll turn the
body over,” he said, “you should find
a large wart on the back of the neck.”

The wartcwas found, and H. H.
Holmes thus’established identity to the
satisfaction of all concerned. However,
the callous way in which he acted
made an unfavorable impression on
those present. He then began to ask
detéils about how Pitezel had met
death. He seemed particularly anxious
to know what had been done with the
evidence of the “explosion. When in-
formed that!various broken chemical
bottles and jars and even samples of the
burned floor and wallpaper were still in
the hands ofthe insurance company,
he frowned.#* ;

_ As the party was preparing to leave
the building, one of the insurance com-
pany employees noticed that Mr.
Holmes seemed startled by the sound
of a voice just outside. This person
knew it was that of Smith, the carpenter
who had known “Perry” and who had
been summoned for identification pur-
poses. He entered, with an apology for
being late,’only to be told that he
wouldn’t be’ needed now, inasmuch as
complete identification had been ef-
fected through Mr. Holmes.

|

WA strange expression crossed the

_carpenter’s open, weather-beaten
countenance as he looked at the little
man in black. Mr. Holmes looked
briefly at Smith, then smiled quickly to
everyone, and said: “Well, gentlemen,
no use tarrying here any longer, is
there?” Smith’s eyes remained riveted
on Holmes’s.long, white tapering fingers
as the Chicagoan toyed with his derby.

That afternoon, while Attorney Howe
was in the offices of the insurance com-
pany arranging details of the payment
to Mrs.. ‘Pitezel, Holmes appeared.
There was a little item, he said, that he
had forgotten to mention. The late
Benjamin Pitezel was in debt to him to
the extent of $180. He wanted to know
if the sum could be deducted from the
money being paid to the widow and if
he could have it right away.

Attorney Howe began to remonstrate
with him for his mercenary attitude at
such a time,’ Holmes smiled icily. “My
good man,” he said, “I laid eyes on you
for the very first time today and you do
not impress me favorably. The sooner
you make a proper adjustment about

_the money: due me the sooner I shall
need to have no further dealings with
you.” ;

The argument between the two grew
heated. Howe eventually promised to

TRUE DETECTIVE

|

Ed. $..¢
hunt by

advise
Holmes.
ing, he ir
which to
that he h.
before.
The ins
and the «i:
lowhill S:
delphia b.
one of th:
body. Alt
picions in
death, or
picture tl
where th
coming b:
what it w
incongruo
scene wh
mind as if
It was aln
that he 1:
place was
of furnitu

@ THE DF
floor an
led into t!
for expe
mind’s ey:
it had be
straight, a
left arm
corpse, w
across the
on Geyer t
position f
Rather, th:
chest bore
body. Gey
lungs had
ing such a
instinctive
to the vici:
* It happe
a brilliant
streaming
which wer
structed 1)
they could
light to str
Geyer noti
had appar:

NOVEMBER, |

journey be-
y grief.

itted to look
cet that dis-
; teeth. She
‘her father,
vetween cer-

out of the

man whose

his apparel
ed upon the

coldly and
ictim. Then
eyes sought
officials and
ju'll turn the
4 should find
of the neck.”

and H. H.
jentity to the
ed. However,
ch he acted
apression on
yegan to ask
‘el had met
larly anxious
one with the
a1. When in-
<en chemical
samples of the
‘r were still in
ace company,

aring to leave
isurance com-
-d that Mr.
by the sound

This person
the carpenter
and who had
tification pur-
in apology for
told that he
, inasmuch as
had been ef-
1es,

crossed the
‘eather-beaten
d at the little
olmes looked
iled quickly to
all, gentlemen,
vny longer, is
nained riveted
apering fingers
vith his derby.
Attorney Howe
nsurance com-
of the payment
nes appeared.
ne said, that he
ion. The late
debt to him to
ranted to know
ucted from the
2 widow and if
way.
to remonstrate
vary attitude at
iled icily. “My
iid eyes on you
day and you do

sly. The sooner ~

justment about
sooner I shall
r dealings with

n the two grew
ly promised to

TRUE DETECTIVE

Ed. S. Gaylor began the nationwide
hunt by Pinkertons in Philadelphia

advise Mrs. Pitezel to reimburse
Holmes. As the man in black was leav-
ing, he inquired as to a good hotel at
which to spend the night, remarking
that he had never been in Philadelphia
before.

The insurance money was duly paid
and the dead man in the house on Cal-
lowhill Street was forgotten in Phila-
delphia by all except Detective Geyer,
one of the sleuths who had viewed the
body. Although there had been no sus-
picions in his mind at the time of the
death, or immediately thereafter, the
picture that he had seen in the room
where the explosion occurred kept
coming back to him. ‘He didn’t know
what it was, but there was something
incongruous and unnatural about the
scene which was still ‘as vivid in his
mind as if he were actually looking at it.
It was almost a month after the death
that he returned tothe house. The
place was vacant, and every last piece
of furniture had been’removed.

@ THE DETECTIVE went to the second
floor and stood in the doorway that
led into the room: that had been used

for experimental purposes. -In his.

mind’s eye he pictured-the body just as
it had been found. The legs were
straight, and spread slightly apart. The
left arm lay rigid alongside of the
corpse, while the right forearm was
across the chest. Suddenly it dawned
on Geyer that this was &@ most unnatural
position for the victim of a blast.
Rather, the folding of one arm over the
chest bore the earmarks of a “planted”
body. Geyer recalled that the inventor’s
lungs had been seared. A man suffer-
ing such a fate, he thought, would have
instinctively brought one or both hands
to the vicinity of his throat.

It happened to be about noontime of
a brilliant October day. Sunlight was
streaming through thé'closed shutters,
which were not of solid wood but con-
structed like Venetian. blinds so that
they could be manipulated to cause the
light to strike various parts of the floor.
Geyer noticed that the’shutters, which
had apparently not been touched since

NOVEMBER, 1941

To Superintendent of Police, R. J. Lin-
den, Geyer reported his suspicions

the finding of the body, were so set as to
permit the rays of the sun to come in at
maximum intensity, causing the light
to fall well toward the side of the room
farthest from the window and at a point
quite near the door. This area, the
sleuth observed as the blood began to
race faster through his veins, was
where the inventor’s upturned face had
been. Was it just a coincidence, he
wondered, that the face had been in the
very spot where the hottest rays of the
sun fell, thus hastening decomposition?

The more Geyer pondered that ques-
tion, the more he thought that this had
not been a coincidence. During ‘the
period of ten days in which the body
lay undiscovered the face had de-
teriorated enough to obliterate any
marks of foul play on Perry’s counte-
nance which might have remained had
it not been for the sun’s rays.

Next, the detective made a visit, to
the insurance company which had not
as yet destroyed its evidence. He began
to examine several of the chemical ves-
sels which had supposedly exploded.
This glassware was in various states of
breakage, some of it having been re-
duced to pieces, while other containers
retained a semblance of. their original
shape. When he came across one jar,
which was in the general contour of,a
goldfish bowl, and which had a hole the
size of a dollar in the bottom, Geyer
whistled softly to himself.

Forty-five minutes afterward Geyer,
officials of the insurance company and
operatives of the Philadelphia office of
Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency
sat at an oval table in the insurance
organization’s conference room. ie

On the table was the glass container
that the detective had singled out. He
pointed to it and explained to the
Pinkertons, who had just arrived and
had been made acquainted with’ the

_ general facts: “Supposedly, this vessel

held a chemical that exploded and
broke it. Now listen to this.” He picked
up the receptacle and shook it. There
was a tinkling sound, made by small
pieces of glass inside the partially
broken bottom. “This glass,” the sleuth

Detective Geyer noted several incon-
gruities at the scene of the explosion

went on, “is just where it was found—
inside; of this container. I’ve ex-
amined the pieces and they are from
this same article, because one of them
fits exactly into the edge of this hole
here on the side of the bottom.”

One of the Pinkerton men interrupted
Geyer to ask for the container. When
he examined it, he looked grimly at the
rest of the men around the table. “What
do you make of it?” asked Geyer.

“Why,” answered The Eye operative,
“this vessel hasn’t been broken by.an
explosion. It’s been deliberately
dropped. If its contents had been part
of the blast, all of the glass fragments
would have been blown outward. These
pieces of glass went inward through the
break, showing that the thing was
empty before being dropped.”

An: insurance official wanted to know

if it weren’t possible that the container

had originally been empty but had been
knocked to the floor by the force of the
detonation. Geyer had two answers for
that. The first was that an explosion
of sufficient intensity to have dislodged
this container, which weighed about
three pounds, would have been heard in
the neighborhood. Second, a chemical
accident of such intensity would have
driven fragments all over the room and

, broken windows, whereas fragments of

glass were found only in the vicinity’ of
the inventor’s workbench.

M@ AS A clincher, one of the Pinkerton

men offered an opinion that a de-
tonation sufficient to have lifted’ the
vessel in question through the air would
probably have reduced glassware of a
fragile nature to smithereens. He asked
Geyer if this situation had prevailed,
and the city detective shook his head.
“No,” he said, “none of the bottles or
containers was very badly broken. I
don’t know why I didn’t notice that
before.”

When Geyer informed the Pinkerton
agents about his deductions they con-
curred in the opinion that this had not
been ‘an accident but a _ carefully
planned drama for the purpose of
swindling the insurance company.

31


Which brought about the questions:

Who had done the swindling?

Had the man found in the house on
Callowhill Street actually been Ben-
jamin Pitezcl, or had a body been sub-
stituted? :

If it had been Pitezel, then who had
murdered him?

The investigators were informed that
Smith, the carpenter, had said he had
seen a visitor at Perry’s who gave him
the creeps. They went to Smith’s house
and asked him about this. The carpen-
ter scratched his head. “I’m glad you
came,” he said. “I’ve been wondering
what to do ever since that day at pot-
ter’s field when I saw that man again.”

“You saw him again?”

“Sure, the man I saw ‘in Perry’s one

day and the man who came on from:

Chicago and identified the 'body were
the same.”

MTHIS MIGHT not have meant any-

thing except for two things—the un-
favorable impression that H. H. Holmes
had made on those in the house of
death, and the fact that he had stated
to an insurance company. employee,
when inquiring about a hotel, that he
had never before been in Philadelphia.

“That looks to me as though he was
planting some sort of an alibi in ad-
vance,” Geyer opined to the Pinkerton
operatives. “Why should he have made
such a statement unless it was vital to
himself to establish the impression’ that
he had never been here before?”

“Yes,” said one of Thé Eye
agents. “That’s sound-enough reason-
ing, Geyer. And working along the
same lines, does it occur to, you that if
this man Holmes faked one thing he
might have faked another?”

“Meaning,” answered Geyer, “that
this row he had with that lawyer might
have been trumped up, too?”

“Certainly. In the first place, it
strikes me as peculiar that Mrs. Pitezel,
the wife of the man we suppose is
buried in potter’s field, should have
found out about the death out there in
Chicago.”

“She says she read it in a Philadel-
phia newspaper.”

“That’s just the point; I don’t believe
any of the newspapers would have
printed that story in their early out-of-
town editions, for as a news story,
Perry’s death was worth only a few
paragraphs
wasn’t a person of, prominence. . Cer-
tainly, if the story wasn’t played up
here, it would be regarded ‘as having
very little interest outside of the city.”

“Okay,” said Geyer. “Let’s check
with the papers.”

None of the Philadelphia dailies had
carried the story of the blast on Callow-
hill Street except in editions circulating
exclusively in Philadelphia and im-
mediate suburbs. How, then, could
Mrs. Pitezel have read about the story
in a Philadelphia paper sold in Chicago?

Geyer and the Pinkertons were mak-
ing additional deductions as they went
into the known facts. An Eye agent was
intrigued by one word in the first letter
that Attorney Howe had mailed to the
insurance company. That was the word
“Hallowkill.”

32

even here because he,

The strange man who took charge of
the Pitezel children complained that
Howard (above) was unmanageable

“That sounds queer to me,” said the
agent. “Callowhill is a hard word to
remember. Either that woman would
have recalled the name of the street
correctly or she wouldn’t have even
come close to it. ‘The use of that word
‘Hallowkill’ impresses me as a deliber-
ate attempt to strike a genuine note in
a situation that is thoroughly false.”

Examination of the letters written by
B. F. Perry to Mrs. Pitezel, which had
been turned over to the insurance com-
pany on the occasion of the claim, made
it seem obvious that they were indeed
in Pitezel’s handwriting, for the pen-
manship compared with that of certain
chemical notations that Perry had made
and which had been found in the house
on Callowhill Street. The communica-
tions were typical of those that might
be written by a husband to his wife.
The investigators were intrigued, how-
ever, by this paragraph in one of the
epistles:

1 am hoping to make good here under my
new name. I am hard at work on several
experiments. They are dangerous as Iam
working with some deadly chemicals. I only
hope for the sake of you and the children
that nothing happens to me. I constantly
fear that some day I shall forget myself and
light my pipe in a room on the rear of the
second floor where I conduct my experiments.

“That statement is too pat to be true,”
a Pinkerton agent remarked. “I think
Pitezel’s alive.”

It must be remembered that this
mystery had its inception near the be-
ginning of the century when science
had not reached the degree of perfec-
tion that it has since attained. Conse-
quently, it was not possible to make
chemical discoveries in a body interred
more than a month.

The scene shifted to Chicago, where
the Pinkerton offices set the wheels in
motion for a probe into the lives of
Pitezel and his wife; Attorney Howe
and the somberly attired H. H. Holmes.
The Pinkertons learned that Mrs. Pite-
zel, the lawyer and the man who had

‘

identified the body had all vanished.

It was also learned that, in addition
to fifteen-year-old Alice, Mrs. Pitezel
had four other children, including a
baby of about a year. The furniture
was still in the house in which she and
her husband had resided for several
years. Neighbors disclosed that the
woman had left several days previous-
ly without announcing her destination
or the length of time she expected to
be away. She had taken with her the
baby and Dessa, next youngest of the
children. The Pinkertons wondered
what had become of Alice, and the two
other children—Nellie and Howard,
aged eleven and nine respectively.
They soon learned that these three had,
two or three days before their mother’s
departure, gone off with a little man
who wore a derby and who was dressed,
in the words of one observant and curi-
ous neighbor, “like an undertaker.” It
was assumed that this man ha been
H. H. Holmes.

Holmes loomed more mysterious the
further the investigation went. Inquiry
of workers in the building where the
missing Attorney Howe had had his
office disclosed that an individual an-
swering Holmes’ description hic been
a frequent caller on the lawyer for a
period of more than a year. This bore
out the suspicion in Philadelphia that
Holmes and Howe had been putting
on an act when they quarreled in the
insurance offices and gave the impres-
sion that they had met as strangers.

@ OUT IN Wilmette, the suburb where

Holmes had lived, it was found that
he had occupied a house that was rent-
ed furnished. All that had been re-
quired for departure, therefore, was for
him and his wife to have packed their
personal belongings.

Inquiry in the neighborhood disclosed
that H. H. Holmes had posed there as
a man of various accomplishments.
Some thought he was a dentist, others
knew him as an inventor, while he was
regarded in a near-by drug store as a

‘physician, Perusal of the records in

this place disclosed that Dr. Holmes, as
he had called himself, had personally
written various prescriptions which
had been made up. When the blanks
were looked up, the investigators were
in possession of two things—specimens
of Holmes’ handwriting, which had
several distinguishing characteristics,
and the knowledge that the chemicals
he had obtained from the apothecary
shop constituted the component parts
of nitroglycerin, one of the most power-
ful explosives known then or since.
Search of the Wilmette residence and
the office of the vanished attorney dis-
closed no clue. The investigators had
just about concluded that the Pitezel
home was equally barren of anything
important when they came across a
photograph bearing the inscription:

To Carrie from Bennie

It was assumed that this was a pic-
ture of the man whose fate was in such
doubt and the assumption was borne
out when the picture was sent to Phila-
delphia and identified by Smith, the

TRUE DETECTIVE

carpenter, a:
known as I!”
It occurred
of the shadov
Holmes, thai
record. Con
police brous
year previou
large yello:
nervous sm!
connection ~
701 63rd St
veloped, ha:
in a compa!
question an:
some rags t!
kerosene ha
been suspec’
The evide
sufficient to
ter had gon:
lice Depart:
the case an’
learned that
kind of an
Police Depa
those in the
field in Phi!
However.
after this i:
police had |
ther police
pending th:
tivities of t!
The Pink:
on 63rd St:
structure 0!
on the first
front windo'
floors, whic)
heavy app«
grotesque.
The place
sory exami!
disclosed th:
pied. Certai:
present wh
black who |!

@ PERUSA|!
papers 0
held title t
at the time «
closed that
of six perso
Campbell, }
Mudgett, H
Williams.
whom the I
cate was Ow.
negro porte
the 63rd Str
had made
boarders th«
The porte:
tities of Y<
mentioned i
but he disc!
might have
vivacious y
Holmes’ ste:
property wa
who said he '
to be a real
ing-house |
where Minn
or what had
pened, how:
originally c:
called that t
like people

SOVEMBER, 1!

We
» do
will
nice
ckyv.
ao to
nts.”

itter
not

spect

rave,
then
tain-
in-
he
tezel

For
iotel

nder |

with
and

yplar
wood
for

the
vear-

indi-
shop-

agon
came
men

‘ered.
tove.
sus-
that
cold
i the

kk on
knew
man
Phat

4d for
t was
eeling
t the
or to

d the

vagon
{ the
other

“cupy-
idgett
hing.”
oward
el.

rrying
| dered
| know
| e the
lorror

ildren
o the
were
ent a
e was
imself

» told
place
n out

December, 1936

to a farmer. Do you know anyone who
would want him?”

“He's too young to earn his keep. No-
body would take him,” replied the bar-
tender, putting the finishing touches to a
highly polished bit of glass.

Mudgett realized that what the bar-
tender said was true. He began to think
about a stove again. A stove and a
house—it had never failed. The next day
Mudgett wandered about the city. When
he came to the outlying suburb of Irving-
ton. he saw something that pleased him.
It was a one-and-a-half-story cottage set
off in a clump of trees. There was a sign
on the gate showing that it was for rent.

The vampire hurried to the real estate
office of Jasper Brown, a short distance
away. He burst in on the silver-haired,
frail old man who was seated at a huge
rolltop desk.

“TF want the keys for that house,” he
demanded, pointing through the window
to the structure which could be seen
through the window.

Something in Mudgett’s manner told
Brown that here was a man who would
brook no delay. He handed over the
keys in a hurry. Mudgett threw down
the required rent.

Before Mudgett went back to the hotel
he stopped in at. the hardware store of
Albert) Schiflling.

“Sharpen these for, me,” he said put-
ting his kit of surgical knives on. the
counter. “UIl call for them in a day
or so.”

Back at the hotel, the vampire in-
formed the girls that they were to  re-
main in their room for a few days.

“Howard and [| are going out to the
country to visit for a while,” he an-
nounced.

Mudgett packed the boy’s trunk while
the children huddled together. white-
faced and frightened.

On October eighth, Mudgett called for
his knives. At the Irvington cottage
everything was in readiness. Elvett
Moorman, a neighboring farmhand, had
been called in to build a roaring fire in
the stove in the cellar. After he had
gone, Mucdgett called Howard into the
parlor.

UDGETT was seated on a couch and

the boy approached hesitantly.
“Come here,” said the vampire, holding
out his arms.

The boy feared the icy look that belied
the manner. But he walked up to the
man. Mudgett began to stroke the boy’s
soft brown hair. His fingers relished _ its
silky smoothness. His heart began to
pound until his veins were liquid fire.
His hands were no longer soft and bone-
less, the tapering fingers were bands of
steel as they hooked in a death grip on
the voungster’s throat.

When the boy’s struggles were over,
Mudgett carried his body down to the
cellar. He laid him out on a pile of rags
before the furnace. The steel knives
flashed and from time to time Mudgett
threw something into the flames. Bathed
in the red glare from the open fire-box.
he looked like nothing ever seen on earth.
The stained, wet rags were the last to
enter the flames. Mudgett wiped the
perspiration from his brow and began
to clean his crimsoned knives.

When the fire had died down, the vam-

pire examined the ashes. Bones, teeth and
a portion of the torso remained. Work-
ing at fever-pitch he removed the stove
pipe and shovelled what was left of
Howard Pitezel into the vent, Then he
broke the bey’s trunk jnto bits and dis-
tributed the pieces underneath the front
porch,

The next day he called in Elvett

Lan faye
: ¢ :

Master Detective

Moorman and asked him_ to take the
stove out to the barn, When he was
certain that everything was clear, he left
the house and went back to Indianapolis.
He hurried Alice and Nellie Pitezel on to
the first train and by evening they were
in Detroit, Michigan.

“Howard is not with us any more,” the
girls wrote their mother.

Mudgett read the letter and smiled.
Then he locked it up, in a strongbox,
as he had done with all their previous
letters.

From Detroit, Mudgett wrote Mrs.
Pitezel suggesting that she bring the baby,
Wharton, and Dessa_ to Toronto where
they would join Pitezel on October
eighteenth. — le wrote another letter, to
his wife in Wilmette, and told her to join
him in Toronto also.

When he arrived in the Canadian city,
on October eighteenth, Mudgett secreted
the two girls in a room at the Albion,
registering them under the names of
Alice and Nellie Canning. Ile then met
his wife and saw that she was lodged at
the Walker House. Mrs. Pitezel he found
at still another hotel, the Union.

“VW HERE is my husband?” the dis-
tracted woman asked,

_ Mudgett frowned, He realized by this
time that he was going to have his hands
full keeping everyone apart.

“There's been a slip-up,” he said. “We
are still in a dangerous position. Go"
to Burlington, Vermont. Here's some
money to rent a house with, I’ll meet
you in a few weeks.”

“And the children, how are they?”

“Fine,” announced Mudgett. “1 left
them in the care of a very dear friend
of mine. Miss Minnie Williams. She is
taking them all to New York. Later on
we'll meet them. We may even go to
Europe.”

“Europe?” asked the woman wonder-
ingly.

“Wouldn’t you like to see the world?”
countered Mudgett.

Mrs. Pitezel brightened at the thought
and within a few hours was on her way to
Burlington as Mudgett had suggested.
After all whom could she trust besides Mr.
Mudgett, who had always been so kind.

Lor the rest of the week, Mudgett con-
tinued the sex holiday he had enjoyed
at the expense of Miss Yoke. At. the
end of that time, he sent her on her
way back to her parents.

Once more Mudgett roamed the city
in search of a house. At 16 St. Vincent
Street he found something that suited
his purpose. It didn’t have much of a
stove, but the cellar interested him more.
It was shallow and completely walled in.
There was no light there and the flooring
was earth.

Neighbors saw him move in with an
old bed, a mattress and a big trunk, He
sent for the two girls and went out. to
borrow a spade.

“My sisters would like to have a place
in the cellar to grow potatoes,” he told
the lady who lived next door at number
18. Armed with a spade he returned to
the house. He placed the implement
in a corner of the kitchen, near the trap-
door that led to the cellar.

He was humming to himself as he un-
sacked the huge trunk in the bedroom.
t was a heavy, metal ribbed affair with
a large arched top. He ran his eyes over
it and poked at a little cover on the lid.
Ile unhooked it and exposed a hole about
three-quarters of an inch in diameter.

Alice and Nellie noticed the pleased
expression on_ the vampire’s face and
their hearts lifted. somewhat.

“When are we going to see mother?”
they asked.

73

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“Very soon,” promised Mudgett. [le
looked at his watch. “Run along to bed
now, it’s getting late.”

He heard the girls moving about. in
the bedroom, laughing as they undressed
for bed.

Mudgett waited until all was quiet,
until he was certain they were either
dozing or asleep. He had a little sur-
prise in store for them, and the more
dazed they were, the better it would be.

When he felt that the time had ar-
rived he went up to the bedroom door,
banged it loudly with his fist and burst
into the room.

“Wake up,” he shouted.
are here.”

He shook the bewildered girls,

“Hurry, we must hide,” he said.

he huge trunk was standing in the
corner, its lid opened. Mudgett pointed
at the trunk, Talf-sick with fright, the
girls looked at each other, not daring
to move, .

“The police

“NY7E won't be able to breathe,” whis-
pered Alice.

The vampire held the lid of the trunk,
Ie pointed to the vent. “There’s an air
hole. Get in or we'll all be in jail,”

Clad in their flimsy nightdresses the
two girls ran to the trunk. The vampire
let the heavy lid down gently and locked
it. Tlis fingers stole to the metal disk
on the lid; his face was inscrutable as
he heard it click shut.

Before the girls realized what had hap-
ened to them, the vampire had left. the
rouse, A nice quiet walk would do him
good, he reasoned. ‘There was a lot of
work to be done on the morrow.

In the morning the vampire took a
lantern. and went down. to the shallow
cellar, The spade bit into the dirt with a
dry crunch as he dug a narrow grave.
When the task was completed, he went
to the bedroom and opened. the trunk,
He ripped the nightclothes from the
still forms and carried the nude bodies
to the cellar. He placed them one on top
of the other, head to foot at the bottom
of the grave. The spade began to fly again
and the hole in the earth began to fill up,
Mudgett stamped down the loose earth
with his feet after carefully distributing
the left-over dirt. When he was through
he looked at his hands and made a wry
face. They were blistered!

As quickly as possible Mudgett packed
everything he could find into the heavy
trunk, Tle left the old) bed and the
mattress behind and went to the railroad
station.

“One ticket to Burlington, Vermont,”
he told the man behind the wicket.

It was November twelfth when Mudgett
arrived in the Vermont city. Mrs, Pitezel

greeted him eagerly.
“How are the children?” she asked.
“They are in good hands. You'll see
them soon,” he assured her,

Mudgett announced that he only in-

tended to stay a few days before going
on to Boston. Lstablished in the cottage
at 26 Winooski Avenue with Mrs, Pitezel,
Dessa and the baby, he began to formu-
late his plans. The thing was not going to
be easy for he now had to deal with
more than one person amidst strange
surroundings.

He took long walks through the town
in order to get. his bearings and paid a
visit to a local chemist’s shop. It was on
this latter occasion that something
peculiar happened. When he returned
to the cottage with his purchases, he felt
a tingling sensation on the back of his
neck. It was as though Strange and hos-
tile eyes were boring into him. Casually
he looked) around. Out of the corner
of his eye he saw a head disappear behind
a tree.

Ile went up the steps to the porch and
stood there. Every movement was casual
and unconcerned, but his brain was work-
ing fast. He looked down the street again.
There was a oman idling on the corner.
Mudgett turned in’ the other direction,
Ile saw nothing, but sensed eyes meeting
his own.

For the first time in his life. the vam-
pire felt himself cornered. ‘There was
only one thing to do, and he did it fast.

Into the house he went, dropping his
yaickage on a hall table. He felt: his wal-
let thick with bills, resting securely in-
side his coat. Without further ado, he
hurried to the back door, and scurried
through the yard to the adjacent street.
Once there he adjusted his clothes and
stepped off briskly in the direction of the
railroad station. “Let Mrs. Pitezel and
the others be,” he reasoned, “I’m getting
out while there is still time.”

HE Was none too soon. Hardly had he
left the house when the watching eyes
came to life. Two burly figures marched
up to the porch of the cottage and went
in the open door. The first person. they
met was Mrs, Pitezel who had heard
Mudgett come in and was coming down
the stairs to talk to him. The two men
announced that they were insurance in-
vestigators and asked for Mudaett.

“Tle must be somewhere in the house. |
heard him come in,” said) Mrs. Pitezel
nervously, Ter heart was) pounding in
her throat.

“Are you Mrs. Pitezel?” they asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Well, we've orders to bring you to
Philadelphia.”

The woman grasped the bannister for

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wePae’

iY

December,

support. S
ter all. —
The inv
cottage fe
skipped,” :
Pitezel. B
that he m
of the mei
the railroa
found tha
Mr. Mudg
parted five
Back at
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table.» He
whistle. |
tial comp
nitroglyce
On No
man, wh¢
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the lobby
Massachu
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trusively
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“Mr. -
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The dit
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joined th:
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make sur

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glances.
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The np
— Detect
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“Sos
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The \
made u
he foun
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Geyer
in the c
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only in-
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ts. Pitezel,
to formu-
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t strange

the town
nd paid a
It was on
something

returned
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ick of his
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Casually
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ear behind

porch and

Was casual’

was work-
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he corner.
direction,
vs Meeting

the vam-
there was
lid it fast.
pping his
It his wal-
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lothes and
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ily had he
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s marched
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erson. they
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irance in-
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rs. Pitezel
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asked,
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invites
spirited
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>If you
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» Write

December, 1936

support, So it was turning out badly af-
ter all.

The investigators looked through the
cottage for Mudgett. “He must have
skipped,” said one. ‘They turned to Mrs.
Pitezel. Badly frightened she told them
that he might be located in Boston, One
of the men left the house and hurried to
the railroad: station. When he arrived he
found that luck was. still playing with
Mr. Mudgett. The Boston train had de-
parted five minutes previously.

Back at the cottage the other investi-
gator spotted the package on the hall
table. He opened it and gave a low
whistle. In neat array were the essen-
tial compounds for the manufacture of
nitroglycerin,

On November seventeenth, a_ slender
man, who hardly seemed to weigh over
one hundred pounds, walked blithely into
the lobby of the Adams House in Boston,
Massachusetts. As he headed for the desk
in the lobby, one figure, then two fell into
step behind him. A man_ seated unob-
trusively in a corner chair, folded his
newspaper. The two figures closed in,

“Mr. Mudgett, we want to talk to
you,” said one.

The little man stopped and he turned
his sharp eyes upon the speaker.

The man with the folded newspaper
joined the group.

“I'm Chief Inspector Watts,” he an-
nounced. “I hold a warrant for you.”

Mudgett’s thoughts were racing. “How
much did they know?”

The vampire cleared his throat. “What's
it about?” he asked quietly.

Inspector Watts looked at the legal
document.

“It's from Fort Worth, a swindling
charge.”

The tension ‘snapped inside Mudgett.

“A little matter of misplaced confi-
dence,” he murmured, “Why should they
make such a fuss over it?”

H* looked into the eyes of the detec-
tives, then turned away with a start.
tle did not like what he read in their cold
glances.

Mudgett tried to pump his captors for
more information. en told him_ noth-
ing and held him incommunicado in the
city jail.

Vhe next morning he received visitors

Detectives Crawford and Geyer of the
Philadelphia Police Department,

"So you're Mudgett,” began Geyer as
he entered the cell.

The vampire nodded. He had already
made up his mind to say nothing until
he found out what lay behind this. sud-
den activity on the part of the police.

Geyer and Crawford seated themselves
in the cell and stared at the dapper little
man. If he was uncomfortable under
their steady gaze he did not show it.

It was Crawford who spoke next.

“What about the chloroform in Mr.
‘Perry's’ body back in Philadelphia?” he
asked casually.

“And what about the glass inside the
bell jar?” chimed in Geyer, “You
thought you did rather a neat trick, eh?”

“1 don’t know what you're talking
about,” stalled Mudgett.

“Did you ever hear of a man named

Hedgepeth?” asked Crawford.

“So that was it,” thought Mudgett.
“Hledgepeth tipped them = off that the
Philadelphia body was a plant.” [le real-
ized quickly that if he played his cards
right, the worst that the police could do
would be to give him a jail sentence on a
swindling charge for defrauding the in-
surance company.

Out loud he said that he was acquaint-
ed with the gentleman they had named.

Geyer told him) frankly that Llecdge-

Master Detective

cth's letter to President Fouse of the
fidelity Mutual had caused the police to
re-open the case of the man supposedly
killed by “an accidental explosion.”

“We looked into that death,” continued
Geyer, “and what we found made our
hair stand on end. For instance one of
the doctors who examined the body at
the scene told us that the man’s stomach
was full of chloroform. Yet the tissues
were not inflamed and there was no evi-
dence of spasms or contortions such as
would occur if chloroform had been taken
at the mouth. Therefore we concluded
that you must have injected it after
death.”

Geyer paused to let the words sink in.
Mudgett gave no sign that he heard.

“AT first we thought the explosion

killed him, but on checking up we
found that the bell jar that was broken had
glass on the inside. It was dropped inten-
tionally. The doctor also told us that
when he tried to lift the corncob pipe
from the floor, he found the man’s chin
resting on it. And the way the shutters
were arranged was really ingenious. | went
back to the house later and found that
they were fixed to send a stream of sun-
light toward one spot on the floor for
hours at a time—the spot where the head
of the corpse rested. As for the burns on
the body, they were merely superficial
and were caused by your passing a flame
over the face and arms. So you see we
found out quite a few things.’

Mudgett Teeewed,

“What are the charges?”

President Fouse has signed a complaint
charging that you, Pitezel, his wife and
Have acted in concert to commit mur-
der.

So Pitezel was in on it too—Mudgett
seemed taken aback.

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“Mrs. Pitezel was arrested in Burling-
ton two days ago. That's how we found
out that you would be in Boston. Tlowe
was arrested in St. Louis, but we are not
so sure of Pitezel. Personally | think you
murdered him,” said Geyer,

Mudgett shook his head at the mention
of the word,

“Pitezel is alive,” he insisted earnestly.
“LT gave him part of the ten) thousand
dollars and he left) for South America.
| met him in Cincinnati ten days after |
identified the body in) the morgue and
paid him his share.’

Geyer and Crawford exchanged glances.

“Then whom did you kill in his place?”
they demanded.

The vampire lifted his hand in a ges-
ture of protest.

“No one. We used a body already
dead.” He went on to explain how he
worked his trick. “We had a body shipped
from New York in a trunk.”

“Nonsense,” snapped Geyer. “Rigor
mortis would set in and you’d never be
able to straighten out the corpse to look
as composed as the one found in Perry’s
room.”

Mudgett decided to say nothing further
and the interview was at an end.

Mrs. Pitezel, worn and frightened, was
brought to: Boston and the next day the
party headed by train for Philadelphia.
Seated in the smoking car with Detective
Crawford, Mudgett waxed confidential.

“I've three wives, all living,” he an-
nounced blandly, twirling a cigar in’ his
slender fingers.

Crawford was unimpressed.

“In Chicago,” Mudgett went on, “TI
once helped my mistress dispose of the
body of her sister after she had_ killed
her. We threw the body into Lake Michi-
gan. .
(Continued on page 77)

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(Continued from page 75)

“It’s. Pitezel that I’m interested in,”
said Crawford bluntly, “Where is hee”

Mudgett was silent for a moment while
he exhaled a cloud of blue smoke.

tetas in some Philadelphia grave-
yard,

“You murdered him!” shot Crawford.

Mudgett made a protesting gesture.
“He committed suicide.”

Shrewdly he was attempting to throw
the investigators off the track. Tle real-
ized that as long as there was a doubt as
to Pitezel’s whereabouts all concerned
would be safe.

“E found Pitezel on the floor of his
place, with a cloth over his mouth and a
pipe leading to a bottle of chloroform. |
felt his heart and knew that he was dead.
‘There was a note in the bottle directing
me to use his body according to the plan
we had worked out. before, He said that
he was tired of living and that it would
be easier to use his body instead of a sub-
stitute. | kicked in the glass bell jar and
made it look like an accidental explosion
by passing a flame over his face.”

“Then where are Mrs. Pitezel’s three
children, if they are not with their
father?”

ile vampire flicked the ashes from his
cigar.

“The two girls are with my former mis-
tress, Minme Williams. She is taking
them to Lingland.”

“And Howard?”

“Left him in the care of a man named
Ilatch in Indianapolis,” said Mudgett, re-
calling the name of Patrick Quinlan’s
drinking companion.

if Crawford did not realize then what
manner of man he was dealing with, he
was soon to find out.

“Do you believe in hypnotism, Mr.

Crawford?” asked Mudgett pleasantly,
fixing his eyes on the detective.
Crawford started at the unexpected

question. Mudgett reached into a coat
socket and proffered a fat wad of bills.
ts meaning was obvious.

“EIT not. be bribed,” said Crawford
curtly. “Put it away. You're in enough
trouble already. Don’t: start: any more
for yourself.” |,

At. Philadelphia) Mudgett was ques-
tioned by high police officials. Coolly he
now insisted that Pitezel was still alive,
and ,repudiated the story that he had
told Crawford on the train. Some cre-
dence was given his latest version when
word came from Chicago that a Mr. Ryan
had been drinking with Pitezel a few
weeks before. When Mudgett heard of
this, he shook his head.

“Very improbable. Pitezel is in South
America. When he learns of the embar-
rassing circumstances we are all in, he will
give himself up.”

At the city prison, other officers ques-
tioned Mrs. Pitezel and her daughter
Dessa. The latter was the first to crack
under the strain.

“My father told me one day.” she sud-
denly admitted, “that if |- heard at any
time a report that he was dead, | should
not believe it until absolute proof was
given.”

Mrs. Pitezel blazed. :

“You told me nothing of this. How
could you keep me in such anxiety?”

Dessa Pitezel brimmed with tears. “I
was sworn to secrecy,” she sobbed.

“But where are Alice, Nellie and Hlow-
ard?” pleaded the distracted woman. “Are
they with father?”

“1 don’t know,” sighed Dessa.

But where was Pitezel? To the police,
the absence of the children seemed to be
an indication that the father was still
alive, ‘They were too young and harmless

to be murdered, they thought. To them
the dapper Mudgett seemed to be the
type of man who obtained his — ends

through trickery, rather than violence.
Little did they know of his ruthless
crimes,

In a long telegraphic report the Chica-
go authorities told the Philadelphia police
of Mudgett’s attempted arson. They said
that they believed Minnie Williams to
have fled the city as an aftermath to the
exposé. They, too, suspected nothing of
the horrors behind the walls of the house
on. Sixty-third Street. The vampire’s
secret was still safe.

Meanwhile the search for Pitezel con-
tinued. Tips came thick and fast but as
the days passed it was apparent that no
one really knew the whereabouts of the
man. The fate of his children was also
a mystery.

“It is not likely that the authorities
will ever solve the case,” commented a
leading newspaper. “The muddle of Pite-
vel dead, and Pitezel living, is so weird
that new characters in this melodrama
will prostrate the police.”

And the greater the muddle, the deeper
was Mudpett’s satisfaction. Due to the
fact. that no one knew whether Pitezel
was buried. or in hiding, the only charge
for which Mudgett could be held was one
for conspiracy to defraud in makine the
death of the Callowhill Street corpse ap-
pear as an accident. On this charge two
years imprisonment | was the maximum
penalty—a cheap price to pay for stav-
ine off investigation into the vampire’s
inhuman existence.

When every clue had been exhausted,
Mrs. Pitezel and Jeptha Tlowe were re-
leased. as it) Was reasoned that they had
already suffered enough. Shortly after-
ward, Mudgett was brought into court.
With little ceremony he. pleaded guilty to
conspiracy. With the time already spent
in prison credited to him, he would have
but little over a year to serve before set-
ins down to enjoying the fruits of his
abor,

UT there was an unexpected surprise
in store for him.

“LT will withhold) sentence,” announced
the Court, “pending results of an inquiry
now about to be commenced.”

Inquiry? The smile vanished from the
vampire’s face, Weren't the police ever
going to close the case?

He turned away from the bar to find
himself led to Superintendent of Police
Robert Linden’s office. When he saw the
looks that greeted his entrance he knew
that he had a battle on his hands. In-
spector Gary was there too, staring at
him grimly. He nodded to Mudgett.

“Where are the_ three Pitezel  chil-
dren?” he began, fixing his steel gray eyes
on the dapper little man.

“Sir,” began Mudgett earnestly, “the
last | saw Howard Pitezel was in Detroit
last November. As for the girls, they are
with Miss Williams, as I have told you.”

Gary became red with anger.

“Pm sick of that story,” he snapped.

“Give me the name of one respectable
person who saw Miss Williams and the
children in any city,” demanded Superin-
tendent Linden.

Mudgett fell silent for a moment.

“Believe me, sir, | am as anxious as you
are to know where they are. Miss Wil-
liams and | have arranged to communi-
cate with each other ‘in cipher through
the personal columns of the New York
Herald, and {| expect to hear from her
shortly. She was supposed to go to num-
ber eighty, Veder or Vadar Street. Lon-
don, with the girls.”

“Nonsense,” snapped Linden.

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Ne ie He A etn beet

Butte was brought in again. He still
displayed no emotion except that of in-
tense sorrow. He neither argued nor
pleaded his innocence, and he answered
only in monosyllables,

But we did learn one interesting thing.
Butte admitted that he was no . longer
wealthy—in fact, since he had come to
Seattle he had been forced to accept living
expenses from his wife, Emily. Yoris
and I gazed at each other in triumph as
the man was taken away. ;

There was the motive! A brilliant man,
with keen business ability and intense
personal pride, forced to sit idly and ac-
cept money from his wife! Four years of
humiliating dependence, when all along he
knew he could make a handsome living in
California—how it must have corroded his
soul! We could see it all now. Petty
quarrels with stinging remarks had turned
love to hate, and magnified Emily Butte
as his one obstacle in the path of Cali-
fornia and self-support.

DETECTIVE WINTERS reported back
to the station after his search of
Butte’s YMCA room. “All I found
was a pair of trousers and two pairs of
shoes that he had discarded,” said Winters.
“Butte checked ott of the: room on the
afternoon before the murder.” .-
“Has the clothing been examined?”
asked Yoris. a .
“Yes,” answered Winters, “and it gives
us no evidence ‘at all.”
“Hm,” said Yoris.
dealing with an. extraordinarily clever
criminal, or we have the wrong man en-
tirely. I’m inclined to think the former.
Butte had plenty of time to concoct his
perfect crime, and the brains to do it with.
“Winters, get the clothing Butte is
wearing now, and we'll have it examined.
The rest of you fellows go over the mur--
der room again with a fine-tooth comb.

. We've got to get the goods on this man!”

After an afternoon’s work, we again
reported ‘our findings. Not one finger-

‘ print belonging to Butte could we find in

the apartment. However, the shoes taken
from the man exactly matched the print.on
the apartment rug. Moreover, the heel of

Butte’s left shoe. yielded scrapings of dirt .
that contained human blood cells!

‘At last’ we felt we were closing in on
our man, and Yoris decided to call him
in again. But when told of the new. evi-

dence against him, Butte merely shook his ;

head sadly. 5
“I didn’t do it, boys,” he repeated wear-
ily.. “I didn’t do it.” » é
“My God, man!” cried Yoris, “how do
you explain the blood on your shoe?”
Butte’s voice was mild. “If any of you
fellows entered: your home and found your
wife dead, wouldn’t you rush to her side
even if you had to step into blood to do
it?” :
Yoris’ nodded ‘slowly. “All right. But
you still haven’t explained the fact that
you left at 8:30, and your wife was dead
hours before. that. Another thing you
haven’t explained is the bloodstains on the
sheet that covered her face. You already
admitted that you covered her face. And
Butte, your wife’s blood was fresh and
warm at. the time—because caked blood
does not absorb ‘into sheeting!” "
Charles Butte gazed straight into the
detective chief's eyes: “Mr. Yoris, I did
not kill my wife!” he said.. “Nothing” mat-
ters any more. I have nothing to live
for since Emily is gone.”
And that was all we could get out of
him, : ~
The next day Arthur Zigler, stepson of
the accused, arrived from Grant’s Pass,
Oregon, and proceeded to Chief Yoris
office, where he was allowed to talk pri-.
vately with his stepfather. They were
closeted together: only a short time, and

50

“Rither we are

er

INSIDE DETECTIVE
when they emerged together, we could not
help but feel touched at the extreme sor-
row in the older man’s face.

“Tt’s tough, Mr. Butte,” sympathized
Yoris. “You've certainly had your share
of trouble. First you lose your business,
then your money, and now your wife...”

Butte sat down uncertainly, his eyes °

gazing off afar. “Yes,” he muttered, “I’ve
had my troubles.”

And for a long moment he sat there,
motionless and wordless. Then he swung
around and faced Chief Yoris.

“I did it!” he cried abruptly. “I did
it and I'll confess!” And as Charles Butte
broke down in complete despair, his step-
son left the room and the older man gave
ogg full. story, intermingled with bitter
sobs.

“POR MONTHS this thing has ob-
© sessed my mind,” he began. “All be-
cause I couldn’t go back to California and
live as I did before. I was used to having
my own money and my own home, and
doing as I pleased. Then, after all these
years, it was all suddenly taken away from

me.

“That awful night was the first we spent
together in several months. We were al-
most happy again, planning the trip and
our vacation together. Then this morning
I got up first, and while I was dressing,
we got into the old argument again. It
led to another quarrel, and she finally set-
tled down to go to sleep again, thinking I
was going out.

“I picked up a rod from my grip that I
have carried around with me for weeks
to hold the hangers in my closet, and
struck her with it several times. After I
had hit her the last time, she ceased strug-
gling and settled back on the pillow. With
her last breath she whispered, ‘Kiss me,
I’m dying——!’

“I knelt beside her and kissed her good-
bye, fully intending to take my own life
tdo. If you don’t believe that look in the
bed-post at my room at the ‘Y.’. I hid
three poison tablets there.

. “But after she was gone I didn’t have
the nerve, and decided to cover my tracks.
After clearing away the traces in the apart-
ment, I wrapped the rod in a newspaper
and hid it under my coat. I searched
through the place for some legal papers I
wanted, then left the apartment very
quietly and walked straight down Spring
Street to the waterfront and dropped the
rod into the bay. After breakfast I gath-

“Will the gentleman who's been
eating onions please leave the room?”

ered my belongings together at my ‘Y’
rooms and hung around there until after-
noon, when I went down to the bus de
and pretended to wait for my wife, You
know the rest.”

The man stopped, his face streaming,
And Yoris had ‘only one more question
to put: “What made you confess, Mr.
Butte?”

Charles Butte made an eloquent ges-
ture with his hand. “You sympathized
with me,” he said. “I couldn't stand

Coroner Otto Mittelstadt personally
searched the room at the YMCA, and
found the poison tablets hidden cleverly
in one of the posts, and held in place
above the castor. The tablets were con-
sidered important evidence that Butte: had
planned the murder at least’ some time
in advance.

Declared sane by alienists, Butte went
to trial January 18, 1939, before Superior
Judge James B. Kinne. A charge of
second degree murder was accepted when
the judge became convinced that there
was not enough evidence of premeditation
for the charge of first degree murder.

Butte received sentence supported on the
arm of his grown son, Charles Felix
Butte Jr.
speak before sentence was passed, the one-
time wealthy engineer, clubman and big
business man said: d

“There is one sustaining element in my
heart, and that is the last thing she said

to me, She said, ‘I know God forgives.

you, for you know not what you did’
Bug she added, ‘Kiss me, dear,’ and I

id.

And with that, tragic Charles Butte
was sentenced to life imprisonment at
Walla Walla Penitentiary—for a crime
which he bitterly regrets but which cannot
be undone.

From the Inside
(Continued from page 2)

Another letter comes from a “young old

lady” of eighty years who now lives in -

California. . ,

“I am much interested in your Holmes
story,” she writes, “because I was indi-
rectly drawn into the case at ‘the time
Holmes was weaving his schemes around
the two Williams sisters in Fort Worth.
I lived in a hotel at Dallas at the time,
and among the other guests there were
Holmes’ real wife and little daughter, I
became acquainted with Mrs. Holmes, and
met her husband. several times when he
visited her on weekends. Late in the fall,
when Holmes was arrested and the coun-
try was shocked with the horror of his
crimes, I saw through many little instances
that meant nothing to me at the time. I
am looking forward to the next issue of
your magazine and wondering if it will
present other facts known to me.”

There is also a card from a New York
reader who knew Holmes very well in St.
Louis in 1893—so well that Holmes tried
ta interest him in a Chicago World’s Fair
scheme of some kind. And there are
still other letters too numerous to men-
tion.

Holmes’ career ended almost a_ half
century ago, yet it was so vivid that people
still remember. It all goes to show that
Instve Derecrive’s story on the case is
something that should not be missed.
“Castle of Death” ends in this issue, but
a synopsis is given so that it’s not too
late to start if you missed the first in-
stallments.

—TnHeE Eprrtor.

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sr

CASTLE OF DEATH|

a

. tectives had broken in, and stood appalled at what they saw.

The amazing finale in the saga of Dr. Holmes — America’s

The Story Thus Far

- When the burned corpse of Benjamin Pitzell, patent lawyer, was
found in his Philadelphia office in 1894, it appeared that the man
had committed suicide. And when a polished, persuasive gentle-
man who called himself Dr. H. H. Holmes came to collect the
insurance for Pitsell’s widow, it was paid him.

Then came evidence indicating that Pitzell had been murdered
for insurance, and two months later Holmes was arrested, Com-
plications followed thick and fast.

Holmes flatly denied the charges. Then word came from Chi-
cago that Minnie and Nan Williams, sisters from Texas, had
lived ‘with Holmes in the. strange mansion he had occupied in
Chicago before coming east. They had suddenly vanished from
sight.

Further, Mrs. Pitzell wanted to know what had become of her
three children, Alice, fifteen, Nellie, thirteen, and Howard, ten,
whom she had left.in Holmes’ care while she was ill.

Holmes now changed his story, admitting insurance fraud and
saying that the dead man had not been Pitzell after all. Pitzell, he
said, was still alive, and had undoubtedly taken the children away
—probably to South America, for he had talked of going there.

Police already knew Holmes to be a consummate liar. They still
believed he had murdered Pitzell—but where were the children?

Determined to find out, Detective Frank P. Geyer of Phila-
delphia began tracing Holmes’ travels after he had collected the
insurance. He trailed him to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Detroit.
There he found that Holmes and the children had been traveling
with beautiful Georgia Yoke, an gctress, -who was entirely unaware
of the doctor’s secret fiendishness. ‘

At last, in Toronto, Geyer found the bodies of Alice and Nellie
Pitzell in a house where Holmes had stayed. Returning to In-
dianapolis, he found the corpse of Howard Pitzell. _

Still. missing were the Williams girls, and many other women
whom Holmes had employed as “secretaries” in his gloomy Chi-
cago home. Knowing Holmes to be the greatest villain in history,
but still ignorant as to his motive for such wholesale murder,
police broke into his vacant mansion in Chicago.

They found it to be a veritable murder castle. And they came
upon a secret sealed chamber. They broke into tt....

Part Three—Conclusion

slaughterhouse that revealed at last the true extent of this
man’s incredible villainy. He had walled it in and sealed
it up, no doubt hoping that his horrible secret would be safely
concealed there; but Inspector Fitzgerald and his two de-

T sae SECRET chamber. of Dr. Holmes was a human

Here, they sensed, lay the grim answer to many mysteries—
to the disappearance of Minnie and Nan Williams, of beauteous
Julia Conner and her little daughter, of charming Emaline
Cigrand, and ‘all the rest of the tragic women with whom
Holmes had played as a cat plays with a mouse.

of human bone not entirely consumed by the fire, and it was

only too easy to guess the purpose to which the stove had been

put.

Looking farther, the detectives found in the ashes a blackened
bit of watch chain, later identified as Minnie Williams’, and the
charred buckle of a. girl’s garter that had belonged to her
sister, Nannie. The fate of the two attractive sisters from the
South now became horribly clear.

Reconstructing the double crime, the police believed they

had been brought ‘to the dungeon one at a time, .and put to

‘ death there by Dr. Holmes. There must have been piteous
screams from the doomed girls when they realized at last the
real motive of the polished killer who had lured them away
from Fort Worth. But no sound could escape that hideous
chamber. There was no help....

First he had stripped them of their clothing, which he
burried in the stove. Then he had murdered each of them,
probably on the operating table, and finally had chopped up
their bodies on the butcher’s block and stuffed the pieces in the
stove, where the fire consumed everything save the splinters

. of bone and the bits of metal.

The bloodstained cleaver beside the block, and the surgical
instruments in the corner cabinet, bore out this theory, and
indicated also that the same fate had befallen the other girls
‘and women who had entered the “murder cast|gZ f Dr.
Holmes—never to leave it.

Near the center of the room stood a butcher’s block and, #

nearby, an operating table, both stained with blood. Blood- @
stained ropes and scraps of clothing hung here and there, and {

in a corner cabinet, faced with glass doors, were three human
skulls.

Almost everything bore dark reddish-brown stains, and the
police officers assumed they were caused by human blood,
darkened and hardened with the passing of time. Later, a
chemical analysis verified their assumption. i

In another corner of the gloomy, dungeon-like place stood
a squat iron stove. In grim silence the detectives began sifting
the ashes in its pit. They soon picked out several splinters

42

ie


EDWIN BAIRD

most infamous Bluebeard

Delving deeper in the underground chamber of
horrors, the detectives found a heavy metal tank

sunk in the floor. In the tank was the remnant.

of what appeared to be acid, and in the acid were
still other bits of bones.

Here was the laboratory of a doctor who dealt
not in healing, but in killing. Here was a place
coldly engineered for the business of murder—a
place the like of which has never been seen before
or since.

UT WHAT had been the man’s motive? What

# mad, perverted impulse accounted for his

maniacal lust for blood? Why had he obliterated

these innocent women—none of whom had done

him any harm—with fire, with acid, and with the
knife ?

These questions proposed an absorbing study for
criminologists or scientists interested in the in-
sane twisting of a diabolical mind. But all the
hard-boiled policemen wanted to know was: “Can
we get enough evidence on this man to hang him ?”

They felt they had plenty of proof against
Holmes already, but as they proceded with their
investigation, through the house and in the neigh-
horhood, they turned up still move.

They found a Mrs. John Crowe,
who had lived at Dr. Holmes’ man-
sion in 1891, and who had the dis-
tinction of escaping from it alive.
From her they learned the important
details of the disappearance of Julia
Conner and her small daughter, Pearl.
Both disappeared, the police learned,
on Christmas Eve, 1891, and neither
- had been seen since.

“T knew them very well,” said Mrs.
Crowe, “and I was with them on that

« Christmas Eve. The little girl was
helping her mother decorate the
Christmas tree, and both were chat-
‘ting happily about the celebration
they would have next day.

“But when I called at their living
quarters next day,” Mrs. Crowe went
on, “neither ‘of them was there.
Everything i inthe room was just as
I had seen it the night before. The

dishes were still’on the table, with

DR. HOLMES, as portrayed in sketch,
played with women as a cat plays
with a mouse, and his victims num-
bered twenty-seven before the law
wrote “finis” to his carnival of crime.

the knives and forks, and I saw Mrs. Conner’s
winter, coat in the closet, but there was no sign
of her or Pearl.

“I asked Dr, Holmes where they had gone,
and he said they’d left town for the holidays.
But I knew that couldn’t be, for Julia wouldn’t
have left without her coat; and besides, she had
left the money for the milkman. I saw it on the
table. I’m sure she never intended going away.”

Further investigation disclosed that Julia Con-
ner had left her husband, later divorcing him,
because of Dr, Holmes.

Another triangle affair, with an ending. even
more grisly, was that involving Dr. Holmes,
Emaline Cigrand, and her fiancé, Robert E.
Phelps. +

Dr. Holmes, the police discovered, had been
jealous of Robert’s attentions to the girl, and

when she told him she intended marrying the’

young man, he flew into.a rage. It was at about
that time that Robert dropped out of sight.

And now the police, ransacking the house
from top to bottom, came upon scraps of Robert’s
clothing, and what little was left of his body.

Before they finished digging up the dungeon of ,

death they found the remains of Emaline.

Dr. Holmes had almost completely destroyed
the girl’s body by placing it in a second acid tank
beneath the basement floor.

The girl’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Cigrand,

wx

“castle” convinced
. them’ there were many
more victims, as yet un-
known. This outside investi-
gation also brought to light
another phase of Dr, Holmes’
criminal career—his numerous
swindles and confidence games.
And that, in turn, brought an explan-
ation of the fantastic machine found in
the basement by Inspector Fitzpatrick.
Dr. Holmes had built the machine, not, as
the detectives at first supposed, for torturing

ii
KF

Pd || oy

LOVELY GEORGIA YOKE (top), one of the few women who
knew Holmes and lived to tell the tale, did just that in court.
Her testimony, which he hoped would save him, doomed him.

told the police they had last seen Emaline in October, 1892.

“She was preparing for her marriage to Robert then,” the
mother tearfully said, “and when both of them disappeared
we all supposed they had decided to elope, and had skipped
out of Chicago to live elsewhere.”

Day after day the detectives searched the “murder castle,”
exploring its maze of secret rooms and hidden closets; and
day after day they unearthed more gruesome evidence of Dr.
Holmes’ lust for murder. Among the many shocking things
they found were several teeth and a strand of hair—all that
remained of little sixteen-year-old Emily Van Tassel.

With this discovery, the police accounted for all the known
victims of Dr. Holmes; but their investigation outside the

“making gas out of water.”

ten-hour demonstration of his “marvelous i ion,”
nvention,

that the Canadian was on the point of buyi i

eo th -

ous machine for $2000. J eee

Before the deal could be closed, however, Holmes found

himself in a tight spot because of another con game, and had

boarded up his mansion and moved on to fresh fields—and to

more atrocious crimes, including the murder of Benjamj it-
zell and the three Pitzell children. = =

Or ate ;

THE "MURDER CASTLE” seen above looked innocent on
the outside—but when Chicago police broke into it, they
were appalled at the horror they found in its secret chambers.

He had “made gas out of water,” the police discovered, by
the simple process of tapping a city gas main.

Among his other con games, to mention only two, was his
sale of a restaurant he did not own, to a gentleman from
Aurora, Illinois, and his fake sale of-a drug store to a Peoria
sucker. The drug store was grossly overstocked, but the
Peoria man saw for. himself it was doing a tremendous busi-
ness, and he bought it at Dr. Holmes’ figure. Later he found
that all the customers were shills, employed by Holmes: to
make phony purchases and create a roaring trade.

On another occasion Holmes bought a huge safe on credit,
and when he refused to pay for it the vault manufacturing com-
pany sent a crew of men to haul it away. But Holmes had

those slated for death,-but for the purpose of

That was what Holmes had claimed for it, and he
had so impressed a Canadian utility man, after a

TC
Ww

Gi


entitled to indulge in harmless eccentricities, . S K

Minnie and Nan turned and entered the jewelry shop
of E, C. Davis, only a few blocks from the Holmes
house. Minnie drew a purse from her muff and paid the
jeweler for a watch she had bought for her husband-to-
be, They left the shop and walked back to Dr. Holmes’
house.

The two girls were seen walking along the street.
They were seen ascending the front steps. They were
seen entering the house. But after the front door had
closed behind them, they were never seen again.

Nor were they the only girls to vanish thus mysteri-
ously within the unknown confines of that brooding
old house at the corner of Sixty-third and Wallace

COLOSSAL is the word for Dr. Harry Holmes (left),
who managed to maintain outward respectability
despite his illicit love affairs, fraudulent schemes
and multiple murders. But it couldn’t last forever. ...

BLUE-EYED Minnie Wil-
liams (extreme left), Texas
heiress, fell into the snare
when the doctor kindly
offered to help her with
her finances, then made
her gloriously happy
by proppsing marriage.

ALSO DUPED was Nan-
nie Williams (left), Min-
nie’s sister, who came to
Chicago to attend the
“wedding.” There was
no wedding, and both
sisters suddenly vanished
from the mysterious
residence of Dr. Holmes.

6

Street
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ish thus miysteri-
of that brooding
‘cd and Wallace

Harry Holmes (left),
vard respectability
raudulent schemes
a‘t last forever. ...

-EYED Minnie Wil-
xtreme left), Texas
:, fell into the snare
the doctor kindly
i to help her with
-ances, then made
loriously happy
onesing marriage.

DUPED was Nan-
‘iams (left), Min-
r, who came to
to attend the
“There was
ading, and both
suddenly vanished
the mysterious
of Dr. Holmes.

ay

DEEPEST MYSTERY shrouded
the house of Holmes, shown
at left. Nelghbors gossiped
about the number of pretty
girls seen going into the
place, until suddenly the
doctor and his lady friends

disappeared, leaving no word.

THE CORPSE found in a
Philadelphia office resembled
Benjamin Pitzell (right). Dr.
Holmes first swore it was Pit-
zell, collected insurance for
the widow, then claimed it
wasn't really Pitzell after all.

Streets. At least a dozen others—schoolgirls in their teens,
divorcees in their thirties, blondes and brunettes and red-
heads—had disappeared in the same way.

Strangely, nobody thought to complain, though everybody
wondered, There was a good deal of curious speculation about
what went on inside the house—no person in the neighborhood
had even been inside—and there was also a lot of curiosity
concerning Dr. Holmes.

He was a familiar figure in the neighborhood and he was
known as a “lady killer.” But the neighbors who called him
that did not know how literally true it was!

Holmes was not exactly a handsome man, though he had a_

good nose and thick curly brown hair, and his heavy dark
mustache gave him an air of distinction. But his lips were
thick and sensual, and his pale blue eyes denoted a certain
cunning combined with sadistic cruelty. His hands and feet
were as small as a woman’s, yet his shoulders were broad, his
arms muscular, and he possessed remarkable strength.

He dressed as a dandy. Strutting along the South Side
streets, swinging his cane against his tight-fitting trousers,
his narrow-brimmed hat slanted foppishly, he never passed
a pretty girl without twirling his waxed moustache and casting
an amorous eye at her.

Four night after the Williams sisters disappeared, on the
evening of December 19, Davis, the jeweler, stopped at the
drug store which Holmes ran in the lower corner of his
house. As usual, he found Holmes entertaining an attractive
young woman. After she left, the jeweler casually mentioned

that Minnie and her sister had visited his shop a few days ,

before.

“By the way,” he asked, “is it true that you and Miss
Minnie are going to be married?”

Holmes laughed. “Why do you ask that?”

“Ts common gossip,” said the jeweler. “In fact, several
people have told me you are already married.”

“Nothing to it,” said Holmes. “I’m not the marrying sort.”
Then he opened a drawer in the counter and took out some
photographs. “But I don’t mind saying,” he added, gazing
at one of the pictures, “that Minnie was my best girl.”

“ (Was’?” said Davis. “Isn’t she living here any more?”

“No,” Holmes told him. “She and Nannie have gone back
to the South, They wanted to be home for Christmas. I doubt
if they will ever come back. Here’s a photograph of Minnie.
A sweet girl, don’t you think? And here is one of Nannie.
Both dressed, as you see, in theatrical-costume.”

They were both sweet girls, with their honey-colored hair
and big blue eyes and faces of babylike innocence. Nannie,

the youngest, was only twenty, while
Minnie was four years older.

But Davis, looking at their photo-
graphs, was vaguely troubled. He was
thinking of the ugly rumors he had
heard about Holmes and his “lady
friends’”—these “friends” who had lived
with Holmes and had been seen about
the neighborhood, only to vanish, one by
one.

There was Emily Van Tassel, an un-
comnionly pretty girl of sixteen, with
liquid dark eyes and wavy black hair,
and another young girl named Emaline
Cigrand. And there had been a Mrs.
Julia Conner, a seductively beautiful
woman of thirty, and her eight-year-old
daughter, Pearl. And, following them,
many more,

- What had-happened to them? Why
had they come here and where had they
gone?

Davis left the drug store that night
pondering these perplexing questions.
In the street outside, he paused and
looked up at the gloomy old “castle,”
as Holmes’ house had come to be known, All three floors of
the house were dark, Not a light shone anywhere. And,
though it was a midwinter night and bitter cold, no smoke
issued from the chimneys—of which there were literally
dozens. they jutted up from all parts of the roof, black
silhouettes against the wintry moon.

There seemed something sinister about the great sprawling
old house; something weird and menacing. What dark secrets
were hidden there? What evil business did Dr. Holmes con-
duct behind those darkened windows?

The corner gas lamp flickered eerily, casting grotesque
shadows athwart the house and upon the snow-filled steps.
A lone hansom cab clattered through the deserted street and
died away in the night. Silence enveloped the house of
Holmes.

The jeweler shrugged, turned up his overcoat collar and
set off for home through the frosty air. After all, it was no
affair of his.

Had he only known of the hideous torture and fiendish
crimes committed by the man he had just left, in the secret
chambers of his evil “castle,” he would not have started for
home that night. He would have started for the nearest police’
station. .

OON AFTER Christmas, Holmes himself disappeared.

His house of mystery was boarded up, stout planks nailed
to doors and windows, and his drug store was sold to a Mr.
Jones of Peoria. Mr. Jones carried on for a while at the
store, and then that too was closed. The neighbors, like
Davis the jeweler, forgot Holmes and his numerous ladies—
until a few months later they were reminded of him in a
shocking manner.

In a highly sensational style he turned up in Philadelphia,
and the ghastly crime in which he was involved planted his
name in the press throughout America,

On September 5, 1894, Eugene A. Smith, a Philadelphia
carpenter, opened the door to the office of B, F. Perry at
1316 Callowhill Street, whose business, according to the door
legend, was “Patents Bought & Sold.” Smith stopped short
on the threshold, horrified at what he beheld.

On the floor lay the body of a long, rangy man whose
face and left arm were burned beyond recognition. Nearby
lay a broken benzine bottle, and by it a pipe filled with tobacco
and several burnt ‘matches. The dead man’s clothing was
charred, and rug and furniture were blackened with fire.

Smith fled from the office and called a policeman—Officer
George Lewis of the Eighth District.


debe boat dg hie Lie

, THE DOCTOR, THE ACTRESS, AND THE

CASTLE OF DEATH

ALLURING actress Georgia Yoke
traveled the country for months with
Dr. Holmes, utterly unaware of the

clandestine villainy he practiced.

ee

Ps a !

¢

By Edwin Baird

Eprror’s Note: On the corner of

Sixty-third and Wallace Streets im
Chicago has risen a new government
post office. It is a sleek, attractive butld-
ing, but it has a heritage of horror. For
it is built on the property once occupied
by the “murder castle” of Dr. Harry
Holmes.

The crimes that were done in that
ancient building have no parallel in
modern history. Here is the true, un-
censored story of the ghastly secrets ‘tt
revealed, and the diabolical doctor who
made it run red with blood.

R. HOLMES’ front door opened
and two lovely girls emerged.

They were Minnie and Nannie’

Williams, sisters from the South. Sty-
lishly clad, their blonde hair pompa-
doured in the prevailing mode, their
hands encased in fur muffs, they pre-
sented a pleasing picture as they strolled
down Sixty-third Street in Chicago
through the winter sunshine of that
December day in 1893.

