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Holmes—who was born Herman Webster Mudgett on May 16, 1861—would come to be recognized as one of America's first serial killers. But to this day, because of the nature in which he disposed of the bodies and his wildly inconsistent stories and confessions, much of the facts about his life are unclear. So is his death count: Police at the time suspected around nine or 10 victims, while other estimates are in the hundreds; in his published confession, Holmes himself claimed credit for the deaths of 27 people—but several “victims” were later found to still be alive.
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To make matters more confusing, Holmes took back his earlier confession while on the gallows and claimed to have killed only two people. Though nearly it's nearly impossible to completely verify them because of Holmes's tall tales—and because he spun them at the height of the era of Yellow Journalism, when nearly everything was hyper-exaggerated—these facts tell the story of his infamous crime spree. HE WAS BULLIED AS A KID. Because of his contradicting lies, not much is known about Holmes’s childhood (he even manipulated the information on ), but it’s believed that when he was young, his classmates teased and bullied him. When they discovered that he feared doctors, they forced him to stand in front of a human skeleton in a doctor’s office and stare at it. While he was certainly scared at first, Holmes later said the experience exorcised him of his fears about death, and may have lead to his fascination—and later, his unhealthy obsession—with it. HE STOLE AND DISFIGURED CADAVERS.
When Holmes was in medical school at the University of Michigan, he stole several cadavers from the lab, disfigured them, and tried to collect insurance by saying they died in an accident. Over the years, he perfected these insurance scams, and supposedly became the beneficiary on the policies of several women who worked for him, many of whom mysteriously died shortly after. HE WAS MARRIED TO THREE WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME. Holmes married his first wife, Clara, in 1878; he was only about 19. Two years later, the couple had a son, but Holmes soon abandoned them and married Myrta Belknap in 1887—even though he had yet to divorce Clara. He filed a few weeks after, but the papers never went through. Finally, he married Georgiana Yoke on January 17, 1894, in Denver, Colorado, not long before he was arrested for insurance fraud. So technically, Holmes was still married to Clara, Myrta, and Georgiana when he was put to death in 1896.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 'MURDER HOTEL' WAS A MYSTERY TO MANY—EVEN THOSE BUILDING IT. Around the time of the, Holmes bought property that he would later use for a hotel, primarily utilized to murder people. In order to ensure that he was the only one who knew the hotel’s true purpose, Holmes hired several different contractors to complete the building's construction.
Every so often, he’d fire one if he thought they were seeing too much. Despite this precaution, must have caused at least a little suspicion among the builders. The blueprints included 51 doorways that opened to brick walls, 100 windowless rooms, stairs that led to nowhere, two furnaces, and body-sized chutes to an incinerator. HE SOLD THE SKELETONS OF HIS VICTIMS TO MEDICAL SCIENCE.
As a former medical student, Holmes had many connections that enabled him to sell his victims’ skeletons to local labs and schools. He, and sometimes a hired assistant, of stripping the flesh off the bodies, dissecting them, and preparing the viable skeletons.
The rest of the remains would be tossed in pits of lime or acid, effectively breaking down the remaining evidence. HE MADE HIS BUSINESS PARTNER FAKE HIS OWN DEATH.
For, Holmes had his friend and accomplice, Benjamin Pitezel, fake his own death so that his wife could collect his $10,000 life insurance payment (which would ultimately go to Holmes). However, rather than find a cadaver lookalike for Pitezel, Holmes decided to just kill Pitezel. Holmes rendered him unconscious with chloroform, then set him on fire.
Later, Holmes claimed to have murdered three out of five of Pitezel’s children as well. HE WAS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BY A HORSE. The police had been suspicious of Holmes ever since a former cell mate (train robber and Wild West outlaw Marion Hedgepeth) started talking.
According to the National Police Journal, “While in the prison Howard an alias of Holmes told Hedgepeth that he had devised a scheme for swindling an insurance company of $10,000. And promised Hedgepeth that, if he would recommend him a lawyer suitable for such an enterprise, he should have $500 promised him.” But Holmes never paid up; as payback, Hedgepeth shared the information with the police. While initially the authorities had little evidence with which to convict Holmes, they did have his outstanding warrant for stealing a horse in Texas. Holmes was terrified of being sent back to Texas where the punishment would be “” and confessed to the insurance scam—but not the murder of Pitezel, a ccording to the National Police Journal. He claimed to have gotten a body from a doctor in New York who shipped it to Philadelphia (where he was living at the time), using his medical knowledge to fit the body in a trunk. Holmes nearly got away with it, but then the inspector remembered that when the body was first discovered, it was in full rigor mortis, meaning the person had died recently.
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So the inspector asked what techniques Holmes had learned to stiffen a body after rigor mortis had been broken. Holmes had no answer—and the game was up. AFTER BEING SENTENCED TO THE DEATH PENALTY, HE REQUESTED TO BE BURIED IN CONCRETE. Holmes asked to be buried 10 feet under and encased in concrete, because he did not want grave robbers to exhume and later dissect his body. Despite being somewhat odd, the request was granted in the end.
NEWSPAPERS PAID FOR HIS CONFESSION. (about $215,000 today) by Hearst newspapers to tell his story. However, they didn’t quite get what they bargained for—Holmes gave a number of contradictory accounts, which ultimately discredited him.
But one thing a contemporary newspaper stuck with people, and later inspired the book and upcoming movie The Devil in the White City: “I was born with the devil in me.”. In 2007, NFL player Michael Vick made headlines after authorities uncovered an illegal dog fighting ring he and several associates were operating.
