He gave notes for material, labor and furnishings, and before the notes were due had succeeded in getting chattel mortgages on the furnishings, had, it is said, cheated a note broker out of $1,500, defrauded the Farmers' and Merchants National Bank out of $10,000, and raised $1,600 more on fraudulent notes which he indorsed for Lyman.
They finally left Fort Worth, taking with them some blooded horses which they sold in St. Louis. When in Indianapolis Pratt wrote to President Spencer of the Farmers' and Mechanics Bank, or Fort Worth, where they secured the $10,000 mortgage, informing him that the deed to Lyman was forged and all liens on the property invalid. He made an offer to settle, but it was not consummated. In the meantime the property was correctly deeded to a Chicago man.
AN INSURANCE POLICY
Time again brings Holmes out of the character of Harry Gordon to his same self, H. H. Holmes in Chicago and back at the castle.
After a season of revelry he devotes himself to business.
Numerous letters were piled on his desk. He glanced at their signature, and one by one he cast them into the waste basket.
One of these reads:
Englewood, City, Nov. 24, 1892.
MR. HOLMES:
DEAR SIR: —Three houses deeded by me to Kate Durkee to be foreclosed by Swedish Building Association. If you have any interest in them better call and fix up matters with them.
Yours truly,
A. M. LUNDEEN.
Holmes calmly decided to make swindling a profession.
In the management of such operations, he displayed a tact and judgment which mark him as a genius. His victims were not ignorant dupes, but were keen, shrewd business men. The average insurance company does not pay ten and twenty thousand dollars to everyone who happens to be in need of such amounts of money, but Holmes had no trouble in evolving a scheme which never failed to deplete the coffers of the insurance company against which it was directed. Business firms which look up a man's family tree before cashing a $100 check would hand $10,000 to Holmes after he had made a brief talk, and consider themselves fortunate to meet such an affable gentleman.
He would leave the castle and be gone for months at a time.
He worked under various aliases and was the instigator and principal in vast swindling operations in all parts of the United States. He was in California, and left the golden state many thousands of dollars richer by means of clever frauds in which he managed to escape detection and arrest.
From 1890 to 1894 Holmes was everywhere.
He contracted marriage after marriage, and used many aliases.
With a consummate skill he managed to keep his victims apart, for a time, at least.
He found when not planning some gigantic swindle to take part of an ardent wooer.
He was a loving husband to several wives all alive. He supported them in good style, and to-day they refuse to listen to the charges against him.
Three of his wives are:
Mrs. Mudgett, Tilton, N.Y. (divorced)
Mrs. Holmes, Wilmette, Ill.
Mrs. Howard, Indianapolis, Ind.
Sometimes Holmes seemed to be poverty stricken, at others he was a capitalist with unlimited means. Though he worked rapidly he made few mistakes.
Now the swindler had a right hand man working with him at all times by the name of Benj. F. Pitezel. Just what part he played in the drama of swindling cannot be learned, however, he was very conspicuous. This man had a large family, and it is learned that three of his children, as well as himself, are missing. His wife has identified the bodies of two little girls which were found in the cellar of a house in Vincent Street, Toronto, Canada, as hers. One is Nellie and the other is Alice, who had a deformed foot. Pitezel’s' boy, Howard, has not been seen or heard of for a long time.
It is not recorded that Mrs. Pitezel visited the Holmes house. She saw little of Holmes until her husband disappeared. She admits that she was aware of the fact that Holmes and Pitezel were to defraud a life insurance company, and as the conspiracy developed she became a party to it.
In July, 1894, a policy of insurance for $10,000 on the life of Benjamin F. Pitezel was issued by the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Association of Philadelphia. In September the charred body of a man was found in a house at 1316 Callowhill Street. This house had been rented by a man who gave the name of B. F. Perry. When the finding of the dead body of Perry was found, Mrs. Pitezel wired to the insurance company asking if the premium on Pitezel’s policy had been paid. It was this blunder of hers that put the insurance company on the track of the fraud. The supposed body of Perry was found, but subsequently a claim was made that it was the corpse of B. F. Pitezel. H. H. Holmes and Alice, the 14 year old daughter of Pitezel, went to Philadelphia and positively identified the body as that of B. F. Pitezel. The $10,000 was paid over to Jeptha B. Howe, a St. Louis lawyer.
MORE MISSING PEOPLE
I. L. Connor, of Gibson City, Ill., came to Chicago in search of work and met Holmes, who gave him a job, paying him $12 a week working around the castle. He later took charge of the jewelry and drug store. In the meantime he had sent for his wife and little girl. Conner soon had reason to become jealous of his wife. Holmes played the part of a peacemaker and smoothed things over. A young lady had charge of Holmes' books, but he dismissed her and gave Mrs. Conner her place. Holmes then taught her how to keep books. The little girl was seen playing around the place with other children. Conner's friends told him that there was something wrong between Holmes and Conner's wife, and he soon became convinced that the charge was true. Holmes was boarding with Conner at this time. Conner had bought out the store, but in March determined to separate from his wife and leave Holmes. Holmes was in New York, and when he came back Conner left and went to work for a J. H. Purdy. Later he went to Clinton, Ill. Mrs. Conner and her little daughter remained in the Holmes castle and worked in the store. Conner returned to Chicago and went to work. Holmes came to him one day and after some talk persuaded him to sign a mortgage on his furniture. He also wanted Conner to take his wife away, as she was making trouble with his men. Conner refused and some weeks later Holmes told him that she had gone to St. Louis and taken her daughter Pearl with her. Conner has seen neither of them since.