Minnie was openly gay, and not with-
out reason. Very soon now she would
become the wife of her charming host,
Dr. Holmes—the suave, polished gentle-

man who had suddenly come into her.

life and taken her by storm.

It was only a few months before that
she had met Dr. Holmes in her home
town of Fort Worth, Texas. She was
an orphan with considerable property,
and he had gallantly offered to help her
take care of it. So she had signed
$60,000 worth of real estate over to him,
and he planned to erect a huge office
building on it, inviting her to come
with him to Chicago to close the deal.

She had accepted without question. In
Chicago he had proposed marriage.
Overjoyed, she had written to her
younger sister Nan in Fort Worth,
asking her to come for the wedding.
Both of the girls had been somewhat
puzzled at the strange, gloomy house
the doctor lived in, with its dark corri-
dors and windowless rooms, But the
doctor was a genius, and a genius is

“THE AMAZING STORY OF DR. HOLMES—KNAVE OF

HEARTS, ARCH-SWINDLER, MONSTER OF MURDER


the case, checked over Holnies’ statements.
They could find no evidence that he had
actually killed as many as he claimed. But
they found positive proof that he had mur-
dered at least twelve, so that Geyer’s belief,
expressed after the finding of the two little
girls’ bodies that Holmes killed by the
dozen, was found to be correct. The press
of the entire country devoted pages to the
Holmes confession, the New York World
saying :

“Below will be given the crimes which
have been fastened on him by evidence
outside of the varying statements made in
his contradictory confession. It is long
enough and horrible enough to satisfy the
most abnormal and greedy appetite for
blood. It makes Holmes lead the list of
American assassins, and in that terrible
eminence he may be safely left.”

H* METHOD OF KILLING women, most of
whom he lived with either as his
real or common-law wife, was usually the
same. A typical case is that of Emmeline
C. Cigrand. Miss Cigrand came to him as
a stenographer, taking the place of the
Williams woman, who had “disappeared.”
After Miss Cigrand had worked with him
for a short time, Holmes killed her, dis-
membered her body and cremated it in the
furnace in the cellar. Some of the per-
sonal effects of Miss Cigrand were found
in the “Murder Castle” in Chicago.

Two other women who worked for him,
Mrs. Julia I. Conner and Miss Emily Van
Tassel,.were murdered in a similar man-
ner. Mrs. Conner had strangely disap-
peared and the police. conducted a search
of several months for her, until her disap-
pearance was cleared up following the
search of the “Castle” by the police.

The age of his victims meant nothing to
this spawn of Satan. Pity had not the
tiniest place in his nature. When the lust
to kill was upon him, he vented it upon
the nearest human object. The three
Pietzel children were not the only young
ones he murdered. Little Pearl Conner,
the eight-year-old daughter of the secre-
tary he murdered, met a like fate, while
his own son (by his first wife) was ter-
ribly mutilated by him, but was permitted
to live.

In his confession he tells in gloating de-
tail about the latter episode:

“It was shortly after I was married (he
says) and our boy was then but a young-
ster playing about with other lads of his
own size and age, tha. I was seized with a

CLUE OF SPUTTERING

I know. Keys to the trunks and things she
had. Keys to her valuables and jewelry.
But that’s where she kept her keys.”

I joined the autopsy surgeon beside the
grisly dead. He was on his knees, deft fin-
gers prying here and there, sage eyes scan-
ning discolored flesh or steel probe touch-
ing gently beneath the silvered thatch
where the aged skull was crushed.

“Find any keys underneath her clothing
—pinned?” I asked him.

“No keys, but there’s a safety pin there,
a big one. I wondered what purpose it had
—pinned on the inside of the old fashioned
dress with a wire snap hanging off the pin.
The snap open—”
“That's where she kept her keys,” I told
him. ; :

“Robbery then. And by someone who
knew, hey sheriff?” The doctor looked up
from his task of reading facts. from the
closed book of ‘death. “She died from
strangulation—her apron string around her
throat. She was badly beaten over the head
but those blows didn’t cause death. Strang-

88

wild desire to destroy. [ called him in
from the road where he was frolicking
about like an innocent with a lot of other
lads, and took him out to the near barn.
I don’t know what it was that possessed
me, but I took a surgical knife along with
me. It was not the sudden impulse nor
the maddening desire of a father, seeing
his lad grow up to enter a world of sorrow
and sin. No, it was not that. It was
simply the craving of the murderer within
me to make a subject of my little one. I
noticed that there was a terrible look of
fear on the little fellow’s face as I took
him into the barn, and he trembled like
a leaf as I took out the knife and told him
to undress. I have often thought since
that it was like the look of a scared rab-
bit laid on the operating table, as its pitiful
eyes search the group about him and see
them all intent only on the anticipated in-
cision.”

Holmes then goes on and, with the ut-
most abandon, tells in detail how he mu-
tilated his own son. He fled immediately
thereafter and never saw his son again.

r AppITION to Benjamin Pietzel, the
three Pietzel children, Miss Cigrand,
Miss Van Tassel, Mrs. Conner, the little
Conner girl and the two Williams sisters,
it was definitely proven that Holmes had
killed at least two others, Robert Phelps
and Geogre H. Thomas. The comparatively
“minor” crimes of this wholesale murderer
would fill a small volume. He committed
bigamy in marrying Myrtle C. Belknap and
Minnie Williams. He tried to kill Jona-
than -S. Belknap, postmaster of Weston’s
Mills, New York, and grand-uncle of his
second wife, after forging his name to a
note for $2500, and insuring his life. He
obtained .00 on a forged order on the
death of his brother-in-law, D. H. Wil-
liams. He set fire to his house in Chicago,
after insuring it for $60,000, but became
frightened and did not try to collect any
insurance. He sold Chicago sewer water
as medicine at the World’s fair and, ac-
cording to police reports, “made crooked
money in a thousand devious ways.”

His complete callousness was never bet-
ter shown than in the way he faced his
approaching doom. The prison “death
watch,” as they observed him day after
day reading, and night after night sleep-
ing peacefully in the way generally at-
tributed only to those with clear con-
sciences, were compelled to admit that
they had never seen anyone face execu-

LAMPS

ulation,” he repeated and rose slowly to his
feet. “There’ll be a coroner’s inquest here
tomorrow. That will be my report.”

] THANKED HIM. Back in the living room
again, Old Mother Harris was lecturing
her neighbors ,upon the foul nature of a
man who would take the life of an aging
woman—for money.

“And it was her money he wanted, sure,”
she said. “Her money and the furniture.”
Then in a lower voice that was still loud
enough for her audience and for me to hear,
she finished, “That butcher better be
looked into. He was here a coupla nights
ago, I know.”

“What butcher?” I demanded.

But Mrs. Pedro Cioni, the frail Latin

with the burning eyes, was quick to answer:

“Phil Hassler,” she said quickly, “that’s
who.”

These gossiping crones in the ghost town
of Seatonville were solving this crime for
me. The cracked voice of Mother Harris,
the broken words of the little woman in

tion with such a complete absence of feel-
ing. The night before his last day on
earth he lay down at about eleven o'clock,
was immediately asleep and did not once
awaken until he was arotised by his
guards at 5:30 in the morning. The guard
who aroused him, John Henry, asked him
if he was nervous.

“Not a bit,” Holmes replied, and then
stretching out his hand which was _per-
fectly steady, “does that look like it?”

“No, you're not a bit nervous,” Henry
replied, at which Holmes seemed ‘very
much gratified. Obviously his vanity was
with him to the last.

Hous DRESSED carefully in a rather
worn gray suit and cutaway coat. He
ate with an appetite a breakfast of toast,
eggs and coffee. Then he said goodbye to
Samuel Rotan, one of his lawyers, and
sent for the prison physician, Dr. Frank
A. Sharp.

“What do you think of me?” Holmes
inquired, again holding out his hand to
show how steady it was. -

“You're all right,” Dr. Sharp replied,
whereupon Holmes looked as pleased as a
woman who is complimented upon her
beauty.

Holmes entered the death chamber with
a white silk handerchicf knotted about his
throat. Even in his last moments he was
vain enough not to want to appear without
a conventional scarf around his neck. He
had shaved his beard off, but his long
brown mustache was carefully curled.

“Have you anything to say?” Assistant
Superintendent Richards, of the prison,
asked before the noose and black cap were
adjusted. ;

‘Gentlemen, I have very few words to
say,” Holmes replied ina clear, loud voice
which had in it not the faintést quaver,
“and my only reason for speaking is that,
if I should die without making a’ statement,
I should acquiesce in my execution. I only
wish to say that the only instance of my
wrongdoing was in the killing of two
women. They died, the result at my hands
of a criminal operation.”

The cap and noose were quickly adjusted.
Fifteen minutes after the trap was sprung,
Dr. Butcher, the prison physician, pro-
nounced Holmes dead. The man who had
killed so ruthlessly, so ghoulishly and with
such complete absence of compassion or
pity, had come to a violent end, but a much
less cruel one than that which he had
visited on so many others.

From page 11

the shawl—were they the mild mouthings
of villagers into whose lives scant of inter-
est enters? Or were they shrewd facts

ie only neighbors know about a neigh-
or?

Only too well I knew the value of inves-
tigating along the avenues thus opened by
the casual talk of frightened villagers. One
and all they knew the murdered woman’s
habits and her friends far better than I
could learn them in a month of research.
Mrs. Elizabeth Heindel had been a part of
their lives, since the days when Seatonville
was a thriving mining town with hundreds
of brawny breadwinners groping in the
earth’s black bowels to keep lusty families
warm in wintertime and well fed always.
When the mines shut down and the clack
of hobnails was no longer heard upon the
sidewalks at each change of shift, Mrs.
Heindel had remained prominent among the
few who stayed behind and kept the ghost
town peopled. ‘

These words of theirs in hushed and
tremulous voices, or uttered in the harsh,

cracked t«
able to mx
find in the
“This b
him,” the ¢
took his s:
coroner, A
black coat
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a few min
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answer to
two nights
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fill them,
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said. “T
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fashioned

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the main
butcher.
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railroad.
“Bums,”
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her. The '
Keys to t!
that’s miss
open and
neighbors «
those they’
“Someor
kill her,” ;
feet again-
the day wa
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through it.
“And s¢
for the fur
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way you ¢
I know
butcher, |
name agai
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towering |
blanketed,

_the pyram

was the m
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cables. an:
mines. wer
gling mai:
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ler.

A shor:
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gesture.

“You vis
day night

He tho
last,” he
there.”

“You k:

“T hear
nervously
were wid
eyes. “Ti
about it.”

“She w


His voice faded for an instant. Then
the builder and operator of the sprawl-
ing house destined to become .famous
in Chicago as “Murder Castle” spoke
more firmly,

“This I can tell you,” he said. “When
I delivered her skeleton to Jake, who
passed it on to a purchaser in a medical
school, it was a good one, indeed. It
brought $45 ...and some of the poorer
ones I sacrified for as little as $30.”

No, Holmes didn’t remember what he
got for Emmeline’s cotton dresses; he
usually packed clothing of half a dozen
victims in a single box. But he was posi-
tive—almost positive, that is—that the
country girl still had four $20 bills sewed
inside her slip when she died from the
laudanum he forced her -to drink.

Geyer was beginning to understand.
Holmes wanted to:be sure he would. be
remembered as the best killer who ever
stalked victims for a few dollars. Re-
peatedly he stressed that he wasted noth-
ing—“absolutely nothing.”

That claim proved less than accurate
when authorities raided Murder Castle.
They found several pairs of shoes that
had belonged to victims, plus a big box
of hair that may have been put aside
in the hope that the market would im-
prove. ;

Near a bloodstained table in the con-
cealed basement was a tub of scraps
from human bodies. Bones and scraps
of bones were everywhere. Enough to
have come from at least 50 victims, one
expert estimated.

“Multiply by three, and you'll be clos-

er to the right total,” a. veteran police:

officer insisted.

In his lengthy verbal confession to
Detective Frank Geyer, as well as in the
written statement he released to news-
papers for publication on Sunday, April
12, 1896, Holmes apologized that he
could remember the names of only 27
persons he had killed. '

Geyer had known none of the victims
personally, Drawn into a cause of what
seemed to be insurance fraud, he was
chiefly interesteu in Benjamin F, Pitezel
and family.

Holmes already had said, almost cas-
ually, that he had been “forced to kill
the Pitezel children,” whose bodies
Geyer had uncovered in Canada and in
Indiana. The children had done him no
real harm, but they were beginning to
be a nuisance, he explained.

“Benjamin was different,” the killer
pointed out. “He meant almost $10,000
to me. Poor fellow, he really thought that
I would divide with him... .”

Born at Gilmanton, N.H., on May 16,
1860, the man who wanted to be sure
the world knew the truth about him
grew up as Herman Webster Mudgett.
For a time, he studied medicine at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“That’s where I learned my trade,”
he explained to Detective Geyer. “In
some courses I was slow to progress.
But my professors told me they’d never
had a student who handled the scalpel
more skillfully.”

Something happened to prevent the

-,
“All in Imai’ donoealnctisie ... nothing over a quarter!"

‘

young surgeon from winning his M.D.
He was vague about it and on that
point resisted questions in spite of volun-
teering information about other things.

“But I left the university with a small
amount of capital,” he explained. “It was
easy to get cadavers. Another student
took out an insurance policy; we faked
an accident, substituted a fresh cadaver
for his body and collected a sum sub-
stantial enough to give both of us a
nice start in the business world.”

Herman Webster Mudgett vanished
soon after the insurance money was paid.
That name was rarely seen or heard until
it appeared on his death warrant.

Dr. H: H. Holmes surfaced in Chi-
cago, Frank Geyer learned that bleak
afternoon, and found work as manager
and pharmacist in an apothecary shop.
Mrs. Alf Holden, owner of the business,
had inherited it from her husband and
was glad to find a good manager.

Holmes took complete charge. “Since
she was seldom seen in the neighbor-
hood, no one raised questions when I
explained that she had sold the business
to me and moved to California,” he said
in his low voice with tones that were
almost sweet.

NIGHT had fallen and the bleak cell

seemed to have shrunk during the
three hours, that Geyer and Holmes
talked, Suddenly bone-weary and sick at
his stomach, the detective promised to re-
turn and then in a gesture strangely un-
like him, ;shook the bars to attract the
attention of the turnkey.

Geyer kept his promise and returned,
not once but several times. Each visit
got harder, His blood had boiled when
he found ‘pitiful corpses of murdered
children; now he wanted to choke the
man who smiled so sweetly and talked
so gently,about his past. They talked
so frequently and so long that after
Holmes’ execution the detective wrote
a 525-page book about the dainty little
killer. Less than half a dozen copies of
the book are still in existence today.

Across the lot from the pharmacy
Holmes got from Mrs. Holden, there
was a fine,vacant lot. With’ the Colum-
bian Exposition coming up, many visitors
would want accommodations. Most of
them would come from a distance. It
was an ideal time for Holmes to expand
his operations.

Not. quite 80, Dr.’ Holmes always
wore stylish and expensive clothing. He
wouldn’t let. a barber touch his walrus
mustache but himself trimmed it twice
each .week, .

“No,” he. said to experienced builders
who heard of his plans and offered to
superintend the job, “I want to look
after the construction myself, It means
a lot to me, you know.” ;

Workmen were hired and fired in
rapid succession. Sometimes men would

build o:
being d
was con
that po
to conta

There
den pa:
be reac
and an
body. I
was a \
bones o

Man)
ber equ
gas.

“IT ne
Holmes
in one
Geyer. °
a great

Too }
after he
line Ci;
took on
ciate. |
perman:
take out

“It’s <
just goo:
ommend

Holmes
Chicago
tlemen °
He li
briskly
years, a
pay off «
Thour
of disbe
underscc
few of t
of hund
were al:
careful t

AN AN
him like

and con:
“Whe:
time anc
the hous
Buster
football
hood ar
was slo
played .
tinued:
“Bust
dollar a
day nig]
liked to
burgers.

{

Yes, her
But her
saved a

it! I am
vr,” the
ou may
vy oa re-
e streets

as clear
an ordi-
ccupied
out there
‘s above,

a

ae |

Even in Dwight, she had heard tales
about dreadful things that could happen
to a girl in the big city...That’s why
she was attracted to the sprawling build-
ing where there would be safety in num-

rs. He

As Holmes led her to Room 217, he
explained:

“I try to take a personal interest in
my guests, even if they stay only a short
time. Perhaps you will find, reason to
be here for a long time.”

Surprised to- find that she had an
entire room to herself, instead of ‘shar-
ing with two or three other girls, Emme-
line wondered how Dr. Holmes could
keep his rates at $3 a week. “He must
have plenty of money,” she, decided.

For nearly a week’ she got no other
glimpse of her host. Chicago had set
her free, but life wasn’t as) exciting as
she had expected. Even girls who roomed

Sa

along the hall and shared a bathroom
with her didn’t seem to want to make
friends.

Carrie Howe, the only one who was
nice to her, moved out suddenly on Fri-
day night after Emmeline paid her rent ©
for a week in advance on Monday after-
noon, It would have been nice to write
Carrie a card, but Emmeline flushed at
the very thought of asking Dr. Holmes
for her forwarding: address..

Still jobless after two more weeks,
Emmeline was. beginuing to get de-
spondent. It would ‘have helped if she
could have found a friend, but none of
the other girls in the big rooming house
gave her any encouragement.

Then the unexpected happened. Open-
ing her door. in response to a gentle
knock, she was startled to find Dr.
Holmes in the hallway, watch in hand.
“Excuse my intrusion at this late

hour,” he said. “My stenographer has
been called back home on very short
notice and I am left without her services.
It occurred to me... excuse me for my
boldness... that perhaps you might be
interested in the position... .”
Interested? Emmeline was _ instantly
ecstatic. She didn’t even ask what the
job paid, but, on the spot, agreed to be
at work promptly at 8 o'clock the next
morning. Lying awake, deliriously happy
at having conquered the city, she wanted
to tell someone of her triumph. But there
was no one to tell,
Before her first day was over, Emme-
line was beginning to be puzzled. There
was so little work to do that Dr. Holmes

hardly needed a stenographer. Besides,

he had explained that he looked after
all the confidential records personally.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Holmes
invited her. to go with him that evening
to see Sandow the Strong Man, brought
over from England as a new attraction
for the Exposition. ; 7
Suddenly the country girl understood.
Vague clues had suggested that some-
where in the (Continued on page 57)

‘Governor's order to sheriff
for monster's death bore both of |—
names he used: Mudgett-Holmes.
Before he died, he told Det.

Geyer (1) of many atrocities.

47


»s Dunn, di-
ia State Bu-
red his de-
ng the killer.
easy availa-
abolition of
d; “The per-
the uncer-
in trials all
” He added,
though the
|, about 90
s are solved

ie SBI direc-
N tements, offi-
purchases of
the Raleigh
‘e proprietor
hat type of
it after fur-
1. He noted
owerful rifle.
, Dr. W. W.
medical ex-
showed both
east once in
1 Pete Wil-
once in the
ind once in
topsy results
many times
ME said:
a bullet
n below
er arm. That
od her body.
left middle
entered her
er right arm
lets, and it
x chest.”
jer constant
2king double
.outhed, but
it deputies—
information”
24-year-old
vho lived in
ileigh, about
a the death
it the officers
4 own visiting
ed to return

, through the
(, they found
: only official
ble to news-
sational case
ges of every
e was “afraid

se us to lose.

did find the
ppeared that
re, They de-
ie meantime,
vegan collect-
ade,

About five years earlier, ‘they learned,
he had shot and killed his elderly father

while wrestling for control of a weapon |

with his brother. The death was ruled
accidental and no charges were filed.
However, LaPrade had a police record
which included assaulton his former
wife—and abandonment and non-support
of her and her child. |

In March of this year, LaPrade had
moved to the mobile home park. He had
been released in January after serving
four years of a five-to-seven-year sen-
tence issued in Guilford,’ N.C., Supreme
Court, after he was convicted of cutting
a man’s throat on January 29, 1968.
Police said the assault was a result of
a broken love affair.

According to records of the North
Carolina’ Department of Corrections, La-
Prade first was sent to a ‘youthful offend-
er’s camp and earned an:‘honor grade’
status. In September, 1968, he attempted
to win a study release’ status in order
to complete his high school education.
He was turned down. |

In January, 1971, LaPrade was ap-
proved for a work release program and
went to work for a drug company in
High Point, N.C. During the folluwing
year, he was turned down for parole
four times, but finally earned his freedom
in January of this year. During his prison
term, the man who had dropped out of
the ninth grade earned the equivalent of
a high school diploma. ‘

After release, he first took a job as
a draftsman trainee with the Wake
County Tax Department.'His supervisor
said LaPrade, who was making $415 a
month with the county, picked up his

check at the end of August and did not
show up for work again.

- Officers questioned the suspect’s neigh-
bors at the trailer court. One of them
described the ex-con as a “bragger and
a liar.”.He said that LaPrade ‘once had
described excessive sexual activities of
a member of his family, which the sus-
pect allegedly had photographed as they
occurred. Another neighbor also report-
edly described LaPrade as a man who
“told tall tales,” but said: she never had
heard any of his erotic stories.

Still another neighbor perhaps sealed
any doubts that officers had when she
informed them that LaPrade had bor-
rowed a .22 rifle from her on the: Sat-
urday of the double murder. She told
the officers that LaPrade had borrowed
the. gun once before. She said that on
Saturday he also was armed with a large
hunting knife, which he claimed “he
liked to’ throw at cats.” According ‘to the
neighbor, on the first occasion that La-
Prade borrowed the gun, he went to
the old mill site nearby “to do some
target practice.” ;

On Monday morning, Chief Deputy
Kelly told newsmen the officers had de-
termined that LaPrade had been fired
from a new job on Friday, the day
before the murders, after only nine days
at work. The manager of a mobile home
firm outside Raleigh said that he fired
LaPrade “because he had no experience.”
The manager refused to elaborate.

With Kelly remaining closed lipped
and the pressure on his department grow-
ing with every. p-ssing hour, officers
staked out the trailer to await for the
suspected killer to return home. The plan

called for one of the policemen to use
his walkie-talkie and let the others know
when the ex-con returned to the trailer.

Finally, the word cracked over the
secret frequency that the suspect had
been spotted returning to the park. He
was wearing a pair of brown slacks,
brown shirt and brown boots. His hair
was neatly combed, the investigators
noted, as they watched him unlock the
front door on the side of the red and
white trailer and enter. Then the large
contingent of police, led by Sheriff Rob-
ert Pleasants, surrounded the mobile and,
on the given signal, closed in. -

Pleasants knocked and then opened
the door and found a “calm” ~LaPrade
watching a quiz show on his television
set. He was alone. “He offered no re-
sistance,” the sheriff told reporters later.

Advised of his rights, LaPrade was
handcuffed and conveyed to a Wake
County magistrate’s office to be formerly
charged with the two brutal murders. _
The five-foot-eight LaPrade sunk his
slender build into the wooden chair of
the magistrate’s office as he was read
the warrant. His only comment was to
ask officers:

“How long are those guys [the news-
men who flocked to the scene] going to
be here?”

. Sheriff Pleasants replied: “Not as long
as you are going to be here!”

On Wednesday, October 4, LaPrade
was assigned an attorney after he testi-
fied that he was unable to pay for one
himself, The following day, he was sent
to a North Carolina state hospital for a
series of mental tests that would deter-
mine his competence to stand trial.

MAD MASTER OF MURDER CASTLE

background there was Mrs. Holmes. She
didn’t really matter. Nothing mattered
but the fact that for the first time in her
drab, rejected life she was wanted...
wanted by a fine gentleman:

Emmeline needed no persuasion. She
yielded quickly, but awkwardly, felt no
remorse but chided herself that Dr.
dolmes seemed strangely calm through-

}-out. “It isn’t at all like’ I expected,”

{

she thought. “He almost’seemed to be
performing a chore; his heart never once
beat faster.” ny

Holmes hinted vaguely of marriage
“some time in the future,” but, by then,
Emmeline found herself probing and
analyzing and doubting everything her
lover said and did. She wanted to know
more about his business, but he told her
she shouldn’t trouble her pretty head.

Even though she handled only a few
routine chores, she already knew that
Holmes was not the wealthy benefactor
he seemed. Bill collectors appeared at
the most unusual hours. Handymen came
regularly to pick up boxés stored in a

continued from page 47

big closet.. Once, Emmeline caught a
glimpse of a handwritten label identify-
ing “Used Clothing.”

An out-of-town business trip by
Holmes helped to crystallize her think-
ing. In his absence, chemical odors and
strange sounds in the night became more
vivid in memory than they had been in
experience. She made up her mind that
when he got back she would give a
week’s notice and leave.

After she had closed the office on
Thursday, she opened her door in re-
sponse to pounding and found a man
she knew only as Jake standing there,
roaring drunk, Vaguely, she wondered
how Jake knew where to find her. She
had seen him often, involved in some
confidential business with Holmes, but
had never so much as exchanged a word
with him.

“I gotta have one,” Jake blurted. “A
good one, Can’t wait any longer.”

He leered at Emmeline. “Tell him
Jake just can’t wait.”

“I don’t understand—” she began.

“What is it that you want from Dr.
Holmes?”

“A good one, gotta be a good one
this time,” Jake answered. Then he
turned and staggered away.

In the first hours of Holmes’ return
it seemed difficult and awkward to speak
of leaving. Emmeline told him of Jake’s
visit, waited expectantly for an explana-
tion. Instead, her lover eyed her im-
personally a moment, wet his lips, and
dismissed the matter with the promise:

“Thank you, my dear. I will take care
that Jake gets a good one this time... .”

Re-living his brief affair with the girl
from downstate. Illinois, the man des-
tined to mount the scaffold on May 7,
1896, hesitated for an instant. Detective
Frank Geyer wondered if he would ex-

- press contrition.

“I must apologize,” said Holmes, ‘that
I cannot tell you Emmeline Cigrand’s
precise number, She may have been my
fifteenth: victim. Again, she could have
been Number 16 or even Number 18.
There were so very many that it is im-

57

possible for me to be sure... .”.


M.D.
o that
volun-
things.
a small
‘Tt was
student
» faked
vadaver
m sub-
fous a

anished
ts paid.
rd until
t.
in Chi-
» t bleak
nanager
y shop.
susiness,

ind and

. “Since
eighbor-
when I
business
he said
at were

Imes
1 sick at
ed to re-
gely un-
cract the

-eturned,
ach visit
ed when
nurdered
hoke the
id talked
ry talked
rat after
ve wrote
inty little
copies of
4 oday.
pharmacy
en, there
e Colum-
ay visitors
Most of
stance. It
to expand

2s always
thing. He
his walrus
d it twice

d builders
offered to
it to look
It means

| fired in
would

build only a portion of one room before
being dismissed. It wasn’t until after he
was convicted of murder in Philadelphia
that police raids revealed the “castle”
to contain more than 100 rooms.

There were rooms within rooms, -hid-
den passageways, an office that could
be reached only through a trap door,
and an elevator big enough to carry a
body. In the concealed basement there
was a vat used for removing flesh from
bones of victims.

Many died in an air-proof inner cham-
ber equipped with a pipe that admitted
gas.

“I never let anyone suffer needlessly,”
Holmes said with quiet professional pride
in one of his sessions with Detective
Geyer. “Chloroform is wonderful; I used
a great deal of it.”

Too busy to look after all his affairs,
after he was forced to dispose of Emme-
line Cigrand, the dashing entrepreneur
took on Benjamin F. Pitezel as an asso-

ciate. Before the relationship became |

permanent, Holmes insisted that Pitezel
take out an insurance policy. *

“It’s a standard practice of mine and
just good business,” he explained. “I rec-
ommend Fidelity Mutual Life Associa-
tion, whose home office is in Philadel-
phia.” ‘o -

Neither Pitezel nor Holmes knew that.

the $10,000 policy issued on November
9, 1898, was destined to be. the death
of both of them. agit)

“My creditors were an uncouth lot,”
Holmes once recalled in describing his
Chicago years to Detective Geyer. “Gen-
tlemen would have given me time.”

He licked his lips, rubbed his hands
briskly and continued: “Another two
years, and I would have been able to
pay off everybody.” ion!

Though Frank Geyer gave no sign
of disbelief, Holmes seemed eager to
underscore his conclusion. “It's true that
few of the girls had more than a couple
of hundred dollars. But, you see, there
were always some extras,::I was very
careful to waste nothing.” *

In spite of that care and in spite of
his wholesale methods, Holmes was
about to go broke. So he locked up
Murder Castle and, with Pitezel in tow,
fled to St. Louis, While the two were
on a side trip to Memphis, he unfolded
a plan to his co-worker.

“IT know the insurance game inside
out,” he told his associate Pitezel. “You
have a policy for $10,000. All we need
now is an accident and a corpse. We'll
have the corpse identified as you, col-
lect, and split the proceeds,

“This has to look good, however,” he
cautioned Pitezel. “Your policy was is-
sued in Philadelphia. It would be wise
to have the accident take place there.”

Following instructions, Pitezel took
the name of B..F. Perry and rented
No. 1316 Callowhill Street in Philadel-
phia. A hand-lettered sign soon identified
the place as a patent shop.

.On September 5, 1894, B. F. Perry
was found dead as’ a result of what
seemed to be an explosion. Holmes soon
contacted Mrs. Pitezel and assured her
that everything was all right.

“A good match was found for Ben,”
he said, outlining the plot. “Turn the
insurance papers over to me and don't
worry. I'll take one: of your girls with
me to identify the body. We'll get the
cash, then meet Ben in Detroit or
Toronto.”

Fifteen-year-old Alice Pitezel was
chosen to help Holmes identify the dead
man as her father, working under an
assumed name “for professional reasons.”
As yet, she did not suspect that Holmes
had decided it would be easier—and
more profitable—to dispose of her father
rather than to plant a substitute.

Fidelity Mutual paid off on Septem-
ber 24 with a check for $9715.85.

“That was the face value of the policy,
less expenses,” Holmes explained to
‘Geyer. “I gave Mrs. Pitezel a most gen-
erous settlement; $500 in cash, plus my
own promissory note.”

Pitezel’s children proved to be first
a problem and then a nuisance. Holmes

had charge of three: Alice, Nellie and
Howard.

It was Howard’s body, exhumed from
a house in Indianapolis briefly rented by

Holmes, that convinced Frank P. Geyer ~

he was dealing with much more than
an insurance swindle. Geyer patiently
followed Holmes’ trail to Toronto and
uncovered the remains of Alice and
Nellie.

Convinced that Holmes had murdered
Pitezel after setting him up with a prom-
ise of easy money, Geyer demanded and
got an indictment for murder.

At first, the accused man protested
innocence and refused to accept the aid
of counsel. Even when he wilted under
a mass of evidence, there was proof of
only one crime—the murder of Pitezel
for his insurance.

Convicted and sentenced to be hung
in November, 1895, news of the Phila-
delphia trial caused authorities in Chi-
cago and other cities to investigate.

That’s when the world learned that
the sprawling rooming house for single
girls was actually a diabolic death-trap—

complete with dissecting room, crema-

tory furnace and storage places.

Confident that through Frank Geyer
the world would know the truth about
him and not “some garbled story of a
bungler,” H. H. Holmes—Herman W.
Mudgett—mounted the scaffold at 10:12
A.M. on May 7, 1896. He stood calmly
while the black cap was placed on his
head and the noose was adjusted.

‘No longer able to. see the warden,
the imperturbable killer had wet his lips
as though to speak a valedictory piece,”
reported The Philadelphia Evening Tele-
graph. “No observer was able to say
what word he was speaking when the
trap was sprung and his neck was in-
stantly broken.”

Eventually razed, the basement of
Murder Castle yielded yet more frag-
ments of victims. How many were killed
there and elsewhere by the man who
prided himself on wasting nothing, no
one knows. ®

AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY continued from page 35

him like a brother. She said he'was kind
and considerate and recalled: ~~

“When he was out of work for a short
time and I was working, he'helped with
the housework.” iE

Buster also played basketball and -

football with children in the neighbor-
hood and, when her husband’s work
was slow during the dock strike, he
played dominoes with him. She con-
tinued: “Me

“Buster used to give my boy a two-
dollar a week allowance and, every Fri-
day night before he would go out, he
liked to take him to a drive-in for ham-
burgers. ‘e

“He used to say to me, ‘What I want
to do is find a good woman and settle
down. And I would say to him he
wouldn’t find a good woman on the
streets.”

But Buster Green liked to move
around, never staying anywhere very
long. When he was 14 or 15, he had
run away to New York, where he got
odd jobs and went into construction
work. He reportedly had been married
in Florida and had two sons.

Last May, Buster first came to the at-
tention of Portland police—as the vic-
tim of an assault. He had been in a
tavern on Alberta Street and got in-

volved in an argument with a man. The

other man reportedly had been using
vile language to a woman and Buster,
although not with her, got involved in
the dispute.

When he objected to the man’s lan-
guage, the man swore at him. Buster
just slapped him on the back, then
turned to walk away. As he did, Buster
got stabbed twice in the back. Still he
managed to subdue his assailant before
he had to be taken to the hospital.

’ Two months after that, in July, Vicki
Trent was, the victim of an attack, too.
A woman who reportedly formerly had
lived with Little Phil Davis attacked her
with a sharp object, opening a deep
wound just above the right eye. Doctors

59


102

CRIME DETECTIVE

SETTLES

CASE WITH A GUN

Julius Weltchek, defendant in Dallas divorce case, asked wife’s
lawyer, Garland Armstrong (right), if case couldn't be settled
out of court. When Armstrong agreed, Weltchek pulled out gun
and quickly fired three shots. Fortunately, no harm was done.

but, with Kisner, began a_ diligent
search of the walls, even probing old
nail holes on the possibility that the
bullet had lodged in one of them.

_ Adding to the puzzle was Kisner’s
report that no information nor evi-
dence had been obtained outside the
broken window; the only tracks they
had discovered were those of a score
of prowling cats.

Finally, when a minute search of
the walls proved utterly fruitless, the
corporal determined that the Hipple
youth should be immediately picked
up for questioning. Thus far it ap-
peared that Hipple was the main sus-

pect in the case. Nevertheless, Santee |

doubted that a mountain ‘youth of
Hipple’s caliber would have the in-

genuity or foresight to remove the

fatal bullet from the head of the
murdered woman.

“Can you show us where we can
pick up Hipple?” Santee asked Shad-
duck.

“Well, if he’s in this part of the
country he’ll be over ’round Wheel-
erville. Be a good idea to go over to
his mother’s first,” Shadduck answered
quickly.

AS they drove toward Wheelerville,
Corporal Santee familiarized
himself with the suspect’s character
and past. history by questioning
Charlie Shadduck who seemed -more
than willing to offer all the informa-
tion he knew.

Born and reared in poverty, the boy
had married young and never had
been able to support his wife and

child. An odd jobs man, occasionally.

working in a lumber camp, the 20-
year-old youth was more interested in
roaming the woods than he was in

attempting to earn his own living.

A stop at the ramshackle house of
the boy’s mother yielded no further
information concerning his where-
abouts. He hadn’t been there for
hours and she didn’t know where he
was, the woman had answered, peer-
ing anxiously into the officers’ faces
as if expecting them to state exactly
why they wanted her boy.

“T wonder if she knows why we
want her son?” mused Kisner.

“News travels fast up here in the
mountains. By this time everybody
in the community knows Jennie Por-
ter’s been murdered,” declared Shad-
duck. “Let’s search some of these
vacant houses. Hipple may be in hid-
ing,” he suggested, indicating a num-
ber . of weather-beaten structures
whose broken windowpanes, staring
with emptiness into Wheelerville’s one
street, gave the little settlement the
appearance of a ghost town.

“Split up men,” directed Santee.
“Obert, you and Meehan and Shad-
duck go through every house on this
side of the street. Kisner, Boyer and
I will take the other side.”

Working methodically, the six
troopers searched the empty houses
with no success. :

When the two parties had united,

Corporal Santee noticed a feeble light.

issuing from one of the inhabited
buildings and he determined to ask

the occupant if he had seen Hipple-

in that locality.

At trooper Kisner’s insistent knock,
footsteps sounded within the house
and a voice rasped: “Who in tarna-
tion’s there?”

. When Kisner informed the man in-
side that it was the Law, he imme-
diately slid back the bolt and opened

‘Ghost business?”

the door, permitting him to enter.

“Where’s Ernie Hipple?” inquired
Santee.

“He don’t stay here,” returned the
man dourly.

“We know that. He isn’t at his
mother’s place, either. But do you
know where we can find him?”

“Consarned ef I know. If’n he had
a mite of sense, he’d be a’hind locked
doors on a night such as this’n. The
Mountain Ghost is runnin’ amuck
agin fer sure.”

“What’s that? What’s this Mountain
Corporal Santee
demanded.

“Jitst some mountain superstition,”
explained Shadduck. “Lloyd Bailey
was found burned to death in his barn
three years ago and no trace of the
bones- of his head was ever found.
Then when a fella named Hill was
found in a boat out on a pond, dead,
with his head bashed in people began
to lay it to a Mountain Ghost.”

“Well, I’ve an idea that something
a lot more real than a Mountain Ghost
killed Jennie Porter,” returned San-
tee evenly.

“When was the last time you saw
Hipple?” he asked, turning to the lank
mountaineer standing in the doorway.

“Wa-al, I saw Ernie just afore
dark.”

“Quick, man, where did you see
him?”

“Over to Laurayne Williams’ place.

He was a talkin’ with Laurayne.”

The officers drove the short distance
to the house of school teacher Lau-
rayne Williams, who told them that
Hipple had been there asking for a
ride to Loyalsockville. Williams said
he had refused the request and Hip-
ple left immediately.

Jumping into the car the officers
speeded toward Loyalsockville.

Santee muttered, “If that fellow
wanted to hide in these mountains he
could keep us searching for weeks.”

Just then the car, tires squealing,
rounded a curve and its headlamps
threw a long finger of light into the
faces of three men walking up the
opposite side of the road.

Shadduck, peering out of the win-
dow, shouted: “That’s him! That’s
Hipple! The one in the middle.”

The car screeched to a stop and the
officers poured out the doors. They
surrounded the three bewildered
youths.

“Okay, Hipple. We’re going for a
ride. We’ve a few questions to ask

you.

“What is this? What are you trying
to pull?” snapped Hipple savagely.

“You own a .22 rifle don’t you?”
Santee questioned as they bundled
Hipple into the car.

“No, I don’t.”

“Did you ever carry a .22?”

“No.”

“Not even to Porter’s house yes-

eral people saw you with one.”

“Well, I had one but it wasn’t mine.
I borrowed it from my cousin,” re-
turned Hipple after a moment’s de-
liberation.

Hipple was taken to the county jail
at Laporte where he was held for
further questioning.

HE next morning, February 9,
1938, Coroner Dreier escorted his
jury to the mortuary to view the body.
They were then taken to the scene
of the crime where they delivered the

unan:
Febrt
ter n
cause
party
Bac
with
quizz:
sult.
fiant
his ti
For
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to alt
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Hipp]
had 3
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day o
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Hip
.22 rif
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pose.
check
found
didn’t
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Porte:
were
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gave
No o
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mushi
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The
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Sher
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unanimous verdict: “On or about
February 7, 1938, Mrs. Jennie B. Por-
ter met death from a bullet wound
caused by a rifle in the hands of some
party unknown .. .”

Back in Laporte, Corporal Santee,
with the assistance of Trooper Kisner,
quizzed Hipple for hours without re-
sult. The stoic youth assumed a de-
fiant attitude. He was cool, and took
his time answering questions.

For the next two days incessant
questioning by the officers proved of
no avail. The case against Hipple
had reached a blank wall. The youth
repeatedly denied that he had entered
the Porter house or had anything to
do with the death of Mrs. Porter. It
did not appear that Hipple intended
to alter his testimony and Santee and
Kisner were reluctant to bring the

by Mrs. Porter and countersigned by
Hipple, which Porter claimed his wife

Hipple claimed he had borrowed the
.22 rifle for beaver hunting, his other
rifle being too powerful for that pur-
pose. He denied any knowledge of the
check. No blood-stained clothing was
found on him or at his home. He
didn’t have any money and that, in

gave every appearance of innocence.

crime, and the bullet was so badly
mushroomed that it was doubtful if
the ballistics expert could identify the
rifling and striations,

DETECTIVE

Chinese restaurant Owner kept a pack
of dogs in a kennel in the rear yard
of a rooming house. Excited by the
commotion, they leaped over the wire
fence, entered the alley and got be-
tween the fugitive and his pursuer.

Though Mrs. Courtney was un-,
afraid of the killer, she quailed in
terror at the sight of the dogs. She
turned back and the retreating gun-
man’s footsteps died away in the dis-
tance. By the time Marshal Henry ‘
Marriott and Sheriff J. E. Orrock ar-
rived, a few minutes later, he had
disappeared.

The two officers threw their depu-
ties around the block and rushed the
alley from both ends. But they came
out empty-handed.

Sheriff Orrock threw a dragnet
over the town, blocking the four roads
leading to Eureka, McGill, Tonopah
and Caliente. :

' “We've got the killer bottled up,”
he told Marshal Marriott. “Now our
job is to dig him out.”

It wasn’t going to be an easy task.

Te

SD -. «

CRIME DETECTIVE

Then Charlie Shadduck came into
the spotlight again. He had received
a threatening note which read: “If
you don’t keep your nose outa this it
will be too bad fer you.”

Again the officers were thrown into
the quagmire of doubt. Could the
Hipple boy be innocent? Was the
murderer still abroad? Perhaps it was
the work of some madman—this
Mountain Ghost, the mountaineers
were whispering about.

Finally, on February 16, 1938, San-
tee exclaimed to Kisner: “I’m about
done, Howard. The knots in this case
seem to be getting smaller and
tighter, and my hands larger and
clumsier.” The two troopers appeared
to have reached the limit in their
investigation.

Suddenly, a look of hopeful con-
templation beamed on the face of
Santee. “The lie detector! Why didn’t
we think of that before?”

Later, the same day, Hipple was led
from his cell in the county jail and
escorted to the judges’ chambers in
the same building.

Santee carried an instrument with
rubber tube attachments and Placed
it on the table. He pointed out the
various workings on the machine and

pressure would cause the straight line

on moving graph paper to be brok-

en up.

“Okay. Put the thing on me,” con-

sented Hipple. “I didn’t do no mur-

ee, ao no machine can make me say
j Eid

As Santee adjusted one rubber tube
around Hipple’s chest and another
around his arm, he informed the
curious lad that he could lie to them
but not to the machine. Hipple
sneered.

Slowly and logically, the two troop-
ers questioned the youth. As the
machine inexorably proved that Hip-
ple was lying, Santee and Kisner

103

showed him the results of the detector
test.

The machine says you lied, Ernie.”
Yes, you might as well come clean
and confess. We've got more than
enough to convict you.”

The scene which followed amazed
the officers.

Hipple slumped in his chair. His
face twisted. Sobs tore from his
throat. He hid his face in his hands
and his iron nerve seemed to have
vanished completely as he sobbed: “I
did it. I killed her.”

Again, Science had triumphed over
Crime!

Two hours later, from the confines
of his. cell in the County Jail at La-
porte, Hipple made full confession.
With his composure regained, he
stated:

“
“

door was locked but when I knocked

fell off the chair sideways toward the
back. Then I drug her in the bedroom
by the feet. Then I got scared and
left. I figured I’d have to shoot her
for her money, but I didn’t reckon on
all that blood .. .” ,

On May 28, 1938, Ernest M. Hipple
stood before Judge Edward B. Farr
and was sentenced to pay the full
penalty, death, for his unwarranted
and terrible crime.

Today, high in the mountain fast-
ness of
burial plot, is the grave of Jennie B.
Porter, kindly keeper of the cats. A

WAITS FOR THE GLAMOUR GIRL.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Since the identity of the assassin was
unknown, it would be necessary first
to round up clues.

Sheriff Orrock organized several
posses to stand guard on the hills sur-
rounding the town so there would be
no possible chance for the killer to
escape. Then he began a search for
clues. He was assisted in this quest
by District Attorney John Bonner.

In front of Sewell’s store they made

‘an unexpected discovery: One of the

‘Slugs from the killer’s gun. Evidently
‘it had passed clear through the vic-

 tim’s body, for it was blood-stained.

“It was fired from a 32 caliber
pistol,” Orrock said as he examined it.

‘Then they made another discovery
which clinched their belief that the
slug had come from the murderer’s
gun. Near the alley they found five
shells, four of .which had been dis-
charged. They were -32-20’s,

“Evidently he emptied and reloaded
his gun as he fled,” commented the
District Attorney.

“That little mistake is going to send

him to his death,” Orrock said grimly.

They immediately rounded up eye-
witnesses. Their accounts, as Orrock
expected, were conflicting.

“I saw Frances Standing there in
the cold, looking up and down the
street as if she was waiting for some-
one,” Mrs. John Caselli told the offi-
cers. “Then this man came up and
grabbed hold of her, [ didn’t pay
much attention until he pulled out
his gun and started shooting.”

“You_never saw the man before?”
asked Orrock.

She described the killer as large
and _ wearing dark Overcoat and hat.
“Do you think Mrs. Jones recog-
nized him?” asked the District At-

“There was nothing in her manner,”
said Mrs. Caselli, “to Suggest she did.”
“Did you hear her call out a name?”
“No. The only thing I heard was
her screams as he started firing.”
Bustamante, the Paperhanger, said
he was quite sure he had seen the man


HIPPLE, Ernest M., white, elec. PA@ (Sullivan) April 24, 1939

E OF THE

MISSING
MINUTES

By RUSS JORDAN

HE heavy shoes of the men

crunched on the frozen ground as

they picked a way from the road to
P . , the farmhouse. A rearing pine tree which
fi a nage Toad : we stood lonely vigil beside the dwelling
} “ar : : near Troy, Pa., marked the place as that
of elderly John Porter.

Sheriff Ralph Obert of Bradford
county led the party that cold morning
of Feb. 8. With him walked Corp. John
Santee and Troopers Boyer and Howard
Kinser of the Pennsylvania state motor
police.

Only an hour before they had reeeived
the report from Coroner Joseph Dreier on
the strange death of Mrs. Jennie Porter.
Her body had arrived at Sayre, Pa., the
night before with the certificate of a local
doctor stating that death was -due to
hemorrhage.

But the subsequent examination by Dr.
Charles De Wan had brought discovery
of the tiny hole in the back of her head.
It had been made with a .22 caliber bul-
let.

“Here we are,” Sheriff Obert said. His
gloved fist struck the door which opened
almost immediately. A few neighbors,
stricken to awe-filled silence in a home
where death had struck, were in the
living-room. The husband of the victim
advanced to meet the officers.

After brief introductions, the sheriff
turned to Porter. “I understand you
called the doctor,” he said. ‘Tell us
everything that happened.”

Porter’s account was brief and to the

A. deadly drama was staged in this farmhouse
near Troy, Pa., when a mysterious assailant
shot and killed Mrs. Jennie Porter. Her body
was left on the floor of the bedroom at the
spot marked by the cross, see photo above.

ee

Ap PHO,

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returned ¢
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to the
found
ried
the doct
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hours
said,
“Ves
added.
was wh
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meal

“My name’s Charlie Shadduck and
I’m a neighbor. Jennie Porter was
darn good to me. She lent me money
when I was in a spot and didn’t even
ask for a note. I’ll do anything I can
to help find who murdered her.”

“Loaned you money, eh? Did your
wife have quite a bit, Porter?” Santee
turned to the old man.

“Yep, quite a bit. She was always
smart and savin’. Used to be a school-
teacher but never trusted banks. She
always had money hid ’round the
house,” answered Porter. ;

“No doubt that was the motive
then. What do you think, Howard?”
Santee inquired of Trooper Kisner.

“We can work on that angle for the
time being,” replied Kisner.

Porter’s sister, who had remained
silent until now, spoke: “It was Jen-
nie’s money, sure enough, and Ernie
knew she had it around.”

“I remember one time when she
took a whole pail of money—a two-
gallon sirup pail—to Baumunk’s store
with her,” recalled Kilmer.

“Yep, people all thought it was eggs.
She even forgot the pail that time ’n’
had to go back ’n’ get it,” said Porter.

“The time she lent me money she
had me count it out of an egg pail,”
mused Shadduck.

“Jennie even sewed money in her
clothes,” added. Porter, as if thinking
aloud. “I think Ernie Hipple knew
she had the money hid.”

“We'll see this Hipple fellow later.
Right now I want someone to show
me where the body lay,” requested
Santee.

The coroner took him into the bed-
room. “She was lying here.” He indi-
cated a spot between the bed and
stove. “Head near the bed and feet
sprawled on the stove.”

“Sort of like someone dragged her
here and left in a hurry,” suggested
Kisner.

“Yes, now that you speak of it, it
did appear that way,” said the cor-
oner slowly.

“Who discovered the body?” asked
Santee.

“T did,” Porter answered. “When I
came back from Ward Norton’s, I
saw a pool of blood on the kitchen
floor ’n’ followed a trail of it into the
bedroom. Then I found Jennie.”

“Porter, did you say that this Hip-
ple fellow was here yesterday?”

“Ernie Hipple was here ’n’ he
walked a ways with me as I was
goin’ to mail postcards; then he cut
off into the woods.”

“He did, eh? Do you know what
for?”

“No, but he joined me again in
about fifteen minutes at Ward
Norton’s.”

“Say, John,” broke in Shadduck,
“better tell him how we _ tracked
Ernie back through the woods to the
field near the house.”

“What’s this?” queried Santee.

Porter recounted the actions: of
Shadduck, Kilmer, and himself that
morning.

Glancing outside, Santee noted that
the light covering of snow was rapidly
melting.

“Quick! Take us back over that

trail before the snow’s completely ;

melted,” he ordered.

ITH the mountain men pointing
out the direction, the little group
started up the path which led from
Porter’s front door and wound its way
up to the mail box on top of the hill,
near the Norton farm. Minutes later

i Soe

CRIME DETECTIVE

they emerged from the dense woods
and entered a field that lay directly
in the rear of the Porter house.

“This is the place where the trail

' ended,” stated Shadduck.

“That lad sure knew his way around
these woods,” remarked Santee.
“Okay, let’s get back to the house.”

As the men entered the kitchen
they were startled by two wild-eyed
cats that leaped from the floor near
the table and scurried out an aperture
in a window where a small pane had
been removed.

“Say, Santee, that gives me an
idea,” said Kisner.

“What is it?”

“That place where those cats went
out—the killer could’ve stuck his gun
through there and shot the victim.”

“See if you can find anything,” said
Santee.

As Kisner and Boyer went out,
Santee turned to the old man.

“Porter, we won’t rest until we
crack this case. I’ve got a few ques-
tions I’d like to ask. It’s my desire
to interview everyone separately. May
I use your bedroom?”

“You sure can, Corporal,” replied
Porter. “Is there anything else you
wanna ask me? There’s a coupla
chores I ought to get done.”

“Okay, but first, is there any moriey
missing? Do you know how much
your wife had?”

“She couldn’t ’ve had much more’n
we found,” returned the old man.
“T don’t think none of it’s missing.”

The Trooper motioned Shaddock
toward the bedroom door. “Step in
here a moment, Mr. Shadduck,” he
requested. Santee’s psychological rea-

soning in interviewing the witnesses ’

101

in the gloomy room where the dead
woman had lain was sound. He be-
lieved it would add to the nervous-
ness of the guilty person and, at the
same time, lend sharp emphasis to
his questioning.

Once inside he turned to Shadduck.
“Say, what about Porter and his wife
—did they get along? Have you any
reason to believe that he may have
killed her?”

“My gosh, no. They got along good
together. That’s an awful thought.”
Shadduck was aghast.

“Hold on a minute. It’s not so far-
fetched as you think. Mrs. Porter’s
will left him half the estate.”

“No, no, Corporal; John is innocent.
He was very devoted to Jennie.”

“All right, Shadduck. What kind of
fellow is this Kilmer? He lives right
near here doesn’t he?” Santee con-
tinued. ;

“Yes, Lynn lives down the road a
piece, but he ain’t the kind to be
mixed up in anything like this.”

“Well, Pll have a little talk with
him anyway,” mused Santee.

Many minutes more of questioning
found the big trooper still without a
vital clue. The man he sent to see
Dr. DeWan, who had performed the
autopsy at Troy, had returned with
information that the doctor believed
the bullet was not in the brain. Be-
cause of a slit over the right eye, he
theorized that the killer, knowing the
value of a bullet as evidence had
split the skin and rolled the pellet
out. However, the doctor had re-
moved the brain_and was having it
X-rayed at the Robert Packer hos-
pital in Sayre.

Santee showed his disappointment

FLIGHT FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND

These 18 men escaped from France's Devil's Island. They claim
war “demoralized” French penal colony and that prisoners are
no longer guarded or fed by authorities who are in charge.

—


-—

TAR.

a ae eG

ik

—

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA. THURSDAY, MAY

ot. The republican party is the party
honesty and prosperity, of law and or-
r, of good wages, good markets and
xd money, and it asks the confidence
i support of the people at this time,
omitting for their approval the fol-
ving statements of principles and poli-
s which will continue to guide
d inspire its efforts. The republicans
Indiana are in favor of protection.
We demand a tariff that will not only
‘ure the necessary amount of reve-
8, but will also afford equal and cer-
n protection to the wage workers and
ducers of this country. We demand
it American sellers shal] have the first
ince in |American markets. From
icoln to Harrison, under the wise pol-
of protection and,reciprocity, we
adily decreased our bonded debt, re-
ned specie payment, maintained the
plic credit, kept unimpaired the gold
erve, increased the wealth of the
ole country and added to the comfort
{ happiness of the people to a degree
vatatiod in the history ofnations. The
ersal of this beneficent and patriotic
icy by the democratic party has
ught to the American people noth.
but distrust, deficit and disaster.
Ve therefore demand a return to the
nd republican policy of protection
_ reciprocity. e are firm and em-
tic in our demand for honest money.
believe that our money should not
nferior tu the money of the most on-
tened nations of the earth. We are
lterably opposed to every scheme
> threatens to debase or deprediate |
currency, .
6 favor the use of silver as currency,
to the extent only and under such
lations that its parity with gold can
iaintained, and in consequence are
sed to the free, unlimited
independent coinage of silver at a
'of 16 to.1. We demand a rigid en-

‘ment of all existing immigration | ¢

by the national government and the
tment of such further legislation as

began. The prisoner was accom
by priests chanting thb miserere,

stepped to the front
laration of innocence, Then ata signal
from the pricset he
his eyes fixed

che better protect our people against

IS OUT OF THE WAY.
HOLMES, THE MURDERER, HANGED.

Drop Falls at 10:12) To-day—Miserable

Wretch Cool to the End—Declares
His Innocence and Affects
Repentance.

PHILADELPHIA, May 7.—H. H. Holmes,
the multi-murderer, was hanged in Moy-
amensing prison this morning at 10:12.
His neck was broken.’ Even on the scaf-
fold he was probably the coolest person
in the assembly. In a few well chosen
words he proclaimed his innocence of any
murder including that for which he was
convicted. He declared the only wrong
doing in the taking of human life for
which he could be held reoponsible con-

sisted in the death of two women as the
result of criminal operations at his hands,
He did not name the victims.

Holmes spent a greater part of his last

night on earth writing letters. At mid-|
night he went to bed ‘and slept soundly.
til 6 o’clock this morning. It took two

“

calls to waken him, |

At 10 o'clock the march to the gallows
anied
‘olmes
and made his dec

bent his knees, with
on the crucifix. 7
Prayer continued ‘some minutes, then

he rose, shook hands with the priests and
in a firm voice bade them good bye.
Without delay his hands were bound, the
black
about his neck and after a moment the

trap was
fe) best
pronounced dead and cut down.
PATENTS TO INDIANIANS, !

cap adjusted, the noose placed

sprung. The heart continued
15 or 20 minutes. He was finally

Sale of “Y hamber

Sets.

_ Our sale that always comes in

May---just when you want sets
most. Why?

To sell five sets where we
might sell one; to sell those five
sets at about the profit of. one:
to crowd all the chamber set
trade of a season into one month.
We have cut the price on every
set in our stock. Over fifty sets
to choose from.

{
i
i
i
}
i

DON’T £

In buying drugs
» thing must be fir
druggist’s duty 1
‘do ynenwrise 4

Have you noticed w!
SOAPS WE ARE (

19 Cents |
This sale will only
It will pay you to bu

5-piece Decorated
Chainber Sets...

HOW THEY DIED ie
No. 10: Dr. Holmes wanted ot

NYONE who has worked among

real, dyed-in-the-wool criminals can-
not help noticing their outstanding
vanity. They are ridiculously ‘ self-
satisfied about their cleverness in crimi-
nal affairs, their alleged loyalty to their
pals, their success with women, their
looks, about everything in fact that

remotely concerns them. Smart police _

officials play on this trait so that, by
flattery, they obtain boastful confessions
which they could not otherwise hope to
get.

One would scarcely expect this colos-
sal vanity to be carried as far as the
execution chamber, as the natural as-
sumption would be that a-man in the
shadow of eternity would have other
and more serious things to think about.
But it does go that far just the same.

One of the most outstanding illustra-
tions of this trait was that given by
H. H. Holmes, perhaps the most no-
torious and most widely-publicized mur-
derer of the last century. Holmes first

came to public notice along about 1896,

when the police dug up the facts about
his so-called “Murder Castle” in Chi-

but for disposing of the bodies shite
wards. There was a secret trapdoor and

stairway leading from Holmes’ office to
the cellar, and equipment in the cellar a
for cutting the-bodies up and, as ae!

them in a furnace.

The full list of Holmes’ victims oil

probably never be known. The police

definitely traced twenty-seven, including - do
three small children. “I was born with

the devil in me,” he boasted. “Where
others’ hearts were touched with pity,
mine filled with cruelty, and where in
others the feeling was to save life, I
revelled in the idea of destroying it.”

What were the thoughts of this cal- |
lous fiend as the day of his hanging —

approached? Merely on how he would
look, to the exclusion of almost every-
thing else. “He spent fully half of each

day taking care of his appearance,” the

guards in his death watch reported .
afterward. “He would trim his beard _
and mustache, brush his clothes, have us
hold up a mirror so he could see how

this and that necktie would look, and ~

discuss with us by the hour whether or
not he should shave off his beard before
he was hanged, and whether we thought
he would look better with or with-
out it.”

50

His chief guard, Jim Henry, thought
it was all an act, and that Holmes was

merely doing it to keep up his courage *

by diverting his mind; But as day after
day went by he became convincw) that
it was real, and that how he would ap-
pear when he was hanged was the only
thing which really interested this mul-

‘tiple murderer. Every night Holmes

slept ‘soundly. But never would he go
to bed until he had carefully folded his
clothes, creased his trousers with his
fingers, smoothed out his necktie and
taken a sponge bath.

On the day of his execution he was

“awakened at five o'clock in the morning.

“How do I look?” was the first
anxious question when he sat up in bed.
Henry assured him that he looked all

right. “How much time haye I?”

Holmes demanded.

“About an hour and a half.”

Holmes nodded. And he took every
minute of the hour and a half on his
appearance. He had decided he would
look better without his beard. He had

had this cut off. And he insisted that

he be permitted to shave, This permis-
cago. This house was equipped with 2

Holmes’ then carefully

away ‘coat, so ye had kept ‘for the
_ great occasion. He then began to knot
a colorful scarf around his neck.

“Here,” Henry exclaimed, “you can’t

” the murderer replied

“calmly, “c can’t then put the rope over it

just as well?™

Thus accoutered, ‘Holmes swaggered
into the yard and up the gallows steps,
smiling at the witnesses and carefully

pearance

“Have you anything. to say?” ae
tant Superintendent Richards, of the
prison, asked. ;

“Nothing at all, gentlemen,” Holmes
replied, without the slightest quaver in
his voice. And then, just before the
“noose and ‘black cap were adjusted, he
‘lifted his hands, straightened his scarf
and curled the ends of his mustache. It
was his last act before his body plunged
through the trap.

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Butcher,
the prison physician, pronounced him
dead,

t the splendor of his

into the bedroom, and laid down on_ the
bed. Bobby at that time was covered the
way I said.

“About twenty minutes later [ got up
and looked at Bobby. I could see he was
dead. I put him under the second cover,
pulled it up over his head and tucked it in.
Then I got undressed and got into bed and
pretended to be asleep. When my husband
came into the bedroom, I could see him
pull the covers out and stand looking at
Bobby.

“T pretended [ had just woke. I pushed up
on my elbow and said ‘Is Bobby all right?’
He said to me, ‘He’s all right. He’s dead.’
Then he said ‘This is going to look
funny.’ We talked it over for an hour and
decided we should go to the neighbors and
let them know. First we went across the
street to Alton Webb’s. He’s Lloyd's
brother. Then we went to Lloyd's, and he
and my husband went to call the coroner
and you, Sheriff Burt.”

ONFRONTED with his wife’s story of

what had transpired when the dead body
was found, Dryburgh opened up and told a
story which corroborated hers. He received
the news that his wife had confessed the
murder with a solemn shake of his head.

“It’s tough for her,” he said. “I can't
understand what would make her do such
a thing.”

The countryside was electrified late on
the afternoon on December 4 when the
grand jury under the foremanship of
Charles Carney of Reading returned a re-
port which at one stroke absolved Dry-
burgh and indicted his wife. District At-
torney Argetsinger handed the sheriff a
bench warrant. Mrs. Dryburgh’s status
was altered immediately from that. of ma-
terial witness to prisoner. She was ar-
raigned before Justice Riley H. Heath of
the Supreme Court and entered a plea of
not guilty to the charge of first degree
murder.

Mrs. Dryburgh was the first woman ever
to face a murder charge in Schuyler Coun-
ty, and it was a coincidence that the court
assigned as defense counsel the county's
only woman attorney, Mrs. Edwina M.
Mellison.

Dryburgh seemed stunned as he was re-
leased from jail, and he elected to spend
that first night of his freedom as a guest
in the home of Sheriff Burt. He expressed
continually his feeling for his wife.

“It’s a tough break for her. I’m sorry,”
he said.

He expressed no resentment when he
learned of his wife's admission that she
had hoped to pin the murder on him.

District Attorney Argetsinger read and
reread the three-page confession that Mrs.
Dryburgh had signed. He began preparing
his case and to plan for an early trial.

On December 9, however, after a con-
ference with Mrs. Mellison, he agreed to
permit Mrs. Dryburgh to enter a plea of
guilty to the charge of second degree mur-
der.

“Since there were two persons in the
house when the murder was committed,”
he said later, “it was conceivable that the
defense might throw doubt into a jury's
mind by arguing that either Dryburgh or
his wife could have committed the act, and
we might have had a discharge, which
would have entirely defeated the ‘ends of
justice.”

In passing a sentence of twenty years to
life in the State Prison for Women at
Bedford Hills, Justice Heath spoke scath-
ingly to the prisoner, reminding her of the
foulness of her deed. He commented also
on the excellent work of the investigators
in the case.

Since a conviction was obtained, authori-
ties dropped plans to investigate the earlier
death of the other child; Mrs. Dryburgh
denied any connection with this,

INSIDE DETECTIVE

ees

ywonte
iour
cach
our {
Was
ot
it
1¢
teder
knew
him!
By Detect
Wi
violat
given
cided
and t
autor
West
event
Mu
um
cart
hap
ope
in
wh
fight
was
bot
——
a
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t
|
—_
“The
MAY, |

hind her |4ail before him, made his statement of in- must han
‘Hots were | nocerice. It was received my absolute | us eae

© persons | Silence. sia . : . i.
“d. It was 5 bigatge thig,
wy a: Pallid naturally after. his shcarceration, lanéd that.
uns UP | there was no other evidence/o? fear or dis- ‘|
licago, Quiet. He spoke slowly and with measured |. a : |
head | attention to every Wort a triflelow at} =}, AVY FAILURE. ee

first, but louder he proceeded, until |» ECR Pie art ey rgs BLO
1 . r ° " ~ . ry De Ri Bral d : | ‘ . A Pi ;
ti,. Miss every Word was sty audible. ole nerd Assigns at Chicago With

Vee Oca wu, lesUus his .Nands on the mead e

‘subsequent - imprisonment:
inal maintained a noncha-
as remarkable, °° | .

| |
‘, was shot “‘Gentlemen,” he sa : “T have very few oh abilities of $300,000, | i
tie Hynes, | words to say, in fact I would make no]. ut 880, | May 8.—E. R. Brainerd,’a to.
eecar, was | Statement at this ‘time except that by | P d wealthy marble and cut
. not speaking I would’ appear to acquiesce [2d jcontracto ‘made’an as |
A.'S. Bagg in life in my euboution I only want to bay ounty ult, Thursday to the
iile trying | say.that the extent of my wrong-doings | Guar ise r
so in taking human life consisted in the jt hy his ¢)
k in the | deaths of two’womien, they having died Ase"gnment
a 1e | at my hands as the result of criminal oper- |'& Flavin, fe
about 50] ations. I wigh also'to state, however, so|!Irmg in t
of George | that there Avill be no misunderstanding | Member and/large backer of the firm.
t time the hereafter, 1 am not, guilty of taking the | have} been
a _ | lives of ahy of the Pitzel family, the three | and ithe as
‘informed | children/or father, Benjamin F. Pitzel, of | busizess ch
sing hour whose death I am now convicted and for | Will be abau
I
|

ignments were a sur rig
les. Mr, Brainerd’s:

ne o’clock | which/I am to-day to be hanged. |
"That is ale | |

nied by a he ceased speaking, he stepped back | charge of c § affairs for some time, :

d another ond kneeling between Fathers Daly and Nabi itiey Of SifPrman ‘& Flavin are a
ime inside | Macpeak, joined with them in silent prayer | $200,000, ° With a@psets fully equal to
rd stood | fora brief minute or two. Again standing | &maq nt. | It/is Expected that all, cred
he shook the hand of all those about him, will be Pi ar for dollar, Gene
man Was | and then signified his readiness for the end. | pression in the ‘building ‘trade is gi
| Astonishing'Nerve, + ad ; int
» thestore} Coolest of the entire party, he even went |: | | 8 |p :
ss’ Garret-| to the extreme of suggesting to Assistant | ¢s,/and w en the @fice of nationa)
, rt la mitt¢emdn was recently vacant on acc
d, levelin Superintendent Richardson that the atter ft death. Ww :
_ DBT not hurry ‘himself. “Take your time: don’t | © e ceath of W. J. Campbell, he w
red her ta ” a le; ficial | leading candidate for the Place. He
bungle it,” he remarked, as the officia del te fr
oung lady | exhibited some little‘haste, the evident out- Vasrites ef Chicago to the national
"  wer,| come of nervousness. These were almost |:V& fon at Bt. Louis, | ee

bo
White na eken o
a anape, per P
Leading b {i
n-) With ovary: Dtnohas.