Though the animals were subject to abuse and such activity is often a violation of state law, Vick didn't spend 23 months in federal prison for cruelty: He was on federal charges of traveling in an illegal venture across state lines. Now, law enforcement may have far more leeway to pursue people accused of harming animals. The reports that two Florida congressmen are renewing attempts to pass a bill that would make animal cruelty a felony. The law, known as PACT (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture), would threaten offenders who harm animals by means of burning, drowning, or impaling with up to seven years in prison. It would also target individuals who engage in acts of bestiality. Currently, the only federal legislation regarding animal abuse stems from a 2010 law prohibiting the production of videos featuring animals being abused for the titillation of viewers.
This isn't the first time PACT has been brought to the U.S. It gained momentum in earlier sessions before being waylaid by former House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, who blocked it from coming to the floor of the House of Representatives for reasons he did not disclose. Goodlatte has since left Congress. The bill would not apply to hunting, veterinary care, or those protecting life or property from animals. Animal abuse is currently a felony in more than a dozen states, while others consider it a misdemeanor. In 2016, the FBI began of animal abuse cases as a Class A felony, putting it in the same records category as homicides and arson.
Ted Bundy's crimes included at least 30 murders, for which he was executed on January 24, 1989. Thirty years later, the public is still fascinated by the American serial killer. In the past month alone he's been spotlighted in a Netflix docuseries called Conversation With a Killer and the biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron. To coincide with the 30th anniversary of his death, the in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is remembering the notorious murderer with a new display of personal items that offers a window into his private life. The temporary exhibit features letters, cards, photos, and possessions of Bundy's. Letters between him and his defense attorney, J.
Victor Africano, illustrate the legal battles that eventually landed him on death row. Visitors to the museum will also be able to read correspondence between Bundy and Carole Ann Boone—his former wife and the mother of his only child. Alcatraz East Crime Museum The artifacts will be displayed in front of the existing exhibit of Bundy's beige 1968.
Bundy used the car to stalk and pick up many of his victims throughout the 1970s, and it was one of the first pieces of evidence that linked him to the killings. 'It was over 30 years ago that I sat in the courtroom watching the famous Ted Bundy trial in person,” John Morgan, owner of Alcatraz East Crime Museum, said in a statement. “Today, I own a crime museum that houses his famous VW bug.
It's an interesting twist of fate and hard to believe that three decades have gone. So much time has passed and he's still a household name around the country, as people strive to understand what drives someone to commit such crimes.” The crimes of Ted Bundy make up a small part of the exhibits at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum. The collection also includes O.J. Simpson's white and a death mask of John Dillinger.
Walk into the darkest side of human behaviour. In the Mind of a Female Serial Killer is a forensic investigation into the lives and crimes of four violent female serial killers who were active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using original research based on family owned primary sources and government files only recently made available to the public, Stephen Jakobi delves in to the grisly psyche of these infamous murderesses. Meet Agnes Norman, the most successful known mass killer of her generation, yet who was only convicted of one attempted murder. With Louie Calvert, Stephen launches an investigation into the truth of her unique death cell autobiography, leading to her only known photograph and a third murder victim. Kate Webster committed one of the most notorious murders by a woman in the nineteenth century.
Was she also responsible for the early Thames torso murders, a Victorian crime sensation which rivalled Jack the Ripper? Finally, meet the mysterious Mrs Willis, the baby farmer whose last ‘confession’ of her true identity proved false.
Stephen Jakobi has written a solid reevaluation of four little-known cases – well, three little-known and in the case of Kate Webster, one reasonably well-known. Of particular interest is what Mr Jakobi describes as “the explanation of one of the key puzzles in the ‘Thames Torso’ murders”. Ripperologist, February/March 2018 – reviewed by Paul Begg As featured in Ripperologist, December 2017 – January 2018 As featured in Your Family History, March 2018 An excellently balanced and unbiased book from which valuable lessons can be learnt. It gives great historical insight into these cases and leaves the reader wondering how many more similar cases may lay uncovered.
To read the full review. On: Yorkshire magazine - reviewed by Victoria Holdsworth It is a very detailed and well expressed account into the crimes, conviction and execution of 4 female criminals who all paid the ultimate price for their behaviour.
I liked the effort and evidence of research undertaken to achieve what the title sets out to achieve. However, it is the lack of written accounts and eye witness accounts other than some court proceedings and home office 'death files' that restrict the responses to mere hypotheses and conjecture. Indeed, the many changes of name and relationships these women undertook, confuse the most studious researcher and I welcomed the honesty and openness of the author. Stephen Jakobi is an authority on the judicial system and his details about court times and sentencing was appreciated and aided my reading experience. His speculation over the labels we would use today to describe such individuals and the criminality stereotypes was fascinating as was the brief passage on damage to the frontal lobe. He seemed to refute the generalisations that crime is born out of social depravity but there are only 4 cases on which to support this view; but interesting none the less as was the scoring of the emotional disconnect with morality, social empathy and personal responsibility. Great introduction to this aspect of interest for the general reader as well as the more academically minded.
It is a book that takes us back into a time when capital punishment existed and executions had only recently been taken out of the public domain. The interest remains in modern TV programmes going into US penitentiaries to talk with convicted criminals. The fact remains however that from this brief study many of these women were compulsive liars and unable to hold to the truth preferring to live in a partial fantasy world. A short book worth spending some time with if you are interested in this subject area. Richard Latham.