In Lafayette, Ind, was a young and beautiful blonde by the name of Emiline Cigrande. This young lady went to work at the Gold Cure in Dwight, and later came to Chicago where she met Mr. Holmes. She started working for him as a stenographer, not long after Holmes started a drink habit cure at the castle and called it the Silver Ash Institute and Miss Cigrande acted in the capacity of bookkeeper.
Holmes seemed to be very fond of her, and went with her everywhere. He bought her a bicycle and they used to ride together a great deal. Then sometimes they would go to the theater together or to other places of amusement up town. Some nights when she came in late she would say she had been out with her sweetheart. We herewith publish a copy of a letter regarding a lady's wheel from the James Cycle Importing Co., of 113 Adams St., Chicago.
We herewith publish a copy of a letter regarding a lady's wheel from the James Cycle Importing Co., of 113 Adams St., Chicago.
Englewood, Ill., July 28, 1892.
MR. H. H. Holmes,
701 63rd street
DEAR SIR: —We are daily expecting to receive a "James" or a B. & A. Lady's Machine, and when it arrives will advise you at once.
We can let you have the No. 2 "James" any time for yourself.
Yours Faithfully,
J. BRIDGER
Three weeks before Christmas of 1892, without any word to her friends she disappeared.
August 1, 1892, a Miss Kelly writes Holmes as follows:
Englewood, Ills., August 1, 1892.
MR. HOLMES:
Having failed to secure a position myself, I am obliged to ask you to do what you can for me. I would be satisfied with almost anything at present, as I was anxious to get settled the first of the month. Many thanks for anything you can do for me.
M
. KELLY
Has she ever been heard of since?
Another young lady by the name of Emily Van Tassel, whose mother and father live at 641 N. Robey Street, Chicago, is missing.
A young lady of Milwaukee, who knew Holmes does not tell the people whether she is dead or alive. We herewith print a letter from her.
Milwaukee, Jan. 20, 1893.
MR. H.H. HOLMES,
701 63rd Street, Chicago.
DEAR SIR:
As you promised to get me a position I will depend on that and stay with my sister until I hear from you in regard to the place you spoke of or some other. There are no positions to be had here and I trust that you will be able to aid me in finding one.
Yours respectfully,
Flat 40, The Norman. CARRIE SANFORD
All of the missing people have been traced to Holmes.
Where are they?
The police believe that they have all been murdered by Holmes.
Patrick Quinlan and his wife, who had charge of the building, were suspected of complicity in Holmes' crimes, and were placed under arrest, but since have been released.
FINDING EVIDENCE
Police research in the Holmes castle led by Detectives Fitzpatrick and Norton, brought to light out of the ashes of a stove some evidence of how the police believe the Williams sisters met their death.
There were discovered:
A woman’s shoe, charred on the instep and at the toe.
Two human ribs, one partially consumed.
Metallic bar of a small hand satchel, such as women carry.
A bottle of carbolic acid, partly empty.
Several pearl dress buttons.
An ink bottle, supposed to have belonged to Minnie R. Williams.
A bit of dress goods, found sticking to the inside of the stove.
Some fine hair, caught in the stovepipe hole.
The corner on which the building stands was crowded with curious people. Officers stood at every door and kept all but those interested out. The workmen started in the rear end of the basement. They dug deeply. Foul odors of gas and dead oil choked them. Boarded windows prevented the daylight from entering. A stench like that of decaying flesh made breathing difficult. A smoking lamp and flaring candles showed the men where to dig. They went deep into the damp earth. They came on an intricate mass of pipes running from where they could not tell. Empty carboys that once contained powerful acids were upturned. The place was like one of the danksome dens of the alchemists old, deserted and mysterious.
Here, it is believed by the police, was where Holmes came at night when everyone slept. He was constructing his great machine for the self-generation of gas. Here workmen were mysteriously brought to work for a night, to be discharged and then succeeded by others. Thus no one man could tell just what was done or what his labor was for. In the corner the men’s spades crunched where Holmes himself had dug, that he secretly might connect his generator with the mains of the Lake Gas Company, and thus deceive the world at large with the visible wonders of his machine.
But the workmen could not find the generator. Apparently a solid wall ended the basement. They tapped the wall with their picks. A part of it gave way. They struck harder and more came down.
They then found that Holmes had perfectly closed up the entrance to the generator when his trick was discovered and left hidden under the court in the rear of his building the great zinc and iron tank he had built.