Ro

i give a bar of any |

.| his last words.. Bhe cap was a justed, aj. a. ranger es i | mY Fe
ae pe low-toned inquiry: “Are you ready?" and|: | TRA DY IN CLEVELAND. Ke , el
> » Tan} an equally low-toned response; '‘Yes,good-{.. .| _. Pe: Wea ad | || OK/ OUT ¢
\e robbers | by,”’ and the trap was sprung. f ‘Man Shot Dead by a Bystander w ile ? i
The neck was not broken and there were} _ ing to Kill His Wife. |

O., May &—William Worcester

u few convulsive twitches of thé limbs that| Cl vies Bp Oe
nd killed Thursday night at|  |!08 NORTH

three des- continued for about ten minutes. “But he| was| shot |
at the pro-| suffered none after the drop,” said Dr. | seveh o’cl .
he crowd, | Scott,the prison physician. The trap was | tempting (¢o murder his wife, tatrec

Sprung at precisely /10:12%, and 15 minutes | Hubbard building at 284 Detroit street. The | AL ESTA
ee anal later Holmes was pronounced dead, though | Worcesters formerly lived dn Oberlin, |.0., mo REA dt on Ada:
“mpie and | the body was not ‘cut down until 10:45. | fro requent | House and lot on Bird

fe died in- Beniains/in a Vault. ‘ mu erous Bssaults on his wife, the hus- | House and lot on List
e tragedy After the body had been viewed by the ‘band was adjudged insane and committed | House and lot in Orch

3 . ee eee
reet cable | physicians, and the mahner of death, de- ic devs! So and haa me da Hodes ced lat 8. C:
ets went | termined, the stretcher on which it lay} 24, his ife has supported herself i:
s. One of | ¥83 Wheeled out of the corridor, into the children by| keeping boarders.  Worc

: Jailyard. Here it was placed in an ordinary
gs of Miss cheap, De mea my ca enough ee deep
enough to ve held two men of Holmes’. - |
ind in the | 8!ze. The coffin wag put aboard an under-| Of the met ai abate: iditathed “<_<
ot off and taker’s wagon and conveyed to the Roman |" i > } i?

~v OM aNd | Catholic cemetery of the Holy Cross. The], ; PUT TO DEATH. — :}:
ere badly | only persons at the cemetery were the| | |
0 of the} undertaker and his’ assistant, two grave | Choctaw |
somstreet | diggers, two watchmen and a ‘couple of| = | homa for Murder. 1.4

newspaper men. The little company acted ‘Antlers, | . T., May 8.—Charles Homes, |'
The two | ag pall-bearers and ‘carried the coffin to aged 35 years, a full-blooded Chocta: In-
! a“ the.

grounds at Pushmatka, 30

pe
it a block | the receiving vault. - dian,’ was |executed Wednesday on = | ’
lleg| .
- Homes stood by his coffin'| - Liquor
farewell address, in which he ! a

Ran CRE ‘

dian Légally Shot in ‘Oke

alt‘by A. To Prevent Grave Robbery... ‘courthouse
oassingat| The last act in the receiving vault was ‘west of he
'telv chot, performed at Holmes’ express command. | and |made
ed The lid of the coffin 'was taken off and the | said) he
bad the body was lifted out @nd laid on the ground. | meet his)
Wuy un-/| Then the bottom of the coffin was filled.| grodnds. |
4 with cement. The body was then replaced | the crack)
in the coffin and completely covered with | to fire the
ate the cement. baht spent = ~ the paint pert r ,
Bs ;] cement would harden around his y and | two|inches,/an omes died In great agony, perso on
pied dele prevent, any attempt at grave robbery. | One year ago Homes killed “his stepson, . who will
ie ConveD- | The coffin was left in the recelving vault | Charles Kitoubby, in order to secure pos- | Students, any
‘elved in under the guard of two watchman who wil GQoealan Af tha RaAwla Heawnuee- " ore .«

<

fter being blindfolded, one of | I hereby give no:
ots of the nation was deputed ts
fatal bullet. The shot milesed cute to the lest
card over the heart by a

out | regardless of cost,


News

eatures |

ran Ge LAs leg
MV Review

Killer earned ‘monster’ name |

By Dave Ivey
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A century
ago, the thought that America
would forget the “Monster of
63rd Street” was preposterous.

Dr. H.H. Holmes was a swin-
dler, bigamist, horse thief and
pharmacist — not to mention sa:
distic killer — who died at the
end of a hangman’s noose in
Philadelphia.

Newspaper readers from coast
to coast knew of his 100-room
Frankenstein-fantasy-come-true
castle in Chicago, where authori-
ties believe hundreds may have
died amid a maze of trap doors
and trick hallways.

A greedy man, Holmes ‘consid-
ered the “Evil One” his constant
companion, and one biographer
baptized him the “greatest crimi-
nal the police have ever
handled.”

Yet Holmes has disappeared
from the American consciousness
while another diabolical killer —
Jack the Ripper, who gutted five
London prostitutes just eight
years earlier — remains known
even to children.

“Part of the Ripper’s appeal, no
doubt, derives from the mystery
of his identity, which continues
to tantalize armchair detectives,”
says professor Harold Schechter
of Queens College, author of the
biography “Depraved.”

“But the answer to Holmes’
current obscurity, I believe, also
lies in the nature of his crimes.”

The Ripper was a sexual sa-
dist, a stalker who more directly
reflects the anxieties of our age,
according to Schechter. Holmes
was a product of “The Gilded
Age,” a late 19th-century period
of feverish enterprise and gaudy
excess — and Chicago was its
nucleus.

“He was always seeking ‘to
profit from his victims — turn
them into cold cash in one way or
another,” Schechter says.
“Getting in the way of Holmes
and his lust for wealth wasn’t a
good idea.”

Holmes was hanged for one
murder in Philadelphia, but he
might have committed hundreds’
more in Chicago.

Authorities suspected as rhany
as 50 visitors to the World’s Fair
in 1893 made a tragic choice of
lodging and stayed at Holmes’
boardinghouse, later dubbed
Nightmare Castle and The Castle
of Horror.

In addition, as many as 100

young, female stenographers who .

answered Holmes’ continual

4 & | was born with the
devil in me. 99
H.H. Holmes
Philadelphia killer

world, He has be

string of newspaper ads disap-
peared forever after they entered
the three-story labyrinth.

The mansion was’ filled with
doors that opened to brick walls,
stairways to nowhere, an eleva-
tor without a shaft and a shaft
without an elevator.

There was an airtight and
soundproof vault, torture cham-
bers, dissecting tables, a crema-
torium, chemical vats, quicklime
pits and human-sized greased
chutes leading from the living
quarters to the cellar.

The bedrooms had peepholes
and were equipped with asphyxi-
ating gas pipes connected to a
control panel in Holmes’ closet.

_ Holmes also hadyan_ “elasticity
determinator,” a curious contrap-
tion he claimed could stretch ex-
perimental subjects to twice their

. normal length and produce a race

of giants. Those who viewed it —

and lived — said it appeared to .

be a medieval torture rack.
Exactly why ‘this monstrous
mansion was built is a mystery
trapped inside its architect's psy-
chopathic mind. Unfortunately
for historians, much of the
knowledge about the man comes

from scores of pulp, true-crime .

books and from Holmes’ own sto-
ry published from prison in 1895.

“Like the man-eating tigers of
the tropical jungle, whose appe-
tites for blood have once been
aroused, I roamed about this
world: seeking whom I could
destroy,” Holmes wrote.

Holmes was. born Herman
Webster Mudgett on May 16,
1860, in the rural New Hamp-
shire hamlet of Gilmanton.

“I was born with the devil in
me,” he wrote. “I couldn’t help
the fact that I was a murderer,
no more than a poet can help the
inspiration to sing; And I was
born with the Evil One standing

‘aS my sponsor beside’ 'the bed

where I was

ushered into the

eR

”

He grew up in a household
with an abusive father and a pi-
ous, submissive mother, develop-
ing a penchant early on for kill-
ing and maiming stray animals.
He finished high school at 16, got.
‘married’ at 18° and finished

‘me éver~

medical school at the University

of Michigan when he was 24.

In 1886, Holmes moved to the
well-to-do Chicago suburb of En-
glewood, Ill., and took a
pharmacist’s job at Dr. ES.
Holton’s Drugstore. Holmes pur-
chased the shop and began con-
structing his castle across the
street.

The next year, he wed Myrta Z.
Belknap without bothering to di-
vorce his first wife, Clara Lover-
ing. Pregnant, Belknap left him
within a year, moving back in
with her parents. He didn’t di-

_ vorce her either and got married

again in 1894 to Georgiana Yoke,

His charm and good jooks
wooed countless women — and
enhanced his talent as a get-
rich-quick schemer,

Holmes supplied countless ca-
davers to medical schools. selling
them for $25 to $50 whenever he
needed quick cash.

He also dreamed up the insur-
ance swindle that would become
his undoing,

Holmes took out a $10,000 life
insurance policy on a friend, Ben-
jamin F, Pitezel. Their plan was
to fake Pitezel’s demise, substi-
tute a body and then collect the
money. Instead, Holmes burned
his pal alive in Philadelphia so
he would not have to split the
take,

The bloodshed only halted with
a tip and the arduous laborings

. of an intrepid Philadelphia police

detective.

Jailed briefly in Missouri,
Holmes shared a cell with the in.
famous train robber Marion C.
Hedgepeth; “The Handsome
Bandit.” Perhaps wanting to brag
about his own criminal prowess,
Holmes told Hedgepeth about the
Pitezel scam. Hedgepeth
squealed. ;

Holmes was arrested in Boston
in 1894 and extradited to Phila-
delphia for Pitezel’s murder. It
was then that Detective Frank P.
Geyer began a futile search for
three of Pitezel’s missing
children.

The bodies of Alice and Nellic
Pitezel were found in a cellar in
Toronto and Howard Pitezel’s re-
mains were found near
Indianapolis.

Holmes pleaded not guilty to
killing their father and his trial

‘ began ‘on Oct. 28,°1895 with

Holmes firing his lawyers and
questioning the prospective ju-

rors himself. He was convicted of

first-degree murder on Nov. 4
and was executed in a gala public

~event at Philadelphia’s Moya-

mensing Prison on May 7, 1896.

GRR EEE re


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this man, Mudgett?” Geyer asked
eagerly.

“Sure, I’ll' take you to his house.”

Mrs. Mudgett greeted the men.

“Your husband has a deal on with
the insurance company, Mrs. Mud-
gett,” Geyer explained.

“J shouldn’t wonder,” Mrs. Mud-
gett replied. “He’s a pretty busy
man. He’s been telling me all about
his wonderful adventures. He’s an
inventor, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” Geyer replied.
“He’s invented some marvelous
things. Do you know where I could
find him?”

“He'll be back home in a day or
two. He’s gone down to Boston on
some business deal.”

Geyer went to Boston and on
November 17, 1894, he caught up
with Holmes. Mrs. Pitzel was with
him. Both were arrested.

Holmes vehemently denied that
a fraud had been perpetrated.

“Are you willing to return to

‘Philadelphia and face the charge?”

Geyer asked.

“Why should I?” Holmes demand-
ed, “The man I identified actually
was Benjamin Pitzel.” .

“What about Hedgepeth’s story?”

“A figment of the imagination,
no doubt,” Holmes replied. “I don’t
recall ever having seen the fellow.”

“Then you won’t return to Phil-
adelphia voluntarily?”

“Certainly not.”

Holmes was locked up, pending
possible extradition. Mrs. Pitzel was
questioned.

“Did you have knowledge of this
fraud?” Geyer asked her.

“It wasn’t a fraud,” Mrs. Pitzel
said tearfully. “That was Ben, all
right.”

“Who got the money?”

“The lawyer and Dr. Holmes.
They brought the check to me and
I endorsed it. Holmes got $7,500
and the lawyer $2,500.”

Mrs. Pitzel was questioned fur-
ther and it was decided that she
was innocent. She was released.

EANWHILE, Pinkerton agents
in Fort Worth, Texas, had
learned that a warrant charging
horse-stealing against Holmes had
been issued. This was dusted off
and forwarded to Geyer in Boston.
The detectives confronted Holmes
with the warrant.

“You can take your choice,” he
said. “You can return to Philadel-
phia. Or maybe you’d rather go
back to Texas and explain this
horse-stealing charge.”

Holmes squirmed uncomfortably
and loosened his tie. In those days,
horse-stealing was a serious of-

fense in Texas.

“T’l] go back to Philadelphia,” he
decided.

In Philadelphia, Holmes talked
volubly. He was a handsome fellow,
with great personal charm. He had
studied at the University of Ver-

mont and had later taken his doc-
tor’s degree at the University of

Michigan, where he had been grad-

uated with honors.

“Ben Pitzel is alive and well,”
Holmes declared. “He is in South
America.” :

Holmes was sentenced to a long
term in Moyamensing prison on the
fraud charge. There is no record,
incidentally, that any charge was
ever brought against the lawyer.

Mrs. Pitzel was still concerned
about her three children. She talk-
ed to District Attorney Graham and
told him that Holmes had repeat-
edly told her that the children were
being cared for by a kind widow
in Kentucky. But Holmes had
steadfastly refused to take her
there.

Holmes was questioned at Moy-
amensing.

“The children are in Europe,” he
said. “They were taken there by
my housekeeper, Minnie Williams.
I don’t know her address, but I am
sure she will communicate with
me.”

The winttr passed and still noth-
ing was heard from the Pitzel
children. Holmes was questioned
again.

“I’m sure they are back by now,”
he said confidently. “But Minnie
was probably afraid to communi-
cate with me because I was in
prison, If you will run a classified
ad in the personal column of the
New York Herald-Tribune, she will
see it and bring the children to
you.”

Graham was skeptical about this,
but it was finally decided to run
the ad. When it brought no results,
Holmes was confronted with an
entirely new angle of the case.

“You claim,” District Attorney
Graham said, “that you secured a
body from a New York morgue and
planted it in Perry’s rooms, after
marring the face. You shipped the
body from New York in a trunk.
Is that right?”

“Quite correct,” said Holmes.

“Then how,” Graham wanted to
know, “do you account for the fact
that the body we found was rigid
from rigor mortis?”

“Just what do you mean?”

“To pack the body in a trunk,
you would have had to break the
rigor mortis. How did you succeed
in making it rigid again?”

Holmes, a physician, knew that
this was impossible. So he had to
think fast for a suitable answer.

“T’]] tell you the truth,” he said.
“That body actually was Ben Pit-
zel,.”

“We were pretty sure of that,”
Graham replied.

“As a matter of fact, he commit-
ted suicide. He was a heavy drink-
er and became despondent, He was
afraid to bring in a corpse from a
medical school as we had planned.
One night, he went out and got

(a

Think of it!
it's true because ¢:
Practice and it w:
drawing cartoony
talent.


«

troit

, its to
rent-
The
used
large
« the
limes
chil-
fire.
rong.
i had
chil-.
ed at
yther,
1 his
few

chil-
ry al-
their
ist. of
about
Pitzel
s her
orner.
Ben?”

d her.
idian-~
omor-

ed

g-
How-
and a
stered
racing
se had
ubbins
d been

>s and
nother
as not
») trace

lolmes
‘d Pit-
rds, he
Irving-
i been
k. This
used in

se and
ct that
a stove
ination
ve fur-
he fate
burned
skull of

e place,
en ina
belong-

ollowing

Holmes
Detroit.
to learn
a house
ober
arch
nple
ons, but

again he had app
his mind. Under
he had
feet long,

wide, four feet deep.

nothing in i

dug 4 trench.
three and

INSIDE FACTS FROM POLICE

arently changed

But there was

t. ‘
haa told Mrs. Pitzel:

ed them by locking them in the

trunk, inserting the hose and pip-

ing gas into the trunk.
The news was taken to Holmes in
Moyamensing prison. He did not

jose his composure.

“Tt was a foul murder,” he assert-

Holmes
“Ben heard the authorities were ed.
after him, SO he couldn’t meet uS “you ought to know,” said an
here. He had to leave the country, officer.
and has gone on to Toronto.” “J know nothing whatever about
Geyer followed the trail to Toron- it,” Holmes insisted. “JT was greatly
to. There, Geyer ound ou that surprised to learn that the chil-
the girls had lived at the Albion dren were in Toronto. I believed
Hotel, in charge of 2 porter. Every they were in Europe, in company
morning, Holmes had come to get with Minnie Williams. when I left
them to “take them for @ ride.” Toronto the children were with
On October 25, ne paid the pill and Miss Williams.”
took ‘the two girls away from the Nobody pelieved this story. But
notel. the killing of the three Ppitzel chil-
Geyer showed the notel manager dren led police to believe that
a picture of Holmes, a5 well as pic- others had been murdered by the
same hand. An investigation was

tures of the two girls.

s
them,” the manager

made in Chicago.

RECORDS

Ss accumulated

PAY.
ACCIDENT BENEFITS

For LOSS OF TIME!
Accident Disability Benefits
up to $100

long as 24 months, or
SICKNESS BENEFITS
For Loss of Time due to
Sickness, 4 maximum
Monthly Income of

“yes, that’s
said.
“you don’t know where the went was durin the early da f
7 eee her? ng arly days of | WospITAL EXPENSES
from here: ; the World’s Columbian Exposi- for Sickness oF ‘Accident, in-
“No, I don’t, except that he said tion that Minnie Williams went to colin up io - for hos
they were going pack to the Chicago. She was @ strikingly hand- f PROTECTION! rhe
; ¥,.. Acei-
States é . some girl from Fort worth, Texas. dents happen to 20 persons every minute of every day;
Geyer made his usual check of She liked Chicago and decided to — sickness re when least expec So why take
; : ave all- $ oy
railroad stations. He found that no — stay. She found an apartment in enetion, backed yore old-line all-aroune SERVE. in
peen sold on a house owned by pr. Harry How- any for less than $1 a month. Policy pays for ALL ace}
dents, ALL the common sicknesses, eve for minor In
juries; and disability benefits start from very first day.
a NO MEDICAL c quired!

children’s tickets nad

that day on

leading from Toronto. There, the

trail seemed to end. Mrs. pitzel had hoped to get started on 4 stage
career during. the World’s Fair.

been sent pack to

other search

He finally discovered

at 16 Vincent
eda for a few
stranger.

} Geyer went to t

“Yes,
the man sai
ture of Holm

lence on
they deci

and porrowed a spade
said he wanted to fix a
for some potatoes

vincent Street.

e.
“yes, that’s the fellow,’
“Js there anything I can do

ded that Holmes

vermont to wait
omised to meet

He looked at the

> pe said.
to help

ard Holmes.
She told neighbors that she ha

She was wealthy,
real estate valued
sides valuable securities

the cellar
Geyer succeeded in locating the day.
man who owned the house at 16 nice if you invited you
visit you? She could pe your pri

e. A few days later

find. They searched the house and ped to ch
found an empty trunk and a hose Minnie,” she said. “She is 8
Since there was no evidence of vio be Mrs. Holmes.
the bodies of the girls, “why, I know a
i » the friend said. ‘

naving inherited
000, be-

Mrs. Holmes in

d

Y MAIL at

FE INSURANCE COMPANY 5
ma

mes had rent-
use, Geyer began an- property. 1 THE SERVICE LI
of real estate offices. Dr. Holmes nad agreed to help § 449 Service Life Bldg. Omaha, Nebr.
that a house = her in starting her career and she » kONT aE DAYS. wee GO STION.
Street had been rent- had taken an apartment in his ee tt
days by 2 mysterious puilding. But, instead, he made yr ea a ee
love to City State-—————
his address and Holmes had long since learned * Beneficiary —saacaeaeeeene™ -"
of her wealth. In casual conversa- AIG SR aC eee need —
1 remember the fellow,” tion, he also jearned that she
d when he saw a pic- couldn’t turn over any of the prop- 1SSOUTS
es, “He came over here erty without the signature of ner Saale
i from me. He sister, Nannie, who was 2 school , Otis; $Q-0
place In teacher at Midlothian, Texas. ‘a ‘ 8, Pow-
Py ‘ ders, Charms, Jlerbs.
one 3 catat per set

&
Box.2+ Newark, Mo.

D. SMYTHE CO.,

des-

rr Pea A

wondering. Get the facts!
numbers. Send me your complete *
ersonalized forecast *

with means, seeking
Photos, deseriptions free.

‘She is STANDARD CLUB,

in NUMBERS: Mk!
WE,

you?”
“Yes,” said Geyer. “pq like to onc
search the place.” ceived the letter. She resigned her Da uninests new Dag, Travel Pleasur
With a spade, Geyer went to the job as a teacher and went to i poe pel Home expen EN forecast taken from
cellar. There he ound loose eart cago. your fuli birth date. Formerly’ $5.00 service, All
and began digging. He unearthed, Holmes was an excellent host. 25 Oe AP your date, 4 mptiy and and Zctionary of
first, a bare shoulder and then an The sisters had a good time, visit- 300 Oe OLED. Rati Dost os

arm. There was @ little pody—a ing the World’s Fair and shopping + Pefncinnatt 11, Ohie
girl’s Distasteful as his task was, in the Loop.

Geyer kept digging until he had On December 12, 1893, the Wil-

ther girl liams girls went shopping ‘in a
treet department store

51


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46

CONFID

“yeah, I've heard that before,”
said Hedgepeth.

“In my case, it happens to be
true. And as soon as I get out of
this filthy place,” Holmes confided,
“T have an excellent plan to clean
up some money.”

“yeah?” said Hedgepeth, apa-
thetically interested. ‘What are ya
gonna do—rob a bank?”

“My dear fellow,” Holmes de-
plored, “I’m no common thief. The
plan I have conceived is far sub-
tler than the mere hold-up of a’
pank at the point of a gun.”

“what is this plan?” Hedgepeth
demanded.

“In a word, I expect to collect
ten thousand dollars from @ life
insurance company on a death
claim.”

“You mean murder?”

“Certainly not. {I shall merely
produce a body which will be iden-
tified as the insured, and collect
the money.”

“How?”

“fasily. You know, of course, that
medical students use dead bodies
in the study of anatomy?”

“you mean you're gonna steal a

”

a physician. I can easily gain ac-
cess to a morgue where I’m not—
er—known.”

“Okay. How’'ll ya identify the

“Through a lawyer, of course.
That’s what is pothering me. If

who is not too—er—scrupulous.”

Hedgepeth got up and paced the
cell. He squinted an eye and studied
Holmes speculatively.

“Money talks, even in the jug,”
he said finally.

“Of course,” Holmes agreed read-
fly. oy expect to pay for any. in-
formation you might give me.”

“How much is it worth to you

to find a lawyer like that?”

“aA hundred dollars,” Holmes re-
plied. “Do you know of such a per-
son?”

“Maybe I do and maybe I don’t.
Not for a hundred dollars.”

“well,” said Holmes. “I might
stretch the figure a bit. Would two
hundred interest you?”

“Cash or credit?”

“As a matter of fact, it would
have to be after I had collected the
insurance money. After I have ar-
ranged my bail here, I must go to
Indiana where my—er—business
associate is now confined on some
silly charge. Since he is essential
to my plan, I must arrange his
release.”

“What's his name?” asked the
outlaw.

“Benjamin Pitzel.”

“you're pretty good at arranging
releases, huh?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,”
Holmes admitted.

“Good. I'll tell you the name of

ENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES

the right lawyer on two conditions:
After you collect the dough, you
come back to St. Louis and try to
get me out, And bring $500 of the
insurance money with you.” :
Holmes considered this. He strok-
ed his moustache and paced
thoughtfully around the cell.
“Jt’s a bargain,” he said finally.
“So I give him the name of my
lawyer,” the outlaw said in con-
cluding his story. “and that’s the
last I seen of him. He got out on
pail the next day. I heard by the
grapevine that he collected the in-
surance dough, all right. But he
ain’t been near me to pay or get
me outta the jug.”
St. Louis authorities checked part
of the bandit’s story. The records
showed that Holmes had failed to

charges and had forfeited his bail.

The story was relayed to Phila-
delphia authorities, who informed
the Fidelity and Mutual Life As-
sociation. The insurance ‘company
engaged the Pinkertons to track
down Holmes.

Detective Frank Geyer was as-
signed to the case. The insurance
company’s records indicated that
Mrs. Pitzel lived in Galva, Illinois,
with her parents. Geyer went there,
put Mrs. Pitzel had gone. Her par-
ents said that Holmes had taken
her to meet three of her children.
There had been mention of Cincin-
nati, Detroit and Indianapolis. Mrs.
Pitzel’s parents didn’t know exact-
ly which one of these cities she had
gone to. ; .

The Pinkerton net was spread. A
description of Holmes was sent to
every agency. But there was no
trace of the missing man.

EYER went to Indianapolis,

Cincinnati and Detroit. He
found evidence that Holmes, un-
der various names, had been in all
three places, but had moved on.

Geyer finally had a hunch.
Holmes might return to his home
town to show off his wealth. Acting
on this hunch, Geyer went to the
University of Michigan where
Holmes had taken his medical de-
gree. The records showed that he
was born in Gilmanton, New Hamp-
shire.

At Gilmanton, Geyer ran up
against another stone wall.

There was no record that any-
body named H. H. Holmes had ever
lived there. Nobody by that name
had been born there. In despera~

‘tion, Geyer described his man to

the authorities.

“Say, you must be talking about
Herman Mudgett,” said one of the
officers. “That description fits him
to a T. He’s been gone from home
for quite a while. He just came
back a couple of weeks ago. Guess
he made his fortune while he was
away.”

“Do you know where I can find

thouse
H
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50

, gaged for this

drunk. When he came back home,
he was so upset that he drank
chloroform.

“when I discovered what the
poor fellow had done, I decided to
make it appear an accident so that
his widow would collect the in-
surance.”

Graham made no pretense of
believing this.

“while you're confessing,” he
said, “why not tell us what you did

‘with the Pitzel children?”

“Pye told you all I know,” Holmes
asserted.

iB eve disappearance of the chil-
dren, added to Holmes’ admis-
sion that the body had really been
Pitzel’s, convinced authorities that
Holmes was a murderer. But it was
decided to try to trace the Pitzel
children before pressing further
charges against him.

Detective Frank Geyer was en-
purpose. On June
26, 1895, Geyer began backtracking
over the trail, with the help of in-
formation furnished by Mrs. Pitzel.

He started in St. Louis where he
learned that, on September 28, 1894,
Holmes had persuaded Mrs. Pitzel
to let him take Alice, 14 years old,
Nellie, 13, and Howard, 8, off her
hands.

“There is a kind widow in Coving-
ton, Kentucky, who will care for
them,” he told her. “You need a
rest. Here’s five hundred dollars.
You go home to your parents in
Galva, and take Bessie and the
paby with you.”

“But when are we going to see
Ben?” the poor woman asked.

“Soon,” Holmes promised. “He
has to stay in hiding for a while
until this blows over. But I'll get
in touch with you and let you
know where to meet Ben.”

Mrs. Pitzel did go home. But a
few days afterward, she received
word from Holmes to meet him in
Chicago. From. there had begun the
strangest itinerary Geyer had ever
come across.

With his managerial genius,
Holmes had simultaneously carried
three parties. One consisted of
Mrs. Pitzel, her daughter, Bessie,
and the baby. A second was com-
posed of the three children. “hye
other was one of Holmes’ wives.
(Geyer learned: that Holmes was
married to at least three women
at the same time. And what is
more remarkable, he managed to
live amicably with all of them,
though none knew of the existence
of the others.) Bach party stopped
at the same town and no one group
suspected that the others were
near.

He had told Mrs. Pitzel that they
were going to Detroit where Ben
would meet them. But in Detroit,
Ben did not materialize. But

Holmes had a suave explanation.

Ben had been suspected in Detroit
and gone on to Cincinnati.

Geyer. traced their movements to
Cincinnati, where Holmes had rent-
ed a house on Poplar Street. The
house had one article, that caused
Geyer to shudder. It was 4 large
stove, with a wide opening at the
top. Geyer was certain that Holmes

-had planned to murder the chil-

dren and destroy them with fire.

But something had gone wrong.
He had moved to a hotel and had
registered as “A, B. Cook and chil-.
dren.” Mrs. Pitzel was registered at
another hotel and at still another,
Holmes had registered with his
wife. They were all only a few
blocks apart.

On one occasion, while the chil-
dren were out for a walk, they al-
most came face to face with their
mother. But by a cruel twist of
fate, Holmes saw what was about
to happen and steered Mrs. Pitzel
in another direction just as her
three children turned the corner.

“when are we going to see Ben?”
Mrs. Pitzel asked.

“Very soon,” Holmes assured her.
“He is waiting for us in Indian-
apolis. We're going there tomor-
row.”

In Indianapolis, Geyer learned
that Holmes had registered at Eng-
lish’s Hote] under the name, How-
ard, With him were 4 boy and a
girl—Nellie and Howard—registered
as the Kenyon children. Tracing
further, Geyer found that Alice had
been registered at the Stubbins
Hotel as Miss Howard. She had been
left. there alone for a week.

Then a week later, Holmes and
the two girls registered at another
hotel. But Howard Pitzel was not
with them. Geyer’s efforts to trace
the boy failed.

This convinced him that Holmes
had done away with Howard Pit-
zel, Examining suburban records, he
discovered that a house in Irving-
ton, near Indianapolis, had been
rented to a man named Cook. This
was the name Holmes had used in
Cincinnati.

Geyer searched the house and
found that the chief object that
Holmes had moved in was a stove
with a wide opening. Examination
of the contents of this stove fur-
nished ample evidence of the fate
of Howard Pitzel. We found burned
bones and the teeth and skull of
a small boy.

Prying further about the place.
Geyer found a trunk hidden in a
closet. This contained the belong-
ings of the Pitzel children.

Geyer lost no time in following
the trail. On October 10, Holmes
had taken his parties to Detroit.

The detective was able to learn
that Holmes had rented a house
at 241 E. Forest Avenue on October
15, Geyer made a thorough search
of this place. There was ample
evidence of Holmes’ intentions, but

again
his n
he h:
feet long
wide, four
nothing i)
Holmes
“Ben hea
after him
here. He }
and has g£
Geyer fo
to. There,
the girls |”
Hotel, in c
morning, |
them to ‘
On Octobe:
took ‘the t-
hotel.
Geyer sh
a picture
tures of t}
“Yes, th:
said,
“You don
from here‘
-“No, I dk
they wer
States.”
Geyer m:
railroad sta
children’s t
that day o
leading fro
trail seemec

been sent b

for Holmes,

her in Bost

Convinced
ed another }
other searcl

He fina

at 16 V:

ed for

stranger.

Geyer we:
talked to a:

"Yes, I r
the Man sai
ture of Holm
and borrowe
said he wa:
the cellar f:

Geyer suc
man who o\
Viricent Str:
picture.

“Yes, that’
“Ts there an:
you?”

“Yes,” saic
search the p

With a spi
cellar. There
and began c

first, a bare
arm. There
girl’s. Distasi
Geyer kept
come to the
The Toront
sto take chars
find. They se
found an em; *
Since there w
lence on the
they decided

id

‘ir machine.
and _ hurried
A descrip-:
‘Ss soon over-
er were the
readily ad-

zy. His com-
telling them
zhow. When
» Claremore,
r attempt to
ey had been

wing Walters’
ie authorities
: had been
in Jackson
Missouri, for
tee robbery
ly nineteen,
enced to the
State Peniten-
Jefferson City
m_ of twenty-
. The sentence
commuted to
in the Boon-
matory. He
ved at Boon-
rch 17th, 1927,
ized to escape
served
iths. He
..,-4red in
31, and re-
» Boonville.
y 9th, he was
‘d back to the
nitentiary to
t his original
of twenty-five
Vhile serving
‘e, he was cell-
a former law-
» helped him
writ from the
Court order-
return to the
: Reformafory.
was anxious to
ircerated at
x, because that
ory is more a
school than a
titution, and is
somewhat on
rary system—
ing no walls or
prevent an es-

el Gray, always
‘m_ himself, al-
his ‘duties were
f the grounds,
opportunity o
seteution and,
main guard at
to Kansas City

ts immediately
pital, either for
sd the plan of

1 of a strong.

; body, with a
> the hos-

_ _... his three
1 have to be at
the guard's de-
4 om page 66)

us : a se

ne ere ey = fete aonnapeneenarse

HOUSE of HORROR

By RicHarD HirscH

Notre: Back in 1929 this
_magazine published a brief
‘sketch of these strange
crimes. Since that time new
‘and startling facts have
‘come to light which reveal
it as being one of the out-
standing criminal cases of
the century, The hitherto
unpublished details which
follow make it one of the
most fascinating stories ever
presented to Master Dertec-
TIVE readers. —Ed.

‘i TELL you the place
gives me the
creeps!”

The speaker, rud-
dy-cheeked Patrick Quin-
lan, gazed into his empt
whiskey glass and spun it
with his fingers.

“Nerves,” replied his
companion, Eawerd
Hatch. ‘‘You’re too
a da :

The two were sitting in
a smoke-filled Chicago saloon. The air was a thick blue
haze, and above the roar of conversation came the insistent
banging of a piano,

“I:very time [ go into the cellar,” continued Quinlan,
“T get the’ same feeling. I can’t wait until | get out.”

“Maybe you drink too much,” said Hatch, shoving his
nose into a schooner of beer.

“Ts that so?” retorted Quinlan. His hand trembled as
he reached into his pocket and took out a bunch of keys.
He rattled them on the table. There were thirty-seven. in
all, fastened to a steel ring.

“I’ve got all the keys, but I’ve never seen half the rooms,
though I’m the janitor,” Quinlan went on,

Hatch reached out and touched the metal ring.

“What does he do there?”

“I’ve never been able to find out,” was Quinlan’s answer,

The house that Quinlan was talking about was a brick
building at 701 Sixty-third Street. It had been built) just
before the Chicago World’s Fair, supposedly to accom-
modate boarders, and the owner, Herman W. Mudgett, had
hired Quinlan as a janitor.

From the street, the building, shaped like a castle, looked
ugly. The original plan called for four stories, but shortly
after the fourth had been started, Mudgett demanded that

work cease as he could wait no longer to take possession..

Hence the extra half floor, boarded up and_ unfinished,
topped the structure. Except for this oddity, it seemed as
drab and ordinary as a host of neighboring buildings which
had mushroomed into being at the same time. A druggist
and a grocer rented store space on the Sixty-third Street

side, and at the time of Quinlan’s employment there were '

no other tenants. Mudgett kept a few rooms reserved for
his own use, and had an office on the third floor. Of the
scores who daily passed in its shadow, none had an inkling
of its real purpose. If they had had. an outraged citizenry
would have burned it to the ground.

For Herman Webster Mudgett was no ordinary man, and
the house on Sixty-third Street was for him the culmina-
tion of a carefully schemed plan. ‘he fact that it had no
tenants worried iin not in the least. It had never been
built with that in mind. Instead, Mudgett looked upon it
as a factory, especially adapted to his trade.

The House of Horror in Chicago, where a sinister vampire
carried on his ghoulish activities

To understand this
_ man’s astounding career,
it is first of all necessar
to realize that he was all
mind and no heart. Early
in his life he had stumbled
upon an casy way of
making money, and had
turned. his: brain to per-
fecting his technique. Hu-
man life, to him, was
worthless, except as_ it
! might be made to yield:a
a profit.
For behind the suave
~ and gentle manner of the
meticulous man, there
‘lurked the icy image of

a scientist, skilled in the
art of murder. Cultured
...and_ sensitive, there was

+ nothing coarse about this

vampire. « }lis hands were

delicate and tapering, like

a'musician’s. Dressed im-

maculately in black, he

Bee carried an indefinable air
of mystery about him and it was years before his real rdle
was discovered,

Hlis voice was soft. almost to a whisper, and his refined
appearance instilled confidence. Only his fleshy lips, frank
in their confession of sensuality, gave a clue to his real .
nature.

As a medical student at Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mudgett
had discovered his career. Working in’ the laboratory
he came upon a cadaver which bore a marked resemblance
to a fellow-student. The latter was not doing particularly
well in his studies, and Mudgett approached him with a
plan whereby they both would profit. The young man was
persuaded to take out a life insurance policy for one thou-
sand dollars with Mudgett as beneficiary. One night the
corpse was placed in the student’s bed. In those days in-
surance companies were run on a haphazard basis, and
very little investigation was made. The claim was paid
seal Mudgett shared the proceeds with the student, who
by this time was living under an assumed name in another
city.

The ease with. which the plan had worked, tempted
Mudgett to repeat. But it was difficult to find a cadaver
that resembled a given person. With his knowledge of
drugs and anatomy, Mudgett decided that he would put
his talents to good use. .Murder for profit became the key-
stone of his career. He was ruthless and grasping, and the
very boldness of his scheme spelled success from the start.
He preyed upon the lone and friendless; people about whom
few questions would be asked.

Even the man who penetrated ,,into the inner secrets of
the house on Sixty-third Street was never more than’ mo-
mentarily suspicious. One day, Chicago newspapers carried
in the Help Wanted columns an advertisement for an articu-
lator of skeletons. M. C. Chappel answered it and was
hired by Mudgett.

The dapper littlke man with a black mustache met
Chappel at the door, and led him into the dimly lit hall.

“Don't be surprised at anything you see, Mr. Chappel,”
he cautioned. When they came to the end of the corridor
a blank wall stared them in the face. Mudgett reached
down and ran his slender fingers along the wainscoting.
Soundlessly, a portion of the wall (Continued on page 67)

The astounding story of Chicago’s Murder Castle, and the

=

weird horrors perpetrated) within its crimson-stained walls

Wager

49

rhoca (FFF

oughly before the advertiser had lowered
his eyes one day and said: “You will do;
come with me.’

With springy tread Holmes had led the
way through a dark, musty hallway on
the first floor and when he came to the
end of this passage he struck a match and
pressed his hand against the wainscoting
of a wall that seemingly blocked further
progress. Then the lower part of the wall
had begun to move inward, whereupon
Holmes had lec! Chappell down a flight
of stairs into a pitch-black cellar, the
secret panel automatically closing tehind
them.

Holmes had lit several lamps down
there and in the dancing yellow glare the
man who had answered the advertisement
saw on a slab the body of a beautiful
young girl who had a cleft in her chin.
“Heart failure.’ Holmes had ‘said. “She
was a beauty, wasn’t she?”

Chappell had betrayed his inner feeling
of apprehension at his surroundings and
his employer had been quick to notice
this. “You needn’t be nervous,” he had
said. “We can hardly do this sort of work
in a show window, now can we?” He had
turned on that icy smile of his, displaying
his large yellow teeth, and despite the
soundness of his remark, Chappell: ‘had
found himself in the grip of a new appre-
hension. He hac inquired where Holmes
had obtained the body and if he had an
order for the skeleton. “Everything is in
good order,” had come the quick reply.
“Hahnemann wants the job done, And
now what will your fee be?”

@ CHAPPELL! HAD mentioned his price,

whereupon IJolmes had paid it in ad-
vance, and inasmuch as the articulator
had been hard pressed for funds at the
moment actual possession of the cash had
caused him to shake off his apprehension,
and he went to work. Holmes had stood
by, interested. Then he had suddenly
darted off into the shadows at the far end
of the basement, reappeared with a kit of
surgical instruments. “Here,” he had re-
marked, “let me assist you.”

The first body on which he had worked
had been the only one whose features had

Continued from page 27—as you can see.”

Which no doubt it is to a radio expert,
but I did some puzzling over it. Also I
was told, but not by the Boston officials,
that it was something of a miracle.

Before returning to Headquarters, we
swung around to Station 8 on the 'water-
front where we met Captain Lawrence
H. Dunn in charge of the police boats and
also harbor master. All four boats are
connected by shore with radio.. Dunn
called the Michuel H. Crowley on duty
below Deer Island and talked with the
commanding officer as easily as though
on land.

The police boats play a very important
part in saving life and preserving order.
During the winter of 1940-1941 when five
youngsters marooned on ice cakes drifted
out to sea, the police boats formed the
sole communication link, tying in with the
radio cars on land, supplemented by air-
planes that sent messages back to the air-
port where they were relayed by tele-
phone to the Turret and re-broadcast.

@ IT IS at night that the true protection of

.Tadio becomes apparent. Darkness
hangs heavy in lonely and sequestered
sections. In alleys and unfrequented
streets, the hold-up man and the sex per-
vert lie in wait. Within the city are many
unprotected women; others who are aged

110

been recognizable, the articulator in-
formed the Pinkertons, There bad been
several others—women in every instance
—but their faces had been marred by
acid.

Chappell was shown a photograph of
Amelia Cigrand, the Nebraska girl. With-
out hesitation he identified it as that of
the first person whose body he had seen
in the tomblike basement.

When the Pinkertons and the police
went again to the 63rd Street house they
had secret passages in mind. Chappell
took them through the movable wall at
the end of the first floor hallway. The dis-
secting table was still in the cellar. The
floor was of dirt and now it was illumi-
nated by torches. The detectives removed
clueless debris and at length one of them,
with a pick, struck something hollow and
clanking. This proved to be a piece of.

sheet iron about four feet square. When |

it was lifted a dark cavern yawned below.
A short flight of stairs led from this open-
ing into a sub-cellar. Here were several
beds of quicklime.

Up on the third floor, where Holmes
was known to have maintained his “real
estate office,” the detectives walked into
a windowless bathroom, using candles to
light their way. One investigator noticed
that a draft he could not account for was
sucking the candle flame toward the
bathtub. He found another secret panel
in the wall alongside of the tub. This led
down to another part of the basement.
The deduction was that if a murder were
committed on the third floor the body
could be taken to the basement by way
of this secret passage, obviating the neces-
sity of carrying it through the main part
of the house where it might be seen.

Holmes’ “office” proved to be heavily
lined with asbestos and other sound-
muffiing materials. In the light of the
known facts, it was simple to deduce why
this had been done. This room had prob-
ably been where Amelia Cigrand and
other trusting souls lured on by the Blue-
beard had met their doom. A secret com-
partment led through to still another
room. The only thing in this place was a
huge furnace—rather a singular object

Boston’s Crime Trap

and infirm. To them radio means con-
stant protection, as any portion of a given
sector patrolled by a radio car can be
reached in a minute and a half.

Sitting in with Dispatcher Michael
Powers, I watched the night life of the
city stretch and become awakened,
Powers has sat at his post for seven years.
Born and brought up in Boston, working
as messenger and in other jobs where an
intimate knowledge of the city is essential,
he knows it as a book and that-knowlege
is now paying dividends in protecting life
and property. More than once he has

In Case of Trouble
When Reporting to Police
REMEMBER TO GIVE:

Number of Men Involved.
Appearance.

Direction Headed when Last Seen.
Number of Car—Color—Make.

AND STATE WHETHER
MEN ARE ARMED.

to be locsied on an upper floor, Still
another secret passageway from the office
led to a steel vault, six feet high. There
was dust on the floor of this vault which
indicated that something heavy, probably
a human form, had been dragged out of it.

One of the Bluebeard 's methods seemed
obvious. He would lure a victim to that
.sound-proof room on the third floor. send
her into the vault on a pretext, then close
the door and permit her to suffocate in
that death trap of steel and asbestos. Then,
later he would take the body through the
secret passage to the furnace in the room
adjoining. The quicklime pits in the sub-
cellar would have destroyed the remains.

Twenty missing persons were traced to
the Bluebeard of 63rd Street. He had
murdered for two different motives—for
profit or to remove an obstacle. The Pite-
zel children had been obstacles. Holmes
had profited from the others, either by
selling the skeletons or mulcting the vic-
tims of their worldly possessions, or both.

M@ DESPITE HIS cunning plans, not all of

the evidence of Holmes’ evil deeds was
consumed by the quicklime pits or by the
giant furnace. Little accidents had hap-
pened—ones that would eventually
have spelled execution for him had they
not already had sufficient evidence against
him in the Quaker City. In the sub-cellar,
part of a gold watch had withstood part
of the quicklime which, because of the
infiltration of foreign substances, had be-
come ineffectual. The timepiece was
identified as having been the property of
Mrs. Conner, Teeth, the metal parts of
shoes, and remnants of jewelry disclosed
the fate of the Williams sisters of Fort
Worth. There were bones virtually all
over the structure, which proved to be a

’ veritable labyrinth of secret rooms and

passageways. One small skeleton was
found, almost intact. This the investiga-
tors took to be that of Mrs. Conner's baby.

And now the riddle of the twenty miss-
ing was cleared up, and the man who in
many respects was the most infamous
Bluebeard in all history died in 1896, for
the murder of Benjamin Pitezel, on the
gallows in historic Moyamensing Prison.

brought swift retribution to lawbreakers.
Without stirring from his seat, he can set
up a radio cordon to block off any section
of the city.

“Takes eight cars to tie up South Bos-
ton,” he said as his hands moved rapidly
over the radio panels. Bridge-heads and
interception posts glowed suddenly on the
animated city map. “Break through that
if you can,” he challenged in his quict
voice.

Lieutenant Herbert E. Schultz, in
charge for the first half of the night,
stopped by the desk as we sat talking. He
admitted that for a Friday it was very
quiet. But it should begin to be busy by
eleven o’clock, he promised.

The light on the Turret flashed.

A street fight was in progress off Dor-
chester Avenue and a car was sent down
to break it up.

The Turret lamp flashed again. A man
on duty answered and turned to Powers.
“Drug store proprietor on Huntington
Avenue,” he reported. “Addict endeavor-
ing to get dope on a forged prescription.
He says he will try and hold him until
help comes.”

Mike spoke into the monophone. Out of
the air came answers from that sector.
Flipping a switch, he contacted the Bu-
reau of Criminal Investigation. Two min-
utes later a car called in.

TRUE DETECTIVE

“Th
We an
“Lo:
Powe;
anoth:
toa k
lums
woma:
The
toward
pen. A
been a
cides j:
Streets
Patro]
Strikes
Back
there \
from ar
ter Squ
pital.
' “Ther
hall ot
“Every |
| I hearc
| It was
ceived f,
weeks x
on the
Officers .\
of Statio
They f
early twe:
otherwise
Steps of «
| A young }
from the .
the lobby
Over her 1
she pushec
buttons to
him on the

@ THE OF)
Serted st

one of the:
“Too dat
answered. °
six feet tall
“Too bad
Adair Statec
have been |,
“You'll kn.
the woman
Struggle I hj
with my con
the powder j;
You'll recog:

Moonglo.”

Two minut:
pital, the offic
six-foot negr
Coat and a bl],
him under ;
quarters, he ¢
girl before. Ss}
Powder. Othe
The 26-year-o)
name of Georg,
innocent. “It \
like me,” he cl;
Mike Powers

——

TR
Terror stalked
had swept the
weird events?

West, the sort
And that’s the

It's one
of TRU

Hs

NOVEMBER, 1941

my life
“he said,
‘ials

x his alibi.
ive Women
the court-
uary 25th,
wenty-four
arly with

ce—
knees bent
with their
ighters, in

had saved
‘tric chair.
to. prison
wood’s at-
v trial, but
im” must
hind grim

. °
o distract

He re-
her for a
busy with
soon left
for ciga-

rsonal be-
\ntonio—a
is and got
“nas Jack
» quiet his
on of him-
{ changed
of people
no. telling
recognize
love with
1 been.
»bs; paint-
. as enter-
a popu-
tht he was
iders: who
p. These
The Cov-
ecognized,

ng; saved
ig winter,
She knew

aie

December, 1936

him only as Jack Dillon, Nothing hap-
om to mar their life together. He was
eginning to forget he was a fugitive
from justice; forget his picture in MASTER
Derective had been seen by thousands of
readers, and planned for the future.

And then it happened. A_ reader in
Wichita, Kansas, whose name is withheld
for his protection, saw the picture of Dan-
iel Walters, alias Jack Volner, in the
July, 1935, Line-up of Master DETECTIVE.
He had known him years before. It was
not until June, 1936, that he saw Walters,
then known as Jack Dillon, in Dallas.
He immediately notified the Line-Up Edi-
tor, who passed the tip on quickly to
Sheriff Bradley, of Boonville, who had
first sent Walters’ photograph_to MasTER
Detective months before. The Sheriff,
accompanied by Colonel Gray of the re-
formatory, left at once for Dallas.

Inasmuch as Sheriff Bradley and Col-
onel Gray were on their way to California
to return another prisoner, they left Wal-
ters’ capture to the Federal men. Acting
upon the information given by the Mas-
tek Detective reader, the G-Men made a
thorough canvass of all the sign shops in
Dallas. They were forced to use extreme
caution, in order that their quarry would
not become suspicious and give them the
slip. After days of diligent searching,
Walters was finally located in a shop in
the southeastern part of Dallas,

On August 17th, 1936, while Walters was

Master Detective

dining in a café, the G-Men approached
him. They showed him the Line-Up pic-
ture. He denied that he was Walters;
denied that he had ever been in Missouri.
Then one of the agents bared the fugitive’s
right arm. A tattoo mark was disclosed,
which tallied with the description of Dan-
iel Walters, escaped kidnapper. A check
on his finger-prints completed the identifi-
cation.

Sheriff Bradley and Colonel Gray, upon
their return from California, took Wal-
ters into their custody and returned him
to Boonville on August 23rd, 1936, where
he is now awaiting trial.

Our $100 reward was paid to the reader,
with our congratulations on this success-
ful capture of a man who had effected
one of the most daring escapes ever made
from a Missouri prison.

Walters’ companions on that memorable
taxi ride on the night of March [4th,
1935, had already been sentenced to the
Missouri. Reformatory, each — receiving
thirty years.

Daniel Walters, at twenty-nine, | can
spend. the long dreary days and nights
in prison, looking back over the events
in his short life, and ask himself, was it
worth it? Had it not been for his Line-
Up picture, he might yet be living in false
security, planning new crimes, always in
the belief that he could “get away with
it.’ No one can—in the long run—siys
the record of crime.

House of Horror
(Continued from page 49)

slid back, and the air that came out
of the dark passage was damp and cold.

Down a narrow. stairway they went
until they came to a_ cellar corridor,
Mudgett led the way to a room, lit by
the flicker of candles. On a dissecting
table was the nude body of a woman.
Shadows flitted over a face from which
strips of skin had been peeled. ‘The fea-
tures were unrecognizable.

“She met with an accident,” Mudgett
reassured Chappel. “But the skeleton is
in good condition, as you will find.”

“Have you got. the order?” — asked

Chappel. ‘ :
Mudgett extracted a paper from. his
wallet. Tt was a purchase order from

the Hahnemann Medical School, request-
ing one skeleton,

“you must not mind the appearance
of my. house,” Mudgett added. “One
can't do this sort of business in a show
window.” . :

“No, 1 guess not,” said Chappel.

uickly he unpacked his bag and, scalpel
in hand, approached. the cadaver, An
expert articulator of skeletons, it was
all a matter of business to him, With
‘1 swift, sure movement he slit the. body
along the mid-line.

Mudgett watched him as he worked.

“Cut away to the left now,” he sug-
gested. “It’s much easier.” ;

Chappel looked askance at this strange
little man who had hired him.

“l know a little about anatomy,” said
Mudgett apologetically. “I spent two
years in medical school.”

As Chappel continued at. his task, Mud-
gett. lit. a cigar and walked about the
room.

BACH day for a week, Chappel worked
in the cellar. Ile cut away the flesh
from the bones, boiled and_ bleached
them, and skilfully articulated the skele-
tal framework. When the work was. fin-
ished, the skeleton, was duly installed in
the anatomy class at [lahnemann Medi-
cal School.

“Pil get in touch with you when_I have
another job,” said Mudgett to Chappel.
“You do nice work.”

And Chappel, little realizing the part
that he had played in a daring scheme,
went on his way.

For, some two months before this oc-
currence, there had come to Chicago, a
girl in her twenties, Amelia Cigrand, who
sought employment as _a_ stenographer.
She had with her some few hundred dol-
lars in savings, and for a while she wrote
to her parents unfailingly. Tler letters
began to hint that a man was becoming
interested in her, and might give her em-
ployment, Then) suddenly her letters
sons Iler parents, fearing that she
had been ensnared in a relationship. of
ae she was ashamed, notified the po-
ice.

The authorities searched for the girl,
but failed to pick up her trail. Chicago
was booming, thousands of people were
pouring in from all over the country, and
in such an unstable population it was
dificult to locate anyone that wanted to
remain unnoticed. So nothing came of
the investigation.

No one thought of looking for what
was left of Amelia Cigrand at the anat-
omy class at Hahnemann.

When things quieted down, Mudgett,
the vampire who for years had existed
on the lives of others, planned his next
move, It was a letter to Mrs. Julia
Connor of Davenport, Iowa. He had met
her some time before, and had been in-
trigued by her fresh beauty. Having
learned that she was separated from her
husband, he determined that she should
visit him in Chicago. He urged her to
bring her money and open a_ boarding
house, i :

“There is no reason in the world,” he
wrote, “why you should waste away in
a dreary life. Here you will have every-
thing and I will help you to success.”

The vampire’s eyes seemed clouded in
thought as he licked the envelope and
scaled the letter.

67

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Hardly a week passed before the letter
received its answer. Mrs, Connor herself
came to Chicago with her baby daughter.

“Tow nice of you to come,” murmured
Mudgett, as he greeted her at the door.

Mrs. Connor's laugh was a ripple of
music.

“TL told no one,” she said.

As she swept by him, the faint scent
of her perfumed body was intoxicating.

With gracious hospitality, Mudgett of-
fered to arrange for everything. He pro-
vided a room for the woman and child,
and a safe place for the two thousand
dollars savings that Mrs. Connor had
brought. Ele was kind and considerate.
and the woman warmed to him. Within
the week she had become his mistress.

When the first flame of eager passion
was quenched by habit, Mudgett turned
his thoughts to business. He sent his
surgical instruments out to be ground.

One night he sat at his desk in his
third floor office, going over some figures
in a ledger. He always kept up a pre-
tense of being a property: owner.

“1 forgot the journal,” he remarked
casually to Mrs. Connor who sat near
by, knitting. “Will you step to the vault
and get it for me?”

”

Tue woraan put down her needles, and
walked across the room,

Built into the wall was a steel door
as high as a man. It had no combination
lock, but merely a bolt handle. Behind
it was a second steel door which opened
into a chamber lined with shelves. There
was just space enough inside for a per-
son to turn around, ‘The walls were
thickly lined with asbestos.

Mudgett heard a rustle of silk as Mrs.
Connor went to the vault. The blue
vein in his temple throbbed as he heard
the click of the turning bolt. With a
quick jump, he sprang to the side of the
room,

“Where .. . 2?” began the woman.
Whatever she said afterward was lost as
the door clanged shut. The vampire
closed the outer door and_ returned to
his desk. For a moment he sat there,
breathing deeply.

The room was silent as a tomb. Thick
walls of asbestos and steel muffled the
terrors of the vault.

It was late in the evening when the
vampire stole to the bedroom of Mrs.
Connor’s sleeping child. When he had
smothered it, he went down a secret pas-
sage to the cellar, and from there to a
sub-cellar. Here, quicklime pits had been
built to effectively dispose of the product
of the murder -factory. The writhing col-
lection of corroding flesh soon received
its new victim.

In a room on the third floor was an-
other important item in Mudgett’s dia-
bolical set-up. It was a stove, eight feet
high and six feet deep. Specially con-
structed, it had a compartment which
could) be heated up to 2400 degrees
Fahrenheit. To it, Mudgett consigned
the clothes and possessions of Mrs, Con-
nor and her daughter. By morning the
house was bare, and Janitor Quinlan was
informed that the lady and her daughter
had taken lodgings elsewhere. :

“I’m getting the creeps again,” Quinlan
told his companion, Hatch, as they sat
in the saloon the following night, “It’s
getting so that I can feel my hair turn-
ing gray.” .

Ilad he known what was taking place
at the house in his absence, he never
would have returned. For, after dark,
the vampire opened the vault. He caught
Mrs. Connor’s lifeless body as it fell for-
ward, He carried it to a dumb-waiter
shaft which led directly to the basement
dissecting room. Quickly a noose was

thrown under the armpits of the dead
woman, and Mudgett paid out the rope.
When it slackened, he let it rattle down
the shaft and then he proceeded to the
basement.

The body was placed on the table, and
Mudgett rolled up his sleeves. When his
knives had ceased flashing, the stain in
the center of the table had deepened and
the lancet-like nicks in the wood had in-
creased. A neat row of pails held what
was left of Mrs. Connor, and the contents
soon found their way to the quicklime
pits.

Mudgett wondered how well he had
covered his tracks, so, late in October he
wrote a‘letter to Mrs. Connor’s parents.
_ “I haven’t heard from Julia since. writ-
ing to her and I am wondering if you
could tell me where she is at the present
time, as_I have word of an_ excellent
opportunity in a business matter.”

Ihe reply came on November Ist.
_ “We do not know if she is dead or
alive. Your letter made us very un-
happy. If you should hear anything of
her, please let us know and relieve the
present unhappiness of an old father and
mother.”

When he read the letter, Mudgett knew
that nothing was suspected.

But he was taking no chances.

“Tm going away for a while,” he told
Patrick = Quinlan, “Keep everything
locked up until | come back.”

While he was gone, Mudgett kept his
eyes open for his next guest. He found
her in the person of a vivacious girl
named Minnie Williams. Tle met her in
Detroit, and while engaged in’ a little
swindling scheme there, hired her as a
stenographer. The main § attraction, of
course, was the fact that the girl and
her sister, Anna, were heirs to $60,000
in real estate in Fort Worth, ‘Texas.
She returned with him to Chicago, and
before long Mudgett had promised to
marry her. Anna Williams came north to
be bridesmaid.

The Fort Worth property preyed on
Mudgett’s mind, and finally he schemed
the quickest and safest way to squeeze
money out of it. The girls were in-
duced to turn over control to him on
his assurance that he would double its
value. Then, for the first time in his
long career, Mudgett sought an accom-
plice. He needed someone to go to Texas
and mortgage the property to the hilt.

HE knew that, an acquaintance, a_tool-
maker and inventor named Benjamin
F, Pitezel, was in drastic need of funds.
Mudgett decided to use the tall, spare
man, who had the eyes of a dreamer. Ie
prevailed upon him to attend to the
matter.

“Your name will be Benton T. Lyman,”
he informed the toolmaker.

Pitezel protested. The deal smacked of
dishonesty.

“Nonsense,” Mudgett reassured him.
“Tust a matter of business.” He .knew
that Pitezel, hard-pressed to support his
family of five children, did not have the
heart to turn down the chance.

Within two weeks Pitezel returned from
his mission. Tle had succeeded in raising
twenty thousand dollars on the land.

“Stay with me,” said Mudgett. “You'll
be rich yet.”

For the first time in years, Pitezel saw
the specter of worry and want. disap-
pear. Even Mrs, Pitezel agreed that Mr.
Mudgett was a wonderful man,

While the vampire went about his
daily routine, as cordial and gallant as
ever, he was planning what he considered
his master stroke.

Incorporation papers were drawn up
which transferred ownership of the IHlor-

December, 1936

ror Tlouse to t!
yany. — Insurance
pars was then ta

One night P
frem the saloor
hour. [le saw t
shimmering acro
the house on $
bling to the co:
alarm.

When the fir
were still confin:
were quickly ex
had been defeat
for the thick li:
made the secret
also kept the fl

The fire prot
into the incor
Campbell-Y ates
that the officers
S. Campbell, H.
and M. R. Wil
names they fou
but M. R. W:
Mudgett’s pre!
Owens Was a
Holmes Was n
for Mudgett |!

“A matter «
sisted, as the p
formed a corps
terests.”

Aside from.
tion was a pa
find nothing st
gett was rel
Sixtv-third Stre
infamous work

Mudgett did
ness of the ps
investigation
than hanging.
Chicago as. so:
there was) the
sisters, Who by
his house.

NE mornin
the third-t
curled,

“Why note”

All he had,
desk and wati
answer his sun
ter dav and
in the huge st
came to the tr
ing.

“Tm sorry |
came back ft
wonderful day

“Yes,” murn
with a pen.
to «alo. Wills
vault pleaser”

His face wi

Any one
ing and acc:
of using th:

The pub
reputable |
piracy. W
of such pla;
the guilty |


i

n a whirlwind honeymoon that embraced most

es in the secretaries, though he never explained why he needed one _ bride started 0

coast to secretary, let alone three. of the West.

d the fate And at last love-blinded Minnie Williams must have He was caught ina police raid on a St. Louis bawdy house
ish letters realized the bitter truth. These women—and the many others and, mainly- because he got rough with one of the raiding
as pitiable who came and went at all hours—were not secretaries. They officers, he found himself lodged in jail. And it was in the St.
che seemed were his mistresses, his pawns, held in abject slavery, by the Louis jail that he met the train robber, Marion Hedgepeth.

There he and Hedgepeth cooked up the plot to defraud the

. - ‘uncanny power Holmes had over women.

wt, by his The discovery that the man who had swept her off her Fidelity Insurance Association of $10,000.

ionster_In- feet, taken. her property and promised her marriage, was in His old friend, Benjamin Pitzell, was in jail in Terre Haute,

rat Holmes | reality a profligate sensualist who played with women as with Indiana, for passing a bad check; and he wanted Pitzell to

ctims. The - toys, must have been appalling to the girl from Texas. No. act.the part of the insured dead man—a role, as it later de-

| an under- one knew what quarrel ensued, but the Chicago police who veloped, that was altogether too real. So Dr. Holmes went to

Dr. Holmes ‘were trying to trace the missing women could well imagine Terre Haute, bailed Pitzell out of jail and fled with him to

its fury. ; the East, accompanied by his bride.

en, was as It was soon after this that Minnie and Nannie disappeared. In New York and Philadelphia the insurance fraud was

10,000 insurance check

had left her husband and taken her small brought to a successful end, and the $

was given to Mrs. Pitzell, who promptly endorsed it over to
Dr. Holmes:

All this and more was gradually unearthed by Detective
Geyer, aided by local police and operatives of the Pinkerton
Detective Agency, which had been retained by the insurance

Mrs. Conner, who
daughter Pearl to live with Holmes, likewise vanished—as

a nn ee

4
| company to get to the bottom of the mess.
; Georgia Yoke, Dr. Holmes’ bigamous third wife, had escaped
the hideous fate that befell other women who met him. More,
is insurance. she not only, escaped with her life—she achieved her ambition
thers? Detec- to go on the stage. Exonerated of any complicity in the in-
:d Holmes kill 9 surance plot, she was now appearing at Hammerstein’s Music
gross sadistic | Hall in New York, and cashing in handsomely on the pub-
rloat in blood? | licity given her as the bride of the man whose name was on
covered, in the; every tongue. ;
Dr. Holmes was still held in the Philadelphia jail, charged

Worth, Texas.
y of Elocution
- Orleans, then
Minnie at the
y-five, and was
“as. 4
shiefly was the
of Fort Worth
glowing stories ©
ed, and induced
Lyman. Holmes
2 site. ;
sscriptions, SOON ;
unin Pitzell, who
helped promote!
yn-haired gentle-
sr. Holmes. ‘She |

with murder. Not the murder of the three Pitzell children,
but the murder of their father, Benjamin Pitzell; for Detec-
tive Geyer and the Pinkerton men had established, by strong
circumstantial evidence, that Holmes hadn’t substituted a
corpse for Pitzell’s body. He had murdered Pitzell and planted
Pitzell’s own body in the office at 1316 Callowhill Street.

The Pinkerton men and Detective Geyer—aided by Inspec-
tor Joe Gary, formerly of the Philadelphia police and now
employed in the investigation department of the Fidelity
Mutual—dug up still more startling secrets concerning Dr.
Holmes. :

They learned that Dr. Holmes’ real name was Herman
Webster Mudgett ; and the manner in which he came by his
present name wis highly sensational and typical of the man.

As Dr. Mudgett—there was nothing phony about that “Dr.,”
for he had a medical degree—he opened an office on St.
Nicholas Avenue, New York, and had his name lettered on

ater accompanied

, : HOWARD PITZELL'S body was found stuffed in the chim- a6“ ‘ ' eC

end SS door: "Herman Welter Suge cine a
: known victim of Dr. Holmes. But there were many more. --- ‘ , : eficiarys name and
: ‘ * address were scrolled on the insurance policy: “Harry H.

Minnie Williams, . Holmes, Chicago.”

\y married a Miss did the daughter. Emily Van Tassel, who had lived with Dr. Mudgett was a tall, distinguished-looking gentleman

her mother at 641 North Robey Street before she entered the with a Vandyke beard and jet-black hair, and he wore thick-
Holmes menage, also dropped from sight. And alluring — lensed spectacles that magnified his eyes. Before long he told
Emaline Cigrand, who had once left Dr. Holmes because her a brother physician, Dr. Goldman, that he .was suffering from
sweetheart, Robert Phelps, thought Holmes was too attentive acute diabetes and was preparing to give up his practice.

to her, had: later joined Holmes and was fever seen again. A few weeks later Dr. Mudgett was found dead in his office.
That is, a body was found in his office that appeared to be

Her parents thought she had eloped with Phelps.
< Dr: Mudgett’s—Vandyke beard, jet-black hair, thick eye-

\Working ceaselessly on a case that already had the glasses, all seemed to identify the body as his.
\ The $10,000 insurance was promptly paid to Harry H.