It is nearly ten feet in length, seven feet in height, and filled with gas, oils, something that smells like ether.
The outer lining of it is partly iron and partly zinc.
The men were careless. One of them took a chisel and cut through the zinc lining into the tank itself. The gas rushed out with a hissing sound.
The laborers recoiled from the rush of gas which met them. They stumbled about in the pit which they had dug, sick and gasping.
The powerful odor swept through the different apartments of the basement, crept through the windows and filled the streets.
They blew out their lights and went to dinner, thinking that in an hour it would be safe to work in the tank itself. The basement became surcharged with the mysterious substance.
When Tim Mulcare, after eating his lunch, came back to the hole, he carried a lighted candle in his hand. There was a flash of blinding blue light, a slight report, and the man was groveling in the earth. Ohlfast and Petrello, who were behind him, fell also.
An alarm of fire was sent in and the firemen came. The injured men were carried into the drug store and cared for. The firemen started to rip open the tank. While doing this another explosion followed. Marshal Kenyon, who had been inhaling the gas became nearly insane.
Five men were injured, one severely. Their names are:
Mulcare, Timothy, 7779 Grand Avenue; badly burned about the hands, the neck and face; able to go home.
Ohlfast, Charles, 448 West Fifteenth Street; left hand burned, able to go home.
Petrello, Joseph, 168 Ewing Street; slightly burned on hands and face.
Kenyon, Marshal, in charge of eighth battalion; overcome by gas; not seriously injured.
Maher, James, truckman, company 20, fire department; lives at 7015 Honore; slightly burned about the head.
Bremer, Ballak, McCormick, Conors and Calberg, of truck 20, were stretched out sick.
While this work was being carried on detectives were searching the upper stories of the building.
It is their belief that the steel vault was constructed for the purpose of luring people into it, and then, closing the door upon them they would smother.
They think the square shaft was built for lowering bodies to the cellar and then burying them in the ground underneath.
The hatchway in the bath room they insist was cut in the floor for a secret passage.
Traces of blood, so they claim, have been found leading from a room into the bath room and down the stairs which lead from the hatchway.
North of this room straight up from the basement still run the pipes from the so-called artesian well. This was the well that spurted water for two years before the city authorities discovered that instead of having an artesian well on his premises, Holmes had secretly tapped the city mains and was receiving his supply from the lake.
A day or two after the explosion in the cellar digging was again resumed. Nothing was discovered for sometime. On the third or fourth day while digging near some of the foundation walls one of the men saw some white lime.
Detective Norton who was directing the work charged the men to handle the spot carefully. Shovel after shovel of lime was thrown aside.
H.U. Campbell, a reporter for the Chicago Daily Sun while examining some of the lime found some bones. A further search showed that there was quite a few bones buried in the lime.
After the workmen had taken out all that could be found in this spot, Detectives Norton and Fitzpatrick carefully placed the bones and some of the lime in boxes, and brought them to the police headquarters in the City Hall.
The bones were examined and some found to be human, while some were only soup bones.
The police think that Holmes placed soup bones in with the others to mislead them in case they were found.
In a day or so after the first discovery of the bones, another batch was found and experts pronounced them to be those of a little child.
How came these bones to be here? How came the bones to be in the stove? These are the only clews the police have had to work upon.
What was the condition of the lime when found?
The author of this book was present at the time of the digging up of the bones. He saw the lime, there was not a trace of blood, nor not a bit of discoloration. It was white and clean. It did not look as though flesh and blood had ever been buried in the earth with it.
Sensational newspapers would come out and declare that Holmes was the greatest murderer the world ever knew. They would have you believe Holmes lured women to his castle. Told them lov
e stories and then by some means get them into the steel vault and suffocate them there. Then he would take out their bodies and cut them into pieces, burying some parts in the cellar and burning other parts in a stove.
Again they have told that he employed a machinist to articulate skeletons for him.
They would tell you that there were vats containing chemicals and deadly oils which Holmes used to eat away the flesh and bones of cadavers he would place in them.
Another startling revelation some sensational sheet made was that he had a large retort placed in the cellar to cremate bodies.
Holmes is a chemist and the papers make much of it.
The papers have also commented much on the miserable work of the detectives. They can tell stories in print. But detectives must have something more than stories.
There are all sorts of people who can tell all sorts of stories to the detectives about Holmes. They are all positive that he murdered Minnie Williams, but they do not show one bit of evidence to substantiate their remarks.
The body identified in Philadelphia by the children of Mr. Pitezel, as their father; the two little girls found in the cellar at Toronto and the bones found in the cellar of the castle is the only evidence to show of murder.
Has not Holmes substituted bodies in insurance swindling before that have been identified?
Could he not do this again?
Why was Mr. Pitezel’s face mutilated?
Why were the deformed feet of the body identified as Alice Pitezel cut away. If Holmes had killed these two girls, for insurance, would not he have left that very foot on for the purpose of identification?
Confessions of the Serial Killer H.H. Holmes (Illustrated) Page 30