Miss Belknap of |
re still living and
thing like bigamy

‘ct of marrying the
European honey-
- run smoothly’ for

entire nation wondering, the Chicago police found that
after Holmes closed up his “castle” late in December, 1893, Holmes in Chicago.

he went to Denver, Colorado. There he met Georgia Anna Thus Dr. Mudgett gracefully made his exit and Dr. Holmes
Yoke, a beautiful young blonde with seductive blue eyes, who appeared. Dr. Holmes was a clean-shaven man with light
had come from Franklin, Indiana, with $3000 in her purse brown hair—the black dye having been washed from it—and
and an overwhelming desire to be an actress. es he wore no glasses, though later he grew a magnificent

“Dr. Holmes, intrigued by her beauty no less than by her mustache, beautifully waxed and curled.

cash, at once marked her for his own. His tempestuous court- The detectives, delving deeper ‘in his life, found he had
ship ended in a speedy marriage, and he and his bigamous committed still another insurance (Continued on page 54)

were actually his love captives, her days were numbered...

5 too much mystery
hat she could never

ien. They came and 4
on of manikins.

-unette with melting
nother brunette, and ]
red girl just turned '
1 to be Dr. Holmes?’

e "
acretaries |

39


supposed the youngster had been sent to some reform school.

But Geyer had a different opinion on that.

Back to Indianapolis now went Detective Geyer, and to the
suburban town of Irvington.

He looked up the owner of the house that Holmes had
rented, learned that the last tenants had moved and it was
now vacant again, then showed his credentials and explained
his mission. Finally, with the door key in his pocket, he
started for the house alone. At a hardware store on Irving-
ton’s main street he stopped to buy a spade and a kerosene
lantern. The proprietor of the store, Albert Schiffling, waited
on him. _

Geyer, paying for his purchases, said: “Do you happen to
remember a man with three children—two little girls and a
boy—who once lived in this neighborhood ?”

“You mean Dr. Horner. Yes, I remember him very well.
He was in here once or twice.”

“You say he. was a doctor?” ’

“Well, I suppose he was a doctor,” Schiffling replied. “He
came in with a kit of surgical instruments and had me sharpen
them.”

Even the stolid Geyer could hardly repress a shudder at
that. “Did he by any chance buy a spade from you ?” he asked
grimly.

The hardware man shook his head. “Not that I recall,” he
said, “but I remember he bought a stove.”

“What sort of stove?”

“As I recall, it was just an ordinary pot-bellied stove, not
very big. The sort of stove you’d use to heat a small room.”

Detective Geyer tucked his lantern and spade under his
arm and went out, musing on what Schiffling had told him.
Night had fallen when he reached the house—a warm night
in mid-July—and the house, like the street, was dark and
deserted. He unlocked the door and went inside.

He lit the lantern and roamed through the rooms, but saw
no stove, only two open fireplaces. Nor could he find any
stovepipe hole in the chimney, or even any place where a
stove might have been used.

He descended into the cellar. There was no stove here either,
but near the base of the brick chimney he found a round hole
that evidently had been used for a stovepipe.

Guided by the flickering flame of his lantern, the detective
searched through the rubbish that littered the floor. He found
no trace of what he was seeking, so he hung the lantern on
a nail, took off his black. coat and unbuckled his shirtcuffs,
then set to work with the spade.

For the better part of that night, with the lantern casting
grotesque shadows on the cellar walls, Detective Geyer spaded
up the dirt floor, Still he found nothing. Toward dawn,
sorely puzzled, he gave it up and went to his hotel.

He was back again next day, however—though not to do
any spading. Instead, he stopped at Schiffling’s hardware
store and bought a hammer and a steel chisel. He was still
thinking of what Schiffling had said last night about “Dr.
Horner’s” stove and the surgical instruments. And he thought
he saw now what probably had happened in the dark cellar.

Returning to the house, he walked through the sideyard to
the rear. There in a heap of rubbish, he found a small pot-
bellied stove, its iron and nickel rusted from the weather.

He went back to the cellar and with his hammer and chisel
he started to work on the hole in the chimney. When he had
loosened and removed three of the bricks above’ the hole he
found—what he expected to find: The bleached bones of a
little boy. : : ;

‘They were all that remained of Howard. Pitzell.

The news of Detective Geyer’s second horrifying discovery
sent another wave of anger through the nation. But the world
had only begun to learn the horrors of Dr. Holmes.

His method of disposing of the third child—the dismember-
ing of the body with the surgical instruments, the burning of

When Minnie Williams. learned that Holmes’ “secretaries

38

the flesh in the cellar stove, the hiding of the bones in the ~
chimney—was repeated in the newspapers from coast to
coast, And the grief of the mother when she learned the fate
of her children—especially when she read their childish letters
to her, found unmailed in Dr. Holmes’ luggage—was pitiable
in the extreme. Carrie Pitzell blamed herself, and she seemed
suddenly aged by ten years.

But there was worse to come. Detective Geyer, by his
tireless sleuthing, had revealed Dr. Holmes as a monster in-
carnate.’ Now detectives in every American city that Holmes
had visited, were seeking the bodies of his other victims. The
police compiled a list of eleven persons—later. found an under-
estimate—whom they had good reason to believe Dr. Holmes
had murdered. ‘

The list, not including the three Pitzell children, was as
follows:

Minnie Williams, Dr. Holmes’ sweetheart

Nannie Williams, Minnie’s sister

Mrs. Julia. L. Conner, Holmes’ secretary

Pearl Conner, Mrs. Conner’s daughter

Emaline Cigrand, another secretary

Robert E. Phelps, Miss Cigrand’s< fiance

Emily Van Tassel, another secretary

Benjamin Pitzell. _ .

Pitzell, of course, had been murdered for his insurance.
But what was the motive for the slaying of the others? Detec-
tives in a dozen cities pondered that question. Did Holmés kill
for sheer pleasure? Was there in him some gross sadistic
urge, some twisted sex impulse, that made him gloat in blood?

He had met Minnie Williams, the sleuth discovered, in the
summer of 1893 in her home town of Fort Worth, Texas.
She was a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Elocution
and the niece of the Rev. W. C. Black of New Orleans, then
editor of The Methodist Christian Advocate. Minnie at the
time was an attractive young woman of twenty-five, and wa
managing several theatrical enterprises in Texas.

But what must have fascinated Holmes chiefly was the
fact that Minnie owned some $60,000 worth of Fort Worth
real estate. He.won her over completely, told glowing stories
of the possibilities of the property she owned, and induced
her to sign it over to a man named Benton T. Lyman. Holmes
would then erect a huge office building on the site.

And Fort Worth detectives, checking descriptions, soo
found out who “Lyman” was. He was Benjamin Pitzell, who
later lost his life in the insurance plot he had helped promote!

Minnie became infatuated with the brown-haired gentle
man from the North who called himself Dr. Holmes. ‘Sh
signed all her property over to him and later accompanied
him to Chicago, on’ his promise to marry her there. ln
Chicago, she wrote to her twenty-one-year-old sister, Nannie,
to join her. The girls’ parents were dead. ,

Dr. Holmes, when proposing marriage to Minnie Williams
quite overlooked the fact that he had already married a Mis

- Lovering of Gilmanton, Vermont, and a Miss Belknap d
Wilmette, Illinois, and that both wives were still living and
neither had been divorced. But a little thing like bigamy
never troubled the debonair Holmes.

Minnie was vastly excited over the prospect of marrying the
handsome Holmes, and jubilant about the European honey-
moon he promised her. But things did not run smoothly for
long at his gloomy Chicago mansion.

For one thing, Minnie decided, there was too much mystery
about the place—too many locked doors that she could neve:
open, rooms that she could never enter.

For another, there were too many women. They came ax
went in Dr. Holmes’ life like a procession of manikins.

There was Julia Conner, a stunning brunette with meltin
dark eyes.. There was Emaline Cigrand, another brunette, an
Emily Van Tassel, a pretty brown-haired girl just turne
sixteen. All three of these were supposed to be Dr. Holme

secretaries,
secretary, k

And at
realized the
who came a
were his m:
‘uncanny po’

The disc:
feet, taken
reality a pr
toys, must
one: knew \
were trying
its fury.

It was so
Mrs. Conn
daughter |

HOWA.
ney of
known

did the da:
her mother
Holmes m
Emaline Ci
sweetheart,
to her, hac
Her parent

ORK

Y entire
after Holn
he went t:
Yoke, a be
had come
and an ove
Dr. Ho!
cash, at on
ship ended

were


EDWIN BAIRD

only fifteen.

stters which
Whe Special Investigator for
a ee NST OE DETECTIVE
corpses | :
The Story Thus Far ,
ive spur Women seemed strangely fascinated by smooth, polished

dor. Harry H. Holmes, man of mystery. Neighbors saw them
A come and go at his gloomy mansion at Sixty-third and Wallace
‘Vvireets in Chicago, and gossip buzzed. Then Minnie and Nan
4 Williams, attractive sisters from Texas, paid the doctor a
4 prolonged visit in 1893, and it was rumored that Minnie and
Athe doctor were to be married. But the Williams girls and
Vthe doctor suddenly disappeared, the house was boarded up,

Aand no one knew where, the occupants had gone.

fo new
nmask-

jolmes

Yieadlines. The corpse of Benjamin Pitzell, patent lawyer, was

found in his Philadelphia office, apparently @ suicide. Holmes

Awas arrested two months later after he had collected insur-
dance on the victim, and was charged with murdering Pitzell
Vand making it look like suicide. —

Pitgell’s widow then told police that she had entrusted her
Athree children, Alice, fifteen, Nellie, thirteen, and Howard, ten,
Rio Holmes’ care while she was ill, and that they had dis-
Gappeared. Furthermore, Texas authorities wanted to know

what had become of the Williams girls.
4 Questioned about the children, Holmes now declared that
Tithe corpse had not been Pitzell’s, but that Pitgell himself must
have taken the children away—probably to South America,
Afor he had talked of going there.
Police already knew Holmes to be a consummate liar, They
‘believed he had murdered Pitzell in an insurance plot—but
where were the children?
- Determined to find out, Detective Frank P. Geyer of Phila-
delphia began tracing Holmes’ travels after he had collected
Athe insurance. Working through unmailed letters from the
children found in the doctor's trunk, Geyer traced him to
ACincinnati, Indianapolis and Detroit. There he found that
Holmes ‘and the children had been traveling with beautiful
Georgia Yoke, an actress, who was entirely unaware of the
doctor’s secret fiendishness.
Then the trail led to Toronto, where Geyer found a house
in which Holmes: had stayed. There, in a éellar grave, he

aaHoward Pitzell, the Williams sisters, and many others who had

tnowwn Holmes.
s” |

But the following year the name of Holmes leaped into the -

found the bodies of Alice and Nellie Pitzell. Still missing were:

i
of

NELLIE PITZE

LL, younger sister
of Alice, was also found in the
secret Toronto. grave. But where
was Howard Pitzell, who had like-
wise been on that ghastly tour?

Part Two

an exploding bombshell. The shocking news of what

he had¢found beneath the pretty little cottage at 16
Vincent Street spread through Toronto in less than an hour,
and soon the peaceful neighborhood was alive with excited,
curious people.

The police were in charge of the house now. And when
the bodies of the children were carried out in wicker baskets
and placed in an undertaker’s wagon, a low mutter ran through
the crowd—a rumble of horror and disgust that any man
could commit such a crime. :

The coroner’s autopsy revealed that innocent Alice and
Nellie Pitzell had been put to death in a most horrible manner
indeed—by gas. The method became hideously clear when
police inspected the huge trunk Geyer had found beside the
grave.

The two girls had been stripped and forced into the trunk.
From a nearby gas jet their slayer had piped gas through a
rubber hose into the locked trunk. Then, when he knew his
victims were dead, he had thrown their bodies into the shallow
grave to be devoured by rats.

Detective Geyer didn’t wait to receive Toronto’s plaudits for
his work in uncovering this grisly crime. He didn’t even wait
for the coroner’s report. He had already deduced how the girls
were killed when he saw the trunk in the gruesome pit. Besides,
he had more important things to do. He must learn what
had happened to the little girls’ brother, ten-year-old Howard
Pitzell.

In his methodical way he backtracked over the long trail
he had traveled, seeking some clue to the little boy’s fate. He
was sure that the lad had suffered a death similar to that of
his sisters, but in order to prove this the body had to be found.

Checking through his great mass of notes, Detective Geyer
believed he had found the right clue during his investigation
in Indianapolis. It was there he had learned that Dr. Holmes,
using the name of Horner, had rented a suburban cottage for
himself and the three children and had told the neighbors
he meant to place the boy in a reformatory. He had left the
cottage—so the neighbors had told Geyer—with the two little
girls, but the little boy was not with them. The neighbors had

37

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54

INSIDE DETECTIVE

Castle of Death

(Continued from page 39)

fraud—and murder. His victim in this
earlicr case was George H. Thomas of
Columbus, — Mississippi. Mudgett, now
Holmes, had murdered Thomas on the bank
of the Tombigbee River and later collected
his insurance.

In his cell at the Philadelphia jail,
Holmes had jauntily answered all ques-
tions put to him, or, if they hemmed him
in too tightly, had airily waved them aside
as of no importance. His aplomb had never
deserted him. Now, however, with the evil
acts of his criminal brain coming home to
him, with the detectives’ damning evidence
piling up against him, his manner changed.
He took refuge in sullen silence. ‘

His brown mustache, once -waxed and
curled cockily upward, now drooped dis-
couragedly. His eyes were haggard, his
jawse-unshaved, and his dandified: manner
was gone. But he still denied everything
police accused him of, or referred them to
his attorneys, Samuel Rotan and William
A. Shoemaker of Philadelphia.

By this time, of course, Holmes had
learned of the discoveries made by De-
tective Geyer, and of the investigations be-
gun by the police departments in Chicago,
Forth Worth, and other cities he had been
known to visit. ‘There was little wonder
that his arrogant pose of cocksureness was
at last a little ruffled.

“But what about those Pitzell children?”
the reporters and police insisted, “You can't
lie yourself out of those murders.”

Holmes snarled at them: I know noth-
ing about those kids, except that I turned
them over to their father in Detroit. That
was the last I saw of them.”

“You know that’s a lie, Holmes. Detec-
tive Geyer has proved you took the girls to
Toronto from Detroit, and you murdered
both of them. Why not confess and tell us
why you did it?”

“I’ve nothing to say,” snapped Holmes.
“See my lawyers,”

Authorities were likewise unsuccessful in
their efforts to get any information from
him about his other victims. To all their
questions about Minnie and Nannie Wil-
liams, Julia Conner, Emily Van ‘Tassel and
all the rest, he only shook his head stub-
bornly and said, “I’ve nothing to say.”

In every city where Holmes had been—
and he had been in many of them, from
New York to Denver, from Fort Worth
‘to Toronto—police and private detectives
were investigating his trail of horror, try-
ing to locate new victims of his blood-lust,
or account for those already known. The
greatest activity, of course, centered in
Chicago, in Holmes’ house at Sixty-third
and Wallace streets.

At last the gloomy, forbidding “murder.
castle” was to reveal its hideous secret.

WHILE TWO squads of city detectives,

in charge of Inspector John F itzpatrick,
were battering down the doors of the weird
old mansion to learn what horrors were
hidden within, other detectives, acting on
orders from Chief Budenoch, were question-
ing friends and relatives of the women who
had entered the mansion, never again to be
seen alive.

The mother of Emily Van Tassel, the
sixteen-year-old girl who had vanished
there, was located at her home, 641 North
Robey. Street. She told the police that her
daughter had been employed as a cashier
at Frank Wilde’s fruit. and candy store,
1151 Milwaukee Avenue, when she met Dr.
Holmes.

“That was about the middle of June,
1 1892,” sobbed the mother, “Emily men-

tioned the man to me and said he had taken
quite a fancy to her, but she said nothing
about going to work for him. A few weeks
later she left home, and.I haven’t seen her
since.” \ ;

“Did you never hear from her?” she
was asked.

“Never a word,” said Mrs. Van Tassel.
“I reported her disappearance and tried
to trace her, but I had no idea where to
look. I had never seen this Dr. Holmes and
didn’t even know where he lived.”

Robert E. Phelps, fiancé of Emaline Ci-
grand, could not be found, but Icilius Cc,
Conner, divorced husband of Julia, was
readily located. When the detectives told
Conner that his ex-wife and little daughter

. Pearl may have been murdered by Dr.
Holmes, he dashed outside in-a frenzy of
grief and ran for the house where the police
were breaking down the doors.

After what they had learned of Dr.
Holmes, the police were prepared to find
almost anything in his castle of death.
But what they actually found when they
broke inside and saw it for the first time,
left them speechless.

In all the world, there was no other house
like this.

There were rooms within rooms. Rooms
without doors. Doors without rooms. There
were fireplaces that had no chimneys, and
chimneys that led'to no fireplaces.

There were winding stairways that came
back where they started from. There were
other stairs that led into blank walls. There
were concealed trapdoors, secret panels,
and a hidden passageway from Dr. Holmes’
secret lair on an upper floor that led to
a bathroom below. The bathroom had no
window, no door and no means of illumina-
tion.

Lighting torches and lanterns to dispel
the darkness, the detectives tramped
through the labyrinth of puzzling rooms and
the maze of secret stairs and closets until
they came to Dr. Holmes’ laboratory at
the rear of the second floor. This room, like
all the rest, was gloomy and dank with the
musty odor of a place long closed against
air and sunshine.

» — Inspector: Fitzpatrick flung up a window
to clear the air and poked about among the
odds an ends that littered the room. With
his dark-lantern he scanned the contents of
drawers and cupboards and inspected the
labels on the vials of acid that stood on
the laboratory table.

One of his men came in, holding some

feminine undergarments.

“I found these in one of the bedrooms,
Inspector.” ‘

Another arrived with'a bloodstained slip-
per and a silk chemise that bore traces of
blood. <A third detective, rummaging a
closet, found a little .girl’s petticoats and
a china doll. In other closets and secret
hiding-places all manner of things were be-
ing found—shoes, trinkets, articles of cloth-
ing, personal possessions of every sort.

Outside the house a great. crowd had
gathered. Many relatives of missing per-

sons were there, clamoring for admission, ,

' seeking some clue to their loved ones.
Among these were Mrs, Van Tassel and
Mr, Conner, but uniformed policemen
barred even them from entering.

Then Inspector Fitzpatrick, after look- -

ing at the things his men had found, ordered
that Conner and Mrs. Van Tassel be ad-
mitted. He showed the woman the blood-
stained slipper.

“It’s Emily’s!” cried Mrs. Van Tassel
in anguish. “Where is she? What has he
done with her ?” - :

She collapsed, half swooning, in a chair.

Though prepared for the worst, Conner’s
face went white when he identified the china
doll and a woman’s kimono as those of his
child and former wife.

“What has the scoundrel
them?” he whispered, -

done with

ead Wt «J

and UNConscioys
8¢ther as they ,
hey landed j,,
bigger than a t.
1SCOvered Was ;
small elevator, -

d. men, what

a that's a big

:
ing hollowly in io {©

€ wa

om any oth

When his men joined |

the p]
found. bes

end of

two rubber t ng —
*tzpatrick Noticed an ir
he Strange

Ung It open and i
terior Was like a ete

le. co i
ye rnenited again, “to },


e @
“Yes,” came the unexpected response, “I remember a man by Joseph Fulling Fish man

nuld get ; : ;
I am who rented a house under those circumstances in October, Form erly D eputy Commissioner

. Lsup- 1894.” . é

[ be Inured to disappointments as he had been in this case, of Correction, New York

thane: a adn a sewing af elation. City, and former Inspec-
“Tell us about it, please.” rN A
“Why,” said the agent, “I did not actually have to do with ‘ tor of Prisons, United

aw” which the renting of the house. I had the key.” _ s, : States Department

. Howard “Oh,” said Geyer, a feeling of disappointment sweeping ” is of Justice.

Detroit or 4 over him, “then you didn’t see the man?” ae 4 ee AUAG

an India- “Yes, I did. He came to me for the key. I remember the é ee?

ier, which man very well. I did not like his manner.” < a

\ that city. Geyer produced the now well-worn photegraph.
o the date ‘Ts this the man?”

vad: “Yes,” said the agent, “it is.”
“Who's the owner of the house?”
“The owner at that time was

&

Howard eo " i -
d I got Dr. Thompson. He lives in town CM estat pipe hag a
slain here.” little fellow's face, as | took
Mr. H The two detectives hurried to. i ise, yn bef. ni m
iT, . ; ’ +; : rembled like a leaf, as

that he the doctor’s office. He did not took out the knife and-dold

ake hira recall Holmes from the picture.
Wl. He 4 But a boy in his employ, Elver
Moorman, when shown the pic-
ture, said:

“Why that’s the man who

him to undress."

anything
Detective
sting him.
unexciting :
nd anyone
nted it for
‘acting an
full of it. :
trom news- be
ry as they
~vard them

, towns on

The same
latter place
elier Junc-
out success.
apolis. For
ist a hunch,
rk they had

between, he
‘hh could not
ie advertise-
of October,
Geyer and
y, they ob-
remarkable
‘| to search
ree weeks of
*hiladelphia,
a. “By Mon-
cept Irving-
shall go.”
- real estate

Illustrations by —

saying that 1
ALAN HUGHES


Eprtor’s Note:—Eugene Smith, a Philadelphia inventor,

walked into a small shop on Callowhill Street one afternoon
in Scptember, 1896. The proprictor, one B. F. Perry, was
nowhere about. Smith had had this experience on two
previous visits. But this time he noticed that nothing in the
shop had been touched since he had called ten days before.
He also noticed a strange, unpleasant odor, It seemed to
come from the loft above. Smith vlimbed the rickety stairs
to investigate. What he discovered, touched off a nation-
wide hunt for one of the most fiendish mass murderers of all
time.

The early stages of this hunt, involving superlative de-
tective work without the assistance of modern scientific aids
to criminal catching, were described by Mr. Fishman in this
magazine last month, A man by the name of H. H. Holmes
wis taken into custody for participating in an insurance
swindle. In the course of investigating his previous record,
it was discovered that he had toured the Mid-West with the
three young children of Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Pietzel. The
children were Alice, fifteen, Nellie, eleven, and Howard, nine.
Now the children were strangely missing.

A Philadelphia detective, Frank P. Geyer, set upon
Holmes’ old trail to find them. At length, the trail led up
into Canada, to a house in Toronto. Geyer and local authori-
ties decided to dig in the basement of that house. Their
spades unearthed a grisly secret. The nude bodies of the two
Pictzel girls lay side by side in a mouldy pit.

Frantically now, Detective Geyer rushes to Detroit to
take up the search for the missing boy, little Howard Pietzel.
Will he find in the Michigan city that this child has met the
same tragic fate as his sisters? You will learn as you now
proceed with the story.

uy Detroit? What made Detective Geyer return
to this city, out of all those he had ransacked in
his hunt for the missing Pietzel children? What
made him decide that here he would find a clue which would
lead him to Howard, brother of the two murdered girls?
The circumstance which determined Geyer to go back to
Detroit after he found the bodies of the two little Pietzel
girls buried in the cellar of the St. Vincent Street house in
Toronto, was a letter dated October 14, 1894, written by Alice
to her grandmother and grandfather at Galva, Illinois. The
date line showed that it was written in Detroit. The letter,
like the others found on Holmes at the time of his arrest for
the insurance fraud, had not been mailed. Geyer was not at
all sure that it was actually written in Detroit. Now con-
vinced that Holmes was a thoroughgoing criminal who would
stop at nothing, the idea occurred to him that he might have,
by some trickery or plausible story, caused the girl to write
“Detroit” when she may in fact have been in some other city.
The letter, one of the last the doomed child was ever to
write, was pitifully childish, and showed as well as anything
could the utter callousness of Holmes. It read:

“Dear Grandma and Grandpa: Hope you are all well.
Nell and I have both colds and chapped hands but that is
all. We have not had any nice weather at all. I guess it
is coming winter now. Tell Mama that I have to have a
coat. I nearly freeze in that thin jacket. We have to
stay in all the time. Howard is not with us now. We
are right near the Detroit River. We was going a boat
riding yesterday, but it was too cold, All that Nell and

58

[PEA DETECTIVE

f)

I do is to draw. I get so tired sitting that I could get
up and fly almost. I wish I could see you all. I am
getting so homesick that I don’t know what to do. I sup-
pose the baby walks by this time, don’t he? I should
like to have him here, he would pass away the time a
good deal.”

It was the sentence, “Howard is not with us now” which
convinced Geyer that if, like the two little girls, Howard
had been murdered, it had either been done in Detroit or
Indianapolis, as there was another letter with an India-
napolis date line written by Nellie to her mother, which
showed that the three children had been together in that city.
The date on this letter was just a few days prior to the date

on the one apparently written from Detroit. It read:

“I don’t like to tell you but I will have to. Howard
doesn’t mind me at all. He wanted a book and I got
‘Life of General Sheridan’ and it is awful nice and. now
he won’t read it at all hardly, One morning Mr. H.
told me to tell him to stay in the next morning, that he
wanted him and he would come and get him and take him
out and I told him and he would not stay in at all, He
was out when he came.”

But neither in Detroit nor Indianapolis was anything
found. At the latter place Geyer again had Detective
Richards, of the local police department, assisting him.
Again they went through the same monotonous, unexciting
round of real estate agents to see if they could find anyone
who had rented a house to a man who said he wanted it for
a “widowed sister.” The case was now attracting an
enormous amount of attention, the papers being full of it.
A score of tips and leads which Geyer received from news-
paper readers, all proved to be unfounded. Try as they
would, the two detectives could find nothing to reward them
for their work. :

They then decided to comb the little junction towns on
the railroad between Chicago and Indianapolis. The same
dreary routine which they had undergone in the latter place
was again followed in Logansport, Peru, Montpelier Junc-
tion, Adrian and one or two other places, but without success.
Geyer’s mind, however, kept reverting to Indianapolis. For
some reason which he did not himself know—just a hunch,
no doubt—he could not rest satisfied with the work they had
done there.

So when he finished with the little places between, he
simply went back to Indianapolis, like a dog which could not
be kept off the scent. This time he dug up all the advertise-
ments of private houses for rent in the month of October,
1804. There were many dozens of them, but Geyer and
Richards visited them all, Most discouragingly, they ob-
tained absolutely no results. Geyer, with that remarkable
persistence which distinguished him, then decided to search
all the suburbs of Indianapolis. After two or three weeks of
this, he wrote to District Attorney Graham in Philadelphia,
with whom he had been constantly keeping in touch. “By Mon-
day we will have searched every outlying town except Irving-
ton. After Irvington I scarcely know where we shall go.”

A few days later they were asking one of the real estate
agents of Irvington the usual routine question:

“Did a man recently rent a house from you, saying that
he wanted it for his widowed sister?”

—L pl a. ht 4
LTS

tat ta Sl

“Yes,” can
who rented «
1894.”

Tnured to
Geyer had a

“Tell us al

“Why,” sa:
the renting o

“Oh,” saic
over him, “‘t!

“Yes, I dic
man very wé

Geyer pro

“Ts this t!

“Yes,” sai

“Who's th

“The ow!
Dr. Thomps
here.”

The two
the doctor's
recall Holm
But a boy
Moorman, \
ture, said:

“Why th

Ilustratio

ALAN HL

ie ee ae]

ee

wa

66

public, that the man had been acciden-
tally killed in an explosion.

An attorney by the name of Howe,
who had been hired by Holmes, called
on Mrs. Pietzel in St. Louis and in-
formed her that her husband was dead.
Before the insurance rage & could
be collected it was necessary that some
member of the family identify the
body. Holmes requested that Alice,
the fourteen-year-old daughter, accom-
pany Howe back to Philadelphia for
this purpose. Again Mrs. Pietzel pro-
tested but was talked out of it by
Holmes. The body was disinterred and
identified by Alice and Holmes. The
insurance money was then paid to
Howe, who went back to St. Louis and
paid Mrs. Pietzel the $10,000, minus
$2,800 taken out for expenses. Mrs.
Pietzel, of course, was unaware of the
fact that her husband was really dead.

Alice did not return with Howe to
her mother as Holmes had promised she
would. Instead, the mother received a
letter from Holmes telling her he feared
the insurance company was a little sus-
picious and he thought it best for the
family to remain separated for the
present. There was the assurance that
Alice would be well cared for. :

A few days later another letter to
Mrs. Pietzel from Holmes said he was
taking Alice to a “nice old lady” in
Covington, Kentucky, and suggested
that it would be best to take Nellie
and Howard there too. Again Mrs.
Pietzel objected but again her objec-
tions were over-ruled by Holmes.

HOLMES’ plans were going just as he
wished them to in respect to the
Pietzels. He assured Mrs. Pietzel that her
husband was safe in Canada and that
when the suspicions of the insurance
company had died down, the family
would be reunited and then, with the
insurance money, all would be well.

With his mission of going to St.
Louis. after the two children, there was
another which this suave demon was
harboring in his heart; he was intent
on getting every penny of the insurance
money. He produced forged papers
showing that he and Pietzel had made
a $16,000 investment in Fort Worth,
Texas, and in order to save the money
thus invested they needed an additional
$7,000—practically all that was left of
the insurance money. This he_per-
suaded the unsuspecting Mrs. Pietzel
to turn over to him.

Although Mrs. Pietzel had promises
from Holmes that everything would
soon be well and that she would be
reunited with her husband and children,
the experiences of obtaining money un-
der such a guise, then the separation
from her loved ones, had caused her
such mental anguish that she seemed to
be fairly at the breaking point under
the strain. Holmes expressed deep sym-
pathy and suggested that she go for
a visit to her parents in Galva, Illinois,
where she could be ready ta join her
family after a few weeks. He then
departed with the two children—Nellie
and Howard.

Any doubts or misgivings that Mrs.
Pietzel might have had in regard to
her children and their treatment in

The Master Detective

their new home were dispelled after a
few days when she had a letter “from
Alice,” forged by Holmes, telling in de-
tail of the kind treatment of the “nice
old lady” in Kentucky—further evi-
dence of the interest of Holmes in the
family.

BUT Holmes had not been in Ken-

tucky. Neither had Alice, Nellie
nor little Howard. With the three
children, Holmes was living in Indian-
apolis where he was planning another
murder scheme. This time the victim was
Georgia Yoke, a young woman with
whom Holmes lived at one of the hotels.
The children were kept at another hotel
in the city. When he left there some
time later for Detroit, Alice and Nellie
were with him but little Howard had
disappeared. The partly incinerated
body of the child, with some of the
little fellow’s playthings, was found
later during the investigation of the
Murder Castle.

From Detroit, Holmes wrote to Mrs.

The SCOURGE of the
SOUTH SEA SKIES

The chase was on. Pelham thrilled
to it. He would follow that plane to
hell and back to find out who the Un-
known was, the one who held the key
to the mystery beyond. The sea was
darkening. Night was falling fast.
Fuel running low. Still the grim pur-
suit.

_ What deep mystery was this to lure
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Pietzel, suggesting that she bring the
baby, Wharton, and Dessie to Detroit
where he had arranged for her to meet
her husband. The anxious mother, al-
most distraught by her long separation
from her family, was overjoyed. But
again she was to meet with disappoint-
ment, for upon her arriVab.in Detroit
she was told by Holmes‘ that invésti-
gation by the insurance company was
under way and it ,was best that the
family continue to remain apart. So
Mrs. Pietzel left the city, taking Dessie
and Wharton with her.

At about this time things happened
to give this story a different turn.
Major Laurence Harrigan, then Chief
of Police of St. Louis, received a letter
one day explaining the whole plot of
the attempt of Holmes to defraud the
insurance company. The letter was

from Marion Hedgepeth, famous train
robber and daring leader of murderous
bandits and at that time peer of Jesse
James. Hedgepeth was serving a sen-
tence in the St. Louis jail. He had
‘buddied” with Holmes when the lat-
ter, under the name of Howard, had
served a sentence in the same jail and
about the time he had first met the
Pietzel family. Holmes had purchased
stock and fixtures for his St. Louis drug
store on time payments and then sold
the place for cash. It was for this
offense that he went to jail.

Hedgepeth was then the prize pris-
oner in the jail and told Holmes some
of his daring achievements. Holmes
could not resist boasting to this master
criminal that he (Holmes) was even
more daring. He told Hedgepeth of his
plans respecting the Pietzel family and
promised Hedgepeth $500 toward his
defense fund if Hedgepeth would get
him a lawyer and bond. The famous
train robber carried out his part of the
agreement and when Holmes failed to
make good his part, Hedgepeth was not
long in betraying his brother criminal
to justice. If Holmes had given Hedge-
peth $500 out of the sum he collected
on Pietzel’s life, it is doubtful if he
peg have been detected for years, if
at all.

ON October 18th, without any sus-

picion that detectives were on his
trail, Holmes was in Toronto, Canada,
with Alice and Nellie Pietzel. Alice, who
was now fifteen—two years older than
Nellie—-had objected to going to
Canada and begged that she and her
sister be permitted to return to their
home in St. Louis. But Holmes in-
duced the girl to go to Canada by
telling her they were to join their
mother there. But the girls were never
to see their mother again. Some time
later their mutilated and decomposed
bodies were dug up in Toronto where
they had been buried in the cellar of an
old house which Holmes had rented
while there.

Again Mrs. Pietzel was summoned—
this time to Toronto to meet her hus-
band. As to the children, she was con-
stantly assured by letters “from them”
that they were happy with the old lady
in Seti But by the time she had
arrived in Toronto things had taken a
different turn, according to Holmes,
and again she must wait. The next
move of the murderer was to send the
distraught Mrs. Pietzel to Burlington,
Vermont—the town where he had some
years before taken the first medical
course. There he rented a little house
for her. The woman was almost in-
sane with grief. After a few months
there, during which she had a premoni-
tion that she would never see her hus-
band and children again, she returned
broken-hearted to her parents in
Illinois.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia detectives
were scouring the country. Holmes was
traced to Boston, where he was arrested
November 19th, 1894. He was alone
when captured and confessed to de-
frauding the insurance company. He
was taken to Philadelphia and on June
3rd, 1895, pleaded guilty to the fraud.


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September, 1929

He said that Pietzel had committed
suicide and that the three children were
in Europe with Miss Minnie Williams,
of Fort Worth, Texas.

It was at this time, while conducting
a search for the bodies of the Pietzel
children, that Detective Geyer found
the Holmes Murder Castle in Chicago.
Detectives found out too, and very
quickly, that _ Miss Minnie Williams
was not in Europe. For there was
abundant evidence that she and_ her
sister, Anna, had both been Holmes
Murder Castle victims.

Holmes had met the two Williams
sisters some time before and, learning
that they jointly owned $60,000 in real
estate in Fort Worth, became greatly
interested in them. He persuaded
Minnie to come to Chicago as _ his
secretary. He “fell in love” with her,
proposed and was accepted. Then he
induced Anna to come to Chicago. as
bridesmaid for the wedding. All were
to go on a bridal tour of Europe after
Holmes had induced them: to borrow
heavily on their money, He got the

The Master Detective

money and the girls disappeared. In-
vestigation revealed that they had both
been burned in the big stove in the
Murder Castle. Strands of hair cor-
responding to theirs was found in the
soot of the flue which took off the
smoke from Holmes’ crematory in the
Castle.

OTHER bones found in the Murder
Castle were thought to be those of
Mrs. Julia Conner, the beautiful wife
of I. L. Conner of Davenport, lowa,
and their baby girl. The Conners had
met Holmes socially and, as man

others, were fascinated by his compel-
ling personality and gentle manner. He
pretended to own stores in Chicago and
promised Conner a good job in one of
them. Mrs. Conner, believing Holmes
to be the “most generous of men,” was
persunce to come to Chicago. After
stringing about a_ separation between
Conner and his wife, Holmes then in-
duced the woman to return to Chicago
and open up a boarding house. In a
very short time both she and her little

67

girl disappeared mysteriously and were
never found.

Braggart that Holmes was, all during
his prison ¢erm in Philadelphia he ever

- courted attention. His trial in Phila-

delphia October 28th, 1895, for the
murder of Pietzel was one of the most
‘sensational the country has ever known.
After a misunderstanding with his
lawyer, he pleaded his own case. He
was found guilty and sentenced to
hang. A few days before the execution
he confessed that he had killed twenty-
seven people, including the various
members of the Pietzel family.

On May 7th, 1896, in Moyomensing
Prison, Holmes was hanged. As he
stood on the scaffold just before the

_ trap was sprung, he pronounced curses

on all minions of justice. The crowd
shivered as his voice rang out in oaths
loud and clear.

The body of one of the most fiendish
murderers in all the annals of crime
was buried ten feet deep in the Holy
Cross Cemetery in a cement grave,
walled with rock.

On the Trail of the Human Monkey

fly, and stood poised on the coping
which towered above a second-story
window. Trellis work and vines cov-
ered the side of the house at which he
was now looking. Here was luck for
the Human Monkey. Crouching low,
he leaped from the top of the wall,
straight for the trellis.

His spring could not have been more
accurately calculated. His talon-like
fingers entwined themselves in the
vines running up the trellis and Rey-
nolds hung there for a moment or two,
his thin legs dangling in space. Secur-
ing a firm hold on the trellis work, the
Monkey Burglar righted himself and
looked triumphantly over his shoulder
at the high wall from which he had
taken his daring leap. He had landed
fully two feet above an open window
of the very room he was seeking to en-
ter—the bedroom of Mrs. Nombalais.
Reynolds climbed through the window
and made a haul of a small fortune in
jewels and cash.

A the home of E. H. Townsend,
Reynolds outdid himself. If there
were persons who theretofore had not
given him full credit for being the
Monkey Burglar, the account of that
burglary removed the last bit of doubt
from their minds. For at the Towns-
end resident the Human Monkey’s
rare genius as a home raider was es-
tablished beyond all doubt.

He scaled a perfectly smooth wall at
the front of the house—under the
bright rays of a street lamp—to reach
the open window of the bedroom in
which Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were
asleep. The Human Monkey climbed
noiselessly into the room, rifled every
drawer in a bureau, “cleaned” the trous-
ers pockets of Mr. Townsend and
picked up and examined a string of in-
expensive beads lying on a vanity stool
at the side of the bed, replacing the

(Continued from page 42)

beads on the stool and making his exit,
without disturbing the sleepers.

The city’s alarm increased by leaps
and bounds as the nefarious activities
of the elusive Reynolds showed no
signs of abating. Atrocities in which
women were the victims continued to
follow one another each night with
clocklike regularity. Reynolds was en-
joying to the utmost the benefits of a
free life—living as he chose to live,
eating when he hungered and letting
his animal instincts run their awful
course. No matter how they tried, nei-
ther police nor public were able to
cope with this beast in human form.

But no criminal, no matter how cun-
ning, can escape justice indefinitely.
There must come a time when he is
brought to account for his deeds—a
time when the law has its inning in the
grim game of right versus wrong.

Reynolds was fully aware of all this.
He knew that he was constantly in dan-
ger of being killed like the rat that he
was. He had learned that the arm of
the law is in reality very long, and that
this long arm might at any moment
reach out and snatch away his freedom.
And, to Reynolds, the loss of freedom
was worse than death. So the Human
Monkey did the one thing that he knew
would reduce to a minimum the possi-
bility of arrest. He “blew.”

Reynolds was next heard of in Dal-
las, Texas, when he appeared at Police
Headquarters “in company” with Offi-
cer Will Allen. The ealicerhan hap-
pened to be passing along Swiss Ave-
nue in mid-afternoon when he spied a
man in a tree which was near a second-
we” bedroom window.

alking up to the tree in which the
man was climbing about, Allen
shouted:

“Hey, what do you think you are—
a monkey? Come down here and let’s
have a look at you!”

Reynolds dropped lightly to the
ground and stood at attention in front
of the officer, Marching his prisoner
into the home of Fred Weber, whose
house Reynolds had been about to rob,
the officer phoned for a patrol wagon.

Reynolds registered at the desk
sergeant’s cage as “Malcolm Stewart.”
An officer was then sent to request
Webster to see the District Attorney
and swear out an attempted burglary
warrant. When Weber and the officer
arrived at Police Headquarters, after
securing the warrant, they found the
station seething with excited police offi-
cers and newspaper reporters. There
was no “Malcolm Stewart” on whom to
serve the warrant. The man was not in
his cell—yet the cell door was still
locked.

I ONCE asked Reynolds about that
escape in Dallas, but ie only
laughed at me. That was while he re-
posed in the county jail at Wichita,
Kansas.

“It’s none of your damned_ business
how I ever got out of any jail because
if I told you how it was done you'd
put it in the papers and my chance of
getting out of this damned place would
be shot,” Reynolds said to me.

A telegram from Berkeley and an-
other from Folsom prison both giving
the Monkey Burglar’s  finger-print
classifications were received by the
Dallas police before the excitement of
“Stewart’s” escape died down. Having
taken Reynolds’ finger-prints, before
his escape, the police ascertained, by a
comparison of the two sets of prints
from California, with those taken in
Dallas, that the tree-climbing “Mal-
colm Stewart” was none other than the
Human Monkey. An alarm was sent
out, advising the authorities of every
city in the country to keep a close
watch for the escaped burglar.

cy

*..

GRIFFIN
CK, JR.

rched and swayed
Holy Cross ‘ceme-
ting a black-gloved

hen a five-ton
en‘in clay-spattered.

le 10 feet deep and
it halted. Thrée-
and against the
ser sloshed buckets
rers heaved and
n and down over

heir heads. The
an uncomfortable
§ Case, and those

Tt was roughly
he packing: case,
one was the bod
» no less than 2
ully he was able
crowd of 10,000
Phians, but who
s he had violated
ased in concrete


Benjamin F. Pitezel, above,
thought he was participating in an
insurance swindle but met death
instead at the hands of a wanton
killer in the Philadelphia flat

pictured at the right.

id his grave filled with a mixture of

' cement and equal

amounts of sand and gravel.
Three years before, on September 3,

1894, cries for help brought a crowd

to an old brick store building in Callow-

hill street, in the heart of the Quaker

City’s business district. A policeman

pushed his way through. A_ wild-eyed

man in the hall-way, a carpenter by
the name of Eugene Smith, gabbled in-
coherently.

en Darreis of

F HAD come the day before, he said,

to see about an invention he was
trying to sell, and found no one in the
shop. Then he had made a second visit
and found a dead man on the second floor.
The victim's name was on the window,
B. F. Perry, Patents Bought & Sold.
That was all, or nearly all, he knew
about it.

The policeman got out his notebook.
On the floor by the body lay a large
Hagon of explosive chemical, shattered.
Nearby was a pipe filled with tobacco,
unlit. A match-stub told what ap-
peared to be the whole story. As the
policeman reconstructed it, Perry, while
handling the container of explosive, had
scratched a match to light his pipe. An
explosion and death had
followed.

But the coroner was not so sure. ’ The
pipe was under Perry’s body, instead of

FO alll

t

beside it as it should have been had
Perry collapsed from an accident. The
shattered fragments of the chemical con-
tainer had not scattered and none had
cut into the corpse as they should have
had there been an explosion. There was
a strong odor of chloroform about the
body and chloroform definitely was not
the chemical supposedly in the shattered

container.
A SUBSEQUENT autopsy proved
the coroner’s suspicions well
founded. B. F. Perry had not died as the
result of lung congestion following the
inhalation of flames, he had been killed by
a large dose of chloroform administered
in a glass of beer. Someone had poisoned
Perry and then planned an explosion and
fire to cover the crime. But the latter
part of the plan had miscarried.
Immediately a check was made on
Perry’s movements and antecedents. It
was discovered that he had opened
the ship in Callowhill street only two
weeks prior to his summary demise,
inducing Eugene Smith to build the

”

i

Cay

7

ST RSRLES Te riy

counters and shelves with a promise to
help the carpenter secure a patent on a
small invention. It was learned that two
nights before Smith found him, he had
bought two pitchers of beer at a nearby
saloon and returned to his shop with
them, there to entertain a tall, dark, mus-
tached man and a drab sort of woman
who had called at the place late on a mis-
sion they refused to discuss. It was
learned turther that during the preced-
ing fortnight Perry had made many
calls, always late at night, at a rooming
house in North 11th street, where the
same couple had taken up lodgings dur-
ing the week Perry had come to the city,
and that within an hour of the time at

‘which Perry must have met death, this

mysterious couple had departed hastily
from Philadelphia, buying = railroad
tickets to Harrisburg, the state capital.
They continued on to Indianapolis, Ind.,
without getting off the train.

But here the investigation bogged
down. No one knew the identity of the
couple who fled so precipitously at
Perry's fadeout. No one in Philadelphia
knew Perry or where he came from.

attorney

acting
and het
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n fina
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Pie.)

Beautiful Minna Wil-
liams, above, met a
fearful death at the
hands of fiendish killer.

oSr.
im
A
%
of

Murder was the hobby of
the cruel-eyed man, above,
who escaped capture for
many months. The artist
depicts him in the sketch at
right watching his victims
die in a lethal chamber.

By MACKENZIE GRIFFIN
AND
LAWRENCE FLICK, JR.

LOWLY the strange procession lurched and swayed
S between the moldering headstones of ‘Holy Cross ceme-

tery. First a horse-drawn victoria, bearing a black-gloved
undertaker and two surpliced, priests. Then a five-ton
furniture van. Then 25 sweating, panting men ‘in clay-spattered
overalls,

At a grave ina far corner, a prodigious hole 10 feet deep and
twice the width of an ordinary burial plot, it halted. Three-
inch skids were laid across the open pit and against the
tailboard of the van. And while the undertaker sloshed buckets
of water over those skids, the 25 laborers heaved and
hauled a huge packing case out of the van and down over
the hole.

The laborers and the undertaker bared their heads. The
priests read the burial service. Then, for an uncomfortable
moment the lid was lifted from the packing case and those
around peered in,

All they saw was a mass of gray concrete. It was roughly
set, like a piece of bad paving. It filled the packing case.

But embedded in that mass of man-made stone was the body
of a man, a physician, who had confessed to no less than 27
murders; who had drugged himself so skillfully he was able
to walk to the gallows, unwavering, before a crowd of 10,000
jeering, picknicking, hot-dog-eating Philadelphians, but who
was so fearful his own body would be violated as he had violated
others that he had directed his corpse be encased in concrete


ar

petits

y

oS Ea

a promise to
ure a patent ona

lee
as learned that two
round him, he had

deer at a nearby
his shop with
i tall, dark, mus-
t(D sort of woman
lace late on a mis-
liscuss. It was

ing the preced-
made many

it a rooming
where the
lodgings dur-

th

ec

ity

a

if

Dis

And so, on September 14, B. F. Perry was carted to Potter’s
field, at the foot of 2nd and Erie avenue, and buried there; a
minor casualty, supposedly, in a case which to all indications
would soon be forgotten.

Eleven days later, however, there was a development which
resurrected the case of B. F. Perry. The Fidelity Mutual
Insurance Association of Philadelphia received a claim for
$10,000 insurance on the dead man. It was filed by a St. Louis
attorney by the name of Jeptha D. Howe, who said he was
acting on behalf of the widow, a Mrs. Benjamin F. Pitezel,
and her five children. Howe declared that Pitezel was Perry’s
real name, that he had changed it because he had been involved
in financial troubles in Texas and that the widow was prepared
to come on to Philadelphia and identify the body as soon as
the insurance company said the word.

HE odd circumstances surrounding the sudden filing of the
claim for $10,000 and the hint of skullduggery behind the
dead man’s changing his name from Pitezel to: Perry caused
the Fidelity Mutual to suspect fraud. The company looked up
the policy, which had been issued through its Chicago branch
ionly 10 months before, and assigned Inspector W. E. Geary,
of its investigating corps, to interview the person who had
vouched for Pitezel’s good character and financial standing.
This proved to be Harry H. Holmes, a Chicago druggist of
apparent good standing in the business community. He
[Continued on page 65]

\

In old Moyamensing prison, below,
the killer wrote his confession and
later was hanged. Emiland Cigrand,
above, right, who served as Holmes’
secretary, disappeared mysteriously.

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‘Nightmare Castle’ killer now largely forgotten

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A
century ago, the thought that
America would forget the “Mon-
ster of 63rd Street” was prepos-
terous.

Dr. H.H. Holmes was a
swindler, bigamist, horse thief
and pharmacist — not to mention
sadistic killer — who died at the
end of a hangman’s noose in
Philadelphia.

Newspaper readers from coast
to coast knew of his 100-room
Frankenstein-fantasy-come-true
castle in Chicago, where authori-
ties believe hundreds may have
died amid a maze of trapdoors and
trick hallways.

A greedy man, Holmes consid-
ered the “Evil One” his constant
companion, and one biographer
baptized him the “greatest crim-
inal the police have ever handled.”

Yet Holmes has disappeared

SOME VICTIMS OF CHICAGO'S ‘MONSTER OF 63RD STREET:

On April 9, 1896, just weeks before his
execution, H.H. Holmes signed a state-
ment of gruesome detail telling how he
had murdered 27 people. He retracted the
confession just before his hanging May 7,
saying he killed only two women. This is a
partial list:

i Dr. Robert Leacock of New Balti-
more, Mich., a former schoolmate Holmes
killed in 1886 for $40,000 in life insurance.
@ Dr. Russell, a tenant of the castle,

bludgeoned with a chair during an angry
rent dispute. With his body, Holmes began
the practice of selling corpses to medical
schools for $25 to $45.
- fil Julia Conner and her daughter, Pearl,
killed Christmas Day 1891, either because
they knew too much or for insurance. Ju-
lia’s skeleton was mounted, then sold to a
medical school for $200.

@ Mr. Rodgers of Virginia, struck on the
head by an oar during a fishing trip after

Holmes learned he had some money.

@ A maid named Lizzie, the first one
suffocated in the vault. Holmes was afraid
his married janitor might run off with her.

i Emeline Cigrand, his stenographer
and mistress. He suffocated her on the
same day he was supposed to marry her.

@ Nannie Williams, died in the vault af-
ter being forced to sign over everything
she owned to Holmes. Holmes.Benjamin
F. Pitezel, burned alive for $10,090 in life

insurance. “The least | can do is spare my
reader a recital of the victim's cries for mer -
cy and his prayers, all of which upon me
had no effect.”

i Howard, Nellie and Alice Pitezel, chil-
dren of Benjamin Pitezel. Howard was poi-
soned, dismembered and burned; Nellie
and Alice were placed inside a large trunk,
gassed through a hole in the lid and buried.

The Associated Press

from the American consciousness
while another diabolical killer —
Jack the Ripper, who gutted five
London prostitutes just eight
years earlier — remains known
even to children.

“Part of the Ripper’s appeal,
no doubt, derives from the mys-
tery of his identity, which con-
tinues to tantalize armchair de-

reas

tectives,” says professor Harold
Schechter of Queens College, au-
thor of the biography Depraved.

“But the answer to Holmes’
current obscurity, I believe, also
lies in the nature of his crimes.”

Product of ‘Gilded Age’

The Ripper was a sexual

sadist, a stalker who more di-.

A

rectly reflects the anxieties of our
age, according to Schechter.
Holmes was a product of “The
Gilded Age,” a late 19th-century
period of feverish enterprise and
gaudy excess — and Chicago was
its nucleus.

“He was always seeking to
profit from his victims — turn
them into cold cash in one way or

another,” Schechter says. “Get-
ting in the way of Holmes and
his lust for wealth wasn’t a good
idea.”

Holmes was hanged for one
murder in Philadelphia, but he
might have committed hundreds
more in Chicago.

Authorities suspected as many
as 50 visitors to the World’s Fair
in 1893 made a tragic choice of
lodging and stayed at Holmes’
boardinghouse, later dubbed
Nightmare Castle and The Cas-
tle of Horror.

In addition, as many as 100
young, female stenographers who
answered Holmes’ continual
string of newspaper ads disap-
peared forever after they entered
the three-story labyrinth.

Monstrous mansion

The mansion was filled with
doors that opened to brick walls,
stairways to nowhere, an eleva-
tor without a shaft and a shaft
without an elevator.

There was an airtight and
soundproof vault, torture cham-
bers, dissecting tables, a crema-
torium, chemical vats, quicklime
pits and human-sized greased
chutes leading from the living
quarters to the cellar.

The bedrooms had peepholes
and were equipped with asphyx-
iating gas pipes connected to a
control panel in Holmes’ closet.

Holmes also had an “elasticity
determinator,” a curious contrap-
tion he claimed could stretch ex-
perimental subjects to twice their
normal length and produce a race
of giants. Those who viewed it —
and lived — said it appeared to be
a medieval torture rack.

Pulp history

Exactly why this monstrous

“mansion was built is a mystery

trapped inside its architect’s psy-
chopathic mind. Unfortunately
for historians, much of the knowl-
edge about the man comes from
scores of pulp, true-crime books
and from Holmes’ own story pub-
lished from prison in 1895.

Holmes was born Herman
Webster Mudgett on May 16,
1860, in the rural New Hamp-
shire hamlet of Gilmanton.

“I was born with the devil in
me,” he wrote. “I couldn’t help

_| the fact that I was a murderer, no

more than a poet can help the in-
spiration to sing. And I was born
with the Evil One standing as
my sponsor beside the bed where
I was ushered into the world. He
has been with me ever since.” .
He grew up in a household with
an abusive father and a pious,
submissive mother, developing a
penchant early on for killing and
maiming stray animals. He fin-
ished high school at 16, got mar-
ried at 18 and finished medical
school at the University of Michi-
gan when he was 24.
In 1886, Holmes moved to the
well-to-do Chicago suburb of En-
glewood, Ill., and took a phar-
macist’s job at Dr. E.S. Holton’s

‘|: GQ See- TORTURE, Page 30

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his teeth, by a wart on the back of his
neck, by malformation of his knees.

The next day, Howe arrived with
Alice Pitizel, a shy awkward girl of
fourteen, second eldest daughter of the
dead man. There was a meeting in the
insurance office. :

It was arranged to exhume the body,
and this was done. Holmes, Howe, and
the authorities were present at the ex-
amination.

The doctor started an examination of
the body.

“Let me help you,” said Holmes. “I
have had a good deal of experience. in
my day in the dissecting room. May I
have your rubber gloves, doctor, and
that scalpel? Thank you.”

Taking off his coat, Holmes put on
the gloves and bent over the object on
the rubber sheet. Talking glibly, without
any sign of repugnance, he cut off the
identifying wart, exhibited it, and
popped it into a bottle of alcohol. He
pointed out the teeth blemishes, the
knock knees. There was no doubt that

this was the body of Benjamin Pitizel,

and when Alice, shrinking, was led in to
view the teeth, seen through the hole in
the mercifully covering sheet, and said
they were, to the best of her knowledge,
her father’s, the authorities were satis-
fied.

The insurance company gave Howe a
check for nine thousand one hundred
and seventy-five dollars to turn over to
Mrs. Pitizel, and presented Holmes with
a ten dollar bill for the troubles he had
encountered.

The story, in the newspapers, came to
the notice of Marion Hedgespeth, sitting
in a St. Louis jail, to which he had been
consigned for a period of twenty years
following participation in the robbery
of the Frisco express. i

“The dirty double crosser!’ snarled
the prisoner.

When he had finished his remarks he
sent an application to the governor ask-
ing permission to write the Fidelity
Mutual. His communication was impor-
tant, he said. So writing materials were
provided.

Hedgespeth told the company that
for a time one of his fellow prisoners
had been Holmes, then bearing the
name of Howard. While in the jail
Holmes had told Hedgespeth that there
were many easy ways of making money.
One of them was the fake corpse racket.
He intended when he got out to insure a
pal of his by the name of Pitizel, stage a
fatal accident with a body, and collect.

Only he needed a slick lawyer, and
could Hedgespeth give him the name of
one. If so, he stood to make five hun-
dred dollars. Hedgespeth gave the name
of Jeptha Howe, who had all the re-
quired tricks in his brief case.

Now he read that Holmes had pulled
off the scheme, that Howe had collected
the cash, but neither of them had
remembered his cut. He was raising a

18

yell and didn’t care who heard it, so | ~

long as the dirty crook got what was
coming to him. ‘
This letter fell like a bomb into the

insurance office. They placed the case in |

the hands of Pinkertons, and on
November 17, Holmes was arrested in
Boston on a charge of fraud.

He was inclined to dispute the
matter, but when it was suggested that
he was wanted in Texas on a little
matter connected with a stolen horse,
he decided to come across. He acknowl-
edge fraud practiced in connivance with
Pitizel. Pitizel was still alive. He had
obtained a body from a doctor, whose
name he would not disclose, and had
arranged the setting upon which Mr.
Smith stumbled. oe

“Where is Pitizel now?” he was asked.

“Pitizel? Why, he’s in South America
with three of his kids.”

“Which ‘three of the five?”

“Alice, Nellie and Howard.”

Mrs. Pitizel, who was living with the

eldest daughter, Dessie, and the baby, in :

a house which Holmes had rented for
her in Burlington, Vermonit, was panic-
stricken when she heard of fhis.

It was the first she had known of it...

As far as she knew, Alice hed gone with
Howe to Philadelpha, and then Holmes
had placed her with a widow lady in
Kentucky. He had thenvisited Mrs.
Pitizel again, and had carried off Nellie
and Howard to join Alice in this nice
country home,

The authorities thought the story
queer, and arrested Mrs. Pitizel. She was
transferred to Philadelphia, and there
was Benjamin Pitizel, who had not yet
been found, and Jeptha Howe, was
charged with defrauding the insurance
company.

Then the insurance inspector began
to quiz Holmes.

“You say you brought this body, to ne
impersonate Pitizel, to Callowhill Street

in a trunk?”
“Yes.”

“How did you get it into the trunk?” -

“T doubled it up.”

“Who helped you?”’

“No one, I did it alone.’’.

“The body was stiff when you re-
ceived it?”

“Yes.” | :

“And to get it into the trunk you had
to destroy the rigor mortis?”’

“Yes, naturally,”

“Then will you explain by what pro-
cess you were able to restore the stiff-
ness to the body?”’

Holmes was stumped.

“Well, I guess I’d better tell the truth.
That corpse was no fake: It was Pitizel’s,
I was all set to go through avith the fake,
when the night — a .ccvole of days
before the body was fouriu” — I went to
see Benny. I got the shock of my life
when I found him stretched out on the
third floor. He had let Chioroform run
into his mouth out of athe. He had

4

Into the thirty-four years‘of his life he
pecked a most villainous career of

crime. Tried for one murder, he
admitted twenty-seven!

been drinking hard and talking depress-
ed, so I knew he had taken his life. -

“I stood: there looking at him, I was a
bit sore he had spoiled our scheme and -
then I got to thinking. So I carried him
down to the second floor and laid him
out with the bottle and the pipe and the
rest. The face — well there was a
painter’s torch — pretty nasty, yes, but
he was past feeling anything and I was
thinking Mrs. Pitizel should get some
money.”

“You gave her some of the nine
thousand, one hundred and seventy-five
dollars?”

‘*Five thousand.”

“So, if Pitizel is dead, he cannot be in {

South America.”
“That’s right.”
“And neither can his children. Where
are they, Holmes?” ;
“They’re in England.”
The authoroties started to search for .

the missing children, but had not found 5

them when in June, Holmes was put on
trial for fraud, and pleaded guilty. But
his sentence was postponed.

A graver matter was in question. Mr.
Graham, District Attorney, questioned
Holmes.

“Where are the children? Unless they
are produced, you will stand trial for
their murder.”

Holmes said they were with a Minnie
Williams in London, where she had
opened a message business. He thought
the address was Vedar or-Vadar Street.

Holmes tried to explain this, and
‘finally got himself so involved that his
questioners believed nothing. An investi-
gation was begun into the life of H.H.
Holmes.

He was a farmer’s son from New
Hampshire, coming from upright, God-

fearing people, without trace of open |

immorality or vice in the family history.
There was a general impression that

Holmes was a young man of no con- ;

sequence, and no one paid much atten-

sors pipe reer areas

ra

Sanaa toate? ot acta eae hat aaea eae ame a

f
| Bas
Wt.
_¢

Emily Cigrand loved Holmes, posed as
his wife. Then she mysteriously
disappeared, and was never seen nor
heard from again!

4
ee

de:

Of this trunk, Holmes made a coffin
that held the grisly remains of two
children he had first doped, stuffed
inside and asphyxiated,

_tion to him, Herein lies the strange urge

which drove this inconspicious, colorless

young man to crime. He wanted power, :

the power of life and death, at any cost.

He first tried the fake corpse trick at
college, and collected one thousand
dollars from an insurance company on
the supposed death of a student accom-
plice,

From college he went to a lunatic
asylum in Pennsylvania and was on the
staff for a time. A

We next find him in Chicago, a drug-
gist, and a successful one, so prosperous,
that he was able. to ergct a four-story
building of apartments, offices and
stores at the corner of Wallace and
Sixty-Third Streets. It was ornamented
with sham battlements and turrets and
became known as Holmes’ Castle,

One of his tenants said he was con-
sidered the best druggist in town. He
was also the biggest swindler he had ever
known, the tenant said, but only de-

Minnie Williams was another who
couldn’t resist Bluebeard’s charm. She
obligingly willed him her property
. before he ended her life.

Benny Pitizel met his death because he
knew too much. Through him, girls had
come to Holmes’ castle, never to be seen
again. °

{

frauded those who could pay. He never .

paid a cent for the iron columns of his
building and beat the contractors in
three courts. He used city water for two
years without paying a cent, leading the
authorities to believe he had an artesian

well. : :

But these’ were innocent frauds in
comparison with Holmes’ other secret
activities within his own part of the;
building, discovered when he was
charged with murder. Detectives found
that he had operated a crematory in the
cellar for the disposal of infant bodies.

When the police finally went through .

the castle, they made amazing discover-
ies, The living rooms used by Holmes
were on the second floor. From his
bathroom there was a secret stairway
leading to the street and also to the
basement, which Holmes reserved for
his own use, The entrance was through a
trapdoor in the floor of the bathroom,
concealed by a rug,

Ff

<:

There was a chute running from roof
to basement, with an entrance from the
bathroom. On the third floor were other
trapdoors. One led to the room used as
the laboratory of the drugstore on the
street level, and another to the bath-
room of Holmes’ drugstore. .

In Holmes’ offices on the first floor
were sound and airproof rooms, without
a particle of ventilation, Anyone shut in
them would perish.

It was in the basement that the police
made their most suspicious finds, Be-
neath the floor were two large sheet-
iron tanks, In them were bones. On the
cellar floor being dug up, human ribs,
teeth, etc., were found in quicklime. In
an ash pile near by were pieces of linen,
in a filthy blood-stained condition.

There was a dissecting table stained
with blood standing in the middle of the
cellar, Built into the wall was a furnace,
in which were found such things as
buttons, the metal work of a trunk, a
watch chain. In one of the tanks was a

white fluid which gave off an over-
powering odor. It was supposed to be
acid used to remove flesh from bones.

At that time, a man named Connor
had entered Holmes’ employment in the
castle and brought with him a hand-
some, intelligent wife, and a girl of nine.
After a time, Connor quarreled with his -
wife over the attentions paid her by
Holmes and left her and his daughter.
They stayed with Holmes’ for five years
when they disappeared. Holmes told
people they had gone back to Connor.

Clothes identified as belonging to
them were, a year later, discovered in
the castle by the police, And the janitor,
Quinlan, admitted that he had accident-
ally seen Mrs. Connor’s body, but had
said nothing. ~

Emily Cigrand followed Mrs. Connor.
She was a typist and employed in a
hospital where Pitizel had been a
Patient, Pitizel recommended her to
Holmes, who took her to his house. The
girl fell a prey to the man. They passed
as Mr. and Mrs, Gordon. Finally, the girl
ceased writing to her parents, and
disappeared that December.

Shortly afterward Holmes gave one of
the men he had working for him a
female skeleton to mount. Early that
year, also, he gave him another, with
flesh still adhering to the bones, and
told him to cleanse it with fluid kept in
a tank in the laboratory.

As Miss Cigrand had departed, the
druggist looked about for another
obliging typist. That was when Minnie
Williams came into his service, and like
the others, surrendered to his
mysterious and compelling power.

She had property in Texas, and
Holmes persuaded her to deed it to him
before marriage.

The Police bared the fact that in
February of the following year, Pitizel,
who was a friend of Holmes then, under

(Continued on page 64)
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64

BLOODY HARVEST

(Continued from Page .19)

an alias, deposited a transfer of this
deed in Fort Worth, Texas. He was
joined by Holmes, under the name of
Pratt, and both men began to build on
Minnie Williams’ property.

Though Holmes would not admit it,
the authorities felt sure that Minnie
Williams was dead. Then where were the
three missing children?

Detective Geyer, assigned to find the
children, alive or dead, did not cease
until his task was completed to the
satisfaction of the authorities. It stands
as one of the most patient and intelli-
gent pieces of detective work ever
performed. :

Geyer found that Holmes, after
getting Nellie and Howard from Mrs.
Pitizel, picked up Alice and arrived in
Cincinnati.

Then, under the name ci A.C. Hayes,

‘he rented a house at 305 Poplar Street

and paid a month’s rent in advance. A
woman saw him driving up on an ex-
press wagon with the boy Howard.

Standing on the steps, the woman
saw that the only object taken out of
the wagon into the hovse was a huge
iron stove.

Coming out, Holmes caught her eye
and stared at her. He pushed the boy
back into the house and closed the door
abruptly behind him,

Whatever his plans were, he changed
them overnight, for next day he rang
the doorbell of his innocently curious
neighbor.

“Excuse me, lady,” he Said glibly,
“but could you use a good stove? I just
moved it in yesterday, th'n xing to stay
here for a bit, but I got word I have to
go to Chicago on business. The stove is
yours, if you'd like to move it into your
place.”’

As she hesitated, he added:

‘Nothing to pay on it. All paid up,
lady. Help yourself.”

She accepted the gift and saw him
and the boy leave the house.

On OctoLer 1, Holmes went on to
Indianapolis with the three children and
registered at the Circle House. He did
not stay there himself. Staying with him
at another hotel was a wornan to whom
he was married, who was in: total ignor-
ance of her husband’s deings a few
blocks away.

Investigation revealed t.at she was
one of three of Holmes’ wives living at
the time of his arrest, none of whom
knew of the other’s existence.

All the children had been told that
Pitizel, their father, was alive, but had
to hide from the police.

They seldom went ont, and spent
much of the time drawing and painting,

and writing to their mother. Later, in
Holmes’ possession, were found the
pitiful letters written to their mother,
which never reached her. The letters
related how they went to the zoo, how

, they bought a wonderful glass pen, how °

Alice, the little mother, was worried
about Howard, who would not keep
himself clean, and was getting so he
would not do what he was told. The
poor kids cried a good deal.

Holmes now rented a_ house in
Irvington, a suburb of Indianapolis. He
had told the hotel keeper that he was
the children’s uncle, and that he was
going to take Howard to an institution
for delinquents. He told little Howard
he was taking him to see his father.

Howard said good-bye to his sisters
on October 10. They were, so Holmes
said, to follow him in a day or so, if
they were good.

Geyer’s blood ran.cold when he came
across this stove. There were dark stains
on it. It was Holmes’ incinerating
apparatus. ;

And prying about the chimaey,
Geyer made his first ghastly find —
bones, teeth, the charred remains of the
poor boy. He had been strangled and
dismembered.

In a room of the house, in a closet,
were a spinning top and a pair of old
and battered shoes.

What story Holmes told the two girls
we do not know, but they trustfully left
with him for Detroit, where they were
registered as Etta and Nellie Canning.
Holmes took them to a boarding house,
cautioning them to be silent, as their
father was in greater danger of arrest.

Next day Mrs. Pitizel arrived in
Detroit with Dessie and the baby,
Wharton, Instructed by Holmes, she
went to Geis’ Hotel and registered as
Mrs, C,A. Adams.

Three blocks away were her two girls,
still writing letters which Holmes was
confiscating.

And within reach of these two par-
ties, each ignorant of the other’s pre-
sence in Detroit, was Holmes’ wife, who
had no conception of what her husband
was doing when he was out of her sight.

You have probably seen on the
vaudeville stage a lightning ‘calculator,
who works out a complicated mathema-
tical problem, answers questions, reads a
newspaper, writes sentences upside

down, backwards, all simultaneously — _

and marveled at the processes of the
brain.

But here we have Holmes performing
an equal miracle. Living three separate
lives within the atea covered by a few
blocks, a triple liar in the present, while

A. ok
his mind was working upon the deeds of
the past and the scheme for the future.

A week later the chess player moved
his pawns once more. The three groups,
‘under his secret guidance, moved on to
Toronto, and registered at three differ-
ent hotels,

Next day the killer took a holiday.
He went with his wife to Niagra on a
day trip, and returned ready for work.
He rented a pretty little house at 16 St.
Vincent Street, a rose-covered bower.

He called on his next door neighbor,
Mr. Ryves, an elderly Scot, and intro-
duced himself. He said he was getting
the house ready for a widowed sister,
and borrowéd a spade to dig a hole in
the cellar to store some potatoes.

The two girls arrived, and next day a
large trunk, Holmes bought a length of
gas tube, and bored a hole in the trunk
large enough to admit the‘tube. He
doped the two girls, and asphyxiated
them in the trunk.

He was just finishing his task of filling
in the grave he had dug in the cellar
when there was a knock at the back
door,

Laying down the spade, he answered
the knock. It was Mr. Ryves, who stood
there, beaming.

“Sorry to trouble you, sir, but if
you’re through with my spade I’d be
glad to have it.”

“Tl be through with it in a minute,”
said Holmes. “I’ll hand it in to you.”

“‘Right-o. No hurry.”

“Much obliged. By the way, my sister
has changed her mind and isn’t coming
here, I guess we won’t be neighbors, I’ll
be done with the spade right away.”

Geyer, when he got to the house on

his grim trail, discovered a trapdoor in
the kitchen leading to the cellar, and
going down, saw the earth had been
distrubed. At the depth of three feet
were the remains of Alice and Nellie
Pitizel. 7 - é

Holmes, when later confronted with
the evidence of this crime, said it had
been committed by Minnie Williams and
the mythical Ed Hatch as revenge upon
him,

After his horrible work at 16 St.
Vincent Street, he was ready to remove
the remaining members of the family.
He moved Mrs. Pitizel from place to
place until he located her at Burlington,
ready for the slaughter. She was now
frantic to know where her children
were.

And then the arrest chitked the kill-
er’s plans for good.

He was put on trial in Philadelphia,
charged with the murder of his friend,
Benny Pitizel. The murder of the child-
ren was not charged against him in this
trial.

Sentenced to death, he was hanged
May 7, in Philadelphia.

Before death he sold a confession to
the newspapers for seven thousand five
hundred dollars. It confessed to twenty-
seven murders, including Minnie
Williams, his various typists, the child-
ren, and Pitizel. Pitizel he had found in
a drunken stupor, and had stifled with
chloroform.

It may be wondered why Holmes,
whom some criminologists have called
the criminal of the century, spent so
much effort and money in carting the
Pitizel family all over the country; why,
in fact, he bothered with them at all.

To begin with, Pitizel had to be

_ silenced for good. He knew too much.

He had been the means of bringing
several girls to the castle, girls who had
vanished. In one of his sprees he might
betray Holmes and the unholy schemes
he was carrying on.

So Pitizel, having been insured at a
profit, was snuffed out, There remained
the family. Mrs. Pitizel was terrorized
for the time, but sooner or later she
must demand retribution for her hus-
band’s death and Holmes’ cruel de:
ception in giving her forged bills. The
children were asking too many quest
ions. There was danger, grave danger in
their talk, So they must be removed
from the path if Holmes was to know
any peace,

And there is no doubt that the whole
Pitizel family would have _ been
annihilated, and nobody the wiser, had
not Hedgespeth, in his righteous indig-
nation over being double crossed,
thrown a wrench into the works.

It was greed which hanged Holmes.
He saved five hundred dollars and saw
his castle crash to ruin.

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30 NATION

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Q Continued from Page 29

Drugstore. Holmes purchased
the shop and began construct-
ing his castle across the street.

The next year, he wed Myrta
Z. Belknap without bothering to
divorce his first wife, Clara
Lovering. Pregnant, Belknap left
him within a year, moving back
in-with her parents. He didn’t

. divorce her either and got mar-
ried again in 1894 to Georgiana
. Yoke.

His charm and good looks
wooed countless women — and
enhanced his talent as a get-
rich-quick schemer.

Holmes supplied countless ca-
davers to medical schools, selling
them for $25 to $50 whenever
he needed quick cash.

He also dreamed up the in-
surance swindle that would be-
come his undoing.

Insurance scam

Holmes took out a $10,000 life
insurance policy on a friend, |,
Benjamin F. Pitezel. Their plan |:
was to fake Pitezel’s demise, sub-
stitute a body and then collect
the money. Instead, Holmes
burned his pal alive in Philadel-
phia so he would not have to
split the take.

Jailed briefly in Missouri,

; Holmes shared a cell with the
infamous train robber Marion
C. Hedgepeth, “The Handsome
Bandit.” Perhaps wanting to | | °
brag about his own criminal
prowess, Holmes told Hedgepeth
about the Pitezel scam.
Hedgepeth squealed.

Holmes was arrested in
Boston in 1894 and extradited
to Philadelphia for Pitezel’s mur-
der. It was then that Detective *
Frank P. Geyer began a futile
search for three of Pitezel’s miss-
ing children.

Children murdered

The bodies of Alice and Nellie
Pitezel were found in a cellar in
Toronto and Howard Pitezel’s re-
mains were found near Indi-
anapolis. The Pitezel girls had
been stuffed in a trunk and gassed;
Howard was poisoned, burned and
then dismembered and buried.

Holmes pleaded not guilty to i
killing their father and his trial i
began on Oct. 28, 1895 with '
Holmes firing his lawyers and

- questioning the prospective ju-
rors himself. He was convicted of
- first-degree murder on Nov. 4. :

After he was convicted of
killing his accomplice in the “tri- :
al of the century,” Holmes con-
fessed to 26 other murders. He
later recanted and several peo-
ple he said were dismembered,
burned and bludgeoned turned
up alive and whole.

Holmes was executed in a gala

‘ public event at Philadelphia’s
Moyamensing Prison on May 7,
1896. Witnesses said he main-
tained his cool to the very end,
even telling the executioner not
to rush. “Take your time. You
know I am in no hurry,” he said.
It took Holmes more than 15
minutes to die.

Upon his death, the New York
Times reflected, “It takes a very
convinced opponent of capital

uinishment to maintain that any
better disposition could have been
made of the wretch Holmes.”

PACIFIC DAILY NEWS, Thursday, June 6, 199


mo; Our Dar,
sgenorg, JO.
heya, Ve Milam
rs, J. L. Hull,
ynoan, Those
Tlean, Jenkins
Samuel R.

, J.C, Neely,

ope, J.L. Hill,
bherry Jr., W.
m. Arch Mo-
Neely, W. P.
. B. MoPher-
hie, Jobn R

bert E. Wible,

bof Fink and
nd Shorb, ia
lopea Sunday
o’olosck. En-
he back door.
b in the door
ear which ob-
to the office
door of the
rem the inner
open, wreck-
secured the
8 kept, more
elng on hand.
tes and papers
harbed. Tools,
re left behind.
plosions, but
larm, This is
use has been
hg been blown
The job was
bd their buai-

iting wedding
aday evening,
ran papsonage,
parties were
clerk at the
Misa Minnie
. The cere
Rev. P. Liv-
church. The

Geiser, sis-
he groomeman
\fter the ocere-
aa held at the
bh was largely
and friends of

hterred in the
ing 1898 ;

Wraver &
It

for the Wayner-
ii make shbip-
asd the goxds
faardays without

Bopt. 10-0¢

‘| Tate, Dickson and Stewart, of Gettys-

my Saviour.’’

Meaowhile tho
erected immediately suuth of the jail cor-
ridor were being tested and the rope put
in readiness. Sheriff J. 1 Plank, who
managed the Coyle hanging, ¥as consult-
ed about the drop and other details. The
soaffold is 14 feet high and 6 feet square,
From the beam to the platform is 8 feet
and from that to the ground 6 feet, The
springing of the trap was £0 arranged
that by the pulling of a string the bolts
holding the platform were loosened and
it fel] ke a cellar door would part, No
one could see who pulled the string.

gallows, which were

As eleven o'clock drew near the crowd
about the jail inctoased rapidly. Within,
were probably two hundred persons who
bad secured passes, The trees in the
vicinity were crowded with persons anx-
jous to satisfy their morbid curiosity.
At 1106 Sheriff McIlbenny, the -con-
demoed man, the Rev. Hugh W. Gil-
christ and District Attorney Duncan
emerged from the jail door, which was

shielded by a black screen, and mounted
the scaffold. Sheriff MecIibenuy an- |
nounced that Ifeist wished to make a
statement. With his bands manacled be- |
hind him he eaid in a clear yeice, in sul. |
stance as follows:
“Tam dying an innocent man, God
knows thatlam. The District Attorney |
bas been my enemy and done all be could
to’ prevent delay. Evemiecs and money
have brought this about. He sides in
with them and did not do his duty, He
aides in with the guilty man.”?) Mr, Dun.
can protested to the Sheriff against per-
mitting Heist to proceed in this manner.
Heist, coutivuing with the consent of the
Sheriff, said, ‘I am going to mcet my
God presently and what [ say is true. |
have a right.to make a statement.” He
referred in a rambling way to counterfeit-
ers and made some ridiculous accusation
against O. W Bowers, Fiy., who was the |
attorney in the case when he was scnt to
the penitentiary from Franklin county.
He said, ‘I have my Giod to meet in al
few minutes. I don't blame Ceorgo |
Reese—he was put up by others. Money |
ia taking my life.’’ He thankeJ ox Sberuff |
Stoner and Sheriff Mollheony for their
kind treatment and said he bad no grudge
against anybody. Ifo made a statement |
which he said he had given to the Sheri't. |
Continuing he said, *T have done more |
for Goorge Reese than a brother.
my mouth abut too much for my owa}
good. I promised not to say anything
anless placed on oath, and baven’t biok-
en my word. Don't blame Reese, al.
though monvy has takou my life. Don't |
think he done it a purpose. |

Ashort, fervent prayer was mado for
the. condemned man by the Rev. Mr. |
Gilchrist, after which Sheriff Mc{lbenny
pinioned his legs above the knees and
above the ankles. As this was being done
a colloquy ocourred between him and the
District Attorney. Upon being reminded
by Mr. Gilchrist that he had forgiven
everybody, be said be forgave him (Mr.
Duncan) too. While tho noose was being
fitted about his neck he smiled. The
black cap was then soon adjusted and the
minister bade him good-bye. ‘*Gogd-bye,
sir,” came the firm auswer from his con-
cealed lips. Tho drop was pulled at six
minutes after eleveu o'clock, and the
body plunged at least four feet down-
ward. There was no horrible jerking or
any sign pf suffering. It was the judy-
ment of the physicians presept—Ira,

I kept i

burg; Rice, of McSherrvatown ; Gieun,
of Fairfield; Smith, of Centre Mills,
Rether, of Biglerv tio; Wolf, of East
Berlin ; Sheets, of New Oxford, and Cor-
over Miller, of Abbottstown-—that death
resulted from strangulation, Weartbeats
were perceptible fourteen minutes after
ward. At11 30 he was pronounced dead
by the physicians and at 11.59 he was

then went to livo with his aunt,

cut down and carried jnto the corridor of

suip, 1 WHOse father ® barn L6 slept t C)

previous night, aod surrendered to Sheritf

Stoner.
‘THE TRIAL,

The case came up on Monday, the 25th
of August, Judge McClean and Associates
Jenkins and Donohue on the bench, and
was tried before the following jury:
Jacob Giesey, Oxford towusbip; John J.
Small, Mouutpleasant ; Samuel H. Stray.
er, Latimore; D. B. Gouker, Germany!
Joseph Miller, Reading ; Joseph Colgan,
Oxford township; John E. Plank, Cum.
berland ; John Geiselman, Oxford town-
ship; William A. Trostle, Huntingtos .
George Hulick, Straban; Charles .
Gochenour, Reading ; John Irwin, Frank-
lio, Charles 8. Duncan, Esq., repro-
souted the Commonwealth and George J.
Benner and John Reed Soott, Esqs., the
defendant. Tho jury retired to the room
at 4 46 Saturday afternoon, September 2,
and the verdict of guilty, as indicted,
was rendered at 5.20. Onothe 7th a mo-
tion and the reasons for a new trial were
filed. They wera heard ou the 20th, the
motiou was overruled aud the death sen-
tence was pronounced, Governor Pat-
tison tixed the 14th of December for the

execution On the Sth of December a

| hearing was granted by the Governor and

a ropriove, until January 17th, was given,
A commutation of the death sentence to
one vf imprisonment fur Jife, was asked
of the Board of Pardous on tho 4th of
January, but the next day an adverse do-
cision was reached and the Sheriff was
uotified to proceed with the execution,
HIS LIFE,

Henry Heist waa born near Waynes-
boro’ twenty-eight years ago last June.
Ifis mother is said to bo a good woman of

' her class; his father is a bad charactor.

The boy was raised under abuse and at 14
years of age was driven from home. He
Mrs.
John Henry Barnes, of Fayetteville, She
says he was always a kind’ boy and was
never cress or surly. Tle was 5 feet 6
inches tall, weigbed 150 pounds, having
gained 20 pounds during his continement,
and was a splendidly developed man
physically. His record io Franklin
county is an unsayury one as the follow-
ing convictions will show :

December 8, 1847, he was found guilty
of wantonly discharging a pistol at BLP.
Shockey but sentence was suspended bo-
cause sentenes was inflicted for another

crime the next day, The same day, Do-

| comber 8, he was found not guilty ef ma.

licious mischief and aseault aod battery,
oath of Joho A. Menn.

December ‘i, LEST, he was sentenced to
two years and ten months in the peviten-
tiary for larceny, oath of John Shank

VFebroary 25, 1804, be
fifteen woutbs in tha penitentiary for lar-
ceny, oath of Jeremiah Shockey.
LOMRIST 7

was septenved to

Mn, ALKA.

The Rev. Hugh Gilebrist, paste: of the
Presbyterian chitrch,
great interest in [feist and give
religious instruction ho iveeie: dy says Le
was one of the :nost iguorapt men be has
ever met. Ifebad to be taught religions
truths asacbildis the AJ} Cs, and fie-
quently be would exclaim, ‘'{ never knew
these things.”

Tucsday aweek, Mr. Gilchrist said, he
seemed to realize what it was to yo to the
judgment bar, and seemed to be disheart-
eved about his condition. While in this
frame of mind Mr. Gilchrist pressed bim
to acknowledge his guilt,if guilty. When
charged with other -ains Heist looked
sheepish and grew red, but abont the
Youn murder he steadily insisted upon
hia innocence,

On Monday, the 8th, he desired to give
to Mr. Gilchrist, asa memento, the half
dollar he received from the sale of Moun’s
axe. Mr. Gilchrist declined to take it and
told him to keep it until be oould, from
his heart, forgive every person,and then to
send the coin to the family of Monn with

who hrs taken a

tomothe

gury:

Wiison, William Cubean, Step' en Speak- .

mano, Jolin Black, Sr., James McCosb,
William Bigham, Johan McKnight, John
Pedan, Arehibaid Soyd, John Harper,
John Stewart and Samuel Kennedy.
Thaddeus Stevens, then a young lawyer,
defended Iuntec with great ability and
made a high reputation,

The execution cccurred on the 3rd of
Jannary, 1319, ut tho forks of the Taney-
town and Emmitsburg roads, and was
under the supervision of Sheriff Samuel
Galloway. The ‘Gettysburg Blues,”
counmmanded by Captain William 8. Co-
bean, did guard duty that day.

James Green, colored, at a flitting in
Menkllen township, on the Ist of April,
1952, killed Samuel Mars, also colored,
with: a pistol heavily loaded with shot.
[fe was convicted of murder in the first
degree at the November Court by the
jury composed of the following : Emanuel
Neidioh, John Coshun, A. W. Maginley,
Jéseph J. Kerr, Sebastian Haeffer, Sam-
vel Diller, Henry Felty, George B.

| Thomas, Franklin Hersh, Henry Mayer,

George Chritzman and George Hager-
man, The jury deliberated five bours.
The exccution occurred in the corridor of
the jail on Friday, the 15th of April, 1853,
and was conducted by Sheriff John Scott.
. John Coyle was the next one to suffer
the death penalty. His crime was the
killing, on May 30, is31, of Emily Myers,
the maid who worked with his father’s
family aud of whom he was enamored
Because al c steadily refused his proposals
oY niarriage, he shot her through the
beart ay she was milking the cows early
that morning, Ilis father lived at Coyle’s
Ferry, along the Susquebanpa river in
York county. Alo was convicted at the
trial in October; but a new trial was
gianted because Judge Wickes erred in
ipstructing tho jury on matters of law.
The defeudant was granted a change of
venue beeanse of the jutense feeling
against him in York. Tho case was tried
before Tudyo MeCloan, at the April Ses-
1883, and the following jury:
George W. Lady, David Bricker, Jobn
Dabs, Abrabam Waybright, ©. 3, Har-
ver, James N. Kelly, Levi M. Plank,
John F. Bowers, Oliver F, Neely, Jacob
Ji. Grass, 8. H. Eicholts and Joseph
Rebert. The iury deliberated three hours
and then rendered a verdict of murder in
the rst legree. Strenuous etforts wore
made to save the prisoner’s ncok, aod
another appeal was taken to the Supreme
Court, Judge McClean was sustained
and the Governor and the Board of Par-
dons refusing to interfere, the execution
was soc for Tueaday, the 22nd of April.
': took place in tbe jail-yard at tho rear
of the corridor, and was conducted by
Shoriff J. 11, Plank, with the following
A. W. Storm, William Duttera,
<r, V.d. Group. &. Myers, James W.
Qckor, IL. S. Briokerhoff, Jr., P. H. Stru-
binger, J. Frank Brinkerhoff, Samuel
“aber, Peter Shively, Samuel Wolf and
N,G, Wilson.

“rederick Smith was convicted at the
August term of Court, 1849, of the mur-
der of Frederick Forster, a German tailor
of Arendtsville, The jurors were: Jobn-
Musselman, Jr., Frederick Bittinger,
James Patterson, John C. Ellis, Daniel
Trimmor, Peter Smith, Peter HR. Noel,
Joseph Kepner, James Thompson, George
Culp, Peter Sell and Robert Cobean. He
was sentenced to death on the 24th of
Heptember and committed suicide in his
cell two days Jater.

Aato tho firat three exeoutidns in the
county, there is and was no doubt of the
guilt, and the exclusive guilt, of the
parties eoavicted,
‘the Heist cases, there is not the same
universality of judgment. Ou the other
hand there is a wide-spread bolief that—
if guilty ab all—ho was not exclusively
guilty, apd that the whole truth was not
revealed on the trial and has not yet been

revealed, It may be held by some, in

sions,

As to the fourth case, .

of the Colleg.
York Ideal C
evening. .. The
one. Mins Pris
readers that bas
She was recall
double encore,
“Dreaming” ab
on that sweet in
was a now instr
was delighted
ing, as well as
singing of Mis
a very sweet vo

Building

A branch of
and Loan Asso
in this place w
and directors:

President, C
president, E. M
E. Spangler;
Attorney, 8. Md
iam H,. &™
Schriver, I. A.
The membershi
dues sixty cent
ments are to be
of each month.
and are expeste

The |

They are con
in St. James
cburches, Crd

diences have

manifestly enj
the excellent 8
chorus, Preach
cert Saturday.

BaLtimone J
Jan. 25th the p
aion to Baltim
with the first c
Train leaves (
Returning, lea
P.M,

PHONOGRAP
Friday evening

Tune will
goodsbargains
W. Weaver &

TonPip Live
other aliments,
vigorous by the
Vegetable Pills

Tnx ohildreo
lected. Cold i
Ely's Cream
porfeotly safe
the nostrils,
to it, Price

One of my ¢
charge from b

Consumptioa,
have never ¥
oine, one trial
bas wonderfe!
eases of 0
bottle is guar
olaimed or
bottle free
Large bottles

Tx C

ota. for O


—!

HI PPLE

ey ne Sg Si ey ee ey tt ~—

* The Lieutenant Governor's startling revelation electrified the defense

County jail looked up as Sheriff
Ralph Obert opened the cell block
to admit a new man.

The arrival of a prisoner attracts
more than a passing interest in the tiny
jail at Laport, Pennsylvania’s smallest
county seat. The town itself has a popu-
lation of 163 and the whole county boasts
only a few thousand people.

“Boys, here’s another companion for
you,” said the Sheriff,

The newcomer stood hesitantly until
the huge door banged shut and the Sher-
iff started back to his office with his keys
jangling discordantly at his side. The
stranger’s cellmates, after perfunctory
greetings, sized him up as one who
wouldn’t be with them very long. Since
county court was not in session, it meant
he was not under a definite sentence but
would be detained only until he was able
to post bond. His manner and good
clothes suggested he might have friends
who could be counted upon to furnish
bail.

After a general discussion of the
weather, current events and other small
talk, the newcomer, Number 4, expressed
a desire to “look around a bit.”

“Sure, you might as well, even if you
won’t be here long,” said the youngest
of the trio, and offered himself as guide.
One could surmise that he had talked

Te: three prisoners'‘in the Sullivan

* The boy watched apprehensively as
the band was strapped about his arm

By WALTER A. STEIGLEMAN

himself out with his cellmates and rel-
ished the chance to begin again with a
stranger.

At the other end of the cell block, out
of hearing of the other men, he suddenly
turned to the new prisoner and confided:

“I’m Hipple.”

“Hipple? Hipple?” Number 4 re-
peated as if to recall a name that should
be familiar.

“Ernest Hipple,” the young man en-
lightened him. Then lowering his voice
more for effect than for caution, he con-
tinued: “I’m the fellow who killed old
Jennie Porter.”

“Oh, yes, I heard about that,” Number
4 told him. “For a man who got the
death sentence, you don’t look worried.”

“Why should I? The dumb doctors
think I’m not right in the head, and the
Pardon Board will listen to them next
week.”

Number 4 appeared uninterested and
made no reply.

Laporte’s main street had been buzz-
ing for days over reports that Hipple,
self-confessed slayer, was boasting that
he had fooled the doctors twice by “play-
ing dumb” and that at a new examination
ordered for him he intended to “play
damn dumb.” Hipple, the reports said,
was certain the Pardon Board would
“take care of me because they wouldn’t
burn a man who isn’t all right.”

Now for the first time since his day in
court, the slayer was getting a chance to
strut before a new audience.

His story, now part of the official rec-
ords of the Sullivan County court, began
with the death of his father when Er-
nest, one of eight children, was only a
year old. The mother later married her
husband’s bachelor brother, but a sepa-
ration ended this union within a few
years. To support the family, the mother
cut timber and did other jobs in Sulli-
van County’s lumber industry,

Ernest, when only fifteen, came out

second-best in his first brush with the
law. He and two older youths spent sev-
enty-six days in jail while awaiting trial
on charges of stealing a box of flashlight
batteries from a railroad station plat-
form. They were found guilty and pa-
roled for one year.

At twenty, Hipple married a fifteen-
year-old girl who bore him a daughter
within a month. While his girl wife con-
tinued to reside with her parents, the
youth remained at his own home, work-
ing at intervals as a farmhand, a laborer
on the state highway, and in the dis-
trict’s thinning lumber camps,

Across the mountains, one hundred
miles to the west, the Port Alleghany
section was rainbow land for Sullivan
loggers. Lumbering still flourished there
and the higher wages had lured many
men from the Laport area. Hipple wanted
to join them but the little matter of $3.50
for a bus ticket kept him at home.
His irregular (Continued on page 6)

RUE DsrecTivs
rea (944

War B

a a ey re)

veg oe te .

pon

G

PMI RELL EN

ETTYSBURG STAR AND SENTINEL, Jan. 23, 1894

af

i LCE

of Uom-
& brother,
the West

will be
teviiou to
alos, He

@lar em-
rtment of

RS ee Ayes

1s finally
the same
the same
er which
is ebarge.
mang eccrming

0 troops
bout 40,-
The

| the for-
: 3 : iiasion to
fren teas natsein ce ly Ah is

xe pat ere, the mew.

, eerie efore the
, ere ? lo, Bwepe
: wing for-
The Law
itemiller;

dur Bar,
So fiat, I. CO,
Ss Ae = ee William

Ls Bi,
arn 2m

sean at FAD LAW'S

bo parents, |

Css peeved at

Henry Heist Pays the Death Penalty.

HE MOUNTS THE SSAFTOLD WITS COUR-
AGE AND DIES PROTESTING 35
* INNOCENCE. STRANGULA-
TION CAUSES DEATE.

Wednesday morning in the jail yard a
gad ending came to the life of Henry
Heist—a life much of which had out been
spent in a creditable manner. On the
game scaffold on which John Coyle, ai-
most ten years ago, paid the penalty for
the murder of Emily Myers, Henry Heist
was, by the mandate of the Law, usbered
into sternity.

He had spent the night in sound and
refreshing sleep. Retiring at six o'clock,
with the exception of one short Waking,
‘he slept for ten hours. A hearty break-
fast was eaten and he was inno way agi-
tated by the preparations he knew were
being made for the taking of his lifo,
The Rev. Hugh Gilchrist, his spiritual
adviser, was with him early and held re-
ligious services. When not talking with
his fellow prisoners or the few newspaper
men, he spent the time in singing hymos
and songs. His ecolmess and composure
were remarkable. The day previous he
expressed a desire to see the scaffold and
wondered who would be the cooler man
at the critical moment, be or Sheriff Me-
Ubennyv. He was dressed iu the custom-
ary black suit of elothes, and bis photo-
graph, a copy of which wo print below,
was taken by Photographer W. Hi. Tip-
ton.
Sheriff Stoner had an earnest oonversa-
tion with Heist and urged him to make a
true statement of the whole affair so as to
meet his Maker in the right way. He
stoutly declared bis iunvcence, as he has
done all slong.

To a representative of this paper he ac
corded his Jast interview, it Leing con-
cluded at 10.30 o'clock, just befure the
corridor was cleared for the tinal prepara
tions. Ifo was perfectly calm and did
pot show the slightest trace of nervous:
pess. {Je said iv substance:

“One half of the county knows 1 am
innocent. Plenty know as much about.
the case as do They kept quiet to
hurry me out of the roal It is bocause
I knuw tov much about other people. |
ketched some of them counterfeiting and
hauling people they killed away to the
phosphate factory iu Waynesboro, ‘They
knocked peddlers in the head and. killed
people from the boarding bouses at BMon~
tereyand Pen Mar. It was going on
most every year, but I seen the most of
it from ‘82 to ’84. This ain’t the only
time they tried to work me out of the
road—it has been tried belore. They have
gota spite at me. I die an innocent
man. Didn't say anything against Reese
antil I had to.”’

In answer to 4 question about the Hol-
linger murder, he said the mao who kill-
ed him was dead; that the I[follingers
knew al] about the murder, but other
people clused their moutbs. No time re-

firm hand-shake through the cell opening,
the reporter retired. {

Bhortly after Mr. Gilchrist was admit
ted to his cell and when bis uncle and
aunt, Mr.and Mrs. John Henry Barnes,
of Fayetteville, were auuounced, he said,
‘now there will be a scene.’’ They wore
moch agitated and it was difficult for
Heist to retain his composure His aunt
was concerned about his spiritual condt-
tion and asked if he was ready to meet
hia God. He replied, ‘I am ready to
meet my God, trusting iu Jesus Christ,
my Saviour,’’

Meanwhile the gallows, which were
erected immediately south of the jail cor-

ridor were being tested and the rope put

Mandate Execited

mained to pursue the subject and after =

the jail. Here an autopsy was held by
Drs. Tate, Goldsborough, Dickson, lice,
Glenn, Stewart and Walter H. O'Neal.
There was a biulsh, purple color in bis
face, aud all the v {tal parts were found to
be in a bealthy cuodition, The brain, it
was thought, was uoder the average
weight for a man of his size. The body
was then pat in charge of undertaker J.
Wm. Garlach, and later’ in the eveving
was buried in the grave-yard at the
Alms Howse. The jury chosen by Sterilf
Mclihenny to witness the execution were :
D. H. Reiman, Liberty township ;. Rufus
C. Swope, Fairfield ; E. G. Cook, New
Oxford; Dr. Wm. H. Hollinger, P. H.
Btrubioger, ALbuttstown ; Penrose Myers,
James W. Excholtz,'N. G) Wilson, Get-
tysburg ; George J. Grove, Straban tuwn.
ship; Joseph G. McKinney, MecSberrys-
town; N.¢. M. Miller, New Oxford; EK,
H. Lippy, Littlestown.

By a misunderstaudivg vr disobedience
of orders, the big gates of tho jail-yard
were thrown open almost immediately
upon the falling of the trap and a wild
rush by a mol of meu Was made for the
gallows, [t was with the greatest difil-
culty thay were checked and driven from
the yard.

if. NEIST, fro:

va Phe
taken two f

ey Win. H. Tipton:
murs before ‘exocution

TUR ' RIM.

The crime for which Heist was hanged
was the murder of Emanuel Mone. Heist
apd Montt were wou tcboppers, living in a
amall cabin in the mountains west of this
place, not far from the Franklin county
line and Maria Furnace. On the first of
February, 1598, Monn disappeared, but
aa he had expressed hig intention of go-
ing away nothing was thought of it.
Heist was asked as to Monn’s where-
abouts, but told contradictory stories and
suspicion began to be directed toward
bim. Ile remained at the cabin until the
first part of March, and then sold the hut
and left with Susan MeCleaf, of whom he
was thought to be fond and jealous, for
Franklin county. During February and
up until the second week of March, the
mountain had been covered with a deep
bed of snow, but on Sunday, March 14th,
it had melted considerably and a party
started to search the mountain in the
tegion of the shanty for Monn’s body, for
it was now the prevailing opinion that be
had met with foul play. Sixteen bun-
dred feet from the ahanty they found
the body, buried under logs, stones and
leaves, in asballow grave. There were
three wounds on the head, and the throat
had been cut by some sharp instrument.
Warrants were issued for Heist and sent
to the officers in Franklin county. He
eluded them, however, and on Saturday,
the 18th of March, he was brought to
town by Harvey Scott, of Freedom town-
ship, iu whose father’s barn he slept the
previous night, and surrendered to Sheriff
Stoner.

THR TRIAL,

‘ &

Fac-siinile of Heist’s Will, in possession of Sherif j

a statement of sincere desire to be right
with them. Ietaliation and not forgive-
ness seemed to be uppermost in his mind
at that time, and he said ke would never
do that at all. Three days later, on
Thursday, he reached the point where he
desired to be right with all men. He
gave the coin to Mr. Gilchrist and said in
substance: You may sce the people and
if you do, take this half dollar and show
it tu them and tell them all, and may be
you can do them some good, Fe meant
that it would touch their hearts and
might be a goud lesson to them,
NOTES,

F) B. Stonaker and Theodore Hawkins
were the death watch,

Heist’s parents jive in Maryland, He
never heard from them aftor the trial and
they did not visit him during his confine-
tient ra jail,

Had friends yisited him from time to
time, the tinal leave-taking woald have
affected his nerve and be would not have
presented the bold front he did.

The Carlisle S-itinel states that one of
the jurors was heard to say that he now
believes Heist was innocent. We have
beard of auother who said Heist was con-
victed on ‘*general prineiples.”’

ILeist may have been a dangerous man,
he may lave merited death for other
crimes committed ; he may have becn con-
cerned in the mo:terof Monn, but there
are many of our best c:tizens who think
he was wot convicted on the evidence and
that it did not warrant conviction.

The eut wo present of Heist was made
from the photograph taken by W. HU.
Tiptun at nine o’clock of the morning of
the exccution. ILlis will, which is a fac-
simile of the paper given the Sheriff, is a
unique document. But little regard was
paid to the usual formalities.

Sberitt Mclihenny is to be congratulated
on the way in which he perfurmed a very
disagreeable duty.

OTHER EXECUTIONS IN THE COUNTY,

Since the county was formed, in 1800,
three executions have occurred; one io
1818, une in 1853 aud one in 1854.

James Hunter, of Mountjoy township,
on the 23rd of June, 1817, cut Henry
HMeayy in the neck with a scythe while a
party of four Were mowing in Larimer’s
meadow at Two Taverns. -[lunter was
angered by the appearance in the field of
Heagy, who had assisted Munter’s father,
aconstable, to serve a legal procsss on
bim. Ilo attacked Ieagy and frightfully
wounded him so that he died within a
week,

A true bill was found against him at
the August Court and in November he
was found guilty of murder in tho first
degree. Judge Hamilton, of Carlisle,
presided and the jurymen were: George
Wilson, William Cobean, Step’ en Spoak-
man, John Black, 8r., James MecCosb,
William Bigham, John McKnight, John

ee a ee ee ee ae eee ee ee ee ee eee

Pedan, Archibaki Goyd, John Harper,
“6s om a - , Ww. Pe

a

.

‘homes, and my on

expiation of the rm |
scene, that the case
thorough examinati¢
eral principies’”’ it
well closed being
many of our best cit
refusal of the Board
mute the sentence
life—so as to be in
vantage of develo
cruel but as an unjo

papers sre only pul.
with all the confusia
fire and adjusting).
the matter jo the iss!
disaster, and now
to extend our thanki
Company for their j
such unfavorable '
also desire to exp’
tomy neighbors si
geperally who so
proffered their aid,
gallant and enthu
young gentlemen
protecting and savi
T am particularly
bors for the care t
personal efforts w

Neving them ofthe
in their houses is, t
able place to store t
Put rooms have
and I will esteem it)
having any of my
seasion, will kindly
send and take away
Rq

Semina|

Robert Pattereon
C., who was obi
studies at the close
of bad health, bas r
work with the Senic

Another German
of Mr. Banfe appear
the present term,
pleted a theological
country, having bee
months German
Wenner, D, D., of
bas entered the
purpose of learning
English Jangpage.
German astadent
year, Mr. Rosenb
last term.

and is not far from

SA Tap ae IS

The Lecture C
ofthe College was
York Ideal Conoe:..
evening. ..The :

one. Perper a

iu

Wm. Garlacti, and Tater in, tine evening |
oLwas buried io the ¢:ave-yar at. the
Alms Hoase. The ‘urs ehusun by Sherif

the jail. Here an autopsy was held by
Drs. Tate, Goldsbor ough, Dickson, fice,
Glenn, Stewart and Walter ii. (Neal.

There was a bigith purple color in bis {
face, aod al! the + its! parts weie found fo
be in a healthy cu titi: The -brain, it
; Was thoughi, was sud r the average |
weight fora man of hia size. ihe body
was then pit in charge of ude '

Ree

ctakec Ty

Mellhensy to witness thee. véution were?
D. H, Reiman, Liberty ‘township ; Rufus
'C. Swope, Fairfie!li ; ES G. Cook, New
Oxford ; Dr, Wm. it Wotinger, PH,
Strubioger, Abbot Lown ; Penrose Myers,
James W. Ficholthy S) ts: Wilson, Get-
_tysburg ; George .j. Grove Straban Lown.
ship, Joseph G.i Mckinney, ATE sSherrys-
town; N. CoM, “Miller, New Os ford | EK:
H. tk Tate! iestowi. .

By a misunderbtauding or Hes bedisnce
of orders, the big gates of the Jjail-yard

*

were thrown open almost immediately
upon the falling of the trap And a wiht
rush by a mob of meu Was made for the
gallows. It was with the gr watest. digi.
culty they we © checked and girs from

€

of 4

i

HEIST, fe" af.
; taken twee toy
se € THE oR ;
The crime for “whieh Teist Was h aged ES
was the murder at Emaunel. Monn.
an! Monn were woodchoy: pers, living in at
amall cabin inthe mountains west of thia}
place; not far fram the Franklin county”
line and Maria Furnace. On» thet est oie
F ebruary, 1803," ‘Monn: disappeared, “but b
as be had expressed hig” intention of go-

ing away nothing was ‘thought. of - it.
Heist was asked as io. Monn’s where-
pouts, but told contradictory Stories and_
Fuspicion ” began to. bo directed toward
him. He remained at the cabin until the
first part of March, and then ‘sold the hat
and left with: Susan MeCleaf, ‘of whom he
was thought to be fond and ‘jealous, for
Franklin county. During February ‘and
up until the Becond Week. “or March,

#

a statemerit
with 1 then. Re
Ne8s BOC: eid fey: be 1ij Le
abt! jal itine:

Ths arslay. be
denise uy
gave the wou t Xa
Psu bsian ice”

“pthehey ax
? i He Cath

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AL hE

if yur th take t t

fet wy

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1,

Wt it

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tii fuorher

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‘unique ‘document.
paid to the usgal, formalities.
‘oe Sberift Molthenny i

on ‘the w ay. ‘in w
disagreeable: eur

aie OTHER EXKeU

Nadia Oy Sana:

Of Sratere es:
Of

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‘ expiation of the haste: which closed the
scenes tist Mie case did not. deserve more
i on ugh erat nf ‘nation ‘and that “on. “gen.
eel Oe vit may: be. -eousidered. aS

se eute ude to anni] prisofment tor
he oh BOR tin. to! take ad-

ID just ae

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Mad “folgetting: the
hi as aati. etfur ris ofthi
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ts $a Va Solas pee et

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eben - carried to their

nn “4 ii Sinai vy

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pobshed weekly, ‘and
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ter tlds Be ul. “efljita under t
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“80: a pt tly. waa Viva is.

-

| tht s place, Muthitaray

Deata ©
Wm. H, Fon
| tysburg Battlefield C
Tuesday at his bom:
been in delicat
months, suffering fro
ness of the heart. H
lust November. Gen
ied Alabama troops at
wounded in this neig!
time after the battle~
ney farm (now Dr. Jk
Marsh creek.) He se
in Congress, and retir
year. Hehad a tast
and served aaa First
war with Mexico. H
personality, and willl
the circle in whioh he
State of which he Was
zen. se
General 1 Willian a,
port, Connecticut, die
was Colonel of the Se
cut Volunteers and mez
Gottyabarg ‘to the d

ments, He was eight
.
eacnorcee whether

| quired, ia thoroughly
blood by. Hood’s Sars
blood py rifler ees

lias

et

4 —
“SK ECIAL out” price <
Carts for Jan. eth at

Baltimore }
. BALTID
FrOU w—-Si uper at $1.75
$205: Samilv, $270@$3.10,
EW patios aitz, 60@65.
(Conve White and Yello
NY e.—-Ciodd to Prime,4$
Oats.--Pennsytvania,?2
Hay.—Timothy, $15.00@
$15.00: C HEN OK, 310, Ws.
‘i oe

“Getty ysburg |

me
May and Stra

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Wheat, Loagberry... ys
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SERS.
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Corn..

Timothy Seed.
Clover Sued?

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ae Sh iis: Mirtoe —Jan. 9,

Rey. P,P. Heiter, Wm. +
township to Miss Annie
wick township. = #*
DSchoonsr Grete
lace, by. Rev. J. K. H
wardori, to Misg Mary J

BE aan agi

‘Eastenvav—Krrr, —Jan

=| Obio, by Rey. a. J. Hawk

ay day, to Miss Anna ‘L. Bo

e by Kev,

Fs Rev. Dr. Swa.

. >a Tybee

. Rupp, -tormerly of thi
~ Heriryo—HEarng, —Ja!
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Joxxs—Kicxxaw.—Deo. :
Willis I,
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Konus —Loxd.—Jan. 1, f
Rev emler, /
Mar

oo


“We're questioning everyone,” Santee
told him, “Right now we’re interested in
your rifle. We hear you carry one prac-
tically all the time.”

“Yes,” Hipple admitted. “T sure do.
Where I go my gun goes. Want to see
it?”

Santee nodded curtly. “That's what we
came for.”

Ernest Hipple reached behind the door
and brought out an old British army
rifle. “There she is,” he said proudly.

The sheriff hefted the weapon in his
hands. ‘This isn’t the one we want, Hip-
ple. Let’s have a look at your twenty-
two.”

The youth shrugged. “T don’t have a
twenty-two. That British rifle is the only
gun I own.”

“Sure about that ?” .

Hipple’s eyes flashed angrily. “Cer-
tainly I’m sure. Are you trying to make
a liar out of me? You can ask anyone.
I don’t have a twenty-two because I
don’t have the money to buy one.”

Corp. Santee was walking quietly
about the littered room. Casually he
glanced at Hipple’s shoes. High-top
boots commonly worn by woodsmen, both
soles and heels were of leather.

“Okay, Hipple, we'll take your word
for it,” he decided abruptly. “But do you
know anyone around here who does have
a twenty-two caliber gun r

“A hunter like yourself ought to know
that,” the sheriff added flatteringly.

; ; ay, ‘ “There are some fellows around here

NARS eee tee Rats mudeesi J » ny ” who have them,” Ernest said thought-

pierre AY oo fully, “but right now I can’t think ofany.”

Tis meer “Look, Hipple,” Obert said bluntly.

¥ ‘ “You were at Porter’s home quite often.

1M Nie iS tteceppe Did you ever notice anything suspicious

; : —did the old couple ever seem worried

that someone might steal their money or
anything ?”

Hipple shook his head. “I didn’t even
know Jennie had any money.”

Emerging from the fields, the killer had entered the Porter farm home through the
back door. He left the body of his victim at the spot pointed out by a neighbor.

the sheriff reminded. “Porter says he “Yes, I told you he carries it all the
visited them often.” time.”
The man smiled grimly. “Hipple is The two officers grabbed their hats.
strange,” he said. “Thanks,” Santee murmured. “We're go-
“What do you mean?” ing to have a look at Ernest Hipple’sgun.”
“Well, he never was any good. Too Hipple lived in Wheelerville, a. tiny

lazy to work more than a day or two to village about a mile and a half from the:
keep himself in tobacco. All he seemed Porter farm. A chunky, broad-shouldered
to think about was trapping and fishing youth in his early twenties, he met the
and running around through the woods officers at the door of his ramshackle

with that gun of his.’ home.
Corp. Santee and the sheriff exchanged “Come on in,” he invited. “I was ex-
speculative looks. “So Hipple has a pecting you'd be looking for me.”
gun?” “What made you think that?” Obert
“Sure he has. Same as everyone else countered.
around here. He carries it all the “Because I was at Porter’s house be-
time.” fore we went out visiting. I figured
“Did he have it when he was over here someone would be around asking ques-
the day Mrs. Porter was shot ?” . tions.”

= oes pena aa nate ats

ea a MT OTS


«

— Ss eee

casts of these prints and then process
everything in the house for possible
fingerprints. Ben Kee will be along
shortly and we'll have photographs made
before things are disturbed further.”

Returning to the house, the necessary
pictures were taken and an effort was
made to establish a motive for the crime,

“It wasn't robbery,”’ John Porter said,
leading the way to the bedroom. “Here is
what little money we have,”

He pulled out an old clothes basket
stuffed with soiled clothing, Inside the
basket was a leather pocket book contain-
ing $110 in bills. A cloth bag in the same
hiding place yielded $6.97 in silver,

Porter explained: “We don’t get toa
bank very often and you always need
money on a farm. About a year ago
Jennie bought $1,800 worth of bonds with
her milk and egg money She never liked
to have too much lying around.”

“Nothing has been touched in here,”
Santee said, glancing about the room.
“Either robbery wasn't the motive or the
killer became frightened and fled without
looking for any loot.”

“There could be one other motive,”
Sheriff Obert said thoughtfully. “Some
mountain people are very superstitious.
‘Hex’ murders aren't particularly new in
this section.”

HE sheriff tamped tobacco in his

pipe and lit it. “Either motive will
Narrow our search to a local man,” he
declared. “If attempted robbery was the
motive we can pretty well bank on the
killer living close by. There would be no
reason for a_ total stranger to select
Porter’s house for a robbery unless he
knew the family had money. And that
would bear out our theory that Mrs.
Porter knew her slayer. All we have to
do is look for the man with those worn
heels.”

“It wouldn't be too big a search,”
Santee decided. “There aren't a whole
lot of people living in this area.”

The sheriff nodded agreement. ‘The
trouble is,” he said, “we wouldn't be.
lucky enough to pick our man right away.
And when word got around that we were
looking at shoes, the killer would do
away with his worn heels before we ever
got to him,”

“Right again,” Santee acknowledged.
“We've got to think of something better
than that. Meanwhile, I want to ask the
neighbors a few questions.”

Boyer and Kinser were already en-
gaged on this angle of the investigation,
There were dozens of persons to interro-
gate and somewhere among them the of-
ficers hoped to find a lead that would
guide them to the slayer. The neighbor
whom Porter had visited was first.

“We've known the Porters for years,”
he assured his official visitors. “They are
honest, hard-working people. They didn’t

Emergin
back doc

the sh
visited t
The
strang¢
on Ye
“\
lazy t
keep |
to thir
and Tu
with t!
Cory
specul:
gun?

oT ace

have a lot of visitors but seemed happy
to go along as they did.”
“Ernest Hipple seemed to like to call,”

arou!
Coroner Joseph Dreier of Bradford time
county, Pa., presented officers with a : “D
puzzling murder case and a lethal bullet. ; the d
80 ;


he men
round as
e road to
ee which
Iwelling
e as that

8radtord
norning
rp. John
Howard
te motor

reeeived
)releron

Porter,
Pa., the
ta local
due to

by Dr.
scovery
r head.
ver bul-

uid. His
pened
ghbors,
i home
in the
victim
sheriff
1 you

ell us

to the

point. He had spent the previous after-
noon at the home of a neighbor. When he
returned to his own home shortly after 4
p. m., he had found the fire out and the
dishes from a noon meal still unwashed.
Several pet cats were unfed.

A call for his wife had gone unan-
swered, Then he had noticed the crimson
stains on the kitchen floor. They led him
to the adjoining bedroom where he had
found the body of his wife. He had hur-
ried to a nearby farmhouse to telephone
the doctor.

“THe report of the first physician is
that Mrs. Porter was dead for several
hours when found,” Trooper Kinser
said.

“Yes,” the sheriff said. To Porter he
added, “Show us exactly where the body
was when you found it.”

Tracing back the trail of blood from
the bedroom, the officers ascertained at
once that Mrs. Porter had been seated at
the kitchen table, finishing her noonday
meal. From the position of the chair from
which she apparently had toppled when
shot, she had been sitting with her back
to the rest of the kitchen.
Then she was dragged to the
spot where the body was left
on the bedroom floor.

“Did you leave anyone in
the house with her 2” the
sheriff asked the husband.

Porter said that he had
not. A young friend of the
family, Ernest Hipple, had
appeared at the home about
the time Mr. and Mrs. Porter
were sitting down to noon
dinner, Hipple said that he
had eaten but would wait. for
Porter and they would go to
the neighbor’s home together.

“And did you?”

“Yes,” Porter related. |
“We left Jennie still at the
table. She was perfectly all
right then. We walked across
the fields and were at the
neighbor’s house all after-
noon, I came home alone and
found her like I told you.”

In answer to other ques-
tions, the farmer said that
they had no enemies of whom
he knew. They had kept quite’
a bit to themselves. His wife
loved pets and usually had
several cats about the place.

From neighbors, however,
the officers learned that some
superstitious persons in the
area had looked upon the
numerous cats with alarm. In

a section of the country where the black
art of “hexing” is still regarded with fear,
this was not an angle lightly to be dis-
missed.

Santee was moving about the kitchen.
“She was shot from inside the house,’
he said. “There are no broken windows
and no bullet holes anywhere. And if she
was shot from inside the house, the killer
must have been someone she knew.”

“You mean because she apparently was
sitting at the table?” Obert asked.

“Yes, She trusted the killer enough to

turn her back on him and go on eating. -

From what we know, the killer could
have been standing near or sitting in this
chair across the kitchen.” Santee indi-
cated another chair on the other side of
the room.

The officers agreed that the fact that
Mrs. Porter was shot in the back of the
lead obviated the possibility that the
killer had fired while forcing entry into
the house at gunpoint.

.“Porter probably almost saw his wife’s
killer,” Obert said. “She was slain be-

fore she had finished eating of had

\

several minutes missing

activities

This brawny youth was trapped when detectives found
rom his “airtight” alibi.

cleared away the dishes. Yet she was
nearly through when he and Hipple
left.”

Porter repeated his account of the noon
as the detectives rechecked
every step.‘He stated that on the way to
the neighbors he had passed no one,
friend or stranger, in the vicinity.

“A tramp could have seen Porter and
Hipple leave the house,” an officer sug-
gested. “Then he could lie low until they
had passed before going up to the house.”

“You forget that Mrs. Porter appat-
ently knew the person who killed her,”

Sheriff Obert reminded. “At any rate, I

doubt if she would have letia tramp sit in
the kitchen and then turn her back to
him.”

The sheriff walked to a window and
looked outside. “There’s some snow on
the ground,” he said. “Perhaps we coul
track the criminal. It’s a cinch he didn’t
leave by the front door—it’s locked on the
inside. That leaves the back. He couldn't
drive up to the house in the rear—the
road’s too rutted—so the chances are
good that he cut across through -the
woods. There might be some
tracks in the snow.”

Had the snow been heavier
their task naturally would
have been easier. As it was,
each small patch of white
was carefully scrutinized in
the faint hope that the killer,
eager to flee the scene of his
crime, would not be too.care-
ful where he walked.

Corp. Santee got the first
break. “Here’s a point,” he
called excitedly to the search-
ing men.

Tt was a man’s print and
a large one. Painstakingly
they followed the trail be-
yond the barn, across the
fields and through an
orchard, only to lose it near
the base of a large apple tree.

“He's heading for the
paved road,” ‘Sheriff Obert
remarked, noting the direc-
tion of the last visible prints.
“Probably had a car parked
there.”

“You're right,” Santee
said. “He could head toward
Wheelerville and on over to
Canton, or he could have
gone toward Shunk and over
the ‘mountains to LaPorte.
Either direction would put
him miles away from here by
now.”

“Some persons claim to be
able to tell the height, weight.
age, color and everything
else from a footprint,” Obert
stated, “but the only thing
these tracks tell me is that
the killer was wearing a pair
of shoes with worn rubber
heels. What does it look like
to you?”

Corp. Santee knelt and ex-
amined the tracks carefully.

“The same thing,” he said
thoughtfully. “We'll make
79

117


“We're certainly not turning up any-
thing on this case,” Santee grumbled as
they made their way back to the Porter
farm. “I wonder how the other boys are
making out.”

That question was soon answered.
Blanks had been drawn everywhere. The
killer had left no fingerprints and all
questioning was apparently wasted effort.
The entire community was shocked by
the brutal slaying but no one had even a
vague idea as to who might be respon-
sible.

“We've got the bullet that killed Mrs.
Porter,” Corp. Santee declared firmly.
“Somewhere in these mountains is the
gun that fired it. I’m going to find that
gun.”

“Here’s hoping you have more luck
than we did,” Trooper Kinser said wear-

-ily. “Since the murder was committed

almost immediately after Porter and
Hipple left the house and we theorized
that the killer may have been hiding
nearby and watched them go, we started
asking questions. We figured someone
might have seen him.”

“Who did you talk to?”

“Well, there was Emory and Wood-
ward Jackson and a couple of other fel-
lows who were at that neighbor’s home
yesterday. We thought one of them
might have pulled the job before going
there.”

“It's possible,” Corp. Santee admitted.
“How about alibis ?”

Kinser smiled. ‘When a man’s walk-
ing alone through the woods, he doesn’t
have much of an alibi. And that's what
these fellows were doing—walking from
their homes. Porter got there first, then
Hipple dropped in about twenty minutes
later. After that, Emory and Woodward
Jackson arrived, and then the others.”

“Wait a minute,” Obert said abruptly.
“You say Hipple came there about
twenty minutes after John Porter. Por-
ter said they walked there together.”

All looked at the elderly farmer.
“Your man’s right,” John Porter said
calmly. “Ernest left the house with me
but when we reached the woods he
stopped off for a while. I kept on going
and Ernest arrived at the house a few
minutes after I did.”

“That makes a difference,” the sheriff

Prints of a shoe with worn rubber heels
were followed across the field. They van-
ished in the direction of a paved road.

exclaimed. ‘Twenty minutes are missing
in his alibi.” ,

“It doesn’t matter,” Santee said quietly.
“The other men have more to explain
than Hipple. He doesn’t own a twenty-
two rifle,”

Porter offered his own .22 rifle for ex-
amination. It recently had been fired
and he explained that he had shot at a
crow two days before.

“Send all rifles to headquarters for
ballistics tests,” Santee ordered. “What
is more, I want you to find and check
every twenty-two rifle in this section. If
a man says he doesn’t own such a gun,
talk to his neighbors and find out if he’s
telling the truth. I want every rifle
brought in to me.”

The assignment was accepted with
alacrity. Hours were spent.walking to
secluded farmhouses, questioning men
and women—and gathering rifles. More
than a dozen guns were on hand when
the collection was finally complete.

“A regular arsenal,” Santee said. “No

one knows anything about this crime,
so we'll see what the guns have to
say,

A report was not long in coming. One
of the test bullets matched the death slug.
Characteristic markings proved beyond
the shadow of a doubt that both bullets
had been fired from the same gun.

The gun had been found in the home of
Emory Jackson, one of the men who had
been present at the gathering on the day
of the slaying. °

“Okay,” Santee said gruffly. “Let’s
pick him up, Sheriff, and see what he
has to say.”

Emory Jackson said plenty. The gun
did not belong to him, he asserted. It
belonged to a man by the name of Jock
Landers, who lived in the nearby town of
Shunk. But Jackson had not borrowed
the weapon. It had been left at his home
by Ernest Hipple !

Hipple was picked up while strolling
along a road, his old British rifle slung
under his arm.

Trooper Howard Kinser of the Pennsylvania state motor police helped round up
guns belonging to persons in the vicinity. One was found to be the murder weapon.

“Chin
Corp. Sal
ask you <

Hippl C
and sat ‘

“Ernest

ingly,

trwenty-t
an | ray ,
ently
it you
“Wek:
Santee
vou bor
left it)
Mrs. Por
Als
erily
gave
ever si!
Bot}
while
brought
could ni
laborat:

Detectiv
Her kille


40

HE SET UP A PRODUCTION LINE — USED PRETTY

CIRLS AS RAW: MATERIAL!

HERE were three men in the small, simply furnished

room. One of them was dark, short and possessed of
glittering, crafty eyes. One of them was broad, blond and
husky. And one of them was dead.

The little dark man was Herman Webster Mudgett. He
was 25 years old and a medical student at the University
of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His face was long and thin and
flanked by a pair of prominent ears. At the moment, he
paced a threadbare carpet and puffed nervously at a pipe.
Clement Hardy, the big blond man, who was Mudgett’s
roommate at the university, sat on the far side of the
room. There were two locked suitcases on the floor at the
side of his chair..

The corpse, whose name no one knew or would ever
find out, lay supine in Clement Hardy’s bed. It bore some
facial resemblance to Hardy. It was possessed of his
general build and coloring, and was clad in a pair of his
pajamas.

Hardy glanced nervously at the body in his bed, He

said anxiously, “You're sure everything’ll be all right?
My train leaves in half an hour. When will you apply for
the insurance?” ’

“Not for a week or so,” said Mudgett. “It’s true this
cadaver looks like you. But I want the face to decompose
a little so there’ll be no doubt about the identification. You
just lie low and don’t worry. I'll send you half the money
as soon as I collect.” .

Hardy stood up, picked up the suitcases and went to
the door. “All right,” he said, “I leave it in your hands.
Sometimes I think you're crazy, Herman. Sometimes I
think you're a genius.”

He left the room, leaving Herman Mudgett alone with
the corpse. This was the first time Mudgett had ever been
alone with a dead body. It was, by no means, the last.
This incident, his first venture in crime, was to demon-
strate to him that there was money in corpses. It was a
lesson Mudgett would never forget.

The plot had first occurred to Mudgett’s murky mind

t

Lio ds ioe

A Ae RE

CL y a ” . Ly cH /
Whe re ( Le

eee

sia ee ie Se Ss


ace

H. He HOLMES (HERMAN W. MUDGETT) (Chicago, Illinois)

"Dre H, He Holmes, who during his sojourn in the city in 1893
and 1894, turned out to be a sort of exterminator who may well have
averaged a murder a weekeeeeeHolmes came to Englewood in 1887 while
it was still a separate municipadaity, aid he got a job as a pharmad s1
in a drugstore owned by a woman who appears in the records merely as
'Mrse Dre Holdan"ececeeIna a yearesehe was made manager of the store e!

"In 1891 a beautiful young woman named Julia Connor came to Chi-
cago accompanied by her husband her eight-year-old danghtereceeeHe
(Dre Holmes) hired both Julia and the spouse, who turned out to be
so negligible that his name never got into public printe In 1892
the Doctor was involved with Mrs, Holden in a litigation over his
accountSeeecHrSe Holden went away - nobody kaww where ~ and Dre Holme:
took over the drugstore@eces

(The "castle" across the street from the drugstore) "It was a
dingy pile of brick, three storied high, 150 fte long and 50 ft,
Wide@eecescoe"(Financing of castle)"He cashed bad checkse He floated
loans on nonexistent properties.e He doctored the books of the drug
storee Then, after transferring it from one dummy titlehoder to
another, he morggaged it in the name of the last fictitous OwWneLles ee *

XeeoeeeJUlia Conners! husband disappeared almost on the day the
building was completedeee.Julia moved into the castle with Holmes,
From the Tobey Furniture Coe, the doctor ordered and received enougn
moveables to outfit a hoteleseecA few weeks later, when Holmes'
check turned out to be no good, they sent squads out to repossess &
their wares. But they never got anything back save Some disheSeeee
The doctor, it seems, had stored all the furniture in a ballrooms
After that, he had sealed up the entrance with a brick wall whicn

he painstakingly plastered and papereds...The doctor died a fairly

POOEN “pee cout


if MEANS
the Montgomety
ef feod for thaught
Democrats who con-
he fosion leaders ta

“others of Alabama
adress te white De-
the Chairmen of the
tral Commitee of
papecially those Hoes
warn them tbat ne-
iste political assects
TO Withortt falling to

tree, and they kaow
te the political is as
Bite fhe nyaterin! bred,
therefrom te as «iff.
chairman. Eapecially

reumrks be prayer

hy the white men ot |

sion whe walted all
fh out what a couren
(a few whites and
fe miajerity would do
he coormon ticket
the Populites walling
g becnuse the urgroes

d when nest morning!

presented with twee
hat gathering of
daa their part of the
ion was rXtified by
d net
any evidence of Deing
e In two years

oppowiag the Demo-
Alubanva will bave to
he Democrats and the

hegro party.”

the

Ng OF HOLMES
Holmes io Philadel
vex from life the moat
Inalt of the eentury
hie that ne
mpathy fram bis fe}
ferizinly poke toat
record deserved
* his  toany
ii his comluct wand de

jews

“i bet age thought
haw been looked. upon
rank rather thoo 8
& lth, bot a milliion
evimipfl than tbe

hident that ha wee not)

sane tind eal) have
wutrd the mamy dark

He wae gality, Hib the}

digpht wed. ilk char
e wtery phase of th
de My sa gaetota, bold
1s

r

der after another that

ter hbima & fae art
eavering wp bis guilt
ie to emedtrace Bn

bday tm undertook

ot

h @utire Tairilly for the}
ining 4 large sum of
fs this Ke Wrae run to
y the long afring of
te door wae unraveled
Defotr : ‘ hit. the
i 1g coolnegs
FLATS trim @y
ur blishing for 8
I é aing
at before this
‘T tet t was
q Poms i t} “an

hh an bene

a mon of their]

the

man evet;

andi

So rapidly id, be

PO ee

a |

News comes trou the West that the
Biand beow js still forging abead. A
Minsourl newspaper says that it re
ceived a contribution of $1 from a
man who lives way out is wood
comity, Kas, Of course the detlah was,
ailver,

pine sii me ai Bi

It ie atated that Harrison is the man
on whom McKinley’s rivale will com-
bine after the first ballot, wich lads
te the conclughon that are some
anti MecKinieyitee who do wot yet
kpow that they ere whipped. \

Ht

i‘
Sees eh ?

eer iy }
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
wickaien tintin

Onty 20 of the 51 States and Terrd
torles that seod representatives to the
i National Convention bave elected dete
lyatew, leaving 135 of the O19 which
| constitute the convention, to be deter.
wiped, The fumber of covterted seats
in stated, upon the authority of Mr
Clagkscu, to be 81, Of the Srates
which baeve not yet attended te the
impertaut duty of instructing thelr
deiegntew to the Republican gathering,

‘the most important are Califoruta,
lasith 18%; Michigan and Miseourl, 10
each: and North Csrolina, 1h votes,

Ibe rem@ining 82 are scattered among
iT Terfftorivs, States. and the District
of Columbia. Vhe preference ef the
l7o detegates thus fer elected with
i their tithes clear to seats, about 400 are
| divided iu thelr Presidential prefer-
Tencen and 2OS are declared to be for
| Major McKinloy.-Pittsturg Chronicle
| felegraph ; .

MACVEAGH'S SOUND ADVIOG

Altgeld’s crusade for free sliver tp
i iitinuds is being ably resisted by Hon
{Pranklin MaeVeagh, Democtatic cau-
| dia ve for Unite! States Senator at
lthe late election In that State whe de-
elares that the Kepublican party is te.
1 iteyg Papiaiy focused on the principles
f protertion and sauna money, aud
‘that if the Democratic party ball at-
tempt a straddle it will not be recog
inigahla. after fest. “Bat if we
|stand squarely against the dashonest
ldatiar we ehall completely celiminate
lithe currency question frgm the cau.
paige. and have an open field to meet
the Republicass on ibe isete. af tte
recivnal of MéKinivvism.” This qe the
tem? polities and the feet Dtapoeracy.
lv the Hthnats Democrats have wit

the

s

‘i they wilt listen to MacVeagh aadclose

thetr to. «6Altgeld.—Philadelpaia

livcurd

ears

| CLRVELAND AND KRUGER.
Presidents Cleveland end Kruger ap-
pear (o possess irate v Barra Apt ip
coummog, Kach. es eturdy as an, oak,
esol yoder crying circumstances, a
clover diplomatiat, and peculiarly ex-
axpersting t¢ his. enemies Cleveland
land’ Kevger bare: each brongit John

Bolf up with a rognd turn, assuming @
i position upon whieh he’ does not fil
cnoce. At the same time thelr. ete-

been discom fitted
Masses

mipa at home have
We sireogsth with the
NOW S

tier

Savannah

HARRIS’ HOME AGAINST HIM.
Harris has bad notbing to
ay abdat the resolts of the Demoeratic
inaries fh his own coanty of Shelby,
the State of. Tennessee, but no doubt
haa thought about it with anxiety
Hlarria ts one of the leading ad
if tree efiver, and Memphis Je
tnt bis constituents do net

menaraer
pr
| it
ty

Shoat
voce tes

; bis here

i ee AP hie tinge on the currency [thee about the trap.

Is the, Oareer “of- H. H.
Holmes, the Demon.”

SBLF-POSSESSED AND COL

He Died ax He Had Lived, With-
out Fear or Concern and
Thosghtiges of the

ip
me

“Fotore. 3

WA. _
WONSTER MURDERER OF THE CENTURY

Puiladeiphia, Pa, May 7.~-Murderet
Herman W. -Mudgett, alias H. H.
Holmes, was banged this morning in
the county ptison for the killing of
Benjamin F. Pttegell,

The drop fell at 10:12 e'clock, and
twenty minutes later he was pro
nounced dead by the prisun physicians,
Dra, Sharp and Batcher.

The execution was im every Way en
tirely devoid of any sensational feat-
Ofea Vo the last Holmes was self-pos-
s@ssed and coul, even to the extent of
giving a word of advice to Assistant
Superintendent Richardson as the lat-
ter was arranging the final detalla
He died ax be bad lived, unconcerned,
and thonghtiesy apparently of the fu-
ture, even with the *recollection still

Fs eaeniateanientantitentiieneta eaten a mene estan

ii

. HOLMES
Hanked in Pbvadetpain today.

before him of his recent don

+
vividly
feasion, in which be admitted kitting
& score of persons of hoth sexee antl tn
; all parts of country.

He refuted everything and almost
bie last words were a polot blank de
nial of any crimes commilted, except

by mal-practice, Of the murder of the
eeveral members oP the Pitezel family,
bo denied ali campleity. particularly

he was suffering the penalty

Then with gow prayer of the «piritual
attendants Atl sounding in his ears
and with A few low apoken words ft
Holmes swupe.

Mrs. Pitexel,
St. Louls lawyer. apd himself, it was

eptha D. Howe,

fo his “confession” that Holmes ac-
cused Howe of recetving $2,500 for his
ahare in the transaction.
Howe was indicted for conspiracy,
but recently the case against bim was

a k

Soon after Holmes was brought to
Philadelphia, Detective Geyer visited
him in the county prigon im relation to
the finding of tadebody at 1316 Cal
lowbill street on September 4, 1504.
After-an hour's conversation with the
wily Holmes, the detective emerged
fromthe prison with a “confession,”
in which the accused said yhat the
body wae not that of Pitepel, but was
ope substituted to defraud the jnsur-
ance company.

A week later Holmes honored Geyer
with another “confession.” “Me. Gey-
er," he aald, “that.story I told you
about the substituted body ix not true.
It Is the body of Benjamin F. Pitezel,
but I did net murdér bim or bis chil-
dren. On Sunday morning, September
2, 1 found Pitegel dead in the third |
story of the Callowhill street house. 1
found a note in a bottle, teling me
that he was tired of jifo and had fi-
nally decided to commit suicide. He
requested me to look after the insur

i then fixed up the body |
These cbil-

They
on don, |

aud family.
in position it was found.
dren you «peak of are all right
gre with Minnie Williams in 1
I gave Howard to Minnie Will!
Detroit and sent Alice and Nelle to her

for Europe from New York.”
Berween this tine and hie trial for
conspiracy to defraud the Ipsurance
gormpany, to which he pleaded guilty, |
fiolmes made many other “confes-;
sions,” but they. differed very little |
from those already given. Each time!
he pretended to, tell the truth, but he}
sedulousty avolded doing so. Nobody }
believed what Holmes said about Pite- |
gel, and. he would mot #ay anything |

wore all right.

the deaths of two women at his hand)

of the father for’ whose dearh ire atared |

'He even persnaded
lhave an advertisement in the shape af!
la cipher puzzle Inserted In a New York;
little

inie Williams and. the

iback from Europe, .
itorney placed little faith in what!
| Hoimes had tokt bim, but the adver.)

ltisement wax published as a sort of}

itast and hopeless effort. When the;
‘hoodies of Neliia and Alice Pitezel Were |
| unearthed in Torente, Holmra denind
having killed therm. —
teharred bones were letated In & supmeT
janteated stove in Irvington,
} Holmes calmiy denied any knowledge ,
of the lad’« death. When the murders}
of Miente Withame and
were dixcotered, Holmes sald Minsic
ikilied Nance in a jealous frenzy anil
ibe Duried the body. toa Lake

her mister

Michignn. }
i He vigoreusiy denied baring put Alin. |
Bh i le ‘

ne oe

a

for a divoree, and

jesed it ow

nou-appearance of the compla

Holmes contineed his bigan
reer by marrying Georgiana |
Denver, Col.,on January 17,
assuming the name of Henr:
fleid Howard on this occasion

was

to the first wife, a

the boy whom Holmes is said
made the chief beneficiary of

ceeds of the alleged confes
wh ie murders.
Hoa Was indicted for t

der of Pitewel on September
and he was placed on irial on

28. A

erdict of guilty was }

on November 2, and Novem»
was sentenced to be hanged.
Miss Yoke, with whom Hols
living at the time of Pitexel’
was an important witness for |

monwealth at

the trial and

largely wpon her evidence tha

cused

was convicted, She

Holmes’ absence from their |
house oh September 2, 154,

of the murder) an
dition

of his exe
when he returned {

night the couple left Philadel
went direer to Indlanapolls.

derings

of Holmes through

country then began, And the

with his arrest at Boston.

ince ore Seeeathanebrepeaaen «fat eed

Inside finish in pine, oak, por
mantles, turned columna and |

anes money and take care of his wift| Randolph Lumber & Milling ©

ae

Weber, the clarionct king,

matchless brass and
ams in} orchestra will deligh

| Eas, Lake every Sunddy. Pro’
Miss Wh. | Wi) play one or more

from ‘Toronto. They inet fay
liame in Niagara Falls, and sailed; S00"

orchestra
| Coucert vegias at

reed be
the fp

f tie en
in conjunction with th
Torn out and bear
& o'clock.

s CONCLAY

BIENNIAI

Of the K.nighta of the Ancient

Chrcheé -

Loulavilie, .Kentus

duced Hates vin Alabam
Southern Ralforay.
On accovnt of the Biennial |

of the
about the children, except that they |Order, whieh will convene a

ville,

LABK,

nights of the Ancient

Ky., May 12-14, 1806,

In his many Interviews with District) bama Great Southern rallway
Attorney Graham, Holmes persisted | tickets to Louisville and retar
that the three missing Pitesel children | of one first-class limited fare
were with Minnie Williams in London. rownd trip
Mr, Graham to} 10-12, good fo retarn until M

Tickets will he #

Call oo any agent of the
i paper. for the purpose of bringing Mia-|Great Southern RaNway for fF

apr

SUPERIOR

Pitetels | formation In fegard to tates
he Disiriet At-(achedalea ete.
Merma-12

ee ee

GRAPHITE 1

“There are Others,” but the

one

BEST,

that's “Supertor,

factured by Detroit Graphite |

When Howard's | turing Co., Detroit, Mick. aril
i place it ean he obtained is fr
inc... | Baldwin,

oer? Morris aver

dearer.

Finest Epamel
chairs and
Pata

~ ed

paints fer
articies

fancy pe

Store

OO iv iacaoi fe ot


*

He He HOLMES (HERMAN We MUDGETT) - Continued:

acthve business selling articulated skeletons to hHhospitalsecece
The docter was hanged at Moyamensing Prison in 1895 e-esesce"™
CHI CAGO MEDIUM RARE, by Robert J. BUXXKXK Casey

Bobbs-Merrill Coe

Copyright 1949 & 1950 by the Chicago Herald-Ameri came

Pages 9lelOle

Ww 7

seal

; and the Ins

Pa

N inexplicable feeling of appre- nag Seni:
hension crept over Eugene wasn't the
Smith, a carpenter, as he en- The cz

tered a dirty brick house at 1316 Cal- knowing \
lowhill Street, Philadelphia, about —
nine o’clock on the gray, muggy morn- the paten
ing of September 4th. On the ground ducted
floor was a glass front in which was a halted, ste
canvas sign proclaiming in red and door. On '
black lettering: meet she
i trousers t!
’ B, F. PERRY ing in the
Patents Bought and Sold Smith thz
As he opened the unlocked door lead- Sees
ing from a musty hallway into the front marks on
room where the patent specialist had indication
had his office for the past three perished i
months, Smith knew that something Detecti.
was amiss, for a jacket hanging on a and Coro:
nail hook and other personal effects scene. In
of the-occupant were in the same posi- cob pipe
tions that they had been for the past seen Perr
ten days. This disturbed the carpenter, tobacco to
for he had submitted for Perry’s in- applied. }
spection a model of a device which he mains of
wanted. to patent, and he didn’t like that Perr,
the idea of his contrivance being left. explosion
in an unlocked and apparently un- match to !
occupied house. ably happ
Deciding to look around, the caller first misse
made his way to the second floor of the City De
two and one-half story structure which careful n
Perry occupied alone. In a front room the body.
there he wondered if he would find the with the h
object of his search—a tall, thin, gangly pointing t.
man with sharp, hawklike features— dow whi:
stretched out in his sleeping quarters, morgue, d
intoxicated, Smith had seen him drunk face avid

more than once during the month he
i

In this house on Vincent Street in Toronto, Ca:
found a trinket that had belonged to one of the

TRUE DETECTIVE NOVEMBER, 1!'

7 fi

[RO 2 LDH CTIVE 3

/Ve / [ 7 4 }

appre-
Sugene
ne en-
6 Cal-
about
morn-
ground
was a
sd and

or lead-
ne front
list had
t three
mething
ig ona
. effects
ae posi-
‘he past
rpenter,
‘ry’s in-
vhich he
in’t like
ing left
itly un-

1e caller
or of the
re which
ont room
i find the
a, gangly
satures—
quarters,
im drunk
nonth he

a Vincent Street
sat had belonged

’hUM DETECTIVE

| in Toronto, Canada, investigators

ales,

*
ae

ee

Tae hg

ap

had dealings with him. But Perry
wasn’t there. S

The carpenter shuddered ~ without
knowing why, as he walked toward the
room on the second floor rear where
the patent authority frequently con-
ducted chemical experiments. He
halted, startled, as he’ reached the open
door. On the floor lay a dead man. The
size of the body and the chocolate brown
trousers that matched the jacket hang-
ing in the room downstairs suggested to
Smith that this was the body-of Perry.
A pungent odor assailed his: nostrils.
Broken chemical bottles and charred
marks on walls and floor seemed clear
indication to him that the.man had
perished in an explosion. “ve

Detectives from: Police Headquarters ’

and Coroner’s men were soon on the
scene. In ‘the room they founda corn-
cob pipe that Smith had frequently
seen Perry smoking. It was filled with
tobacco to which no match had yet been
applied. Near by were the charred re-
mains of a match. It seemed obvious
that Perry had come to his death by an
explosion set off when he struck a
match to light his pipe. This had prob-
ably happened when the carpenter had
first missed him ten days before.

City Detective Frank P. Geyer made
careful note of the precise position of
the body. It was lying face upward,
with the head near the door and the feet
pointing toward a large, shuttered win-
dow which looked out on the city
morgue, directly behind the house. The
face and upper part had apparently

to one of the missing children

xovempmn, 1041

been burned by acid and flame. All of
the broken glass bottles and other evi-
dence were carefully retained because
no one seemed to know much about
B. F. Perry, and it was Geyer’s thought
that when and if he was identified the’
authorities should be in a position to
supply to relatives all details of the
death, since such facts might -be re-
quired by an insurance company. |

While the remains lay on a slab in
the morgue behind the brick house, the
Coroner vainly sought to find out
something of Perry’s background.
Nothing on the premises offered a clue.
The owner of the property had seen the
man only when he had rented the place
and paid his rent with: cash. The tenant,
in his late thirties, had divulged noth-
ing about himself other than that he
was an inventor who dealt in patents.
The carpenter, Smith, had likewise been
kept in the dark.

“Did you ever see anyone talking to
Perry?” he was asked.

“Yes, a man he seemed to know quite
well came in the very first time I
called.”

“Know who he was?” |

“No, When he came he walked into
the office and nodded to Perry without
saying anything and then Perry left me
and went upstairs with him for a while.
When he came down he was alone. I
don’t know what happened to the
other man.” ‘

“What'd he look like?”

“He was odd looking. Small, and
dressed all in black. I would say he was

The childish letters of Alice Pitezel
(above) gave the Pinkertons a clue

about thirty-five. He had a mustache,
big brown eyes and big lips that seemed
to be moist.. He gave me the creeps.”
Smith had noticed the hands of
Perry’s friend .as the latter had re-
moved his derby. The fingers were
long, tapering and exceedingly
white.
_A coroner’s jury decided that the in-
ventor had met death in an explosion,
during which he had inhaled poisonous
gases. The : autopsy disclosed, among
other things, that the lungs were badly
seared, On the eleventh day, when the
body was interred in potter’s field, the
Fidelity Mutual Life Association, whose
headquarters were at 914 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, received a letter from a
Chicago attorney, Jeptha D. Howe, in
which the lawyer stated that he be-
‘lieved he knew the identity of the ex-
plosion victim, One paragraph of his
communication said:

+ B. F. Perry is in my opinion actually Ben-
jamin F. Pitezel of Chicago who last Septem-
ber took out a policy in your company nam-
ing his wife, Carrie A. Pitezel, also of this
city, beneficiary. Mr. Pitezel has for some
time been in financial, difficulties and it was
for that reason that he went to another city
and took an assumed name. Mrs. Pitezel tells
me that the name her husband used in Phila-
delphia was B. F. Perry which you will notice
contains his own real initials. She further in-
forms me that she has in her possession cer-

tain letters from Mr. Pitezel from an address:

on Hallowkill Street or a thoroughfare of
some such name in your city. These she has
temporarily, mislaid but as soon as she finds
them I shall be glad to forward them for your
perusal and we can then make arrangements
to effect identification.

Rist

The position of blast victim (above)
- groused suspicion of Detective Geyer

29

“
4
}


CONFIDENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES

| The Secret of Winnin

Now at last you can learn
how to win and hold your
loved one! Don’t miss the
raptures of romantic love.
Learn how to be attrac-
tive to the choice of your
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The art of tender wooing
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It tells you exactly what
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* why many fail out of ig-
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married to a Dr. Harry Holmes. I
wonder if they are related?”

“~ don’t know,” said Minnie.
‘But the incident aroused her sus-
picions. She recalled that Dr.
Holmes owned some _ property in
Wilmette. She also remembered
that it was his custom to go to Wil-
mette “on business” several times
a week.
That night, Minnie confronted
Holmes with what she had learned.
“So your business in Wilmette is
really your wife,” she said. “I un-
derstand now why we haven’t been
married. You have been going to
Wilmette to.see Mrs. Harry
Holmes!”

“That is not true, my dear,”
Holmes insisted. “If there is a Mrs.
Holmes in Wilmette, it is purely a
coincidence.”

“And I suppose it’s a coincidence
that she is the wife of Dr. Harry
Holmes?”

“It must be, my dear. Certainly,
she isn’t my wife.”

Holmes spoke the truth there.
For he was married to a woman
in New Hampshire, under his legal
name, Herman W. Mudgett.

But Minnie didn’t know that. “I
don’t believe you,” she said. “You
have been making false promises
to me. You have been utterly faith-
less!”

The quarrel went on for some
time, until finally Holmes, in his
persuasive manner, induced the
girls to go to bed and give him the

heard the quarrel and later related
details to the police.

The following afternoon, accord-
ing to the janitor, the sisters went
for a walk in Englewood. That was
the last the janitor saw of them.
When he asked about them the
next morning, Holmes replied:
“They have gone to Europe. I am
going to join them as soon as I
have concluded the business deal
I’m now working on.”

Geyer, working with the Chicago
police, looked for further clues of
the Williams girls, but none could
be found. He also learned that,
shortly afterward, there had been
a fire at Holmes Castle, which was
insured for $60,000 in the name of
the Campbell-Yates Manufactur-
ing Company. The incorporators
were listed as A. S. Owens, M. R.
Williams, H. S. Campbell, Henry
Owens and H. H. Holmes.

The insurance company immedi-
ately smelled arson. They quietly
put investigators to work. It was
soon discovered that the only one
of the incorporators who actually
existed was Holmes. Holmes had
left the castle, which was boarded
up after the fire.

The insurance investigators lo-
cated Holmes and quietly followed
him. They found that he had moved
to the Plaza Hotel. Another man,

Benjamin Pitzel, lived with him.

benefit of the doubt. The janitor ~

When the insurance company
questioned his claim on the burned
building, Holmes and Pitzel left
town. Soon afterward Holmes show-
ed up in St. Louis where he en-
deavored to sell some property that
he didn’t possess.

| ae that time on, Geyer had
a pretty good idea of Holmes’
movements. But he wondered what
had happened before that. The de-
tective enlisted the aid of Chief
of Police Joe Badenoch and Police
Inspector Hunt. They went to
Holmes Castle and found it partly
dismantled and boarded up as a
result of the fire.

It was a strange and sinister
structure, worthy of the best Holly-
wood imagination. Indeed, it prob-
ably has served as a model for
many of the horror thrillers that
have come out of the film capitol.

There was a great hall onthe
second floor, onto which opened
mysterious rooms and closets. There
was also a windowless, soundproof
chamber in which anything might
have happened. In the bathroom
a concealed trapdoor opened on 2
stairway to the basement. From the
soundproof room, equipped as an
office, led an amazing network of
wires. These were attached to loose
boards in various rooms and on
the stairways, so that the move-
ments of anybody in the building
were signalled in the office.

On the third floor was a veritable
chamber of horrors, obviously
Holmes’ laboratory. There was a
surgeon’s dissecting table, with all
the tools and instruments necessary
for anatomical research. The
shelves were lined with ample
stocks of numerous lethal gases,
fluids and powders. Another stair-
way led to the basement.

Throughout the two floors, there
were mysterious rooms—closets
without doors and doors that led
nowhere, There: was an elevator
that dropped down into a window-
less well. There was nother ele-
vator—a homemade contraption—
that went to the basement.

The basement contained many
strange objects. There was a huge
stove with a wide opening, beside
which was a bench of heavy boards.
A large, concrete vat had been
sunk into the floor. The cement
floor was broken and _ scarred.
Corners were filled with piles of
boxes and trunks.

In the weird semi-darkness of
that basement, Geyer and the city
detectives concentrated their ex-
plorations. The evidence they un-
earthed was ghastly and horrible.
The bench was knife-scarred and
soaked with human ‘blood. Human
hair was found in splinters. Char-
red human bones were sifted from
the ashes of the big stove. The
dried solutions in the acid vat had

unda

tuna

The de:
in the C
skulls, fr:
teeth cam
the holes
trinkets t

Soon, G:
to reconst:
Victims hz
elevator w:
been slipp "
gas had be
victims wr:
the walls,
through t}
had died.

Then he
dropped th
door into
bench, he
apart, tossi:

the acid va
been eaten
specimens }
his third-f
form his ho:
ments.
Once he

dissected bx
them in the }
portions tha
been buried
concrete flo

“He hired
itor said why
vertised for

Geyer che
that Holmes |
vertisements.
position:
laborato:

The neight
young women
the Castle. Th
about what
stores.

In the ligh:
obvious that }
ed his partner
Pitzel had be
and Holmes h:
oform in a dr
for the findin

physician that
died of chloro:

In Philadelp)
all knowledge
and Geyer had

“Minnie Willi

he insisted. “0;
enraged at her
over the head
resulted in Nan:
tect Minnie, I
trunk, tied som
and dropped it
gan.”

“You're a gre:
bodies into e
District Attorn
Scornfully. “We!”
see how a rope:
neck.”

But when aut
their evidence,

«

ompany
burned
zel left
‘s show-
he en-
ty that

‘er had
Yolmes’
‘d what
Che de-
’ Chief
! Police
nt to
partly
Ypasa

sinister
Holly-
lL prob-
lel for
cs that
‘apitol.
on the
opened
. There
idproof
might
throom
dona
om the
an

of

v suu0se
nd on
move-
uilding

‘ritable
viously
was a
‘ith all
sessary
The
ample
gases,
Stair-

. there
closets
at led
evator
ndow-
‘r ele-
stion—

many

huge
beside
oards.

been
-ment
arred.
les of

ss of
e city
r ex-
y un-
rrible.
1 and
uman
hear.

m

1e
vc aad

INSIDE FACTS FROM POLICE RECORDS

undoubtedly been used on unfor-
tunate human beings.

The detectives dug in the holes
in the concrete floor. Pieces of
skulls, fragments of bone, human
teeth came to light. Also buried in
the holes were the ornaments and
trinkets that women had worn.

Soon, Geyer had enough evidence
to reconstruct what had happened.
Victims had been dropped into the
elevator well. Then, a glass lid had
been slipped over the top and the
gas had been turned on. While the
victims writhed and scratched at
the walls, Holmes had watched
through the glass top until they
had died.

Then he had hauled them up,
dropped them through the trap-
door into the basement. At the
bench, he had cut their bodies
apart, tossing them piecemeal into
the acid vat where the flesh had
been eaten away. Then, with any
specimens he liked, he had gone to
his third-floor laboratory to per-
form his horrible dissecting experi-
ments.

Once he was through with the
dissected bones, he had dumped
them in the big stove to burn. Those
portions that he couldn’t burn had
been buried in the holes under the
concrete floor.

“He hired a lot of girls,” the jan-
itor said when questioned. “He ad-
vertised for "em in the papers.”

Geyer checked this and found
that Holmes had inserted many ad-
vertisements, offering exceptional
positions to young women as clerks,
laboratory assistants, stenogra-
phers and housekeepers.

The neighbors had seen many
young women coming and going at
the Castle. They didn’t know much
about what went on above the
stores. .

In the light of all this, it was
obvious that Holmes had murder-
ed his partner, Ben Pitzel. Probably
Pitzel had been drinking heavily
and Holmes had given him chlor-
oform in a drink. This accounted
for the finding of the coroner’s
physician that Pitzel had actually
died of chloroform poisoning.

In Philadelphia, Holmes denied
all knowledge of what the police
and Geyer had found.

“Minnie Williams is in Europe,”
he insisted. “One day, she became
enraged at her sister and hit her
over the head with a chair. This
resulted in Nannie’s death. To pro-
tect Minnie, I put the body in a
trunk, tied some stones around it
and dropped it into Lake Michi-
gan.”

“You're a great hand at putting
bodies into trunks, aren’t you?”
District Attorney Graham said
scornfully. “Well, we're going to

see how a rope fits around your
neck.”

But when authorities assembled
their evidence, they realized that

though there was no question of
Holmes’ guilt in at least ten cases
of murder, they might have a dif-
ficult time proving anything. They
had only fragments of various
bodies that couldn’t be identified
and lacked the corpus delicti in all
cases except that of Ben Pitzel.

It was for Pitzel’s murder that
Holmes went on trial in Philadel-
phia. Even so, he might have beat
the case except that he decided to
act as his own attorney. Though he
was clever and cunning, he lacked
knowledge of legal procedure. Ex-
perienced prosecutors soon had him
in a hopeless tangle that ended in
his conviction and sentence to be
hanged. .

Once he saw that the end was
near, Holmes had a final fling. He
sold his story to a syndicate and
began a series of daily confessions.
But his total accomplishments
against society are no better known
because of these voluble stories.
For he was undoubtedly the most
colossal liar ever to come to public
attention. He could lie extempor-
aneously and once he was started,
there was no limit to his expert
fabrications. If he slipped, he was
always ready to unfold an even
more fanciful tale.

He related gruesome tales of

murder—some 27 people all told—
in Holmes Castle. To give spice to
the yarn, he told in detail of hav-
ing duped unsuspecting folk the
length and breadth of the land.
He boasted of innumerable and
clever frauds.

For a few weeks, he was the sen-
sation of the country. Every day
he had a fresh story for the head-
lines. He basked in the light and
could not bear the thought of its
fading until he had gone. On May
7, 1896, Herman W. Mudgett, alias
H. H. Holmes, climbed the 13 steps
to the gallows.

But he paused for a final boast
that would put him on the front
page even after he was only a cold
figure in the morgue: He had
swindled the newspapers. He had
exaggerated. Many of the murders
he had described were pure imagi-
nation.

The noose was slipped around
his neck. His courage deserted him
and he cried out: “As God is my
witness, I was responsible for the
death of only two women. I didn’t
kill Minnie Williams. Minnie killed
her—”

The trap was sprung and the
voice of this maniac was silenced
forever.

Police didn’t know what to be-
lieve. But they have given him
credit for at least ten murders. To
the press of that day, not yet
initiated in the era of super-crime,
this was colossal.

They promptly dubbed him “The
Arch Fiend of the Century.”

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from Pitezel, the indigent inventor,

‘I! need money,” Pitezel said sorrow-
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The vampire’s eyes flitted over the
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dollars.

“You then go to a distant city under
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same build as yourself, and everyone
will think that it is you. Then your
wife will write stating that you were
working in that city under an assumed
name. | will identify the corpse as
yours and you can be in hiding. When
the insurance money is paid, we can split.”
. Pitezel seemed dazed. “It’s dishonest,”
he said.

“It’s easy money,” said Mudgett. “I
can arrange to get the right sort of body
to put in your place. We'll make it look
as though an explosion occurred and de-
stroyed your face. I’ve done the thing
before and “I know it never fails.”

DITEZEL thought of what the money

would mean to his family, and reluc-
tantly agreed.

The next day they went to the offices
of the Videlity Mutual Insurance Com-
pany and spoke to the agent, E, H. Cass.
Pitezel seemed honest enough, so he was
accepted as a risk for ten thousand
dollars,

“Go to Philadelphia,” Mudgett  in-
structed Pitezel, as he handed him a
roll of bills. “That’s the home office of
the company and it will be easier to
collect. Send your family to your rela-
tives. I’ll meet you in Philadelphia in
a few months and we'll settle this busi-
ness,”

Mrs. Pitezel was tearful when her hus-
band informed her of his plans. He
said nothing about the body switching
scheme, of course, but told his wife that
he had an opportunity to go into busi-
ness in» Philadelphia and, until things
were established there, he wanted the
family to go to Cincinnati.

“Mr. Mudgett has consented to look
after you,” he said. “Be sure and do
whatever he tells you as we are work-
ing together on an important matter.”

Pitezel drew his eldest daughter, Dessa,
a girl of eighteen, aside and gripped her
slender shoulders,

“If at any time,” he told her, “you
hear a report that I am dead, do not
believe it until absolute proof is given.”

The girl looked into her father’s cyes
and, frightened by what she saw there,
began to cry.

“Promise never to tell anyone about
this?” he asked huskily, gently lifting
his daughter’s chin.

“Tl promise,” said the girl.

Within the month, Pitezel had onvened
an office at 1316 Callowhill Street, Phila-
delphia, under the name of B. F. Perry.
He found plenty of time to tinker with
his pet ideas and was endeavoring to
work out a formula for a cleaning fluid.

As for Mudgett, he had _ travelled
through the Midwest, and attracted by a
pretty girl who lived in) Franklin, In-
diana, he married her, Ter name was
Georgianna Yoke, and she did not know
that the vampire had been married six-
teen years before to a girl who was earn-
ing her living as a dressmaker in a little
New [lampshire town, After the honey-
moon, Mudgett announced that he had
business to attend to in the East, «and

he left his wife in) Wilmette, [Hlinois.

When he arrived in St. Louis, Missouri,
on his way east, Mudgett struck a snag.
By use of his glib tongue and reassuring
manner he had himself appointed receiver
for a bankrupt drug store. As quickly
as possible he sold the stock and fix-
tures, and was preparing to skip town
with the proceeds, when he was cornered
by the suspicious creditors,

A little group of them gathered in his
hotel room, demanding an accounting
of the money.

“Everything will be attended to in
good order,” promised Mudgett.

“We'll see to that,” said a hard-faced
man, “You belong in jail.”

“Yes, put him in jail, that’s a good
idea,” went up the cry. .

Mudgett lifted a hand in protest.

“Really, gentlemen,” he began. But
a rough hand on his collar, cut his speech
short. The hard-faced man began to
shake him. Someone called a policeman,
and when the bluecoat had restored or-
der, Mudgett was led to the City Prison.

Mudgett made a wry face when he
saw his cell. The walls were grimy and
scrawled with obscene drawings. There
were two cots inside, and one of them
was already occupied by a snoring man.

Gingerly, Mudgett sat down on_ the
edge of the other cot. The cell) door
clanged, and the snoring man_ stirred,
Finally he sat up and blinked at the new-
comer, Mudgett stabbed with his foot
at an advancing cockroach,

“Its no use—there’s a million of them,”
said the man who had been. snoring.

Mudgett gave a little sigh.

Soon he was talking to his cellmate,
who turned out to be none other than
Marion C, Iedgepeth, a notorious train
robber. One thing led to another and

. Hedgepeth’s bragging about his crimes

galled Mudgett. In self-defense. Mudgett
boasted of the easy money he had made
from insurance swindles. Of the Horror
House, he said nothing, but it was easy
to see that Hedgepeth was impressed.

“Tell me the name of a good lawyer
in this town and there'll be some easy
money for you,” offered Mudgett.

Hedgepeth wanted to know more. and
Mudeett revealed that he was going to
substitute a body for Pitezel in’ Phila-
delphia.

“OUT I need a good lawyer to handle
the details. I'll give you five hundred
dollars if you can fix things up.”

Hedgepeth agreed, and wrote a note
which was sent out by messenger. By
the next morning, Mudgett had arranged
through the lawyer to smooth over the
affair of the drug store. Once outside
the gray prison walls, some of his old
jauntiness returned. He hurried down
the street without a backward glance.
Behind his mask of smiles he was settling
the Philadelphia business—and his own
fate as well.

* *” *

A narrow) shaft) of sunlight drifted
through the shutter. Motes of dust
danced in its brilliance as it cut into
the shadowed room and came to rest on
the head of a man lying on the floor.
Slowly, as the hours passed, it) swung
in an are from left to right. But always
the shaft played about the head on the
floor, and by the time the light had
faded to a thin, golden trickle, the head
was beginning to show its effect. The
nose, once firm and acquiline, had be-
come a bulbous mass. The lips were
thick and swollen blobs of purple.

For three days the light) burned into
the head on the floor, bn the third day
there was no nose or lips. Nothing but
a black and featureless. blur.

December, 198

Outside the
in the breeze.

“Bo OR. Per
Sold.” ;

Eugene Smit
ner of his eye
way of 1316 ¢
delphia.

For the thir
on the ground
Perry about a
working on. _
the pages of
minutes passec
ing restless gla:
the clock. His
hanging on 1!
knew why he
amiss.

The coat ha
hook for three
and some tot
Smith had firs:
sinister presen
He crumpled
his feet.

“Perry, oh |
ward the door
cept for the 1

Cautiously
stairway to th
no sign of any
whgn he came
door to the |
that made his

Lying on th
dancing sunliy
feet were toge
across his bre
he had peace!
die. Near Iv
jar. and a co:
had once bee
mustache was
shirt and) arm

7 HIN the

at 13160 C
to Smith's sun
at the room,
tles filled wit
forthwith con
the floor had
attempted to
imity to a bel
mixture.

“It's: Perry,
asked if he
corpse, Wher
initials Bo.
tion seemed p

“Death due
of cleaning fh
coroner's [urs
which was jus’
hill Street.

eleven) day

SEND YC
BUILDINC
by all ed

school] ar
years. @
business

fisted figh


the dead
the rope.
ittle down
ied to the

table, and
When his
e stain in
pened and
nd had in-
held what
re contents
quicklime

ll he had
Jctober he
's parents.
since writ-
ng if you
he present
1 excellent
atter.”
iber Ist.
s dead or
very un-
aything of *
relieve the
father and

igett knew

1ces.
” he told
everything

t kept his
He found
icious girl
met her ‘in
noa little
her as a
action, of
girl and
to $60,000
th, Texas.
icago, and
omised to
ie north to

preyed on
e schemed
to squeeze
s were in-
‘o him on
double its
ime in his
an accom-
o to “Pexas
o the hilt”

ice, a tool-
4d Benjamin
{ of funds.
tall, spare
reamer. He
nd to the

1. Lyman,”
smacked of

sured him.
He knew
support: his
wt have the
ce.
urned from
din raising
he land.
tt. “You'll

Pitezel saw
vant disap-

‘do that Mr.

about — his
gallant as
» considered

drawn up
f the Hor-

>»
~-
t
December, 1936 Master Detective
ror Ilouse to the Campbell-Yates Com- | his invitation to death. The girl stepped

yany. Insurance of sixty thousand dol- to the wall. She opened the first door,
ars was then taken out on the property. — then the second.

One night. Patrick Quinlan returned The blue vein in Mudgett’s temple
frem the saloon before his accustomed — throbbed. Ilis fingers were like steel as
hour. He saw the angry flicker of flames they threw the bolt. He frowned as the
shimmering across a basement window of | door slammed. He thought that he heard
the house on Sixty-third Street. Stum- a muffled scream.

bling to the corner, he turned in a fire At noontime the vampire went to see
alarm. j Anna _ Williams.
When the firemen arrived, the flames “Your sister went downtown to do

were still confined to, the cellar and they some shopping,” he said. “We'll have
were quickly extinguished.» The vampire lunch together.”

had been defeated by his own ingenuity, “How nice,” said Anna Williams, put-
for the thick lining of asbestos that had ting aside the book she was reading.
made the secret passages. sound-proof, had “| think we ought to start with a cock-
also kept the flames from spreading. tail,” suggested Mudgett. “Come up, to
‘The fire prompted, the ‘police to look my office and I'll make you a drink.”
into the incorporation papers of the Anna looked doubtful. “Be a sport,”
Campbell-Yates Company. They found urged Mudgett. j
that the officers were A. S. Yates, Hiram The girl consented and went upstairs
S. Campbell, H. H. Holmes, Henry Owens, to the office. .
and M. R. Williams. Checking on these Mudgett squirmed as she passed the

names they found no Yates or Campbell. vault. [le wondered what she would do

but M. R. Williams proved to be Mr. if she knew what was inside.

Mudgett’s pretty stenographer; Henry  ,, : : : ;

Owens was a negro porter and H. H. HERES to life,” he said, as their

Llolmes was none other than an alias glasses clinked.

for Mudgett himself. , The girl sipped cautiously, and made
“A matter of business.” Mudgett in- a wry face.

sisted, as the police questioned him. “We “Too strong?” inquired the vampire

formed a corporation to protect our In- solicitously.

terests.” The girl sipped again and started to
Aside from the fact that the corpora: cough, ‘The glass tinkled to the floor.

tion was a paper one, the police could She held her hands to her throat, as she

find nothing suspicious. and hence Mud- struggled for breath, The last thing she

gett was released. ‘The building on saw was Mudgett’s face as he caught her

Sixty-third Street was still destined to do in his arms. He watched her die” with

infamous. work. Lo, oh as much concern as one might give to a
Mudgett did not relish the inquisitive- gasping fish that had just been landed.
ness of the police into his affairs. An That afternoon the vampire cremated
investigation would mean nothing less both sisters in the monster furnace.

than hanging. [lence he decided to leave When the job was done Mudgett real-

Chicago as soon as possible, But. first ized that the usefulness of the [Horror
there was the matter of the Williams [louse was at an end. He had been suc-
sisters. Who by this time had moved into + cessful there too long to tempt fate by
his house. remaining. Besides, he had met the po-
. lice once and did not care to repeat the
NE morning he looked at the vault in) experience.
the third-floor office and his thick lips “You'll have to look for another job,”
curled, he told Patrick Quinlan. “This house is
“Why not?” he asked himself. , nothing but a burden to me, Tm closing
All he had to do was, to sit, at his it up.”
desk and wait for Minnie Williams to Quinlan puffed steadily on his pipe. He
answer his summons. It was a cold win- wasn’t at all sorry. In fact, his ruddy
ter, dav and a roaring fire was ablaze face was creased in a smile as he handed
in the huge stove. When the girl finally — over the thirty-seven keys.
came to the room, her cheeks were glow- All the secret rooms and passages in
ing. : : the Horror [louse were closed up, l.ay-
itm sorry Lm late.” she said. “L just ers of earth were spread over the quick-
came‘ back from a walk. [t’s such a lime. pits and the bones of Mudgett’s
wonderful day.” victims seemed destined to cry out in
“Yes,” murmured Mudgett as he toyed — vain, for justice. With the ghastly evi-
with a pen. “But we've lots of work dence hidden from the world, Mudgett
to do. Will you get the books from the thought himself safe for many prosper-
vault. please?” ous years to come.
His face was impassive as he uttered On the day before he was to leave

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nois.
\issourt,

a snag.
issuring
receiver
quickly
nd fix-
p town
ornered

in his
sunting

to in
d-faced
a good

‘st.
But
speech
aan to
iceman,
red or-
Prison.
ren he
ny and
There
f them
gy oman,
on the
ll door
stirred,
le new
is foot
them,”
snoring.

‘Almate.
‘rothan
s train
er and
crimes
ludgett
{ made
Horror
Is. easy
ed,

lawyer
le easy

re, anal
wns to
Phila.

handle
1undred

a note
te. BY
rranged
ver the
outside
his old

down
glance.
settling
ls own

drifted
f dust
ut into
rest on
e floor.
swung
always
on the
ht had
he head
The
rad be-
Ds were
rple.
ed into
urd dav
ing but

December, 1936

Outside the house, a sign swung idly
in the breeze.

“BB, By: Perky. Patents Bought and
Sold.”

Eugene Smith noticed it out of the cor-
ner of his eye as he went into the door-
way of 1310 Callowhill Street. in) Phila-
delphia.

For the third time that week he waited
on the ground floor office, waiting to see
Perry about a stove patent that he was
working on, Idly he thumbed through
the pages of a newspaper, but as the
minutes passed he began to fidget, cast-
ing restless glances to the doorway, and to
the clock. [lis eyes caught sight of a coat
hanging on the wall and suddenly he
knew why he sensed that something was
amiss.

The coat hadn’t been moved from its
hook for three days. The butt of a cigar
and some tobacco ash lay just where
Smith had first noticed them. [le felt the
sinister presence of death in the house.
He crumpled his newspaper and rose to
his feet.

“Perry, oh Perry,” he called, going to-
ward the door. ‘The house was silent ex-
cept for the mocking echo of his voice.

Cautiously Smith yroceeded up the
stairway to the second. floor. There was
no sign of anyone in the front room, but
when he came to the rear and opened the
door to the back room he met a sight
that made his scalp tingle.

Lying on the floor, head bathed in the
dancing sunlight, was a dead man. His
feet were together and his right hand lay
across his breast. He looked. as though
he had peacefully laid himself down to
die. Near by was a broken glass bell
jar, and a corncob pipe lay under what
had once been his chin. The straggly
mustache. was singed, as was the man’s
shirt and arm.

a HEN the Philadelphia police arrived

at 1310 Callowhill Street, in’ response
to Smith's summons, they took one glance
at the room, which held a shelf of bot-
tles filled with inflammable liquids, and
forthwith concluded) that whoever lay on
the floor had met his death when he had
attempted to light his pie in close prox-
imity to a bell jar fillec with an explosive
mixture,

“H's Perry, | guess.” said Smith, when
asked if he could. identify. the faceless
corpse. When a belt buckle with the
initials B. FE. P. was found, the identifica-
tion seemed. positive.

“Death due to the accidental explosion
of cleaning fluid,” was the verdict of the
coroner's jury, summoned to the morgue
which was just to the rear of 1316 Callow-
hill Street.

Eleven days passed and when no one

.

et fire

Master Detective

stepped forward to claim the body it was
buried — in potter’s field, apparently
destined to join the desolate company of
the unwanted dead and there remain for-
gotten.

It was on. September 15th that Mrs.
Benjamin li. Pitezel received a visitor in
Cincinnati.

“Mr. Mudgett!” she exclaimed, as she
saw the dapper little man dressed in im-
maculate black.

Mudgett smiled and extended his soft
hand.

“Don’t be alarmed at what | have to
tell you,” he said. “But we must act
quickly. “There is no time to lose.”

In a few words he explained that the
time had come to test the success of the
insurance swindle.

“Your husband is alive and well, but
you must. write the Philadelphia insur-
ance people that you believe him to be
dead under the assumed name of Ben-
jamin VF. Perry.”

ue woman was bewildered, but Mud-
gett reassured her.

“Pm going to be called into this thing
to identify the body. When | get word
that | am wanted, I| would like to have
your daughter, Alice, accompany me to
make everything look right.”

Mrs. Pitezel recalled her husband’s
parting instructions and agreed.

The letter reached the Fidelity Mu-
tual Insurance Company three days later.
Agent Cass in Chicago was asked by
President Fouse of the company, to send
someone to Philadelphia to verily . the
claim. As was foreseen, he contacted
Mudgett.

On the twenty-first of September, Mud-
gett arrived. in Philadelphia with Alice
Pitezel, a girl of fourteen. With him also
was Jeptha D. Howe, a young attorney,
who represented Mrs. Pitezel’s interests.

“The body is out at potter's field.”
said Fouse. “Before we go out there,
suppose We agree on some points of identi-

fication?”

“As | recall Pitezel,” said Mudgett,
frowning in concentration, “he was a
tall, thin man, with a stragely mustache.
Hlis nose was angular and broken, and his
front. teeth were stained with tobacco.
Most of his back teeth were missing.”

“Any sears or moles?” asked Fouse.

“Yes, he had a wart on the back of his
neck and his thumbnail was split peculiar-
ly. | think he also had a scar on his leg.”

As Mudgett was talking, a newcomer
joined the group in the office.

“Inspector Gary—Mr. Mudgett,” said
President Fouse, introducing his ace in-
vestizator.

Mudgett held out his hand. Gary felt
its soft. and boneless warmth. For a

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Master Detective

second the Inspector's eyes. lingered on
Mudgett’s suave features. ‘Then he went
on to greet the others.

“! think we are ready now,” said Presi-
dent Fouse.

When the party reached potter’s field
they found that the grave had already
been opened and that the body had been
removed to the morgue for their inspec-
tion,

As they entered the grim building,
Mudgett perked up. He seemed to thrive
on the morbid atmosphere.

One of the coroner’s assistants stood
ready at a dissecting table.

Fouse cleared his throat and began to
read off a list of the identifying marks.
The coroner's man ripped the clothes
from the corpse. A minute or so passed
while he examined the mass of flesh be-
fore him. Finally he looked up, per-
plexed.

“1 can’t find any wart, or scar either
for that matter.”

Mudgett clucked in deprecation. He
turned to Fouse.

“If you'll allow me, sir, I believe |
can help you.”

THE coroner’s assistant shrugged his
shoulders and peeled off his rubber
gloves. Mudgett took a small leather
case from his pocket and withdrew a
shiny scalpel. With a few. skilful) flour-
ishes he cleared away the flesh on the
neck of the corpse. He gave the knife
a sudden twist and plucked out a large
wart. He held it up for all to view.
Quickly he rubbed down the shin bone
and pointed out a scar,

“It's Pitezel, [assure you,” he said
as he went on to locate the scarred
thumb.

Liven Inspector Gary seemed impressed.

“Bring in Alice Pitezel,” said Fouse.
“Let her look at the teeth.”

The corpse was covered in a shroud
with only a slit opened to expose the
mouth of the dead man. Alice Pitezel,
sobbing, said that the teeth resembled her
father’s.

“You'll have our check for the full
amount less the expense of identifying
the body.” said Fouse, turning to Jeptha
Howe, “We will reimburse Mr. Mudgett
for his trouble.”

ve vampire kept his elation to him-
self.

Fouse kept his word and on Septem-
ber twenty-fourth a check for $9715.85
was handed over to Jeptha Howe.

“People are such fools.” thought Mud-
zett.as he settled himself in his Pullman
seat on the Cincinnati train. . Already he
Rad figured the best way to obtain the
major portion of the insurance money
from Mrs. Pitezel. In his pocket were
forged papers showing that he and_ Pitezel
had made a $16,000 investment in Fort
Worth, Texas. It would take but little
skill to convince Mrs. Pitezel that an
additional $7,000 was needed to save the
investment.

Mudgett relaxed and watched the
countryside race by, As the time passed
he became conscious of the clicking
rhythm of the wheels. They were saying
something to him. He listened.

“Kill them all—kill them all.”

He shook off the suggestion. But the
refrain was insistent, it wouldn’t — be
downed. The words burned into his mind,
white hot.

When the party arrived in Cincinnati,
Mudgett was grave. Mrs. Pitezel sensed
that something was wrong and asked him
what was troubling him.

“T hesitate to tell you,” began the
vampire, “but [| believe that the insur-
ance company is suspicious.”

Mrs. Pitezel’s hand went to her mouth.

“Don’t be alarmed,” said Mudgett. “We
can easily outwit them, ‘The thing to do
is to separate for the time being. | will
take Alice, Nellie and Howard to a nice
old lady | know in Covington, Kentucky.
You and Dessa and the baby can go to
Galva, Hlinois, to visit) your parents.”

“But what about my husband?”

“He's safe in Canada, If we scatter
until it blows over the authorities will not
be able to trace us.”

Mrs. Pitezel began to cry. The prospect
did not at all appeal to her.

The vampire coughed. “Be brave,
everything will be all right.” He then
informed her of the necessity of obtain-
ing $7,000 to save the Fort Worth = in-
vestment. When he left the house he
had the money, and three of the Pitezel
children,

The vampire was in no hurry. For
the first few days he wandered from hotel
to hotel in Cincinnati, registering under
false names and taking the children with
him wherever he went. Mrs, Pitezel and
the others had left for Galva, and he
knew, that he was. safe.

Thinking matters over, Mudgett de-
cided to rent a house. He went to a
real-estate agent, J. C. Thomas, on the
twenty-ninth of September and paid a
week’s rent on a dwelling at 305 Poplar
Street. It was in a quiet neighborhood
and he thought it would be suitable for
his needs.

Leaving Alice and Nellie Pitezel at the
Hotel Bristol, Mudgett took seven-year-
old Toward out to the house.

“Stay here and play,” he said, indi-
cating the bare yard, “I have some shop-
ping to do downtown,”

A short while later a furniture wagon
drove up to the house. Mudgett came
back in time to look on while the men
unloaded a huge iron stove.

“Take it into the house,” he ordered.

Ile kept his eyes, not on the stove.
but on the neighboring houses. A. sus-
picious flutter of curtains told him that
he was being watched. His face was cold
and hard as he turned and entered the
building.

OWARD PITEZEL saw the look on

his face and was frightened. He knew
from his short acquaintance with the man
that it was useless to cry or whimper. That
would only bring a quick slap.

_For two days the vampire waited for
his instinct to tell him that the coast was
clear. [Fle could not shake off the feeling
that he was being spied upon. At the
end of that time he went next door to
the house occupied by a Miss Hill.

“Do you need a stove?” he asked the
surprised occupant.

The woman, who had seen the wagon
drive up and who had discussed the
peculiar occurrence with the other
neighbors, was taken aback.

_ “lve changed my mind about occupy-
ing the house,” continued Mudgett
sharply. “You can have it for nothing.”

Without further ado he called Howard
and went back to the Bristol Hotel.

Reluctant to admit failure in) carrying
out his scheme, Mudgett wondered
whether he was slipping. He didn't know
it, but what he missed most were the
convenient arrangements of the [lorror
House.

That night Mudgett and the children
left for Indianapolis. They went to the
Circle House and the children were
locked in their room. Mudgett spent a
good deal of time in the bar. He was
trying to scheme a way to rid himself
of Howard Pitezel.

“toward is a very bad boy,” he told
the bartender, “I am trying to place
him in some institution or bind him out

’
7 A oa

December, 198,

to a farmer.
would want h

“Ele’s too ye
body would. t.
tender, putting
highly polishe:

Mudgett re
tender said w.
about a stove
house—it had
Mudgett wank
he came to the
ton, he saw s
It was a one-
off in a clump
on the gate s!

The vamptr
office of Jasp
away. tle bi
frail old man
rolltop desk.

“T want th
demanded, px
to the = struc
through the \

Something
Brown that |
brook no de
keys in ah
the required

Before Muv
he stopped |
Albert) Schit?
2 Sharpen |
ting his kit
counter. “I!
or so.”

Back at |
formed the
main in thei

“Toward
country to
nounced.

Mudgett p
the children
faced and fi

On Octobe
his knives.
everything
Moorman, a
been called
the stove ir
gone, Mudg
parlor.

MM UDGE!
the bo.
“Come he
out his arm
The boy |!
the manner
man. Mud:
soft brown
silky smoo!
pound unt!
His hands s
dess, the ti
steel as the
the voungst
When th
Mudgett ¢
cellar. He |
before the
flashed anc
threw som:
in the red
he looked |
The stainc
enter the
perspiratio
to clean h
When th
pire exami
a portion
ing at fey
pipe and
Howard P
broke the
tributed t
porch.
The ne

MA

_—~

GALLERY BOOKS

An Imprint of WH. Smith Publishers Inc.
112 Madison Avenue

New York City 10016


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ed.

That was the question the detectives were
determined to answer. Though they found
many things that belonged to missing per-
sons, as yet they had found no actual evi-
dence of murder. Inspector Fitzpatrick
was much. interested in a vat of sulphuric
acid that he found hidden in the laboratory,
and also in a whitish substance he found
in a retort, but even these offered no proof
of murder.

Having ransacked the doctor’s laboratory,
Inspector Fitzpatrick led his men through
the labyrinthine maze of rooms and stairs
till he came ‘to. the doctor’s secret lair,
hidden away in the third floor of the house.
He slid back a panel in the wall and, bend-
ing forward, went through the narrow,
low-ceilinged passageway that was. like
a dark tunnel. Directing the ray of his
dark-lantern ahead, he came to the walled-
in bathroom that had neither door nor
window. Save for the thin stream of light
from his lantern, the place was black as

a pit.

He sent the ray of light dancing about
the ceiling and walls, then focused it on
an iron tub im a corner. He stooped over
the tub, inspecting the lining and drain
with his lantern, and saw that both were
stained and corroded. ‘Was .it sulphuric acid
that he smelled?

E GOT down on all fours, while two
of his men stood watching him, an
ran his fingers over the floor. He found a
crack in the floor and pried open ‘a trap-
door, Beneath was a narrow stair, scarcely
more -than a ladder, leading to the dark-
ness below. ’
Inspector Fitzpatrick descended the stairs,
followed by the two detectives. Seasoned

policemen as they were, the three men could

not dispell a pervading sense of horror
and menace about this fearsome place. All
of them felt that they were about to solve
the crimes which had startled the world,
and unconsciously they stayed very close to-
gether as they emerged from the stairway.
They landed in a square chamber hardly
bigger than a telephone booth, which they
discovered was a “{oading station” for a
small elevator. :

Crowded into the cramped space, the
officers peered down the elevator shaft, but
the inspector’s dark-lantern could not pene-
trate to the bottom, and they saw only a
deep opening ending in blackness far below.

Fitzpatrick laid hold of the rope in
the shaft and pulled an object level with
the floor, in size and shape not unlike a
packing crate. :

“Well, men, what do you make of this?”

he asked.

“That's a big dumb-waiter, Inspector.”

“Big enough,” said the inspector grimly,
“to hold a human body. I’m going to see
where it goes.” >

He climbed into the dumb waiter and
lowered himself down the deep shaft. He
got out at the bottom and called up the
shaft for his men to follow, his voice echo-
ing hollowly in the darkness.

‘He was standing in a cement-lined base-
ment, damp and musty like the rest of the
house and at first glance it seemed no
different from any other basement. But
when his men joined him and they gave
the place a thorough going-over, they
found it was unlike any basement any of
them had ever seen ‘

The first object.to attract their attention
was a fantastic sort of machine built
against the front wall. It was made 0
glass and sheet iron, with a copper coil in
a glass-enclosed box, and, extending from
either end of the queer contrivance, were
two rubber tubes.

Fitzpatrick noticed an iron door at the
lower part of the strange machine. He
swung it open and looked inside. The in-
terior was like a huge oven. “Big enough,”
he commented again, “to hold a human

INSIDE DETECTIVE

INSIDE DETECTIVE

”

ody.

At the top and bottom were two rows of
gas: jets. Inspecting the rubber tubes, he
saw that one was attached to a water
faucet in the wall, while the other ¢x-
tended to a gas lamp in the ceiling.

“Now what on earth,” he puzzled aloud,
“do you suppose he did with that queer
thing ?”

The inspector’s men were as mystified
as he, “Unless,” one of them ventured a
guess, “he used it to torture his victims.”

“Maybe you're right, the inspector
agreed. “But we still haven’t found a
thing that would pin any sort of crime on
Dr. Holmes.”

The inspector was right. In the be-
wildering maze of rooms and closets they
had found scraps of evidence which hinted
that Dr. Holmes was the mass murderer
‘they believed him to he, but not a scrap
of absolute proof.

“T have a feeling,” the inspector went
on, “that right here in this basement we'll
find what we are looking for. Let’s search
every foot of it.”

Inch by inch they went over the basement,
tapping the walls, digging up the floor,
searching every nook and cranny. At the
end of three hours. they had found nothing,
and were ready to give it up and return to
the upper floors.

Inspector Fitzpatrick, mopping his per-
spiring forehead and looking about at the
disorder around him, walked toward the
rear wall that abutted on the elevator shaft.
He had removed his hat and coat and hung
them on a nail that protruded from a
wooden beam that ran horizontally across
this wall.

He hadn't noticed the beam or wall par-
ticularly when he hung his hat and coat
there; but now, as ‘he took his hat and

‘coat down, he saw that this wall was un-

like the others. For one thing, it wasn’t
darkened with grime like the others; and
for another, it was the only wall that had
a wooden beam.

He had already gone over the wall, rap-
ping on it here and there with his knuckles,
and it had seemed solid enough. Now he
went over it with a hammer, and the wall
gave forth a hollow sound.

There seemed no question about it now
—this was a dummy wall. What was
sealed behind it?

Inspector Fitzpatrick called to his men,
who were still curiously examining the
weird gas machine. “Get a sledge hammer
or something heavy. We've got to break
down this wall. There’s someth-ng hid-
den on the other side.”

They could find no sledge hammer, but
they found something almost as good—a

.thick wooden joist propped in a corner.

Using this as a battering ram, they
banged away at the wall until they had
gouged a ragged hole in it. Then, lifting
their ram, they hurled it up against the
wooden beam. And as the beam loosened,
the whole wall gave way and caved in with
a terrific crash.

Inspector Fitzpatrick and his two de-
tectives probably had no clear idea of what
they would find behind the wall. But what
they saw now, when they broke through
into the sealed-up chamber, left them star-
ing wide-eyed in speechless horror.

Accustomed though they were to human
depravity, they were shocked beyond
speech at the appalling sight in the sealed
room of Dr. Holmes,

—_

What did the inspector and his detec-
tives find in the chamber of horrors that
had been walled in and sealed up by Dr.
Holmes? What horrible fate had befallen
his victims? And what was the purpose
of that fantastic gas machine? Read the
final installment of this strange true story
in next month’s INSIDE DETECTIVE.

Arrest Him,
Officer!

I'LL HAVE COMPLETE FACTS ON
THE OTHER FELLOW TONIGHT!

Follow
This Man!

ECRET service Operator No. 38 is on
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34- MURDER MOST FOUL

Herman Mudgett and the
Chicago ‘Torture Castle’

w pang
sid

Mudgett would be high on the list. He is reckoned to have murdered at least
200 victims — mainly young ladies — for the sheer pleasure of cutting up their
bodies.

Mudgett researched his dreadful pastime at America’s Ann Arbor medical
school. An expert in acid burns, he boosted his student allowance by body
snatching. He would steal corpses, render them unrecognizable, then claim on
life insurance policies he had previously taken out under fictitious names. He got
away with several of these frauds before a nightwatchman caught him removing
a female corpse and the errant student fled.

Mudgett next turned up in Chicago where, under the alias ‘Dr H. H.
Holmes’, he ran a respectable pharmacy without a hint of scandal. So successful
was he thatin 1890 he bought a vacant lot and set about building a grand house.

But this was no ordinary home. It contained a maze of secret passages, trap
doors, chutes, dungeons and shafts. Suspicion was averted during the construc-
tion of what later became known as the ‘Torture Castle’ by the expedient of

I: there were a league table of mass killers, the name of Herman Webster

hiring a different builder for each small section of the house.

The house was finished in time for the great Chicago Exposition of 1893 when
the city filled with visitors, many of whom were to be Mudgett’s prey. He lured
girls and young ladies to his ‘castle’ where he attempted to seduce them before
drugging them. They were then popped into one of the empty shafts that ran ~
through the building. The hapless girls would come round only to find 4
themselves trapped behind a glass panel in an airtight death chamber into 7
which would be pumped lethal gas. ”

The bodies would be sent down a chute to the basement which contained vast “@
vats of acid and lime and, in the centre of the room, a dissecting table. Here a
Mudgett would cut up the corpses, removing particular organs which took his bi
fancy and disposing of the rest in the vats. a

Mudgett later admitted to having murdered 200 girls during the Chicag? =
Exposition alone, and the orgy of bloodletting might have continued for MU?
longer but for the phoney doctor’s greed. He had murdered two visiting To
sisters and, rather than quietly dispose of their remains, he set fire to the hous¢ ¥ 9
an attempt to gain the insurance money and make good his escape ” s
Chicago. F

MURDER MOST FOUL 35

promptly absconded.

Mudgett next turned up in Philadelphia where an associate in crime had been

operating insuran i
Pp g ce frauds at the mass killer’s behest. In an apparent accident

one day in 1894, this co-conspirator blew himself up. In fact, he had been


a

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a of fine old

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| of pure maple ;

1 sugar for extra
good taste

' Velvet packs easy in a pipe

Rolls smooth in a cigarette

| : < Better tobacco

for both Copyright 1939, LicceTr & Myers ToBAcco Co,
.

THAT Dr. H. H.
Holmes (see page
44) was one of the
strangest criminals :
who ever existed is
amply proved by Dr. Holmes
letters written to the
editor, some of them from persons who
were once acquainted with the doctor.
Perhaps the most interesting is from
Mrs. C. B. Roth of Chattanooga, who
as a little girl lived in the vicinity of
Holmes’ Chicago “murder castle.”

She daily passed Holmes’ drug store
on her way to school, and often stopped
in to buy candy. She remembers him
as a dapper, friendly man who was
always kind to her.

“In my after-school hours,” she
writes, “I often watched the front store
for Dr. Holmes while he was in a little
back room he always kept locked. I
saw men go into the room with him,
but never women. If a customer came,
I was to tap on the door.

“Holmes had a wife in the rooms
over the drug store. She seemed to
cry all the time. She was always either
watching the street, or crouching in the
stairway, watching and listening, and
it annoyed him. Later he showed me
a device he had fixed so that when she
stepped on a certain stairstep it sounded
a bell in his little back room.

“T think it was about 1887 when
Holmes started to build his new store
and home on the other corner of Sixty-
third and Wallace. Later he took me
through the entire building, and I
didn’t like it because it was so full of
dark rooms and peculiar narrow hall-
ways.

“TI often carried notes for Dr. Holmes,
and I once carried one from a girl who
rented a room at our house, to the
doctor. He read the note, and gave me
a small package to take back to our
roomer.

“Later that night I was awakened by a
commotion and I found that the girl
had taken poison, though not a lethal
dose. Holmes. must have heard of it,

girl away. .

“I never saw her again, nor did I
see Holmes or his sorrowful . ‘wife’
again. But during all these years, I’ve
wondered if these women fitted into the
terrible record of his crimes.

“H. H. Holmes was kind to me.
Maybe I just didn’t fit into his murder
scheme, but if he had one spark of
manhood and human feeling in his
wicked makeup, he showed that spark
to me.”

Here, indeed, is a startling revelation
of the other side of this Jekyll-Hyde
personality. Mrs. Roth remembers well
her experiences of fifty years ago be-
cause she kept a diary faithfully. and
still has it. (Continued on page 50)

 Twsiwe — YE, May, LI EG

for he came in a carriage and took the


<

at all,” he said. “And I'll tell you why she
didn’t go. She didn’t go, because dead
people don’t travel. You killed her.”

It was a shot in the dark. Geyer hadn’t
the slightest idea whether Miss Williams
was alive or dead. But the theory which
had been slowly forming in his mind for
the past few months was that Holmes
killed for the sheer pleasure of killing,
and that no one around him was safe.
Geyer was amazed beyond measure at the
extraordinary effect of his bluff.

“T did't kill her; 1 tell you T didn't,”
Holmes shouted, jumping up from his stool.
“She’s living. It was Nettie who was
killed. Nettie’s her sister. Minnie killed
her. I tell you she did. I was there; I
saw it. She was jealous about me. T was
intimate with her and she thought I was
beginning to like Nettie. One night before
T could stop her, she picked up a stool and
hit Nettie over the head with it. Tt killed
her. 1 helped to shield Minnie by dump-
ing Nettie’s body into the lake. That’s
the reason Minnie went to London. She
wanted to get out of the country. She’s
there now. I don’t know where.”

He stopped for breath, the perspiration
streaming down his face, while Geyer, into
whose consciousness Holmes’ startling
words had not yet sunk, stared at him with
a look of wonder. Then before the de-
tective’s eyes, as though he were seeing it
in reality, came the image of the Holmes
house in Chicago. He arose and without
a word walked out and over to police head-
quarters. That night a long message went
to the chief of police of Chicago.

he DAY OR TWO LATER Chief of Police Ha-
denoch of Chicago, with several of his
men, went to 63rd and Wallace Streets to
look over the building which Holmes
owned. There was nothing to distinguish
it particularly from hundreds of other
buildings in the city. It was three stories
high, the ground floor being occupied by
stores and offices. When the chief and his
men entered, they found that the second
floor had been occupied by Holmes as an
apartment, when he happened to be in Chi-
cago. The entire third floor was devoted
to some kind of a laboratory. Here the
police found the usual miscellany of test
tubes, rubber hose, stained tables and so
on, which seemed to be a part of every
laboratory no matter what the purpose for
which it is used. In the office of the lab-
oratory stood a large vault which, upon
subsequent investigation, was found to be
both air and sound proof.

“T don’t see anything special here,” one
of his assistants said to Chief Hadenoch,
after they had gone through the entire
building and had talked with Quinlan.
“That. fellow we talked to seems to be on
the level.” ;

“Yes,” said the chief, “I don’t think he’s
ever been in the Jaboratory as he says.
Let’s pull up the rugs and carpets and see
if there’s anything which doesn’t show on
the surface.” ; ‘

They began this job systematically. Ev-
ery inch of the flooring in the living room
and bedroom was carefully examined.
Nothing unusual was found. Then one of
the detectives shouted excitedly from the
bathroom.

“Come here a minute, chief, come here!”

They went into the bathroom. The de-
tective had lifted up a small rug. There,
built in the floor, was a small irap door
with an iron handle, which was fitted into
a depression in the wood so that it could
not be felt when anyone walked on the rug.
None of them knew what the trap con-
cealed. With drawn guns they stood over
it, while one of the detectives cautiously
took hold of the iron ring and pulled the
door up. He gave an exclamation of sur-
prise. There before them was a narrow

86

stairs, dark and sinister looking, which
led no one knew where.

The chief sent one of the men back for
a lantern. Holding the light before them,
they wound slowly down the rickety
wooden steps. There was no landing at
what they judged would be a level with
the first floor. The stairs kept right on
down to the cellar. As they reached the
end, they stood for a few moments in or-
der to get their eyes used to the darkness.
When their vision became adjusted, the
first thing which struck their eyes was a
large stove, exactly similar to those
which had caused so much speculation
in Geyer’s mind. The stove, they found
out a little later, had an airtight recep-
tacle in which it was possible to generate a
heat of 240 degrees. And the receptacle
was just large enough to hold a human
body!

But what interested the detectives at
the time just as much as the stove was
another wooden stairway not far from the
end by which they entered, which seemed
to lead past the first floor and on up above.
Two of the detectives followed its wind-
ings. It ended at a trap door which was
under the linoleum in the laboratory on
the third floor.

It didn’t take long to find out who erected
the building. But the builder, Chief Ha-
denoch felt sure, was an entirely innocent
party. He readily admitted that he had
put in the secret stairways in accordance
with Holmes instructions.

“He told' me he wanted to use part of
the house for gas experiments,” he ex-
plained, “and he said he wanted the stairs
entirely separate from the rest of the
house, because he didn’t want to endanger
anyone else in it if there should happen
to be an explosion.”

N THE MEANTIME, the police had been

engaged in digging up the cellar. They
had gone but two or three feet, when a
telltale and noisome stench began to per-
meate in the gloomy room. First they came
upon the bones of a female child. And
then a grim, grisly parade of eighteen
human ribs, a vertebrae, a hip bone, some
skull bones and many other parts of the
human trunk, so decomposed and corroded
that it was impossible to tell to which
part of the body they had belonged. They
also found several strips of torn clothing,
some of it stained with human blood.

The following day the search con-
tinued. Many more bones were found in
this dungeon of the doomed, including a
human shoulder blade. Also more articles
of clothing and parts of garments, while
small pieces of jewelry such as are worn
by women, came to light when, after con-
siderable effort, the airtight safe in the
laboratory was opened. Some of. these
trinkets were recognized as belonging to
Minnie and Nettie Williams. There was
no doubt but that they had been mur-
dered, just as was the little Pietzel boy,
and that their bodies were then dismem-
bered and thrown into the furnace in the
cellar, to be burned beyond recognition,
as Holmes no doubt hoped.

In the meantime, “Bluebeard” Holmes
as the press had begun to call him, had
been indicted for the murder of Benjamin
Pietzel, the father of the three little chil-
dren whom he had also killed. The trial
began on October, 28, 1895.

“Ife was slender and erect as he en-
tered the courtroom,” said a newspaper
report at the time, “and looked more youth-
ful than his pictures show him, with a
clean-cut, refined face. His voice was weak
and quavering, like a'man very ill. He
flushed and lifted his eyebrows at certain
remarks which the district attorney (Mr.
Graham) made in his opening speech, He
had grown a beard since he was arrested,

and when the prosecution introduced pic-
tures of him without a beard, his attorneys
became very angry, saying that it was an
attempt to prejudice'the jury. The black
beard which he had grown was neatly
trimmed.‘ He wore a black suit.”

At the trial, there was a considerable
amount of what is known today as “grand-
standing.” The case had scarcely begun,
when Holmes’ attorneys requested permis-
sion to withdraw from the case. This was
refused by the judge. Holmes thereupon
popped up out of his seat and dramatically
announced that he would defend himself;
that he was an innocent man and needed
no lawyers. The court permitted him_to
try his own case, as he requested. He
thereupon promptly challenged several
jurors, appearing to enjoy the way in
which this brought him into the limelight.
As court adjourned for lunch, he asked the
court:

“Your honor, may my wife have per-
mission to visit me in my cell?”

“Which wife would you like to see?”
the district attorney inquired sarcastically.

“T mean the one you designated as Miss
Yoke, and by so doing cast a slur upon her
as well as upon mysclf,” Holmes replied
with dignity.

I" WAS ON THE SECOND day of the trial
that Holmes for the first time had faced
Mrs. Pietzel, after the latter had learned of
the brutal murder of her husband and
children. She got upon the stand, a thin,
sallow, sorrowing figure, so listless and
weak that it was impossible for the jury
to hear her testimony. As she gave her evi-
dence, she seemed to become weaker and
weaker, until it was ‘necessary for the
judge to place a court officer next to her
so that he could repeat to the jury what
she said. The high dramatic moment of
the trial came when the district attorney
asked:

‘Do you know H. H. Holmes?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Pietzel replied, her voice
quavering so that she seemed to be on the
edge of a complete breakdown.

“Ts he here in the courtroom?”

“Yes,” she replied again.

“Will you please point him out?”

Mrs. Pietzel for the first time turned her
head and looked directly at Holmes. The
court attendant leaped forward, as she
swayed in her chair and closed her eyes.
But she pulled herself together and again
looked at the man who had so callously
made tragedy after tragedy out of her life.
She raised a trembling finger.

“That’s him,” she said, then again closed
her eyes and sank back into her chair.

Holmes looked back at her unblinking-
ly. He showed absolutely no emotion.

“Now then, Mrs. Pietzel,” District At-
torney Graham asked gently, “will you
please tell the jury whether you ever saw
your children again after Holmes got hold
of them?”

Mrs. Pietzel could stand no more. She
suddenly dropped her head and broke into
bitter sobs. It took several minutes to
quiet her.

“I never saw my little girls again,” she
replied, “until I saw them lying side by
side in the morgue at Toronto, and I never
saw Howard again, but was only shown
some things that belonged to him in In-
dianapolis.”

The evidence against Holmes was over-
whelming. He was quickly convicted and
sentenced to be hanged. But in spite of
the avalanche of evidence Holmes contin-
ued to assert his innocence, telling innumer-
able lies to explain away damning circum-
stances which simply could not be ex-
plained away. He seemed to enjoy the
spotlight of the trial and even while it
was going on, he issued a statement to the
newspapers, which is interesting in the

light of anothe;
his conviction.
trial read:

“T believe th:
ports of my tris
supported state
porters, must a:
been introduced
charge against 1
which a man h
ciously as I ha
about myself, u:
do it, and becau:
is alleged that d:
must be kept ba:

No real ev
against me and
guilty. I sympa
her sorrow, bu:
anything worse
ceal her hushanc
family from. di-
forfeiture of hi

“T have confe
able sin of plan:
insurance compa
on trial before :
tial jury, and h
ing might be :
general, it cann
face of my innc
wealth at the ha:
cannot hang an

“The district ;
money nor time
dence of any ki:
meant to bolster
der of my frier
by charges of
Pietzel’s childre
ronto.

_“T know that
time and lack
case may bring ;
justice, I know
and vindicated :
“T did not m:
ted suicide. I
of murder agai
be condemned
did not commit

a CAME }
4 tive Geyer,
instinct .which
the psychologic:
himself into tl
dered children
slaughter house
“Murder Castle.
entire country.
get the full stor:
was now. Agai:
sing Prison. H.
fully and thoug!
him. He had i
terviews with |
trait .was a colo
duct during the :
ing and his dra
him that he was
miring tone.

“T’ve got to h:
said, “the way \
the same city, y
and the childre:
of each other
other was there.

Holmes grinn:
ner.

“T’ll bet if. s¢
tives knew how
killed, they’d }
what”—he drew
—‘‘why don’t y:
out to the nev
never been a <«
that would be.”
For an hour
Holmes in this ;
won over to th

d pic-
yrneys
‘as an
black
neatly

erable
zrand-
begun,
vermiS-
is was
reupon
atically
imself ;
needed
him to
d. He
several
way in
melight.
sked the

ve per-

» see?”
stically.
as Miss
ipon her
replied

the trial
id faced
arned of
and and
., a thin,
less and
the jury
her evi-
iker and
for the
<t to her
iry what
ment of
attorney

ier voice
be on the

oD

irned her
es. The
as she
her eyes.
ind again -
callously
i her life.

ain closed
chair.

blinking-
iotion,

strict At-
“will you
ever saw
- got hold

yore, She
broke into
nutes to

vain,” she
ge side by
and I never
nly shown
um in In-

was over-
vieted and
in spite of
nes contin-
¢ innumer-
ing circum-
ot be ex-

enjoy the
n while it
ment to the
ting in the

light of another one which he made after
his conviction. That given out during the
trial read:

“I believe that any man reading the re-
ports of my trial, and disregarding the un-
supported statements of lawyers and re-
porters, must admit that no evidence |
been introduced in any way proving
charge against me. I know of no cuow in
which a man has been attacked as mali-
ciously as I have.’ I have told the truth
about myself, unpleasant as it has }wen to
do it, and because I have told the truth it
is alleged that deeds of the darkest villainy
must be kept back.

“No real evidence has been brought
against me and none will be, for I am not
guilty. I sympathize with Mrs. Pietzel in
her sorrow, but I cannot be accused of
anything worse than my attempt to con-
ceal her husband’s suicide, thus saving the
family from. disgrace and preventing the
forfeiture of his life insurance policy.

“T have confessed to the truly unforgiv-
able sin of planning to get money from an
insurance company. But, thank God, I am
on trial before a just judge and an impar-
tial jury, and however valuable my. hang-
ing might be to insurance companies in
general, it cannot be brought about in the
face of my innocence. Even the unlimited
wealth at the hands of insurance companies
cannot hang a man to protect its dividends.

“The district attorney knew I had neither
money nor time to bring witnesses, or evi-
dence of any kind from distant points. He
meant to bolster up a false charge of mur-
der of my friend Pietzel in Philadelphia,
by charges of the murder of my friend
Pietzel’s children in Indianapolis or To-
ronto.

“I know that I am innocent, and while
time and lack of money to prepare my
case may bring about a temporary defeat of
justice, I know that I shall be acquitted
and vindicated in the end.

“I did not murder Pietzel. He commit-
ted suicide. I am innocent of the charge
of murder against me. I cannot possibly
be condemned to die for crimes which I
did not commit.”

Stn CAME HIs conviction. And Detec-
tive Geyer, with that almost uncanny
instinct which he possessed of striking at
the psychological moment, again projected
himself into the case. The three mur-
dered children had been found. The
slaughter house in Chicago, the so-called
“Murder Castle,” was now the talk of the
entire country. If there was ever a time to
get the full story, Geyer decided, that time
was now. Again he went to the Moyamen-
sing Prison. He had studied Holmes care-
fully and thought he knew how to approach
him. He had felt, after his previous in-
terviews with him, that his outstanding
trait was a colossal vanity. Holmes’ con-
duct during the trial, his strutting and pos-
ing and his dramatic outbursts, convinced
him that he was right. He adopted an ad-
miring tone.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Holmes,” he
said, “the way you kept all those people in
the same city, your wife, and Mrs. Pietzel
and the children, all within a few blocks
of each other and neither knowing the
other was there. It was pretty clever.”

Holmes grinned in a self-satisfied man-
ner.

“T'll bet if some of those smart detec-
tives knew how many people you'd really
killed, they’d be surprised. I'll tell you
what”—he drew his chair up confidentially
—why don’t you tell your story? Give it
out to the newspapers. I'll bet there’s
never been a sensation in America like
that would be.”

For an hour or more he worked on
Holmes in this manner, until he had him
won over to the idea completely. Then

Geyer asked casually:
“How many people have you killed,
Holmes?”

“Twenty-seven,” came the astounding
reply.

“No, I’m not fooling. Actually how
nany ?”

“Twenty-seven, I tell you. If you
don’t believe it I can give you the names.
I'll do it. I'll write the story out and
give it to the papers.”

E KEPT HIS PROMISE. A few days later

he gave to the press what is perhaps
the most extraordinary confession ever
obtained from a cfiminal in America. The
opening statement, which was quoted in
papers throughout the entire world, fasci-
nated everyone who read it, through the
weed force of its unmitigated horror. It
said:

“I was born with the devil in me. I
could not help the fact that I was a mur-
derer, no more than the poet can help the
inspiration to song, nor the ambition of
the intellectual man to be great. 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.

“The inclination to murder came to me
as naturally as the inspiration to do right
comes to the majority of persons. Where
others’ hearts were touched with pity, mine
filled with cruelty, and where in others the
feeling was to save life, I reveled in the
thought of destroying the same. Not only
that; I was not satisfied with taking it in
the ordinary way. I sought devices
strange, fantastic and even grotesque. It
pleased my fancy. It gave me play to work
my murderous will, and I reveled in it
with the enthusiasm of an alchemist on the
trail of the philosopher’s stone.

“The inclination came to me early in life.
I remember when a mere lad my ambition
was to study medicine that I might know
the relative effects of poisonous gases;
that I might fully become acquainted with
their uses, and learn to be an expert in
handling them.

“T am convinced that since my imprison-
ment I have changed woefully and gro-
tesquely from what I formerly was in fea-
ture and figure. If you look at my picture
when I was first taken into custody in
Boston two years ago, and look at my face
now, you may begin to observe something
of what I mean.

“T mean in fact that my features are
assuming nothing more nor less than a
pronounced Satanical cast; that T have be-
come afflicted with that disease, rare but
terrible, with which physicians are ac-
quainted, but over which they seem to have
no control whatever. That disease is
a malformation or distortion of the osse-
ous parts, causing a deformity so marked
that in many cases men are made to as-
sume likenesses to the inferior animals.

“T believe fully that Tam growing to re-
semble the devil; that the osseous parts of
my head and face are gradually assuming
that elongated shape so pronounced in
what is called the degenerate head, and
that similitude is almost completed. In
fact, so impressed am I with this belief,
that I am convinced that I have no longer
anything human in me.”

Np THEN TO PROVE the statement which

he had made to Detective Geyer,
Holmes actually listed in the confession
the names of twenty-seven people he al-
leged he had murdered, giving in bloody
detail the method which he had used in
each case and gloating upon the satisfac-
tion which he Stained from the murders.
Much of this is unprintable. The police,
upon the suggestion of Detective Geyer,
who was no longer officially connected with

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87


lived in the house and who had the small boy with him.”

The two detectives went back to the house, which was a
one-and-a-half-story cottage on the extreme edge of town.
There was no other house in the immediate neighborhood,
the only other building being a Methodist church, which was
directly opposite. Geyer and Richards went to the cellar,
the floor of which they found to be half of cement and half
of clay. But, although they searched every inch of the
ground, they found no place in which it had been disturbed.

Through the lattice work between the floor of the porch
and the ground, they saw the broken remains of a trunk,
which had been patched with blue calico. The earth was dis-
turbed under the porch, but there was no sign of its having
been dug up, nor was there anything in the trunk. But, going
into the barn, Geyér found an unusually large stove, with
stains on it whieh looked like blood.

It wasn’t the bloodstains which interested him, as much as
the stove. It was the second time during the course of the
Ilolmes investigation that he had found an unusually large
stove. He had wondered before just why Holmes wanted to
have a stove of such size, one out of all proportion to that
necessary to heat a small cottage. Now ideas about it were
beginning to form in his mind. He decided that at the
earliest opportunity he would try to find out definitely what
these stoves meant.

("4 STOPPED WORK temporarily and went into Tndian-
apolis to wire to Mrs. Pietzel to come to that city, to
see if she could identify the trunk. While there he received
a call from the Indianapolis Evening News, which had been
featuring the Holmes case, asking him to come to the news-
paper office immediately. When he arrived, there were sev-
eral reporters standing around a distinguished-looking man,
while on the table nearby lay a package.

“Mr. Geyer, this is Dr. Barnhill, who is Dr. Thompson’s
partner,” said one of the reporters.

They shook hands. “I want to show you these,” Dr. Barn-
hill said, pointing to the’ package.

The moment Geyer looked, he knew that his long search
was nearing an end. For there on the table lay silent but
grisly proof—several pieces of charred bone, and the femur
and skull of a child between the ages of eight and twelve
years !

Geyer examined them carefully and turned inquiringly to
Dr. Barnhill.

“They were found by two boys, Walter Jenny and Oscar
Kettenbach,” the doctor explained. “After you left the house
in Irvington to come downtown, they started playing de-
tective. I guess you must have inspired them. They went
into the cemented part of the cellar where they found a
chimney pipe. Jenny put his hand down into the depression
below the pipe and pulled out some ashes and a piece of
bone.”

Geyer waited to hear nothing further, grateful for the first
help of any kind which he had received in his search of many
months for the missing children. Together with Richards,
he took down the lower part of the chimney pipe, and let the
ashes and soot with which it was loaded fall into the depres-
sion beneath. Richards started to put his hand in, but Geyer
stopped him.

“Better not do that,” he said. “There may be some very
small things in there which we may miss. I think we ought
to sift those ashes.”

“But we haven’t a sieve.”

“Just a minute.” Geyer looked around over the various
piles of broken furniture and pieces of rubbish with which
the cellar was filled. He found an old fly screen.

“How about this?” he inquired.

Richards agreed that it would do. So together they lifted
out small portions of the ashes with a heavy piece of card-
board fashioned like a shovel. This they threw against the

60

screen. As the dust after the first shovelful settled, Geyer
reached down and picked up three human teeth. He ex-
amined them carefully. Undoubtedly they were the teeth of
a very young person.

Every load taken out of the chimney hole yielded some-
thing. When they had about finished, there lay on the cellar
steps a complete set of human teeth, with possibly one or two
missing, which had been sifted out from the dirt and soot
and ashes in the receptacle. There was also a small piece of
a human jaw bone. At last Geyer turned to Richards.

“There’s something in the bottom here which won’t come
out on the shovel,” he said. ‘“There’s a pretty bad odor
too.”

Richards came a little closer and sniffed.

“There surely is,” he said, ‘and I think I know what it is.
Tt’s some part of a human.”

He was right. After they had pried the sickening mess
out of the bottom of the hole they found a human stomach,
liver, spleen and pelvis. Geyer and Richards moved out into
the open air for a breathing spell, revolted and nauseated by
the sight. Geyer felt an immense sense of relief. His long
search for the three missing children, a search which had
seemed destined to fail altogether was ended at last and
ended successfully, although tragically. Ilolmes was not a
mere swindler, as had at first appeared probable, but a dan-
gerous, conscienceless murderer.

HERE HAD BEEN doubt as to how Alice and Nellie had

been killed, as there were no marks on them and the
bodies were too decomposed to give any clue. But there was
no doubt whatever concerning the method by which Howard
had been murdered. This was revealed by the little Moorman
boy, the one who worked for Dr. Thompson, who told Geyer
that he had been asked by Holmes to assist him in setting up
the stove in the barn.

“Was Howard there while that was going on?” Geyer
asked.

“Yes, he helped us both to put it up.”

So that was it. During the course of his many years as
a detective, Geyer had come across many demoniacal mur-
derers. He-had specialized in murder cases during his twenty
years with the Philadelphia Police Department. But never
had he known one so fiendish as to ask a ten-year-old boy to
help install a stove in which it was planned to reduce his body
to ashes.

But there was more to come. The following morning
Geyer received a letter from Alfred Schiffling, who ran a
general repair shop in Indianapolis, in which he said he had
something of interest to tell him in connection with the
Holmes case.

“Have you the picture of Holmes with you?” Schiffling
inquired, when Geyer visited him in his shop. Geyer showed
it to him.

“That’s him! That’s him!” he exclaimed. “He came in
here.”

“What for?”

“To have a case of surgical instruments sharpened. When
he came in, he had a little boy of ten or twelve years of age
with him. He left the instruments with me and then on’—
he thumbed over a ledger—‘“on October 8th he returned and
collected the instruments and paid me for sharpening
them.”

It was all clear now. Holmes had either dismembered the
boy before putting him in the stove, or had stabbed him so
badly as to render him unconscious, before trying to burn
the body so that no part of it would ever be found.

Geyer and Richards went back to the murder house for
a more thorough search. They combed every inch of the
house and grounds. This time they found some toys, a top
and a tin figure of aman. They also found a scarf pin and a
pair of shoes. (Continued on page 85)

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Parra’s head had been jerked almost
completely from his body. Blood spurted
from a severed jugular, as his spinning
body jerked and convulsed. Attendants
rushed tg lower his body to the floor and
doctors pronounced him dead.

We gave him a fair trial and then hanged
him.

] DON’T THINK I am bloodthirsty. I don’t
think I ever was. I’ve been on the side
of law and order. I have believed in a
man being paid with the coin he pays.
When Parra’s head was almost literally
jerked from his body, I felt that he had
paid. He had paid with his own coin. The
murder of Charles Fusselman had been
‘avenged.

It took nine years, but his death was
avenged. Probably in this day and time it
would not have taken so long to bring
Geronimo Parra to justice. Today we have
fast transportation. Today we have better
co-operation between states, counties and
cities. We have methods of identification
unknown then—and we have shyster law-
yers with their bag of tricks. So I don’t
know.

The part I like best today is the fast
means of getting about. I get into my own

MURDER FOR LOVE OF IT

The latter gave Geyer an idea. He in-
terviewed every merchant within three or
four blocks of the house, to see if they
knew anything of the man and boy who
had occupied it. The last store they went
to was that of a grocer.

“Yes, I saw him,” the latter said, when
shown the picture of Holmes, “He came
into my shop with a coat.”

“A coat?”

“Yes, a boy’s coat. He asked me to keep
it, saying that the boy would call for it in
a day or two.”

“He didn’t call, of course.”

“No, I still have the coat.
like to see it?”

Geyer examined it carefully. There was
no doubt about it, it was the coat of the
murdered boy.

Geyer again went downtown and sent a
telegram to Mrs. Pietzel. She arrived the
following day and positively identified not
only the coat, but all the other articles.
The case against Holmes was as conclusive
as it was possible for any case to be.

Would you

C™™ HURRIED BACK to Philadelphia for
a conference with District Attorney
Graham. Mr. Graham congratulated him
on his excellent detective work and truly
designated it as one of the most successful
criminal investigations which had ever
been done in this country. ;

“They’re not the only three he killed;
I’m certain of that,” Geyer told him.

“You mean Pietzel?”

“Yes, I’m sure he killed him. But even
that isn’t all.”

Mr. Graham looked startled. “Well,” he
asked slowly, “how many do you think
there are, a dozen?” The question was
meant to be facetious.

“Maybe,” Geyer replied seriously, “pos-

» sibly a dozen, or maybe more. If there
ever, was .a wholesale killer, I think Holmes
is one.”

“Well, anyhow,” said Mr. Graham, “part
of our work is finished. We'll have him
indicted for murder.”

“All right,” said Geyer, “I just want to
have another talk with him and then I’ll
step out of the picture'and let the Chicago
cops handle their end of it. If there’s any-

automobile and, though past eighty years
of age, I skim along over paved roads.

get away from the cities and look up this
or that old friend of long ago. It doesn’t
take me long to go a few hundred miles.
My friends and I talk about when thirty
to fifty miles a day was real traveling.

We talk about other things.

For a long time after I left the Ranger
service, I said nothing about my life as a
Ranger. I had many enemies. Any time
you spend twenty-eight years riding after
bad men, you’re going to make enemies. My
life wasn’t worth much in the service and
it wasn’t worth a lot more after I retired.
But now they don’t bother me a lot. Most
of them are dead.

A lot of men were planted on boot-hill in
the Big Bend. A lot more were fruit for
the gallows’ tree. They were bad men,
violent men, and they died violent deaths.
We used to deal quick justice with six-guns
and ropes—and we met quick death.

Pat Garrett died, treacherously mur-
dered. Captain Frank Jones and Sergeant
Fusselman died the same way. Dozens
more—well, it was the order of the day

then. Good officers and bad bandits died
with their boots on. I guess I was just
lucky.

From page 60

thing more on him, it might be there.
Holmes owns a house there. I visited it
while I was looking for the little girls
and had a talk with the man in charge. of
it. I didn’t want to stop then; didn’t want
to get diverted. But I think that house
needs a little looking into. However, I’ll
talk to Holmes first.”

Geyer hastened to the jail to interview
the murderer whose name was on every-
one’s lips. He wasted no words:

“Now then, Holmes,” he said, “I don’t
know whether you’ve seen the papers or
not, but we’ve found the bodies of three
Pietzel children, Nellie, Alice and Howard.
They were all murdered, and you murdered
them. Don’t lie, Holmes,” he went on as
the latter started to speak, “I say you
killed them, I don’t know how you killed
the girls, but I suppose you gave them
chloroform or some other drug, just like
you killed Pietzel.”

Holmes, without the quiver of a muscle,
raised his hand protestingly. “I didn’t kill
Pietzel,” he said.

“Lying again, just like you lied when
you said the children were in London with
Minnie Williams. Now, if you want to
say anything, go ahead.”

olmes considered for a moment. “TI did
lie when I told’ you that,” he said, as
calmly as though he were commenting on.
the weather. Geyer, hardened as he was
to the ways of criminals, wondered at the
cool effrontery of the man facing him. He
was sure now. as he had begun to suspect,
that Holmes was one of the world’s most
extraordinary criminals.

“They weren’t with Miss Williams at
all,” Holmes went on. “I left the children
with Mr. Hatch, a bricklayer in Chicago.
Pat Quinlan, who has charge of my house
in Chicago can tell you where Hatch is.
The house is located at—”

“I know where it-is,” Geyer interrupted.
“It’s at 63rd and’ Wallace Street.’ I vis-
ited it and talked with Pat Quinlan‘and he
told me plenty, not. about the children, but
about you,” , aor

Holmes for the first time looked a bit
startled, a, fact which Geyer did not fail to
notice. He followed up this advantage.

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85


sealed

er in-
1 back ©

ion. to

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hisper
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rental .

death
under

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been
vorked
detec-

visits

night
he one
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- and there ‘would be no trouble about it,
‘she concluded.

after going there decided the water was,
not deep enough.

“Then last Monday he came to me and
told me that he did ‘a good clean job’

y”

Ralph and John waived extradition and
were taken at once from St. Louis to the
St. Clair county jail at ‘Belleville, Ill,
while Mrs. Porter, with characteristic
rebellion refused to go, making it neces-
sary for Governor Henry Horner of
Illinois to request her extradition of
Acting Governor Frank G. Harris of
Missouri. She was removed to Belleville
July 13. ji

All three defendants waived prelimin-
ary hearings when artaigned before
Justice A. H. Schoenenberger on war-
rants charging them with murder. They

“were

grand jury. « °

Indictments were returned against the |
trio and they went back to their cells to.
‘await, in gloomy, silence, the beginning.

of their trial on Novemberl.) 0) |
It proved to be a’ brief affair. On.

Friday, November 5, the jury returned ;

a verdict of “Guilty” for all three.
Mrs. Porter, as instigator of ' the
murder plot, and Angelo Ralph Giancola,

the murderer, were given the death —
penalty. J ohn, as an-accessory, received |
‘a prison sentence of 99-years, S15

n her unpretentious home Mrs. Gian-
cola mourns the loss of her two. boys}
Irene Traub’s dreams for the future are

gone and when Marie Porter walks that |

last mile to the electric chair, she will
be four children to face the world
alone.

expressed surprise and grief at word of
the Philadelphia tragedy, said he had been
afriend of the family for years and as-
serted it was true Pitezel had changed his
name to Perry because of financial
troubles and because he wanted to make
a new start. He wrote down a list of
Pitezel’s body marks and personal char-
acteristics including a mole at the base of
the neck, a smashed little finger on the
right hand, and a scythe scar on the left
shin-bone, all intended to assist the in-
surance company in definitely establish-
ing the true identity of the corpse buried
in Philadelphia’s Potter’s Field,

Still suspicious, especially of an at-
tempt to collect $10,000 insurance on a
body that was not Pitezel’s, the Fidelity
Mutual invited both Lawyer Howe and
Holmes to come to Philadelphia along
with Mrs. Pitezel, to view the exhuma-
tion. At the last minute, however, Mrs.
Pitezel pleaded illness, and sent her 15-
year-old daughter Alice along with Howe.

Lawyer Howe and Druggist Holmes
met in the Fidelity Mutual offices. They
shook hands with wariness, giving the
impression they had never met before.

TE ar is this man? Why is he. in-
jecting himself into my case. What
is he trying to get out of it?” stormed
Howe when Inspector Geary brought
them together.

“Just a friend here to see justice done
Ben’s widow and children,” replied
Holmes. “You don’t know me but Alice,
here, does. You remember me visiting
your home with your father, Alice, don’t

ou?”

“Yes,” the bewildered child replied.

The Fidelity Mutual proceeded with
the exhumation. The body of B. F.
Perry was reclaimed from the pauper’s
plot, and the coroner and his physicians,
in the presence of Howe, Holmes, In-
spector Geary, Pinkerton men, Detective
Frank P. Geyer of the Philadelphia police
force, and Eugene Smith, original dis-
coverer of the corpse, started to go over
it for the identifying marks Holmes had
listed. They professed difficulty in find-
ing them.,

“Let me have a scalpel,” said Holmes.
And. while the astonished assemblage
looked on, he donned rubber. gloves,
took up the knife and calmly dissected
the mole, the crooked finger and the shin
scar from his friend’s body. They had
been hard. to locate because of the  de-
composition of the body.

“Now put these in ‘alcohol,’ Holmes
said. “Then wait.” wy

And when a sheet had been drawn u
over all but the face he brought the-15-
year-old Alice Pitezel from an adjacént
waiting room and told her to look.

“Daddy! Oh, my daddy!” screamed
the child. The identification of Perry as
Pitezel was complete.

The Fidelity Mutual handed over the
$10,000 insurance money to Howe but it
did so against the advice of both Inspector
Geary and Detective Geyer. These in-
vestigators, steeped by the years: in the
practical side of criminal psychology, did
not question 15-year-old Alice Pitezel’s
identification of her “daddy.” But they
felt the whole set-up, the Callowhill street
explosion that hadn’t exploded, Holmes’
fantastic public carving of his supposed
friend’s body, the sending of a child by
her mother into an ordeal many an adult
woman could not be expected to endure,
screamed FRAUD!

T WAS all too bizarre, too inhuman to
be a part of normal, everyday-life
tragedy.
Howe justified their arguments.
Within a few short weeks of the Howe-
Holmes-Alice Pitezel contingent’s | de-

parture, the Fidelity Mutual received a

special message from Major Lawrence
Harrigan, chief of police of St. Louis, the
city Howe hailed from. It said that as a
result of a charge of “double-cross” made
by a prisoner named Marion C. Hedge-
path, then awaiting trial for train robbery,
Howe had been taken into custody and
had confessed that the Pitezel. identifica-
tion was a deliberate swindle.

Howe and Holmes, who had greeted
each other so frigidly in the Fidelity
Mutual offices, had known each other for

re

Arrest Him,

_ Officer!

I'LL HAVE COMPLETE FACTS ON.

THE OTHER FELLOW TONIGHT!

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Ohi iienien |

§ Institute of Applied Science
4 1920 Sunnyside Ave., Dept. 6763
a Chicago, Illinois

L Gentlemen:—Without any obligation whatsoever, send
§ me the Reports of Operator No, 38, also your illus-
fl trated Free Book on Finger Prints and your low prices

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om mom oe ns oes os os on ot

Wx ANSWERING ADVERTISEMENTS, PLease MENTION MarcH Startiinc DgTEcTIVE ADVENTURES 65

OR mg a

tr

Ts Seen
ee Se


i es handed her $500 on their return,)s if a :
|) “it was all thatewas left.” Peneduag) : supreme hey ed | and trailed him and. Miss

ae Det
Geyer, Pitezel’s failures’ to eollee Tooked

_ the occasion 12 years. ' previous? wh

“of Mary Benson.

. ing her to sign her property, mee
for investment.”

ipeactice: ‘under’ me name te)

ee ee eee ee ee eee rf eee
Fv Nyy ‘ y
sah

ee

UF ce

more than a year, according to the con- | Webster Mudgett, Nhe ‘name he. had Holmes had by this time made a tie-up

fession. -In fact, they had. been brought © adopted to marry Miss Benson. But he with Pitezel, an unscrupulous mechanic
together by Hedgepath while Holmes soon tired. of the hum-drum. who had done some mysterious piping in
was “doing a bit” in St. Louis for-selling - Insuring his life, for $10,000, as Dr. the hotel cellar and had built Holmes a
mortgaged property six months ‘before © Mudgett,: he called in: a young and eculiar elevator and a secret staircase
the Pitezel policy was taken out. --. struggling neighborhood hysician, eading there. The two of them went to
The deal called for Pitezel to take out. {I’m suffering: from diabetes,” Holmes Texas to cash in on Minna Williams’
the $10,000 policy, then go into hiding — ‘explained, “and I'm nigy ing to Philadelphia property.
while Holmes obtained a body from a» for treatment. I'd be obliged to you if But on arrival, the Pinkertons learned,
medical school and faked his death you: would look after my practice in my Holmes became so cocksure of himself
through an explosion and fire. Howe and | absence, In the eventuality Ido not sur- that he decided to use Minna Williams’

Mrs. Pitezel, who also had been ensnared vive, you may as well have it. But I'd property as the basis of a land promotion
in the plot on the pretext that her hus- . . appreciate it if you would make it your. swindle. The scheme was a failure;
band had to make restitution in a previous. business to see that my insurance is’ paid Holmes and Pitezel were forced to flee.
swindle or go to jail, were then to come | over to my close friend Harry H. Holmes, On their way back they took with them
forward, identify the medical school whom the company’ can locate in Chicago. 12 fine horses for which they neglected to
cadaver as Pitezel and collect the insur- I’m indebted to him for’ assistance in ety ' pay. This is ‘a serious crime, even today,
ance, After things died down, -Pitezel’ ape NL we in Texas.

was to take $5,000 of the proceeds and Met) Once back in ColeaS

with his family’ move to a distant state;..) — .* *~ ‘to recoup, Holmes and Pitezel formed a

o ‘they set about

Holmes was to get $3,000 for hatching: “with ‘the ‘stag pa Holmes dummy corporation to take over the then
the plot; Howe F000 for his” shyatcr ag deapbeatd ee collect some weeks _failin ng hotel and managed to place a
sistance and Hedgepath $500 for bring aay ta $10,000 1! fhadgy found? ‘in a $100,000 fire insurance policy on it and |
Holmes and Eeree together. | ac 'r00 obviously a» its furnishings. As soon as they deemed F

it safe, they left candles surrounded by «=. @
’ kerosene-soaked rags burning in it, The 9
resultant blaze did not totally destroy the
building but they managed to collect

Howe said that at the last min;
Pitezel backed out; that she sent her chil
because she. thought the 15-year-old gir
could “pretend: better than I can.’ »

admitted he was disconcerted more ; ing} second bigamous marriage $60,000. "
a little by the child’s positive scream of; with e, Ill, girl, named Helen © Just. about the’ time the Pinkertons 7 |
“Daddy! Oh, my daddy!” Hei swore ¢ uyin, ‘an old ‘apartment house. were catching up |with this last bit of |
the plot called ‘for a substitution of an une) anda) lace’ streets, Chicago,  ‘skullduggery, Inspector Geary’and De-
~ known cadaver for’ Pitezel although: he o> rt ormed i into Sihotct ‘It -w: ‘tective Geyer received word that Holmes ¥
admitted that Pitezel had not come’ fo air time and the venture pros-. had reappeared at the scene of his first ~
ward to collect his share of the loot.’ ‘As nah ‘because of city’s ahs 8 ‘crime, fen on, Vt, In fact; he had
a matter of fact, he said, Holmes received God andsth ¢ throngs ‘of out-of-towners brazenly a-visit to his bigamous i
the lion’s share. ‘hb - who ‘came © stay at’the place, Holmes second wi Ay "Mary Benson, while leaving

his third bigamous wife, Miss Yetter,
~ quartered in. a hotel around the corner~
‘Pinkerton’ detectives were at once dis- ©
pacclied, to. Burlington but they made no |

attempt to arrest him there.” Instead,

taken ‘Mrs. Pitezel to'a St. Louis ‘bank,’ was able Ige his amorous ature £9.
left her outside while they went in on. the). th isolt }
pretext of “squaring | Ben’s notes,” split

the insurance money’ between’

id Hedgepath the’ $5
dine: ‘he squrale

Th

‘To Inspector. Geary’

at was

ominous. . They felt ‘sure he, like’H
path had been given the: double: rose f
n other ‘words that it :was Pieeeeba te
and not*’a medical college cadaver t eme  t
Eugene Smith had found in ‘the: shc : pretty, well de- ‘Site $10,000 in. Pandtasked of the Pitezel  —
Callowhill . street... Accordingly they ¢ ime iced th a asked to'be returned
filed Pt ‘against’ Howe ‘and sthen ine bushes hil 3 tand ‘trial’ on that —
graphed: Chicago police to arrest Holn aith ito him, to be extradited to
and Mra Pitezel at, once, >; a request of much
ib) AG A an 1 $y wt ow of later ithatde was ;
: ad epi Re : aE CYs\/ ANG. a t the/eyidence that it was...
DUT i it was not as tha Ewe ei 4,81 ly. & nae shad been done ayers with i in
Holmes, it a ceueed: Pad n rer ; 4 _the Callowhill street ‘shop. ©
turned to his Ch ene drug. store, >» “Ben’s alive’ and” well,” Holmes" de-
preposterous as _it.sounds, Mrs. “clared.. “He's hiding out: in * South

and her five childrémapad vanish “America, that's all. ‘That body found in
“In an effort to get some. line’ “was aa plant, a cad-

whereabouts of :the’ fugitives, In nspecto ‘medi fine d. in, aay
Geary, with, the. aid of | ST cteniverGove 4 sic f i
and the Pinkertons, d ‘more intensively presse

into Holmes’ earlier : round, Xa$ | per ‘in’her own” anc un She: jie ‘exhausted

aa ily 8 idelity Seed ep *

rover in quest of her missing husband,
he threw up a teaching Rah: in the : public ncinnati, .Indianapolis, Columbus, De-

school of Gilmantown,: walked-ou q ra Poa 18) a i tr ng ‘Toront O b New: York,. »
on his wife and the child she. Shore’ hint ch F nd Beran alse treagic soi

and crossed the state border to Burlit
ton, Vt., to enter into a bigamous 0
riage ‘with a well-t o-do girl by

With Miss. Benson’s mea hin
him, and from) what. the “Pinkerton
learned, Holmes lost no time in persuad

hen th eb

New York arin

abroad to join

plied.

But Inspec
Geyer u
Holm c
search re

bundles of let:
dren to their
pleading hom
written, their
very same Gt
quartered thx
knowledge. ,”
Howard afte:
Etta’s ceased
Geary and,

doing away v
of keeping tl
change the dz
dupe their fra
that they wer:
« “Nonsense,
tastic as sayi
found in Phil:
, But Geary
deluded. Gey
after a wearis
eventually di
Holmes stop}
In the cellar \
with an extra
were the rem
fire-blackene:
and blades a
pocket knife

EYER tl
city fror
written their
ters. Again
estate offices
of Holmes-re

' St. Vincent’

freshly-distu
it, in a pit

--Alice and F
_-prussic acid

With thes«

-and Gearv
‘plete |

- cidin r€
kney n
confederate
be just anot
stead of that
murder, in \
“mercenary t:
sist the opp
Howe and
dupes, to be
bag with a f

- had recogni
_ really her fa

had been tol
to return he
fearful of kc
whad decided
“tion of the
Pitezel and

- were still a

cumstances.
subsequentl:
glycerine gi:
“Cold medic

~vchildren th

sniffles.”
But the

monster, a

* cunning -an

. partner in «

~~ children, he
their full a
24, of that <
-; boch, of the
“mysterious
- women em}


de a tie-up

» mechanic

$s piping in
Holmes a
t staircase
m went to
Williams’

is learned,
of himself
Williams’
promotion
a failure;
‘ed to flee.
with them
eglected to
ven today,

set about
| formed a
or the then
to place a
on it and
ey deemed
ounded by
in it. The
lestroy the
to collect

Pinkertons
last bit of
y and De-
iat Holmes
of his first
ct, he had
bigamous
eaving
Yetter,
corner.
once dis-
y made no
Instead,
and Miss
levice they
issing Mrs,

ooth when
ip lodging
visit Mrs.
ted to a
ty Mutual
the Pitezel
e returned
al on that
tradited to
st of much
liscoveries.
hat it was
vay with in

{olmes de-
in South
ty found in
ant, a cad-
‘nd in New

» such. as-
exhausted
ad dragged
ig husband,
imbus, De-
New York,
rantic with
iren, Alice,
ce Lawyer
adelphia to
father, and
folmes had.
| taken the
Louis bank,
em to visit

the two
when ar-
1 chil-

iwuk them

. ne or any
4 ” :
; Ls

abroad to join their father,” Holmes re-
plied.

But Inspector Geary and Detective
Geyer thought differently. Among
Holmes’ effects, when his rooms were
searched in Boston, were found unopened
bundles of letters from the missing chil-
dren to their mother. Many of them
pleading homesickness and fear, were
written, their datelines indicated, in the
very same cities in which Holmes had
quartered their mother without their
knowledge. There were no letters from
Howard after Indianapolis. Alice and
Etta’s ceased at Toronto.

Geary and Geyer accused Holmes of
doing away with the three children and
of keeping their letters with intent to
change the dates and mail them later to
dupe their frantic mother into the belief
that they were still alive. )

“Nonsense,” replied Holmes. “As fan-
tastic as saying Pitezel’s was the body
found in Philadelphia.”

But Geary and Geyer were not to be
deluded. Geyer went to Indianapolis and
after a wearisome round of rental offices
eventually discovered the house where
Holmes stopped with the three children.
In the cellar was an old-fashioned furnace
with an extra-width door. In the furnace
were the remnants of Howard Pitezel—a
fire-blackened skull, some bits of suiting
and blades and steet framework of the
pocket knife his father had given him,

EYER then went to Toronto, the last

city from which Alice and Etta had
written their pathetic and unposted let-
ters. Again the tedious round of real
estate offices; again the wearisome round
of Holmes-rented houses. Until finally, in
St. Vincent’s street, a house with a
freshly-disturbed cellar floor and under
it, in a pit of quicklime, the bodies of
Alice and Etta Pitezel, both killed by
prussic acid poisoning.

With these three pitiful corpses, Geyer
and Geary considered their case com-
plete. Their reasoning: Holmes. de-
ciding to get rid of Pitezel because he
knew too much, had lured his erstwhile
confederate into what he thought would
be just another insurance swindle. In-
stead of that, it was a deliberately plotted
murder, in which blood-thirsty Holmes,
mercenary to the last ditch, could not re-
sist the opportunity to pick up $10,000.
Howe and Mrs. Pitezel were merely
dupes, to be paid off and left holding the
bag with a fanciful tale. But when Alice
had recognized the Callowhill corpse as
really her father, instead of the plant she
had been told it would be, Holmes feared
to return her to her mother. And, being
fearful of keeping her away too long, he
had decided on a long range extermina-
tion of the entire family. That Mrs.
Pitezel and the two younger children
were still alive was merely due to cir-
cumstances. For in Mrs. Pitezel’s effects
subsequently was found a vial of nitro-
glycerine given her by Holmes in Boston.
“Cold medicine,” he said. “Give it to the
children the next time they have the
sniffles.”

But the enormities of the human
monster, already represented by the
cunning and heartless murders of his
partner in crime and the three innocent
children, had not yet been computed in
their full and fearsome total. On July
24, of that same year, 1895, Chief Baden-
boch, of the Chicago police, acting on the
mysterious disappearance of Holmes’
women employes uncovered by the Pink-

|

Copyright 1938,
Liccett & Myers ToBAcco Co.

Wuern ANSWERING ApvERTISEMENTS, Pieast Mention Marcu Startyinc Detective ADVENTURES

67


P;

ertons, took a pick and shovel squad into
the fire-gutted ruins of Holmes’ old
hotel. What Badenboch’s men found
fully bore out the Geary-Geyer theory
that Pitezel had been killed because he
knew too much,

Immediately outside the door of what
had been Holmes’ office was what looked
like the entrance to an elevator, In
reality it was a sound-proof shaft, a sort
of dry well, the bottom of which
was located in the sub-basement of the
hotel. Down the outside of it ran a secret
staircase. It, too, terminated in the sub-
basement, where there was a small glass
window through which one could look
from the secret staircase into the secret
shaft. The purpose of the arrangement
was not clear until Badenboch’s men
traced the alterations in the gas pipe lines
made for Holmes by Pitezel. Then they
knew.

The air-proofed, sound-proofed well
was in actuality a lethal chamber into
which Holmes could flood the ordinary
illuminating gas at will and into which
he could look from his secret staircase
and watch the dying struggles of his
victims!

The discovery spurred the Chicago pick
and shovel squad to new efforts, Ripping
up the floor of the sub-basement they
found, buried in quicklime, the bleached
bones of five human beings. Four were
women, two lying side by side, suggesting
Minna and Nan Williams. The ash pit
of the wide-mouthed furnace, identical
with the Indianapolis one in which the
remains of murdered Howard Pitezel
were found, yielded a brooch and metal
garter buckles, subsequently identified as
Minna Williams’; opal earrings Emiland
Cigrand had worn the day she dropped
from sight; a fire-fused watch and chain
believed to have been worn by Robert
Phelps, her fiance, and a Texas college
class pin ultimately established as the
property of Nan Williams.

Nor was that the end of the horror,
The publicity given these gruesome find-
ings prompted Chicago newspapers to dig
from their files a record showing that in
October 1892, Holmes had advertised for
a machinist skilled in assembling skele-

Stubbornly the janitor shoveled coal.
He shook down the ashes, then gingerly
picked up a long poker. When no further
command came from either of his captors,
he raked loose a mass of clinkers from the
grate, That done he eyed the steam gauge
for a moment, closed the draft door and
spoke for the first time.

“That’s all I do,” he said. “But you
guys can’t get away with anything.
There’s a time lock...”

“Yeah, we know,” sighed the man with
the revolver as if he were saddened at
the janitor’s apparent ignorance of
modern bank robbery methods. “Sit over
here in this chair, We’re.going to tie you
down. You’re too thoughtful.”

They lashed him to a chair with wire
and lengths of cord. Meininger observed
that his bonds had been carefully’ coiled
in the pocket of the man armed with the
revolver, The wire and cord evidently

had been cut to the required lengths be-

tons for surgeons and medical schools,
This machinist was contacted. He told
police he had assembled three skeletons
for Holmes shortly after Mrs. Conner
and her daughter disappeared and a third
about six months later, The first two,
police learned, had been sold by Holmes
to medical colleges for $75; the third was
still in the machinist’s custody.

LOOD-CRAZY, sex-crazy, money-

crazy Holmes! He was brought to
trial in Philadelphia on October 28, 1895.
The charge was murder, the original one
of killing Pitezel. Judge Michael Arnold
and a jury heard the case. District At-
torney George S. Graham prosecuted it,
and appointed by the court for Holmes’
defense were Counsellors Samuel P.
Rotan and W. A. Shoemaker.

. .Holmes at first refused their aid. He

defended himself, carrying on his case
with a brilliance that astounded the court
and the jam-packed audience of sensa-
tion-seekers, ‘

At one point, however, he shrieked a
curse at the prosecution, and, supersti-
tion or not, it is a tradition among oldsters
in the Philadelphia detective bureau that
every man on the jury which found him
guilty died a sudden death within seven
years,

He finally consented to let the lawyers
appointed by the court come to his as-
sistance. They fought hard, but he was
convicted, Judges Arnold, M. Russell
Thayer, and Robert N. Wilson, sittipg en
banc, refused him a new trial. On Sep-
tember 7, 1896, sentence of death was
pronounced.

While in prison, Holmes wrote an ex-
traordinary book called “Holmes’ Own
Story.” In it he acknowledged 27 mur-
ders committed in various cities. The
book made a great stir.

As the day of execution neared, men,
women, and children crowded around the
gates to Moyamensing prison where he
was confined, Old accounts say mothers
with baby coaches were seen in the
throng. The day immediately preceding

it, a saloon across the street from the

prison displayed a sign: “Hot Lunch Free
Tomorrow from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m.”

The day of the execution, May 7,
1897, the crowd became incensed when
a rumor spread that Holmes had
done away with himself. It is related
that “Cap” Low, an oysterman from
across the street, who always was re-
garded as a “friend of the men in
condemned cells,” hurried over as ambas-
sador of the crowd, learned from guards
the report was untrue and came back with
the reassuring news.

Holmes walked to the gallows dressed
in dark gray trousers, sharply creased, a
clean white shirt, dark cutaway coat with
vest to match and light shoes, In place
of collar and cravat was a fine, silk hand-
kerchief, knotted loosely in front.

Nees eased by a narcotic he had
himself prescribed, he climbed the 13
steps to the gallows without support and
knelt quietly while a priest on either side
said prayers. A distinguished assemblage
surrounded the gallows; Inspector Geary
and Detective Geyer, who broke the case,
and a.number of famous physicians, in-
cluding J. C. DaCosta, the internationally
known surgeon, and Professors W. East-
erly Ashton and Ernest La Place, both
of Medico-Chirurgical College.

Assistant Prison Superintendent A. P.
Richardson adjusted the rope and pulled
down the black cap. Only then did
Holmes display fear,

“See that I’m buried under concrete,
tons of it,” he quavered. “Put concrete
in my coffin and post guards at my grave.
I don’t want any medical school ghouls
carrying me off. I don’t want my body
to be cut up. Concrete... plenty of
concrete...”

The trap was sprung. His speech was
cut short.

And as the crash of it was heard, 25
laborers began churning concrete into a
feather bed. Then they laid Holmes in it
—Holmes the murderer who had cut up
a score of other people,

(The names Mary Benson and Helen Yetter
used in this story are fictitious—The Editor.)

. forehand. His arms and legs securely

bound to the chair, the janitor was or-
dered to open his mouth to receive a wad
of rag. With the gag in place and an-
other rag folded across it and tied at the
back of the janitor’s head, the gunman
stepped back and surveyed his handiwork.
His companion lowered the muzzle of the
machine gun for the first time.

Without another word the pair left
Meininger to strain and struggle himself
into the discovery that he could neither
budge the thongs nor the gag. He
writhed vainly in the chair for half an
hour. Then one of the gunmen descended
to the basement, examined the bonds and
with a grunt of satisfaction remounted
the stairs.

Another hour -went by. At exactly
7:30 o’clock H. E. Nelson, the assistant
cashier, turned his key in the front
door lock and burried in out of the cold.
He saw the machine gun before he closed

the door and tried to scuttle outside again.
But a hand seized him and jerked him
through the door, A revolver was pushed

into his face and a machine gun muzzle.

prodded his stomach.

“Come inside,” a voice said, “and don’t
try to go back of the cages.”

The assistant cashier looked blankly
from one man to another. The third
man had drawn his revolver and now
three weapons menaced the startled bank
employe.

“Stand back by that desk,” one of the
trio said, indicating a nearby customer’s

‘desk. “And don’t try anything. You'll

wait until the time lock goes off.”
’ Nelson’s eyes swept the clean, white
tiles on the bank floor, “The janitor—”
he began, .

“We got him trussed where you're
going to be as soon as the time lock goes
off,” observed the machine gunner,

b

|

et

cradling h:
and lightin

The cas!
the high desk a1
long wait. He e)
When 15 minut
men pocketed |
back of the cage
vault door. Its «?
a metal ship’s w,
from the domed

Promptly at
whirr and click f
bandit seized onc
turned it and th:
back.

“Now get in t
door,” comman¢d
prodding the cas
muzzle of his w:
one step towards
you're buzzard

Assistant Cas
the machine gu
His voice had a
the way to the \
hind him while
his side, betwee
cages.

Under the th
and two revoly
removed the va
His actions wer
for time. Any 1
would open to
ployees, several
o’clock.

“Quicker,” co
“or we'll do it
over the floor.”

The assistant
inner door of th

“Now to thi
one with the 1

WO of the |
the b
vault and
currency
After tne pa:
chair they ran
to open the fro
of the employe:
walked in first.
back and latcl
gunmen,
Charles Dee
only a few \
swung through
fully. But on:
his lips. He r
beside Riley.
The three b:
next half hour
vault. Eleven
All of them we
bank by one
them to the |
securely boun:
third man ren
to greet newc:
Howard Pr
bank, came in
vice president
him. Then
Bauer, tellers,
Clinton. Nor:
Frank Lindse\
showed up at &
the president’
rounded up w:
Two girls,
Horn, were hz
cages before
A masked man,
suddenly appe”



HOLMES, H.

ts i

; Plus Wor Coverage
end other valuable
- benefits.

, will be paid

A
tate,

n Any One Ye

Here’s a truly excep-
tional value in safe,
carefully planned
protection against
the heavy burden of
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Costing only a few
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under any Doctor’s
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of you
in accordance with

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Individual or Family

ou are eligible for

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© birth to age 70... ustthout medical exami-
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eit |

Fyour “3

; weed sent cve ~~ State 2.) Penman Ae 4 oe

ES Mail coupon. No Agent will call.

foe ec RD oes em

a Soe cee

H., White, hanged Philadelphia,

yer i ,

Ai

=8.
Vr ie

Were
inventor of a saw which could be fitted i

and used for varied
astic, but suggested
the following day.

In the middle of the

shutters on it weres

ly lay at the morgue for several days | fore
ed it as that of Benjainin Pitzel, wh. nad~

.-pany whi

“and sent an investigator to try to find other people who knew Pitzel.

* The investigator found just one person, a man named H. H.. Holmes, wh:
scribed three distinct physical marks on the body of the dead. mati ahd agrecd
»come to Philadelphia to make an identification, if possible. © .%  *

eau Sa

< insurance company, their investigator, Holmes and Smith. ihe ey
The latter identified the body as that he had stumbled across iti the upstairs room.
Then Holmes pointed out the marks he had written the insurance compaty about!
“This satisfied
from the Missouri eeye tes wf ge Te A
The group started to leave. Holmes coughed. Some dark chamber of S:ith’s
ind suddenly. illuminated a vague recollection. He had heard that cough ho ore,J
at bark with a whine at the end, that hoarse explosion with a tail at the énd of it
He observed Holmes more carefully. He looked somewhat like’ the man who had
come into Perry’s shop on that first A d then gone upstairs. “But Smith wa:
re. Anyhow, it wasn’t his business. He decided to say pee one aaa Y
* But his conscience gave him no peace.’ At last he went and relat
Ay a investigator the facts which\liad so troubled him, =
The insurance compahy reopened ‘the case. After months of. incredibly tedious
body was not that of Pitzel,-but a cadaver which

investigation they found that the
p,had been obtained from a medical school. ¥
-. After Holmes' arrest on the charge of attempting to defraud the institance «
~ pany, his story was so nebulous and contradictory that the company decidc:|!
© turn the matter over to the district attorney in Philadelphia, ° 2
From then on events moved with astounding speed. It was found that Hu /.xes

RAL
eg

¢ had murdered Pitzel, his three small children, at least a dozen women to whon he

7 had beeri engaged or married and many others as well. He was shown to bé
literally a wholesale killer, having 27 known slayings to his discredit, and many niore
“which were suspected by the police -but which they could not prove.’; He came to his
‘end .on the gallows. ~'» ea ce: age ease >
And he came to that end because
to him, happened

‘fo

as
Ay tet coy

a

Sage
SA?
Ay
*

ed to the insurances

pet

ae Sag 1 ke

i At the morgue wete brought together the St. Louis attortiey,. the lawyer for the

in, and a check for $10,000 ‘was immediately: handed td the law yee
‘ " aN TR oa tat ee


by BRET MOAKER

The gaunt, grim mansion on Chicago’s south side was an
architectural monstrosity, a sinister nightmare conceived in
the twisted brain of a fiend. It was enormous, with two stories
above the ground floor containing one hundred rooms. Below
these were a basement and a sub-basement, the last described
as ‘the pit of hell’ by Chicago newspapers.

inside this pit was a completely equipped charnal house
used for carving up and disposing of the bodies of murdered
victims. There were dissecting tables, surgical instruments,
a furnace for burning unwanted cadavers, and even a work-
bench were catgut could be threaded through the bones of
a human skeleton to make it suitable for sale to anatomy stu-
dents and medical schools.

(Editor’s note: When Herman Mudgett
was finally put to death, one detective
remarked: ‘‘It’s a pity he can only hang
once.’’ The general feeling around Chicago
those days was that Mudgett should have
been executed at least 200 times, for he was
believed guilty of that number of murders,
perhaps even more. Here is the incredible
story of Herman Mudgett, a monster for
all ages, and his house of death.)

Investigators say one woman
was confined this way.

Leading to this ghastly slaughtering
place were secret passages and doors,
wired so that whenever somebody passed
along or through them a bell would ring
in the sub-basement to warnits occupant,
Herman Mudgett, the human monster
whose business was wholesale murder.
There were secret air tight rooms without
windows, a hidden trap-door leading to
a steel vault in a hallow wall, and a con-
cealed death-shaft or dumb-waiter down
which bodies could be lowered directly
to the charnal house.

Hidden escape stairways and passages

renter eee er

Scores of victims were raped, chloroformed,suffocated,
gassed, strangled or beaten to death. Afterwards, the
skeletons were strung together like ghastly trophies.

were everywhere. Other stairs and cor-
ridors led nowhere. Below the  sub-
basement itself were two quicklime vau-
Its and an acid bath, and in yet another
sealed room a complete crematorium had
been built.

Under the floorboards of Mudgett’s
own apartment in the house of death was
a tap controlling a gas pipe to the steel
vault which was lined with asbestos and
sound-proofed so that the wildest shrieks
of his victims would go unheard. From
the vault a dead body could be transferred
secretly to the acid bath in which bones,
flesh, buttons, clothing, everything,
became a muddy liquid that could be
drained into the city’s sewage system.

Described later by the police as
“designed from cellar to garret for the
commission of crime,’’ this murder fac-
tory was nicknamed ‘‘Holmes Castle,”
H.H. Holmes being the false name Her-
man Mudgett used for many of his crimes.

The madman used to
string skeletons together.

(Continued on next page)

nn ae a ce -MNE M waTheitne EP ih SPINS trot He AP a SA coai NSS oem att PEN FT sree mR mE TAI

salt
is


Hand and leg irons from 17th Century.

Was P!

man
Witt

mone

He Pass

practi
York S

wedde

Primitive handcuff with handgrip.

Mudge
money
by turr

gett
Suading
of $2
signed
husban:
another

(C

He designed his house of death without
the aid of an architect, and while it was
being built he repeatedly fired both con-
tractors and workmen and engaged fresh
ones so that only he knew all its secrets.
Mudgett fired them on the grounds of
incompetence, which meant that he could
usually wriggle out of paying them for
work “‘unsatisfactorily performed. ”’

He furnished the house on credit which
stretched into five figures, using a differ-
ent name with each firm he dealt with.
One furniture store, unable to collect a
cent from Mudgett, sent workmen to
repossess the items delivered to his
house. They couldn't find the items.
\ludgett had moved the furniture into one
of his secret rooms, boarded up the con-
cealed doorway and re-wallpapered the
whole room.

Inside his ghastly ‘‘castle’’ the crazed
surgeon is believed to have committed
two hundred murders, most of his victims

One of the torture instruments
found by police.

20

being women. They were raped, violated,
chloroformed, suffocated, gassed,
strangled, or beaten to death. Many of

their skeletons were afterwards strung
together and sold by the murderer.

While commiting his monstrous crimes
Mudgett, at least outwardly, appeared to
be a perfectly normal and handsome
young man with a dashing and carefully
groomed walrus mustache and charming
manners. He had a glib tongue and
romantic air which invariably captivated
and seduced normally cautious young
women. He had only to flash a dazzling
smile and murmur a delightful compli-
ment to get them to travel hundreds of
miles from their homes and the Securit
of their families to knock eagerly on the
door of his sinister mansion. Their
families would never see them again.

Mudgett could achieve this because he
possessed much more than his fair share
of attributes that fascinate the ladies. He
was a physician, hypnotist, dabbler in the
occult, and a suave gentleman of fashion.
He promised marriage with an alacrity
which made women swoon into reckless
acquiescence whenever he suggested
anything be it physical or financial, hon-
est or crooked.

Herman Webster Mudgett had been
born in peaceful New Hampshire.
the son of perfectly respectable parents.
It was while he was a medical student.
married to his first wife Clara, that this
gentlemanly Romeo (then twenty)
plagued by an insatiable appetite for
cruelty, first saw the possibilities of mak-
ing a fast living from crime.

His first unlawful effort was a complete
success, Taking a fellow student into his
confidence, Mudgett persuaded him to
insure his life for $5,000. A year later,


“VOICES” TOLD HIM TO KILL

through Ukraine’s grand jury proceed-
ings. In all previous grand jury hearings
in Connecticutt, only witnesses and the
accused were allowed in the hearing
room.

The precedent-shattering decision
came in the face of strenuous objections
from the prosecution, which insisited that
Bogdanski’s ruling was contrary to estab-
lished legal practice. Assistant State’s
Atty. C. Robert Satti, his temper held
just barely in check, requested that he
be allowed to appeal the ruling to the
state’s Supreme Court. He was promptly
rejected by Judge Bogdanski.

The decision allowed Public Defender

Guerson D. Silverberg to confer with -

Ukraine during the proceedings. The

grand jury indicted Ukraine, anyway.
Ukraine was arraigned in Superior

Court Dec. 8, 1971, after being deemed

(continued from page 48)

capable of standing trial. He pleaded
innocent by reason of insanity. A three-
judge panel was assigned to hear the case
and render the verdict.
The trial lasted several weeks.
‘. Through it, all, Ukraine was somber, but
attentive, although given to occasional
grin or grimace. He showed little emotion
when the prosecution said he had
methodically shot and killed Bob Reidy,
his wife, and their young son and then
had calmly waited for the police to arrive.
Ukraine jotted notes periodically, and
conferred several times a day with the
public defender. He was even more atten-
tive when his lawyer put a psychiatrist
on the stand who testified that Ukraine
was a ‘‘paranoid schizophrenic’’ and was
not sane at the time of the killings.
_ Ukraine really believed, said Dr. Peter
E. Spaulding, a psychiatrist who had

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examined him the day after the family
was wiped out, that there was a ‘‘whis-
pering campaign’’ against him. He felt
that the Reidy family was leading a secret
plot against him, the psychiatrist said.
And those ‘‘voices;’’ he had heard them
over and over, some from a block away.

Understandably, Ukraine didn’t take
the witness stand. On Jan. 20, the panel
returned an innocent by reason of insan-
ity finding on the three counts of first-
degree murder. Ukraine, who had been
described by his lawyers as something
of a tragic figure, even considering the
ferocity of the shootings, heaved a sigh
of relief when the verdict was announced.
He then shook hands with his lawyers.

A week later, Ukraine was back in
court — this time for a brief sanity hear-
ing. He was ordered committed to a men-
tal instituation for an indefinite period.
An “‘indefinite period’’ in Connecticut
can be a very long time.

Ukraine was calm during his latest
court appearance. As he was escorted
from the courtroom by sheriffs, he smiled
when one of them touched his arm. ‘‘That
didn’t take too long, did it?’ he said to
a deputy. >

HOUSE OF
HORROR

(continued from page 23)

Police examined the body and its sur-
roundings. They concluded that there
had been an inflammable liquid inside the
broken jar and that Perry had lit his pipe
too near to it. The“initials ‘‘B.F.P.”’ on
the dead man’s belt seemed to confirm
his identity and the coroner ruled that
his death was ‘‘due to accidental explo-
sion of cleaning fluid.’’ Since Perry didn’t
appear to have any money, relatives or
friends to claim his body, he was buried
in Potter’s Field.

Mudgett went to see Mrs. Pietzel in
Cincinnati. ‘‘Everything is working
according to plan,’’ he told her. ‘‘Your
husband is alive and well, and we thought
it best that he should move over the bor-
der into Canada so that he won’t be seen.
He’ll be rejoining you very soon.’’ He

(Continued on next page)

then got \
ance con
Mr. Piet:
under the
identify |
explaine:
Alice wit
him also
Jeptha H
Thoug!
pany relu
to Jeptha
gett had |
himself \
zel’s ch
detecti\
enquiries
same alii
tried to p
The se
Mrs. Pie
Burlingt

Without

The fine a
manufacture
and are dé
body, yet
are washab
and re-usab
THE MALE
length a
[J2n’* Ex
[J4%"" x
THE PENUN
place by
virtually ar
duction.
5 x
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THE VAG
looking pr
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device use
late the wi

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THE NEW. !
with raise
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ag?

ing with indignation, she left Mudgett,
but because she was hopelessly in love
with the suave physician she persuaded
her uncle not only to make good both
notes, but to take no legal action.

“All right.”’ said the irate uncle, “‘I'll
do it for you, but just don't let me set
eyes on that fast-talking crook again.”
Uncle never did. Mudgett skipped out of
Myrtle’s life and moved to Englewood,
Chicago, where he concentrated his
amorous attentions on the widowed Mrs.
Holden who owned a flourishing drug
store business. With Mudgett’s medical
knowledge and his romantic charm it was
a cinch to move in there and take over
the business. Within two years Mrs, Hol-
den had no drug store.

Through a confused and stealthy
scheme of embezzlement, thievery, for-
gery, unfulfilled promises and seduction
Mudgett acquired the whole business.
Mrs. Holden disappeared. ‘‘! put her on
a train to California and that was the last
I saw of her,’ Mudgett told enquiring
relatives. It was the last anybody saw
of Mrs. Holden. Subsequent enquiries
revealed that he had murdered her and
disposed of the body.

The drug store business prospered, but
the profits were small compared with
what Mudgett hoped to extract from the
victims he intended to lure into his
‘*castle’’ — the structure that he had been
planning in his demented brain for two
years. There was a large vacant lot
opposite the drug store, and on it Mudgett
intended to build the monstrous charnal
house which was destined to earn for him
the title, **The most dangerous criminal
of the century.”

Chicago’s first World’s Fair was due
to take place in 1893. Strangers would
reach the city in droves, and Mudgett’s
choice of victims would be unlimited. By
the spring of 1892 ‘‘Holmes’ Castle’’ was
finished, and Mudgett had acquired two
mistresses who were sisters, the Misses
Julia and Gertie Conner.

Gertie became pregnant and Julia
became jealous — a circumstance which
disturbed the handsome young doctor,
who had grimmer things to think about
than jealousy and seduction. Suddenly
Gertie was not to be seen around the
house any more. ‘‘I put her on a train
to lowa,”’ said Mudgett. ‘‘She was crav-
ing for her dear mother, and | have just
had a letter saying she arrived safely and
intends to stay.”’ Pe

Several years were to elapse before it
was ascertained that Mudgett had not,
in fact, put Gertie on a train. He had
pushed her inside a vault which was only
six feet high and three feet deep, and was
soundproof and airtight. After she had
suffocated he stripped her and lowered
her down to his basement chamber of hor-
rors on the dumb waiter. There he laid
her out on a slab and applied his skill
as butcher-surgeon to her delicate flesh.

With the furnace gobbling up. all
the unwanted pieces Mudgett soon had
enough ingredients remaining to form a
perfect female human skeleton. He

22

A gadget to lock thumbs.

threaded the bones together with catgut
so that the frame was collapsible. Then
he folded Gertie Conner into a small suit-
case and went out to find himself a cus-
tomer at the local medical college.

Apparently Gertie’s skeleton was the
third he had acquired and sold in this
grisly manner, and he continued to run
a successful sideline business of skeleton-
selling during the whole period of his stay
inside the murder factory.

But there were other sidelines to sup-
plement his income. One was a typical
con-man’s set-up involving his alleged
discovery of a means whereby illuminat-
ing gas could be obtained from water.

Ty

A flexible handcuff produced 80
years ago.

In one of the 200 rooms inside his castle,
Mudgett erected a weird and wonderful
apparatus consisting of a tangle of tubes.
pipes, pumps, black boxes. retorts, bat-
teries and one large bath. The bath was
filled with water, into which Mudgett
would sprinkle some mysterious powder.
He would then turn on a tap and sure
enough, illuminating gas would issue
from the apparatus as an end product.
After demonstrating this astonishing
invention to a group of Chicago busines-
smen, Mudgett persuaded four of them
to part with a large slice of capital to
finance the mass manufacture of
illuminating gas from bath water. None
of them even suspected that the tap which
Mudgett turned on with such a flourish
was secretly connected to the city gas
main and that Mudgett wasn’t even pay-
ing the city for the gas he was using.
Meanwhile, business in the murder fac-
tory began to pick up, as visitors flocked
to the Chicago World's Fair. From
thousands of strangers, male and female,
Mudgett took his pick, but they were
mostly female. Unsuspectingly they

would take up residence in his death-

house as paying guests, and later be trans-
ferred permanently and with much loss
of weight to the lecture rooms of various
schools of anatomy. Their money and
valuables, of course, were collected and
added to Mudgett’s private coffers.

To deal effeciently with such detail
Mudgett decided that a qualified personal
secretary was necessary. He had no diffi-
culty at all in hiring one. Her name was
Emmeline Cigrand and she hailed from
Dwight, Illinois. She was beautiful,
seductive, and a constant connubial
threat to Mudgett’s mistress, Julia.

Julia’s objections grew more and more
persistent as Mudgett got into the habit
of locking himself up with Emmeline in
one of his secret rooms. One night he
invited the disgruntled Julia to inspect the
basement with him — an invitation that
had never before been extended to any
human being still living. It ts hardly sur-
prising that Julia, as Mudgett had
planned, collapsed in 4 dead faint as she
stepped through the door into Mudgett’s
reeking death pit. Four female cadavers
were Stretched out on the operating table.
The acid bath was bubbling and the fur-
nace roaring. Laid out on a table ready
for immediate use were Mudgett’s surgi-
cal instruments.

The crazed physician immediately
despatched Julia with a pad of chloroform
and in record time her nude body had
been laid out beside those already waiting
his skilled attention.

Six months later, having apparently
displeased her employer as either mis-
tress or secretary, Emmeline was sent
into the open vault to fetch Mudgett a
ledger. As she entered the six-foot
chamber, he rose from his desk and began
pushing the steel door shut. “‘I can't find
it, Mr. Mudgett,’’ Emmeline called, and
whatever else she said was lost as Mud-
gett slammed the door shut and locked
It.

oo

Emn
while \!
inthe s

to wri
Emme!
her po
unkno.
His
slaught
delicat
charm
him th
a $60.0!
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worth
gested
ried ay
as brice
atall M
for his
full cor
double
and se
gave tt
privac
Ani
jamin |
childr
friend
had tt
decided
He seni
tions t
liams +
to Ch
$20.000
loot. 6
horizon
Min:
gett's
Anna a
promis¢
ing. A
embai
ther

s castle,
y»nderful
‘t tubes,
rts, bat-
ath was
ludgett
oowder.
nd sure
d issue
sroduct.
nishing
isines-
f them
pital to
ure of
None
op Which
flourish
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flocked
From
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ey were
lv they
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ch loss
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ted and
h detail
personal
no diffi-
ime was
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cutiful,
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nd more
ve habit
eline in
wht he
pectthe
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ig table
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S surgi-

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Wang

+ + }
parently

Dr. Mudgett’s “furnace room” must have looked like this.

Emmeline died slowly and agonizingly
while Mudgett continued his office work
inthe same room. After all, he had letters
to write — letters explaining how
Emmeline had suddenly decided to leave
her post and enter a convent, address
unknown.

His next playmate in the Mudgett
slaughter house was Minnie Williams, a
delicately pretty girl with a soft Texas
charm. Minnie had modestly informed
him that she and her sister Anna, owned
a $60,000 chunk of real estate in Fort
Worth, and that to Mudgett was really
worth a little romantic effort. He sug-
gested that he and Minnie should get mar-
ried and she could send for Anna to act
as bridesmaid. Anna came, and inno time
at all Mudgett had both sisters competing
for his favors. He assured them that with
full control of their property he could
double its value. Separately they agreed,
and separately the gallant Mr. Mudgett
gave them their romantic reward in the
privacy of his secret room.

An impoverished inventor named Ben-
jamin F. Pietzel who had a wife and five
children, had enjoyed Mudgett’s sinister
friendship for some time and since Pietzel
had the morals of a crow, Mudgett
decided to hire him as an accomplice.
He sent him to Fort Worth with instruc-
tions to mortgage the property of the Wil-
liams sisters, and when Pietzel returned
to Chicago two weeks later he had
$20,000 in his wallet. They shared the
loot. but trouble began to loom on the
horizon,

Minnie was getting tired of sharing Mud-
gett’s handsome person with her sister
Anna and wanted to know when those
promised wedding bells would start ring-
ing. Also both sisters were making
embarrassing enquiries about the state of
their investment in Fort Worth. They

actually demanded some money from
Mudgett.

The murderous doctor then decided to
eliminate all his problems, both financial
and female, at one stroke.

He transferred ownership of the mur-
der factory to the ‘tCampbell-Yates Com-
pany’’ and insured the property for
$60,000. A few weeks later smoke began
to billow out of the first floor windows
of the ‘‘Campbell-Yates Company"
property. Mudgett, of course, was out,
but the two Williams sisters were sound
asleep upstairs and would have been
roasted alive without the aid of Mudgett’s
furnace but for the prompt actions of a
neighbor in calling the Fire Department.
The flames were doused, Minnie and
Anna still lived.

The insurance company became suspi-
cious and discovered that H. H. Holmes
was an alias for Mudgett. The policy was
promptly canceled and Mudgett only
escaped being sued for arson because no
evidence connecting him with the fire
could be found.

Mudgett’s nerves were now becoming
a trifle frayed. Prying firemen had nar-
rowly missed uncovering the lime pits in
the basement. They had seen the dissect-
ing tables, but fortunately Mudgett had
made sure there were no bodies on them
that night. Nevertheless, it had been a
close call and the time was ripe to make
aclean and unbungled break with the Wil-
liams sisters.~

Separately Mudgett lured them into
one of his sound-proof rooms on the pre-
text of feeling the urge for a little romantic

dallying. There he strangled them, then
carried them down to the basement.
Without further ado he popped them into
the acid bath, not even bethering to col-
lect their jewelry or sell their skeletons.

Mudgett conferred with his pal, Piet-

zel, who was getting desperate for money

and had begun to make veiled threats of
blackmail. ‘I have a wonderful scheme, *
said the doctor, **whereby we can acquire
$10,000 insurance money with the
minimum amount of effort. Now this is
what you will have to do for your share
of the profits..."

Two weeks later, under the name of
B. F. Perry. Pietzel opened a loft office
at 1316 Callowhill street, Philadelphia,
where he began tinkering happily with
a formula for non-explosive cleaning
fluid. His wife was the beneficiary of a
new $10,000 insurance policy under the
Perry name, placed with the Fidelity
Mutual Insurance Company. Directed by
Mudgett. Mrs. Pietzel had moved with
the children to Cincinnati.

“If at any time you should hear that
your husband is dead,”’ Mudgett warned
her. *'do not believe it. He will be alive
and well.”

As usual Mudgett was kidding and as
usual his twisted mind had formed a
scheme whereby his best friend's demise
would net him all of the $10,000.

Salesmen wishing to sell Mr. Perry
chemicals and equipment were having
difficulty in contracting him inside his
office-laboratory. Nobody answered
when they knocked on the door. One
salesman, named Eugene Smith, decided
to stand on a chair and look through the
skylight over the door, and what he saw
sent him running for the police.

Spreadeagled on the floor was a dead
man, with sunlight steaming through the
half-closed shutters on to his face, which
had been burned into an unrecognizable
mass. A broken jar which had once con-
tained chemicals lay nearby and a corn
cob pipe protruded from the man’s man-
gled mouth.

(continued on page 50)

23

in


igrip.

rds strung

lerer
rous crimes
ippeared to
handsome
| id carefully
{ charming
| ngue and
captivated
)uS young
a dazzling
i] complhi-

adreds of

SCCULILy
erly on the
Thet
again.
YeCause Ne
fair share
adtes. He
bbler in the
of fashion.
in alacrity
to reckless
suggested
cial, hon-

had been
mpshire.

ents

student

as arranged, the tnsured man vanished
and a corpse, then easily obtained from
the dissecting rooms by medical students,
was presented as being that of the missing
man.

With $2,500 as his share of the fraud
money, Mudgett began a life of luxury.
He passed his medical exams in 1884 and
practiced medicine for a year in New
York State. Honest work and lawful
wedded bliss however, did not appeal to
Mudgett. He craved excitement in both
money-making and sex, and figured that
by turning to crime he could acquire both.

He headed for Chicago and bigamously
married a Miss Myrtle Belknap, changing
his name to ‘‘H. H. Holmes."’ Not the
least of Miss Belknap’s charms was the
fact that she had a rich uncle whom Mud-
gett vigorously cultivated, finally per-
suading him to back a note to the extent
of $2,500. An hour after receiving the
signed note, Miss Belknap caught her
husband forging her uncle's signature to
another note for the same amount. Weep-

(Continued on next page)

The Bean handcuff, supposedly foolproof.

Hands were shackled in these devices.

21

e

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get eages.

ti m1 a ae ‘ m !
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i

pan: Re oc a Seether
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oe

“Crime Castle” in Chicago was scene of wild parties and mysterious death for beautiful women.

a DETECTIVE CASES crime classic
A little learning was a dangerous thing for this man of many names.

* THE DEAN OF THE MEDICAL college looked at Herman Mudgett
and smiled. “Fine work,” he said. “The dissection job you did on the corpse

is a masterpiece.”

The young student thanked the dean and let it go at that. Later, in his room,
Mudgett had to laugh. He wondered what the dean would have said if he’d known
the truth about the corpse. Suppose he had said, “Sir, I got the body from a grave-
yard. You see, the gravedigger is a friend of mine. I bought him a few drinks
and he gave it to me. He saved himself a lot of work because the ground is
frozen and he couldn’t bury it until there’s a thaw. So he just gave it to me in
the name of science. It’s all quite safe. The guy was a nameless derelict.”

Undoubtedly there would be trouble if the story leakd out. Herman Mudgett
would be expelled from college. But who would believe the tipsy gravedigger? And
anyway Mudget was going to leave. He had never really wanted to be a doctor.

It was his father’s doings, and for it the old man had mortgaged his property to”

the hilt and Mudgett had gone through five years of medical school in actual
poverty, with barely enough to make ends meet from one month to the next.

Well, that transaction with the cadaver had given him an idea. From now on he
was going to make money. And then he could go back home to Gilmantown, New
Hampshire, and marry his sweetheart, Clara Lovering. If he had money old
Farmer Lovering might be willing to accept him as a son-in-law.

He sat there thumbing the pages of his book, but the printed lines did not

38

Herman Mudgett alias H. H. Holmes.

on

DETECTIVE CASES

register in his seething brain.

“At two o'clock, Ben Pitezell, a fellow student, who roomed
across the hall, noticed the light under Mudgett’s door and
knocked softly.

“Do you know what time it is?”
through the keyhole.

After a moment Mudgett opened the door. His hair was
disheveled, his handsome face flushed and unsmiling, and
his eyes were so glittering that Pitezell shrank back in fear.

“I was just thinking about you,” Mudgett murmured.
“Come on it.”

“No, no,” Pitezell protested. “We have exams tomorrow—”

But Mudgett seized his 4rm and pulled him into the room,

“After I tell you my plan,” he said, “you won’t give a hang
about examinations. We're going to be rich!”

Early next morning, Ben Pitezell walked into the office of
the Acme Insurance Company and inquired about a
$10,000 life insurance policy.

He passed a physical examination, answered some per-
functory questions and paid the first quarterly premium.

By pre-arrangement he had named Herman Mudgett his
beneficiary. ‘

Having transacted his business, he went to a beer garden,
settled himself with a bottle at hand to wait for Mudgett and
gave himself up to blissful plans for the future. ~

That Mudgett’s scheme was crooked, even dangerous, did
not worry him. He saw it only as a means of getting rich
in a hurry.

Now Carrie could have her baby in peace. For the first

he whispered sharply

time since he had married her on a trip home to St. Louis, ,

his mind was free of worry.

Four months later, Herman Mudgett and Benjamin Pitezell
left college, giving lack of funds as an excuse. On the train
that carried them East was a plain pine box in the baggage
car. It contained a body they had obtained from the City
Hospital. Ostensibly it was for use in the medical laboratory
of the college, in reality it was to be buried in Connecticut
under the name of Benjamin F. Pitezell.

In due time, the Acme Insurance Corapany was advised
that Pitezell had died and they paid his $10,000 insurance
to Mudgett who divided the check witn his partner.

The unscrupulous pair worked this racket in various parts
of the country for months.

Herman Mudgett’s romance, however, proved a failure.

He wearied of Clara soon after marriage. He wondered
what he had ever seen in her. The adoring glances he had
once thought so attractive palled upon him. The pressure
of her arms about his neck lost their thrill. And when she
clung to him in tears, her very helplessness that had been
so appealing, bored him beyond description. He was furious
when he learned she was to have a child, and Clara’s
pregnancy was a miserable ordeal.

After his son was born, Mudgett became more estranged,
showing no interest at all in the boy.

Finally, his disillusioned wife took her baby home to her
father who received her gladly, if a bit grimly, and with
se of an I-told-you-so air. Mudgett had never fooled

im.

The former medical student had resolved that this part-
ing was to be final. He had plenty of money now, and,
at the age of 25, slim, dark, and handsome, he left for
the gaiety and bright lights of Chicago.

There, in the dawn of the “Gay Nineties” era, he cut
the last tie with his old life by discarding his name. There-
after he was known as “H. H. Holmes.”

The dwelling he leased at 63rd and Wallace streets,
which he facetiously called “the Castle,” soon was the
scene of wild parties attended by beautiful women. One of
these lovely females, Miss Minnie Williams, was an heiress
from Fort Worth, Texas, who was so madly in love with
Holmes that she fainted when he proposed to her.

Holmes had not troubled to divorce Clara, and Ben
Pitezell, who knew this, was deeply shocked to learn upon
calling at the “Castle” that Holmes and Minnie were away
on their honeymoon.

Pitezell was a weak character, but genuinely in love with
his wife, Carrie, and he intended to rebuke Holmes; but
the latter suddenly returned, and, by his manner, defied his

|
|

Judge Michael Arnold presided at the trial of wholesale murderer.

partner to interfere. Holmes was arrogant and brusque,

:

e

Pitezell accepted a five thousand dollar check as the price

of his silence. And it was a winter afternoon, four month
later, when he came again to “the Castle.” ‘ |

sa

|
Although he was not expected, he received a cordial wel-

come from Holmes who said, “I’m glad to see you. I haveet® .
some business to discuss with you and anyway, it’s no jokeq@

’

living alone in this barn.’

“Alone?” Pitezell echoed, allowing Holmes to help him

take off his overcoat in the hall. “Don’t tell me it’s all ove
so soon!”

r ‘
¢

“Oh, No. Minnie has been down in Fort Worth for a few sg |
weeks visiting old friends. The house seems quite emptyyg F
©

without her, But a change will do her good. Come in ‘an
have a drink to warm you up.”

Both men retired at ten o'clock and
into silence.

But sometime in the night a storm whipped across th

“the Castle” settled !

e

city and Pitezell woke to the sound of moaning wind and ba. |

flapping shutters. In the faint light that came from! th

street lamp, he could see the dead branches of the trees
tossing against the windows. As his eyes hecame accus-y - |

Cf

DETECTIVE CASES 39D
Bhar Fs
= E .° &
ON sae
aa Se

Ne

PPR ee eee een

ee. See ye

‘s

Lovely Minnie Williams fainted when Mudgett proposed.

tomed to the darkness Pitezell saw a figure standing on the
threshold. And, at the same time, there came to his nostrils
the faint but persistent odor of something burning.

Was the house on fire? Was that Holmes in the doorway
who had come to warn him?

His first instinct was to jump out of bed, but some in-
tuition told him to lie still.

After a moment the shadowy figure moved across the
room to the heat ventilator in the wall. Then, on noiseless
feet, the man turned and went out, closing the door without
a sound.

In the morning, while he was dressing, Pitezell noticed that
the shutter in the ventilator was closed. He did not speak
of this or the episode of the nocturnal visitor.

At ten o’clock he went downtown to a leading insurance
company, purchased a $10,000 policy on his life giving the
name of his best friend, Harry H. Holmes, as the beneficiary.

In the Spring of 1892, Holmes notified the company
that his friend had died, and produced documents to show
that he was buried in Little Rock, Arkansas. After settle-
_ment was made he summoned Pitezell to “the Castle,” and
they split the money. .

“How’s the missus?” asked Pitezell, tucking away his
wallet.

Holmes shrugged. “I wish I knew. She doesn’t say anything
about coming back.”

Pitezell was surprised. “I stopped in Fort Worth a month
ago,” he said, “and no one there had heard of her or seen
her.” The mild man’s eyes were deeply puzzled.

40

There was complete silence for a moment, then Holmes

asked, quietly, grimly, “You inquired?”

“Yes. Why?”

Startled by the fierce expression in Holmes’ eyes, he
stammered:

“Why, what was wrong about that?”

But any further conversation was interrupted by a tall,
dark girl who came to the door.

“Shall you need me this afternoon?” her voice was
low and pleasant.

Holmes regained his composure as if with a great effort.

“This is my partner, Mr. Pitezell. Miss Emeline Cigrande
is my new secretary, Ben.”

Pitezell declined an invitation to stay at “the Castle” that
night. A sudden uneasiness possessed him. He kept remem-*
bering the last night he had spent under his roof, and,
over the forgotten months, his nostrils were assailed again by
the ghostly odor of a strange fire. :

Ben Pitezell had never discussed his “business” with his
wife. Carrie wouldn’t understand, he told himself. And she
was so interested in her home and their three children—
Alice, eleven, Nellie, four, and the baby, Howard—that she
had given up asking questions of him. And so she was sur-
prised one night when, during a brief visit with his family
who were living in St. Louis, he took her into his confidence.

“T’ve told you that I have taken out insurance policies
from time to time?”

“Yeu :

“Well, never mind ‘why,’ but it was important for me to
do that. It was nothing wrong,” he lied. “Now, 1 am;going

He had a way with women and a sure

But he pressed his luck a little too

to do that again and this-time I am naming you my
beneficiary.” ;
A little cry escaped her, but Pitezell hushed it.

“There is no reason for you to be upset,” he frowned,

“and if you start carrying on I won’t go through with it.
You must listen carefully to what I say and do exactly what
I tell you. And never, for one instant, believe that there is
anything wrong about this.”

It took some time to convince Carrie. She didn’t want to
be the beneficiary of any insurance money, especially her
husband’s. It suggested death, no matter how much he
assured her that he was not going to die.

The truth of the matter was that he and Holmes had
agreed it might be well to inject a feminine angle into
one of their ghoulish schemes for a change. Pitezell didn’t
care for the idea but he had never been one to argue with
Holmes.

But now, faced with Carrie’s innocent eyes, he found it
hard to explain. :

“No matter what anyone tells you,” he said, “do not
believe that I am dead. When my lawyer comes to you and
gives you money, you take it—”

“But, Ben, that’s wicked—” ;

Pitezell turned away with a shrug of despair. He wished
he hadn’t got Carrie mixed up in this. She would never be
reconciled to such a deal. Carrie was a good woman. It
wasn’t fair to use her in this manner. But how could he
backtrack now? .

“There you are! You want to know about my affairs
and as soon as I tell you how you can help me, you start to
preach!” ;

She quickly controlled herself.

“Look, I’m all right now. Please tell me, and I will do

DETECTIVE CASES

ae eee

whatever you want.” Her sincerity was obvious.

When Pitezell had finished talking to her that evening,
he went out and got drunk. It was a habit he often in-
dulged in those days. :

Early in 1893, Pitezell came to Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, and leased a furnished house at 1316 Callowhill
Street. He put up a neat sign in the front window, “B. F.
Perry.”

In due time he visited the Fidelity Mutual Insurance
Company at 924 Walnut Street and applied for a $10,000

- insurance policy, naming his wife, Caroline Pitezell, of St.

Louis, Missouri, his beneficiary.

All this was in accordance with his pre-arranged plan
with Holmes.

Weeks passed during which the Callowhill Street house
was closed up and Pitezell lived in St. Louis with his family.
On several of his trips to nearby states he stopped in
Chicago to see Holmes, but he never saw the pretty stenog-
rapher, Emeline Cigrande again, nor did he meet Holmes’
“wife,” Minnie Williams.

It was Holmes himself who mentioned the fact that
Minnie was tired of him and had started suit for a “divorce.”
As for Emeline, he said she proved totally incapable of
handling his affairs and he had:to discharge her.

By the end of the year, Carrie Pitezell bore another
child. She was very ill and Pitezell had heavy doctor’s bills
to meet. So he went to Holmes and suggested that they
develop their latest insurance plot.

It was settled that he should return to Philadelphia where
Holmes would soon join him, and they would go to New

plan to make a bundle of easy money.

far. The next stop was the gallows

zoek, procure a body and complete the unholy transaction
there.

ARRY HOLMES rang the bell at 1316 Callowhill Street

several times, but there was no response. It was a warm
day—September 2, 1894—some children were playing in the
street, and one of them shouted,

“Hey, mister, there’s nobody home there!”

Nevertheless, Holmes tried the knob and, to his surprise,
it turned easily admitting him to a small dusty hall. He
paused, listening, but the house was silent.

He searched the first floor, then started up the stairs. In
the back room he found Pitezell sprawled in a chair. His
pipe had fallen to the floor, his spectacles were awry on his
nose. There was a purplish tinge in his face and, at first,
Holmes thought he might have suffered a heart attack.

But Pitezell was only drunk.

For a moment. Holmes stood perfectly still, unable to
believe that he had run upon such luck. For he was going
to murder Pitezell and, in his helpless stupor, the man could
put up absolutely no resistance.

Holmes removed his hat and coat. No need to hurry
now. He could prepare for his task leisurely.

How weak Pitezell looked, sunk in the depths of drink.

And yet he was a determined, prying individual, too. You
wouldn’t think that this miserable, drunken wretch whom
Holmes had made rich would be inquisitive enough to go
looking for Minnie and her sister, Anna, in Fort Worth.

Of course, the girls hadn’t visited there at all. They had
never left Chicago. He had smothered them to death and
stuffed their bodies in the big furnace at “the Castle.”

That had almost betrayed him the night ‘Pitezell spent
there and the wind had screamed down the chimney stirring

DETECTIVE CASES

sateieaiitiitiamintiabiateiiiandia sisi

| 1

the human ashes in the basement and sending the sickening
odor of burnt flesh drifting up the ventilators.

As he stood rolling up his sleeves, Holmes looked at the
relaxed face of the unconscious man and wondered just
how much he had suspected about Minnie and her meek,
tiresome little sister, Anna. *

And what had he guessed about Emeline Cigrande?

WHIMSICAL smile touched Holmes’ handsome mouth.
He had loved Emeline, for a while, until he knew she
was going to have a baby. 2
He remembered the jday she had told him, clinging to
him, frightened, whimpering.
“What shall I do? What will I tell my people? How can
I go back to them?” |
He had held her close, soothing her, stroking her thick
black hair that had been his delight. And that night, as she
lay sleeping in his arms, he had gently placed a wad of
cotton, soaked in morphine, across her mouth, and sealed

. her sobs and her fears, forever.

How much of all this had Pitezell guessed?

The sound of a man’s voice out in the street sent Holmes
swiftly to the window, but when he peered out around the
edge of the shade he saw it was only a huckster shouting
his wares.

From his coat pocket, Holmes drew a pair of gloves and
slid them on his hands, Then he opened his suitcase and
carefully lifted out some bottles and vials. He placed thes
on the table near Pitezell’s chair. (Continued on page 67)

41
|


LL

the family
3 a ‘‘whis-
n. He felt
ng a secret
trist said.
eard them
ock away.
idn’t take
the panel
n of insan-
ts of first-
» had been
something
dering the
ved a sigh
nnounced.
s lawyers.
is back in
anity hear-
i to amen-
ite period.
ynnecticut

his latest
; escorted
, he smiled
im. “*That
he said to

*

OF
R

23)

ind its sur-
that there
4 inside the
lit his pipe
3.F.P.’’ on
to confirm
ruled that
ntal explo-
erry didn’t
elatives or
was buried

Pietzel in
» working
ver. ** Your
we thought
er the bor-
‘t be seen.
soon.’ He

age)

then got Mrs. Pietzel to, ‘write to the insur-
ance company saying that she believed
Mr. Pietzel was buried in Philadelphia
under the name of B. F. Perry. “‘I shall
identify him as your husband,’’ Mudgett

explained. ‘‘And I'll take your daughter

Alice with me so that she can identify
him also. I’m going to hire a lawyer,
Jeptha Howe, to act as your attorney.”’
Though suspicious, the insurance com-
pany reluctantly handed over.the $10,000

to Jeptha Howe and within a week Mud- .

gett had his hands on all of it. He made
himself very scarce, taking three of Piet-
zel’s children with him. Meanwhile,
detectives had been making a few
enquiries about ‘‘H. H. Holmes,’’ the
same alias Mudgett has used when he
tried to pull the fire fraud.

The search began for both Mudgett and
Mrs. Pietzel. They found the woman in
‘Burlington, Vermont, sick with worry.

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‘*‘Mudgett soidvedted, that he should take
along the three eldest children,’’ she said,
‘*so that I could‘move about more easily
from place to place. That: was six weeks
ago. I haven’t heard from him since then
and I’ m convinced. he has murdered my
babies,’

She was right, only the truth was even

-more horrifying. Mudgett had not been

thinking of Mrs. Pietzel’s comfort when
he took away her three children, but only
of his own depraved lust. Evidence given
later proved that he had violated all three
on numerous occasions and had finally

killed them by locking them inside an air- ,

tight steamer trunk.

Mrs. Pietzel gave the police as much
information as-they wanted about Mr.
Mudgett’s plans and activities. She had,
she admitted, been fully aware of the
insurance fraud and had been told that
the body in the laboratory was one
obtained by Mudgett from a medical
school.

‘*But now I don’t believe it,’’ she
added. ‘‘I believe that Mudgett actually
did murder my dear husband and that the
body they buried in Potter’s Field is that
of Benjamin Pietzel.”’

Once again Mrs. Pietzel was absolutely
right. Mudgett had, in fact, performed a
gigantic double-cross. 'Pietzel had
believed that a corpse from medical
sources would be planted when he disap-
peared, but bodies cost money and Mud-
gett had found it more convenient and
profitable to kill Pietzel and then mutilate
his features.

Police on both sides of the border ,

stepped up their search for the murderous
doctor. He was arrested in«Boston in
November, 1894, and blandly denied any
knowledge of any killings. ‘‘My dear
friend Ben Pietzel has gone to Europe,”’
he explained. ‘‘The children are being
cared for by another dear friend of mine,
Miss Minnie Williams.’’

Nor did he change his story when told
that the children’s violated bodies had
been found.

Pietzel’s body.was exhumed and a post
mortem performed. Inside his stomach
a lethal volume of chloroform was found,

- together with evidence'that the ghoul sur-

geon had first knocked Pietzel senseless
and injected the chloroform into the
stomach while he lay there. He had then
mutilated the face and left it exposed to
the sun’s rays streaming through the
laboratory window for five days, so that
in death it was too bloated and burnt to
be recognizable.

When detectives. began to take Mud-
gett’s murder factory to pieces, even their
hardened stomachs sickened. The foot-
print of one girl victim, who had some-
how managed to run in her last agonies
from the acid bath, was burned by the
acid into a steel door she had tried to
kick open.

As wellas many skeletons and separate
skulls, bodies were found in false walls
and under floorboards. Some of the vic-
tims had been used in medical experi-
ments, Mudgett having a crazed idea that

‘

he could make women grow taller and
change the color of their hair. In the dusty
vault if Mudgett’s office they found the
footprints of several women and the dried
blood. of one who had battered her head
against the inside walls in her agony and
terror. In the sub-basement, digging
down into the dirt floor, a women’s shoe
and part of a human foot were found,
together with the skeleton of a baby, the
tiny bones saved from disintegration by
a long woollen jacket.

Detectives took nearly a year to
unravel Mudgett’s tangled skein of crime,
but he was charged with only one murder
— that of Benjamin Pietzel. You can’t
hang a man two hundred times.

In the dock he listened unmoved while
his best friend’s widow, sustained by fre-
quent doses of medicine from the nurse
at her side, told brokenly how, when she
next saw her children after trusting them
to Mudgett’s care, the two violated girls
were on a slab in the morgue and her
son was a parcel: of bones from which
the flesh had been stripped by Mudgett’s
scalpel.

The only time the monster physician
showed the slightest touch of compas-
sion, it was for himself. While he spent
the last months in his cell awaiting trial

- he told a visitor how he had hatched out

a chick to keep him company. Allowed
to have food brought in if he paid for
it, he kept back an uncooked egg and
put it behind a radiator wrapped in a coat.

‘‘You can’t imagine tHe joy and satis-
faction of bringing a life safely into the
world to keep me company in my loneli-
ness,”’ he said. ‘‘I hid it when the guards
weren’t looking and had it a whole month.
Then it died, as all things we love die
in this world.”’

On November 3rd, 1895, Mudgett was
found guilty of first-degree murder and
was sentenced to death by hanging. They
led him to the hangman’s platform and
asked him if he had anything to say.
‘“Yes,’’ he replied, ‘‘but my only reason
for speaking is that if 1 should die without
making a statement, I should seem to
acquiesce to my execution. I wish to say
that the only instance of my wrongdoing
was in the killing of two women who died
as a result of a criminal operation by my
hands.”’

Blank and unbelieving silence greeted
this: astounding claim.

Mudgett then stepped forward and told
the hangman he was free to perform his

- duties. The hangman did so with smooth

alacrity.

In accordince with Mudgett’s last
request, his body was enclosed in a spe-
cial box and then concrete was poured
on top of it. This box was lowered into
a 12-foot grave and more concrete poured
all round it.

‘‘T am a religious man,’’ Mudgett had
explained, ‘‘and I have a dread of ghouls
and ghosts who haunt graves at night.
Also I have no particular desire to have
my body offered up to my colleagues for
dissecting purposes. Not many of them
are as practiced as I am.”’

51

Ree
mats

|) ccatasdedetinne. mets meee dies on

the ballistics evidence against him, there
seemed little doubt that he would be
convicted by a jury. However, in Mexi-

can law, premeditation of murder has..
to be strictly proven even when the slay- ©

ing occurs during the commission of a
felony. The suspect claimed that he had
not premeditated murder, and he said
that the proof of it was that he had
worn a mask. He insisted that he had
fired out of sudden sheer panic.

In view of possible difficulty in dis-
proving his claim, Judge Orozco agreed

BODIES, INCORPORATED

(Continued from page 41) _

He saturated a square of gauze with
morphine and put it over his nostrils and
sagging mouth. The doomed man did not
stir at first. Then, as the powerful drug
cut into his breathing he gulped, gasped,
but Holmes’ slim fingers pressed down
on the death pad sending the fumes
curling into his lungs. Pitezell’s chest
heaved spasmodically. After a few min-
utes all motion ceased.

But for a long time Holmes stood
there, his slender surgeon’s hands hold-
ing the gauze in place. Then he adjusted
his stethoscope in his ears and listened

at the. man’s breast. It was merely a

gesture. He knew Pitezell was dead.

Holmes then seized the body by the
feet and pulled it down on the floor. He
scrutinized the array of bottles, un-
corked several and poured the liquid
over Pitezell’s face and smashed the
bottles on the floor beside him.

The job was done now.

He stripped his gloves, stuffed them
into his coat, put on his hat and, with-
out so much as a backward glance, took
up his bag, went downstairs and stepped
out into the late sunshine.

The following day, Eugene Smith, a
carpenter, stopped at the house to make
some repairs ordered by the landlord.
He rang the bell and thumped on the
door, but got no answer. After a mo-
ment, finding the door unlocked he went
in and shouted for “Mr. Perry!”

He noticed that the parlor was in dis-
array with papers strewn on the chairs
and an empty whiskey bottle on the
table and, figuring they were “sleeping
off” a party, went away.

But when he returned next morning
and found things the same his curiosity
was aroused. And as he stood there he
noticed a very bad odor that grew
stronger as he stepped out into the hall.
Smith went up the stairs and the smell
wafted to him in sickening waves. He
peered into the back room and, to his
horror, saw a man stretched on the floor,
his bace burned and disfigured. The
shade was drawn, the window shut tight
and the stench of death filled the place.

Smith fled down to the street for help.

A Coroner’s jury found that “Perry”

to permit Jesus Larids Lopez to plead
guilty to two counts of manslaughter.
Each charge would carry a possible
maximum penalty of 20 years in jail
without parole.

The guilty plea was submitted and
accepted on March 3rd, 1965. The ad-
mitted killer of the American couple
was then returned to jail to await formal
sentencing by the judge at a later date.

*
Editor's Note: The name Juan Marcias
Atondo is fictitious.

vated by morphine. Since he was: said
to be an inventor, they supposed that
some chemicals had exploded while he
was in his intoxicated state and thus
burned his face.

On September 10th, unable to locate
his relatives, they buried “Perry” in
Potter’s Field.

Meanwhile Holmes had gone to St.
Louis to ask Mrs. Pitezell to permit the
children to visit their father, who, de-
tained in Philadelphia, was homesick for
them. And against her judgment the
poor woman let them go.

Late in September, Japtha D. Howe,
a St. Louis attorney, arrived in Phila-
delphia to inform the Fidelity Company
that he represented Mrs. Pitezell whose
husband, Ben, had been buried under
the name of B. F. Perry. Holmes, an
old family friend, came, too, and had
little Alice Pitezell with him.

*¢y AM here because I have a claim

against the insurance,” Holmes
said. “Pitezell was eccentric and often
used faked names. But if you will have
this Perry exhumed you will find he has
a very large wart on the back of his
neck, a smashed left thumb nail, a scar
on the forehead and badly stained teeth.
Furthermore, I have his daughter here
who can identify him.”

On September 22, the insurance com-
pany obtained a court order permitting
the grave to be opened. The marks
Holmes described were found and little
Alice took one look at the face which
acid had failed to completely destroy
and screamed hysterically, ‘Daddy!
daddy!”

Identification was settled. The com-
pany paid Howe $9,715.85.

Holmes, who had hired Howe, gave
him $2,500, kept $6,000 for himself
and sent $200 to the widow.

Holmes had only one problem left—
the Pitezell children.

He dared not return them to their
mother, for even the boy, Howard,
knew that his father was dead. Alice
had told him despite Holmes’ warning
to her to keep silent.

They left Philadelphia with him on a
west-bound express and must have pass-
ed the train in which their frantic mother
was traveling east to find them.

‘No one but Harry Holmes knew just

when Alice and Nellie and Howard -
-had died from-acute~alcoholism “aggra-- died. But for weeks, before he killed

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them and burned their bodies in the
furnace at “the Castle,” he moved them
from city to city. en

Finally, Carrie Pitezell, half-insane.
with worry, went to the police.

George Lovering was wakened in the
night by a voice moaning,

“No, no, don’t dig me up!”

He thought he must have been dream-
ing, because the house was so still.

. Then he heard it again, and it was the
cry of a soul in mortal fear...

“Concrete! They'll never find me in
concrete—don’t dig me up!”

A shiver ran up the spine of the farm-
er and he knew it must be the man
who had arrived that afternoon and
was assigned to the room across the
hall. He was having a nightmare.

As Farmer Lovering approached the
door the moaning was resumed, plead-
ing for sanctuary against Death which
had left his grave unprotected.

A grim smile touched the old man’s
lips as he heard it. ;

Talk about nerve—coming back after
all these years to stir up old memories.
He was glad that Clara and her boy

. ~ Before daylight,

were away on a vacation in the city.
The boy didn’t even know he had a
living father. Lovering hadn’t known it
either until this afternoon when the
handsome dude had come up to the
farmhouse saying brazenly:

“Well,,aren’t you glad to see me?”

What was he. dremaing about, the
old man wondered. What terror haunted
him? '

‘He stood there a long time, but no
other sound came from the room.
George Lovering
went out and hitched up his team and

‘drove into town to the sheriff. He figured

the law might be interested in Herman
Mudgett whose dreams were beset by
corpses and graves and who wanted to
be buried in concrete so that nothing
could disturb his final sleep. .

Harry Holmes was arrested that same
day, May 28, 1895, at his father-in-
law’s farm.

Later he was turned over to Detective
Frank Geyer, of Philadelphia, to whom
he made a long confession. He said he

had killed Minnie and Anna Williams, -

Emeline Cigrande, and the three Pite-

zell children. As for Ben—he had always
known that some day he would have ta
dispose of him because he knew too
much,

ROWDS fought to get in the court-
house when he was brought to
Philadelphia to be tried for the murder
of his one-time partner. He had famous
counsel, headed by Samuel P. Rotan,
later District Attorney of Philadelphia.
Holmes knew he was doomed, but,
enjoying the limelight, he dismissed his
lawyers and conducted his own trial,
brilliantly.

On November 2, at the end of five
days, he was convicted of first degree
murder and sentenced by Judge Michael
Arnold to be hanged.

The day of the execution attracted
the biggest throng in the history of the
Philadelphia County Prison.

But Holmes, unaware of the milling
spectators, quietly mounted the gallows
in the east corridor of the jail early in
the morning of May 7th, 1896, and, a
moment later, the “criminal of the cen-
tury” plunged through the trap door. *

BURNED ALIVE TO COOL A PASSION
(Continued from page 31)

T THE east side address where

Bertha Saxe lived, the two men
from headquarters toiled up dark stair-
ways to a third-floor walkup, where a
sullen-eyed, thin-lipped woman  an-
swered their knock. Their badges
quickly admitted them.

In the poor light that filtered through
curtained courtyard windows, they
compared the woman with the likeness
in the snapshot. *

“Could be my twin sister, almost, if
I had one,” Mrs. Saxe agreed. “But it
isn’t me.” She looked at the two men
quizzically. “Why’re you here? I fig-
ured it was about Millie.”

“It is, in a way,” one detective an-
swered. “She here?”

The thin lips compressed even thin-
ner. “No. There’s no use takin’ her
down to that bureau of yours anymore,
I guess. Millie’s turned eighteen now.
Told me she’d go her way. and I could
go mine, without her.”

They told Mrs. Saxe about the mur-
der, and her sallow face paled. “We’d
better check on Millie,” the officer said.
“Do you know where she can _ be
FOU es ee
- “With the same man, I reckon,” the
woman said with a tremor in her voice.
She gave a name and address and ush-
ered the detectives to the door. “I
hope,” she said at the threshold, “you
do find her. You can tell her—tell her
maybe I can see things a little more
her way than I used to.”

At the dreary flat to which Mrs.
Saxe sent them, the officers~ pushed
their way in ‘past the hard-faced ‘man

68

~ or gece: - pt os ae *~

who held the door against them.

“You got no reason. . .” he snarled.

“Shut up! Where’s Millie Saxe?”

A girl’s throaty voice answered
them. “Right here.” She. stepped be-
tween a pair of drapes separating the
living room from the bed-chamber be-
yond, a tall, long-limbed brunette in a
red negligee that was loosely—very
loosely—tied in front. ‘“What’s this
about somebody being burned up?”

They told her. “A kid like you, Mil-
lie. Just like you.” The detective
paused, stared at her thin, over-painted
young face, the wide mocking eyes.
“Incidentally, your mother’s changed
her mind about—well, about a lot of
things. In case you’re interested.”

They took the snapshots back to
headquarters and reported failure.

Seber by now had a report on the
dead girl’s jewelry. It was cheap stuff,
worth about $15 in all. And there was
no way it could possibly be traced.

Except, and he knew it was one
chance in a hundred, through the pho-
tographs with descriptions, which
would appear in the two daily news-
papers.

The long hours passed and Seber
stayed at his desk, wondering if the
murder was a sordid ‘lovers’ lane”
tragedy, -or a triangle slaying. His

phone rang frequently, with ‘hot’ tips —

from newspaper readers. He made
notes and studied the work already
done.

Then his door opened and a trim,
black-haired young woman came to
his desk.

“It’s about my sister, Josephine Cam-
pos, that I’m here,” she said. “The pic-
tures in the paper—that necklace. I’m
positive-it is hers!”

' Seber seated her and produced the. .

0 RI ne

ah iee Eada “neem tM: Whine: Mn dee, ck BO catenins eta. elt abies

rings and the imitation diamond pen-
dant. The young woman nodded. “They
belonged to Josephine. all of them.”

PEAKING in a low, broken voice,

the tears flowing freely, she told
her story. Josephine was 20, three years
younger than herself. When only 15,
Josephine had married Manuel Cam-
pos, who now was serving a prison
term for robbery by assault. There was
a little daughter, living with the aunt.

“And your sister has been missing
from home these last few days?” Seber
questioned.

The girl sighed. “Who can say? Jo-
sephine—Josephine has been staying
with another man.”

“Who? Where does he live?”

She shook her head. “I know only

his name. Ramon Corales. Where they
are living, she didn’t tell me. She came
once a week to see the little girl. Al-
ways on Friday.”
_ The sister could tell nothing more.
She agreed to view the hideous re-
mains of the victim to make the iden-
tification more positive, and went out.
Seber quickly summoned his men.

An alarm went out for Corales and
detectives began searching through
Mexican neighborhoods, hoping to
hear—about_the-man.—— -— ———-- -

The hours passed without result.
Then Seber had two more callers, a
dark man and a very pretty black-
haired girl. :

“IT am Ramon Corales,” the man
told the homicide captain. “This 1s
Ana Lopez, from San Antonio. We
have seen the papers and...” :

“Corales!” Seber exclaimed. “Sit
down.” a ‘i ee

“We think we recognize the jewelry
=" DETECTIVE CASES °


offer ‘to

> clammy
ie would
it almost
first put
, steeling
the man
than any
s, - Geyer
t resisted

> me...

coming. .

It -p
will do me the kindness ,of' sitting on
my, cot.” Holmes laughed#:"Jt isn’t very
comfortable, but it’s the best the house

affords.”

As he sat down, Geyer was startled
to realize that he'd never. really seen
Holmes before. He had looked through
him, but not athim, Ben gh ex

Big blue eyes—their innocence chal-
lenged only by an occasional : furtive
glance that reminded the‘ detective ‘of
the time he saw a hawk. watching for

a mouse.. Brown ‘hair—trimmed as neatly
as though the man expected to face a

board ‘of directors rather than a hang-
man. Thick red lips—frequently ‘wetted,

through which came voice tones as soft
and: low as those of. a*call girl good
enough for a madame’s swanky parlor.
“He’s .pretty!” Geyer suddenly real-
ized, thinking to himself. “Shave off that

mustache, and there wouldn't be a pret-.
tier face in Philadelphia!” Aloud he in-
sisted, “I’m’ here. Let’s get on with it.”.

Holmes wet his lips, flashed the de-
tective an enigmatic smile, then rubbed

plete confidence ‘in you,” he said. “So

many stories have been circulated. that

I fear the truth about me. will never.

‘be known unless you make ‘it ‘public.
You know a great deal about me, but
not all... .” ;

Before doubts began to accumulate.

there had been a time when Emmeline

Cigrand was radiantly sure she: knew

practically all about her fiance. _
Awkward and unsure of herself, eager

for a taste of adventure but not ‘quite.

his hands together briskly. “I have com

continued on next page .

ab

HOLMES, H.

H., wh,

Joe
St

CHICAGO, ILL.

™ Boiling clouds that threatened to dump
a heavy March snow upon already-blan-
keted Philadelphia made ‘the bleak cor-
ridors of Pennsylvania’s Moyamensing
Prison: seem more somber than usual.
Detective Frank P. Geyer wondered why
he’d never before noticed that so much
paint was peeling from walls and that
so many. 30-watt light bulbs had burned
out.

“It’s ungodly quiet today,” he grum-
bled as he and his guide turned toward
Death Row.

“Been quiet ever since that fellow got

44

a

INSIDE DE

hanged

TECTIVE

‘

Philadelphia,

his sentence,” the turnkey retorted. “He’s
got the whole place spocked.”

Unlocking the cel) that held H. H.
Holmes, the guard gestured for Geyer
to enter. “Yell when you're ready to go,”
he said. “The warden wants you to take
your time.”

Geyer hesitated an instant. He didn’t
quite know what to expect from the man
whose bloody trail he had followed for
hundreds of miles. Of all person on
earth, why should the killer send for
him and. stress that it- was “urgent”?

“Do make yourself at ease, sir,” urged

ae

the prisoner, gesturing as an offer ‘to
shake hands, © *'

Frank Geyer already knew the clammy
feel of those dainty hands; he would
never forget the’ sensation that almost
overpowered him’.when he first put
handcuffs on Holmes. Mentally steeling
himself, he shook hands with the man
who had claimed more victims than any
other killer of smodern times. Geyer
wanted to wipe his hand, but resisted
the impulse. « os

“You said you wanted to see me....”

“Yes, indeed. ‘Thank you for coming.

MAGAZINE, JANUARY, 1973

I must apolo
a comfortab
will do me
my cot.” Ho
comfortable,

' affords.”

As he sat
to realize t!
Holmes befo
him, but not

Big blue
lenged only
glance that
the time he


MAD MASTER OF MURDER CASTLE

sure how to go about finding it, the girl
from Dwight, IIl., saw an opportunity
in the World’s Columbian Exposition. As
soon as October 20, 1892, was designat-
ed as opening day she made. up her
mind to be there for it.

Wandering about with her cardboard
suitcase packed with cheap cotton dress-
es, she saw a hand-lettered notice:

YOUNG LADIES OF QUALITY

_ ROOMS BY WEEK OR BY MONTH:
MUST BE INTERVIEWED
BY THE PROPRIETOR.
Emmeline stopped in an apothecary
shop situated at the comer of Chica-

- 46

+ 6 te “3 4 Pi gay 4 “
ee |

ie 3
bel Mh as

Artist portrayed in 1894 for Chicago Tribune searchers’
horror at finding box,of human body scraps. Forty years
later, house was razed (}) and more piles of bones were
discovered in basement. Ben Pitezel (|) and his daughter
Nellie, met death as\ pawns in Holmes’ twisted. plotting.

continued

go’s Sixty-third and Wallace Streets.

“Yes,” smiled the dapper gentleman
who stepped forward to answer her ques-
tion, “I am well acquainted with the
establishment across the corner. It was

- erected by a physician with money to

invest who wants to be a benefactor to
working girls and visitors to the city.
You couldn’t find a safer or more re-
spectable lodging place in the city.”

The speaker wet his lips and rubbed
his hands together briskly, then probed
for information about the girl’s back-
ground,

Yes, she was, determined to make
Chicago her home. No, she had no

friends or relatives in the city. Yes, her
mother was living—an invalid. But her
father was dead. Yes, she had saved:a
little money, ‘but not much.

“Welcome to my establishment! I am
Dr. H. H, Holmes, proprietor,” the
apothecary: told Emmeline. “You may
move in today; it isn’t safe for a re-
spectable girl to be wandering the streets
with suitcase in hand.”

Even from the outside, it was clear
that the big building was not an ordi-
nary rooming house. Shops occupied
much of the street-level space, but there
must be 40 or 50 rooms on floors above,
Emmeline guessed.

CyB Ga

Even i
about dre
to a girl
she was 2
ing wher:
bers.

As Ho
explained

“I try

‘my guest

time. Pe
be here

Surpri:
entire ro
ing with
line wor
keep his
have ple

For n
glimpse
her free
she had .


mage

Oe eae temeiarae cater :

HOLMES, H. H , white, hanged Philadelphia, ‘Pennsylvania,

n May 7, 1896.

A SEARCH OF THE FILES

OF HUNDREDS OF CASES
OF THE PAST CENTURY HAS
_ UNCOVERED THIS
‘SHOCKING STORY

OF THE MOST

MONSTROUS CRIMINAL

OF THEM ALL. NO HEART

SO COLD, NO MIND

=) SO FIENDISHLY CLEVER,

_NO HANDS SO
BLOODY EVER
BELONGED TO MORTAL MAN!

POLICE DETECTIVE MAGAZINE,
November, 1980,

HEN Mr.. Smith, carpenter,
of Philadelphia, set forth
one morning to further his

fortunes, he had no idea that he was to—
stumble upon a corpse and innocently
start a series of discoveries, which were
to send a shudder of horror from one
end of the continent to the other.

A few weeks earlier he had invented a
tool to sharpen saw-teeth, but was at a
loss to know what to do with it, until
one day, walking along Callowhill
Street, he paused and gaped. There ona
store was the legend: “B.F. Perry —
Patents Baught and Sold.”

Mr. Perry turned out to be a tall, dark
man who seemed to know his business,
in spite of the fact that his hand shook

and his lips looked as dry as a prune.

“Tips his elbow,’’ commented Smith
to himself..‘‘Well, that don’t say he ain’t

- a good businessman.”

The conversation was satisfactory.
Mr. Perry asked for a model of the tool.
Smith heard nothing more about his

16

_ buried

patent so he called a few weeks later.
The shop door was open and he walked
in and waited. As Perry did not appear,
he called his name several times, and
then, all at once he had a strange feeling
that he was not alone in the building.
There was something there.

He went upstairs, a few st.ps at a
time, calling, and then looked into the
rooms. In the back room, bright with
morning sunshine, lay the dead body of
aman.

: In a couple of seconds the carpenter:
was downstairs and in the street, A

policeman heard him shout and listened
to his story. :

Later, back in the room, Smith iden-
tified the dead man by his general
appearance and clothes. It was Perry.
Beside the body lay a broken bottle
which appeared to have contained some
explosive substance. Near it was a pipe
with tobacco — a burned match. Perry
had been lighting his pipe, and had
exploded the contents of the bottle. His
face was charred beyond recognition.

Medical examination disclosed that
his death had come with startling
suddenness. The stomach emitted a
strong odor of chloroform. Death had
resulted from congestion of the lungs
caused by es of flame or chloro-
form.

For eleven days the body lay in the
mortuary, and being unclaimed was
in Potters Field. Mr. Smith

retired from the scene.

The ripple caused by the finding of
this body had died away when the
Philadelphia branch of the Fidelity
Mutual Life Insurance Company re-
ceived word from one Jeptha D. Howe,
attorney of St. Louis, that Mr. B.F.
‘Perry was in reality, one of its clients,
and his real name was Benjamin F.
Pitizel, who had left a widow and five
children who could find a use of nine
thousand dollars.

vious year, insured his life for that
amount, in Chicago. fee
Mr. Howe gave the company notice
that he was ‘coming with members of
the family to identify the body. He did
not explain his delay in coming forward.
The Chicago. branch, after’ going

H.H. Holmes appeared to have been
involved in the matter of the insurance,

‘and wrote to him for any details which

he was able to offer. Mr. Holmes gener-
ously offered to do anything he could,
provided his expenses were paid, and
promised to. come to Philadelphia.
Though he lived in Wilmette, Illinois, it
so happened he was in Baltimore, and
could easily stop off me ‘break Be
journey home.

He appeared in the insurance com-
pany’s office a few days later — a tall,
ill-fed man, with rather shifty eyes, but
a wholly convincing manner. Yes, he
knew Pitizel and could identify him by

i

Pitizel had, the’ pre--

. through its records, found that a certain _ £


oH,

uth
us-
sree
ilty.
hen

atic °

Vt
who
mn for.
nt to!
‘e my
ler. I
cussell

cre is,

eping
an the
Or is

,

r’s

tu as

-much he assured her that

children—Alice, eleven, Nellie, four, and

the baby, Howard—that she

had given

up asking questions of him. And so she
was surprised one night when, during

a brief visit with his family
* living in St. Louis, he took her into his

confidence... a
“J’ye told you that I have

who were

taken out

insurance policies from time to time Ne
>

5 HY és. ”

«Well, never mind ‘why,’ but it was im-
portant for me to do that. It was nothing

wrong,” he lied. “Now, I am

going to do

that again and this time I am naming you

- my beneficiary.”

A little cry escaped her, but Pitezell

hushed it.
“There is no reason for
upset,” he frowned, “and if

you to be

you start

carrying on { won't go through with it.
You must listen carefully to what I say

and do exactly what I tell you.

thing wrong about this.”

And never,

‘ for one instant, believe that there is any-

Tt took some time to convince Carrie.

’ She didn’t want to be the beneficiary of

any insurance money, especially her hus-
band’s. It suggested death, no matter how

oing to die.

he was not

The truth of the matter was that he
and Holmes had agreed it might be well
to inject a feminine angle into one 0

their ghoulish schemes, for

a change.

Pitezell ‘didn’t care for the idea but he
had never been one to argue with
‘

Holmes.

But now, faced with Carrie’s innocent
eyes, he found it hard to explain.
“No matter what anyone tells you,” he

said, “do not believe that I

am dead.

When my lawyer comes to you and gives

-you money, you take it—”

“But, Ben, that’s wicked—”

Pitezell turned away with
despair. He wished he hadn't

a shrug of
got Carrie

mixed up in this. She would never be
reconciled to such a deal. Carrie was 4
good woman. It wasn’t fair to use her in

this manner, But he only said

, gruffly,

“There you are! You want to know
about my affairs and as soon as I tell
you how you can help me, you start to

preach !”

She quickly controlled herself.

“Look, I’m all right now.

Please tell

me, and I will do whatever you want.”
When Pitezell had finished talking to

- her ‘that evening, he went out and got

drunk. It was 4 habit he often indulged

in those days.

Early in 1893, Pitezell came to Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania, and leased a furn-

ished house at 1316 Callowhill Street. He:

ut up.a neat sign in the front window,
”

» &B, F, Perry.

In due time he visited the Fidelity
Mutual Insurance Company at 924 Wal-

nut Street and applied for a

$10,000 in-

veyard Ghouls

{Continued from page 57\

surance policy, naming his wife, Caro-
line Pitezell, of St. Louis, Missouri, his
beneficiary.

All this was in accordance with his
pre-arranged plan with Holmes.

Weeks passed during which the Cal-
lowhill Street house was closed up an
Pitezell lived in St. Louis with his family.
On several of his trips to nearby states
he stopped in Chicago to see Holmes, but
he never saw the pretty stenographer,
Emeline Cigrande again, nor did he meet
Holmes’ “wife,” Minnie Williams.

It was Holmes himself who mentione
the fact that Minnie was tired of him and
had started suit for a “divorce.” As for
Emeline, he said she proved totally in-
capable of handling his affairs and he had
been compelled to discharge her. :

By the end of the year, Carrie Pite-
zell bore another child. She was very ill
and Pitezell had heavy doctor's bills to
meet. So he went to Holmes and sug-
gested that they develop their latest in-
surance plot. - ,

It was settled that he should return to
Philadelphia where Holmes would soon
join him, and they would go to New
York, procure a body and complete the
unholy transaction there. .

Ha HOLMES rang the bell at
1316 Callowhill Street several
times, but there was no response. It was
a warm day—September 2, 1894—and
some children were playing in the ptreet,
and one of them shouted,
“Hey, mister, there’s nobody home
there!” \
Nevertheless, Holmes tried the knob
and, to his surprise, it turned easily ad-
mitting him to a small dusty hall. He
paused, listening, but the : house was
silent.
He searched the first floor, then started
up the stairs. In the back room he found
Ditezell sprawled in a chair. His pipe had
fallen to the floor, his spectacles were

tinge in his face and, at. first, Holmes

thought he might have suffered a heart

attack.

But Pitezell was only drunk.

For a moment, Holmes stood perfectly
still unable to believe that he had run
upon such luck. For he was going to
murder Pitezell and, in his helpless
stupor, the man could put up absolutely
no resistance.

Holmes removed his hat and coat. No
need to hurry now. He could prepare for

his task leisurely.

How weak Pitezell looked, sunk in the
depths of intoxication with his flabby

mouth half-open.

And yet he was a determined, prying
individual, too. ‘You wouldn't think that
this miserable, drunken wretch whom
Holmes had made rich would be inquisi-

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94 °

tive enough to go looking for Minnie and
her sister, Anna, in Fort Worth.

Of course, the girls hadn’t visited
there at all, They had never left Chicago.
He had smothered them to death and
stuffed their bodies in the big furnace at
“the Castle.”

That had almost betrayed him the night
Pitezell spent there and the wind had
screamed down the chimney stirring the
human ashes in the basement and send-
ing the sickening odor of burnt flesh
drifting up the ventilators.

As he stood rolling up his sleeves,
Holmes looked at the relaxed face of the
unconscious man and wondered just how
much he had suspected about Minnie and
her meek, tiresome little sister, Anna,

And what had he. guessed about
Emeline Cigrande?

WHIMSICAL smile touched

Holmes’ handsome mouth. He had
loved Emeline, for a while, until he knew
‘she was going to have a baby.

He remembered the day she had told
him, clinging to him, frightened, whim-
pering, :

“What shall I do? What will I tell my
people? How can I go back to them ?”

He had held her close, soothing her,
stroking her thick black hair that had
been his delight. And that night, as she
lay sleeping in his arms, he had gently
placed a wad of cotton, soaked in mor-
phine, across her mouth, and sealed her
sobs and her fears forever.

How much of all this had Pitezell
guessed ? ,

The sound of a man’s voice out in the
street sent Holmes swiftly to the window,
but when he peered out around the edge
of the shade he saw it was only a huckster
shouting his wares, :

From his coat pocket, Holmes drew a
pair of gloves and slid them on his hands,
Then he opened his suitcase and care.
fully lifted out some bottles and vials. He
placed these on the table near Pitezell’s
chair.

He saturated a square of gauze with
morphine and put it over his nostrils and
sagging mouth. The doomed man did not
stir at first. Then, as the powerful drug
cut into his breathing he gulped, gasped,
but Holmes’ slim fingers pressed down on
the death pad sending the fumes curling
into his lungs. Pitzell’s chest heaved
spasmodically, After a few minutes all
motion ceased.

But for a long time Holmes stood there,
his slender surgeon’s hands holding the
gauze in place. Then he adjusted his
stethoscope in his ears and listened at
the man’s breast. It was merel y a routine
gesture, for he knew Pitezell was dead.

Holmes then seized the body by the feet
and pulled it down on the floor. He
scrutinized the array . of bottles, un-
corked several and poured the liquid over
Pitezell’s face and smashed the bottles on
the floor beside him,

The job was done now,

He stripped his gloves, stuffed them
into his coat, put on his hat and, without
so much as a backward glance, took up
his bag, went downstairs and stepped out
into the late sunshine, -

7) ,

ees
The following day, Eugene Smith, a

carpenter, stopped at the house to make '

some repairs ordered by the landlord. He
rang the bell and thumped on the door,
but got no answer. After a moment, find-
ing the door unlocked he went in and
shouted for “Mr. Perry!” ,
He noticed that the parlor was in dis-
array with papers strewn on the chairs

and an empty whiskey bottle on the table '

and, figuring they were “sleeping off” a
party, went away.

But when he returned next morning
and found things the same his curiosity
was aroused. And as he stood there he
noticed a .very bad odor that grew

. Stronger as he stepped out into the hall.

Smith went up the stairs and the smell
wafted to him in sickening waves. He
peered into the back room and, to his
horror, saw a.man stretched on the.floor,
his face burned and disfigured. The shade
was drawn, the window shut tight andthe
stench of death filled the place.

Smith fled down to the street for help.

A Coroner's jury found that “Perry”
had died from acute alcoholism aggra-

vated by morphine. Since he was said to .

be an inventor, they supposed that some
chemicals had exploded while he was in
i intoxicated state and thus burned his
ace, ith

On September 10, unable to locate his
relatives, they buried “Perry” in Potter’s
Field.

Meanwhile Holmes had gone to St.
Louis to ask Mrs. Pitezell to permit the
children to visit their father, who, de-
tained in Philadelphia, was homesick for
them. And against her better judgment
the poor woman let them go.

Late in September, Japtha D, Howe,

a St. Louis attorney, arrived in Philadel.’

phia to inform the Fidelity Company. that,
he represented Mrs. Pitezell whose hus-

band, Ben, had been buried under the’ =

name of B, F, Perry. Holmes, an old
family friend, came, too, and had little
Alice Pitezell with him..
“I AM here because I have a claim

against the insurance,” Holmes said.
“Pitezell was eccentric and often used
faked names. But if you will have this
Perry exhumed you will find he has a
very large wart on the back of his neck,
a smashed left thumb nail, a scar on the
forehead and badly stained teeth,
Furthermore, I have his daughter here
who can identify him,”

On September 22, the insurance com-.

pany obtained a court order permitting
the grave to be opened, The marks Holmes
described were found and little Alice took
one look at the face which acid had failed
to completely destroy and screamed hys-
terically, “Daddy! daddy !”

Identification was ‘settled. The com-
pany paid Howe $9,715.85,

Holmes, who had hired Howe, gave
him $2,500, kept $6,000 for himself and
sent $200 to the widow.

Holmes had only one problem left—-

the Pitezell children.

He dared not return’ them to their
mother, for even the boy, Howard, knew
that his father was dead. Alice had told
him despite Holmes’ warnings to her to
keep silent.

They |
west-bor
the train
was trav

No Ol
when A
But for
burned |
“the Ca
to city.

Final’
with w

Georg
night by

“No,
He t!
ing, bec:
Then
cry of a

“Con
concrete
A shiv
and he k
arrived
to the ri
ing a ni,
As F:
door the
for sanc
left his ;
A gi
lips as
. Talk
all these

He was ;

away 01

didn’t

Loverin:

this aft

had co:
brazen!:
“Well
What
man \
him?

many sc
court ai
our city
up of cr:
have be
dents g:
markabi
They've
erate, t
nounce
cells, Ic
“mugs”
been ck
them—
Tt is :
and th:
try ar
about t
these
ent bs
into p:
and fr:
be ign

lips as he heard it.
Talk about nerve—coming back after
all these years to stir up old memories.

brilliantly. q
On November 2, at the end of five days,
he was convicted of first degree murder

ith, a Heike They left Philadelphia with him on a He stood there a long time, but no ®EVenry HILLS pry siclAN
make a ‘west-bound express and must have passed other sound came from the room. Reve, ino PLAN
rd. He Aa the train in which their frantic mother Before daylight, George Lovering S REDUC
‘ door, fs was traveling east to find them. went out and hitched up his team and Nor ACTRESS
it, find- g ”No.one but Harry Holmes knew just drove into town to the sheriff. He figured LYWOOD ¢ a
in and when Alice and Nellie and Howard died. the law might be interested in Herman
gs iy But for weeks, before he killed them and -Mudgett whose dreams were beset by
in dis- burned their bodies in the furnace at corpses and graves and who wanted to
chairs « “the Castle,” he moved them from city be buried in concrete so that nothing
ic table to city. could disturb his final sleep.
: off” a Finally, Carrie Pitezell, half-insane Harry Holmes was arrested that same
: ; with worry, went to the police. day, May 28, 1895, at his father-in-law’s
tOrm Ds: a We _° George Lovering was wakened in the — farm. The semie successful plan thet hes cout
irlosity a night by a voice moaning, Later he was turned over to Detective . panyep ch women hansen he
ere he “No, no, don’t dig me up \” Frank Geyer, of Philadelphia, to whom piney Beverly Wi Phys
Etey. He thought he must have been dream- _ he made a long confession. He said he had | now vou can taxe ov most
e hall. ing, because the house was so still. killed Minnie and Anna Williams, parochial i
« smell Then he heard it again, and it was the Emeline Cigrande, and the three Pitezell cron tw Nek earn =
vs. He cry of a soul in mgrtal fear. children. As for Ben—he had always saige, Simply follow this ree <A
to his “Concrete! They'll never find me in known that some day he would have to ee cadou Ame Eg) crarniog voony Hal
floor F , j iad $ : if meels 6 with Biyy, woed ectress
’ concrete—don’t dig me up: dispose of him because he knew too much. dn ey ios HERS N° Ne “Sel Lester Pree,
* shade zs A shiver ran up the spine of the farmer of exceus weight ome vaasenesine”
ind the and he knew it must be the man who had ROWDS fought to get in the court- een: 1 "elke od Som ome
arrived that afternoon and was assigned house when he was brought to Phila- part agen ire [ somnee  agAll re ampere
help. | to the room across the hall. He was hav- delphia to be tried for the murder of his tenults have been ot Arenal began
Perry ing a nightmare. one-time partner. He had famous counsel, telned ine few f | FORMULA 17 PLAN...$5.00
aoe he As Farmer Lovering approached the headed by Samuel P. Rotan, later District wer, mace Mal ee ag _—
Q doot the moaning was resumed, pleading Attorney of Philadelphia. Picarant, fesy-te- sigh thc ssaealiae seer ewes
for sanctuary against Death which had Holmes knew he was doomed, but, en- San 1p srentctat contr eesoee weighty eomech
left his grave unprotected, joying the limelight, he dismissed his MONEY | AM} dlgaapan Naa eS TI
A grim’smile touched the old man’s lawyers and conducted his own trial, | guaranreti Af (Or seve €.0.0. Charges by encleing

BEVERLY HILLS MEDICAL LABORATORY, DEPT. D-S
105 Ne. Sen Vicente Bivd., Beverly Collif.

Hille, i
20 days’ supply of FORMULA 17, ond

_ He was giad that Clara and her boy were and sentenced by Judge Michael Arnold

7
1
1
Please send me .
: ;
Tlen for anly $8.00. understand that if lam not vetiehed
{tag ation tet only eee FORMULA 17 PLAN for one 8 T may revere
} contents within ten days of receipt,
'
1
!

'
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'
a os away on a vacation in the city. The boy _ to be hanged. win be promptly vhondeds vein die Be
hii , € - didn’t even know he had a living father. _The day of the execution attracted the eo2.0 (Orders ewe Os eey’papen enciorms |
: cle rai - Lovering hadn’t known it either until biggest throng in the history of the Phila- f. Noenns '
aan re this afternoon when the handsome dude  delphia County Prison. H '
ugment ae m ” says L Wyss ee ee
i had come up to the farmhouse saying But Holmes, unaware of the milling
H i brazenly, “ spectators, quietly mounted the gallows 1 0
- Teac “Well, aren’t you glad to see me?” in the east corridor of the jail early in USED $ 95
et _. What was he dreaming about, the old the morning of May 7, 1896, and, a DRESSES
es ard man wondered. What terror haunted moment later, the “criminal of the cen- eS se Assorted osiben. on suche
se - ; ” . te + . 5
deb the him? tury” plunged through the trap door. Better used. drbuses:” Bie
; 12 to 44. 4 for $3.95
an old Children’s washable cotton
id little | dresses. ta tmorted colors ¢ gor $2.95
4 and prints. ‘ .
ra Mail $1.00 deposit with order, balance
s C.0.D. pl tage. Send for Free Catalo|
claim Ti EG i V, E; Crime And Scho ols of wearing Poparel for entire family, and
1s said ba 6 money-back guarantee terms. i
igen WORLD) . [Continued from page 6) KINGS MAIL ORDER CO.
! use 191 Canal St., Dept. 201-D, New York 13
ive this
» has a : ;
is neck rivisd Wor i 0
-on the many schools have’ sent classes to police of youthful enthusiasms. They involve HOWT GET WHAT YOu WANT
teeth, court, and for extended visits through robbery, stick-up, kidnap, rape and mur- know How, Our | the B00 OW TO ENJOY ABUN-
er here our city jails, to give them a vivid close- der, They are being committed by boys DANCE has helped « ler¥e mony fa waiting! send
up of crime's dead end, Later these visits and girls from ten to fifteen years of age. 25e in coin to
‘e com- have been discussed in class with stu- We can't say simply that it is a “sign THE NEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Pages ee ° ‘ ” . “"'e Neolia Park Ed. Div. Bangor, Michigan
mitting dents giving voice to some pretty re- of the times” and forget about it. I]* it
Holmes -. markable—and healthful—conclusions. is a sign of the times, then we’ve got to
ce took . They’ve seen police atid prosecutors op- change the signs. The place to correct nn

d failed erate, they’ve listened to judges pro- the signs is in the class-room. Certainly

Far Ase.

BP ass

.% 2 nounce - sentence, they’ve peered ' into

cells, looked at huge files of Bertillon
“mugs” and fingerprints—and they’ve
been deeply impressed. It doesn’t scare
them—but it does impress ’em!

It is significant that police departments
and their officials throughout the ;coun-
try are thinking constructively today
about the problems of our juveniles. That
these problems are important is appar-
ent. because the youngsters are coming
into police nets \in increasing nutnbers
and frequently for crimes which cannot
be ignored or considered mere pranks

it is as important that our youth learn
discipline and responsibility as it is that
they learn the three R’s.

The police are willing to go into the
class-room, not to preach or lecture, but

to present the honest story of crime and

criminals. I believe the police, with co-
operation of school boards, principals,
and teachers, can check the wave of
juvenile delinquency sweeping America
today. - Been”

Certainly it’s better to check the wave
in the school room than in police court,
juvenile court—or the jail!

£N AND
»\ Many Swedish Massa,

rey by

future
fine ceyiete

iy eo

f ee : | MOF oept.778 C

WILL PAY $10 EACH FOR CERTAIN LINCOLN PENNIES!
Indianheads $50.00; Nickels $500.00; Dimes $1,000.00.
All rare coins, bills, d, Catal 10c.
FEDERAL COIN EXCHANGE, 1-DW, Columbus S$, Ohio

kx To be Set te Music
Publishers need new songs omit “one or more of

xyour best poems for immedia' consideration. Any sub:
ect. Send poem. PHONOGRAPH RECORDS ADE.
Five Star Music Masters, 79! Beacon Bidg., Boston, Mass.

. - 95