- Hi, friends, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian,
and today is Monday, which means it's "Murder,
Mystery & Makeup" Monday. ♪ Sha, na, sha ♪ Okay, if you're new here,
hi, my name is Bailey Sarian, and on Mondays, I like to sit down, and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin, and I do my makeup at the same time. I do, and if you're
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say you should subscribe. Why not? Live a little. And I mean, you don't have to, but you could, 'cause I'm
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(hands slapping) So today's story, just a
little trigger warning. Trigger warning for today's episode, we are going to be
talking about, you know, children kind of getting murdered. Yeah, so just letting you guys know. This whole story is
actually just really awful. This man has been highly
requested here on my channel. I know a lot of times I say that. I'm like, "Oh my God, you guys ask me "to do this story all the time," but it's true, it's true. Today, I'm going to be talking about H.H. Holmes and his murder castle. Ugh, the whole thing sounds fake. The whole thing, I'm
just like, "Is this real? "Is this a real story, or did
someone just make this up?" Allegedly, it's real. I mean, it must be real.
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Today's story is about a man who people consider to be
America's first serial killer, and I feel like I've said that a lot on "Murder, Mystery & Makeup," because, you know, the
19th century, the 1800s, how was anyone keeping notes? You know, they weren't, so you know, you could
get away with a lot. And yeah, anyways, I mean,
like there are several weirdos who could be contenders for
America's first serial killer, and that kind of sounds
like a weird reality show. "America's first serial killers, "we're on the search!" Enough, Bailey. Now, today's story, like the case is kind of straddling two worlds. Some consider him, yeah,
like he's a serial killer, he loved killing, he got a thrill from it, and then there's the other side, where like his profile doesn't quite fit the definition of serial killer. Like he seemed to be very money focused, and not so much trophy, quote,
unquote, "Trophy focused." Does that make sense? Okay, great. I know it does. I know you got it, come on. Okay. Where do we even start, you know? I'll start with his name, because we, today, all
know him as H.H. Holmes, but when he was born, he
was given the name Herman, Herman Webster Mudgett. Yeah, Herman Mudgett. Could you imagine that name? Woo, that's a rough one. Herman Mudgett. Herman Mudgett. So Herman, Mr. Mudgett, he
was born on May 16th, 1861 in New Hampshire. He was, I mean, he had
brothers and sisters. He was the third child
out of five kids in total, so he was like a middle child. "Pay attention to me!" So Herman's family had quite
the name over in New Hampshire. I mean, they had been living there for like over 100 years at this point. So they, and they were well-known, and they were important
people to the area. I mean, they were so important that like they even had a town named after Herman's ancestors. So it was like a, I'd say
that's a pretty big deal, like right? So this is the 1800s, therefore, very religious
family, you know? Very old school, puritan-like,
as they were back then. You know, it's like 150 years ago, and back then, pretty much everyone was very, very conservative, very puritan. I mean, they didn't drink, they didn't gamble, they didn't dance. "Don't you fuckin' move
those feet to a rhythm!" So this is only an assumption
here, but I'm gonna say it. I probably assume that Herman's upbringing probably wasn't that great. You know, probably strict. I couldn't find any information about like what they did back then. Like did they just stand around? Like what did the family do? What, what are we doing? Couldn't find much, but I will say that the
family were farmers, so most likely, they were
extremely hardworking, and made sure that like
the kids were involved, taken care, had responsibilities, and all that stuff, you know? I mean, farming is hard work, and it requires a lot of discipline. I read "Grapes of Wrath," so I know what I'm talking about. (Bailey laughing) So it's just strict home life, farmers, very 1800s,
kind of what you assume. So Herman, growing up,
he really loved his mom. As we would call it, he was a mama's boy. I mean, all the rumors out
there said that Herman's, again, the household was just really strict, and his dad just is an old school guy, who like didn't really
like build a relationship with any of the kids. So Herman would say that he
was like, he was a loner, which led him to have a lot of free time, and in his free time,
he really liked to read. Now, this part had me really confused, because he was reading
like Edgar Allan Poe, and there was somebody
else that I'm forgetting, but they weren't very like Methodist. They weren't really books that
a strict family would read. Do you know what I'm saying? So like how did he get these books? I don't know, but that's what was said. Maybe his parents and
stuff just couldn't read, so they didn't really
know what he was reading. I don't know. The 1800s was a wild time. I'm not sure anyone
knew what was going on. Herman once said that he had a couple of traumatic experiences when he was younger in his childhood, and that these experiences, they ended up shaping his whole life. So there was one story about,
where he was being bullied, like really bad, and he
was only five years old. He went to the doctor's office. We don't know why, but he's
at the doctor's office. So he's out kind of playing
like in the hallway, or something, and there were
other kids there as well. Well, I guess these mean little kids, as five-year-old kids tend to be, they gang up on Herman. They end up like shoving him
into a closet as a prank, but locking him in there. So this closet, it was inside
of the doctor's office, and inside had those like
real mounted skeletons, you know, that the doctors have. I don't know if they have 'em anymore. They usually have posters now, but back then, you would
see like the real skeletons just standing there. So Herman was like locked in
the room with some skeletons, and I guess he was like
locked in there for a while. Herman would later say that this itself, this bullying situation,
was super traumatic for him. And I mean, yeah, he's
only five years old, and he's stuck in a closet with skeletons. Oh my God, skeletons in the closet. (Bailey gasping)
Oh, yeah! But trauma, trauma. Is that why they say
skeletons, get your skeleton? I don't know. I'm having an epiphamy. Epiphamy.
(Bailey giggling) My brain hasn't fully turned on yet. Processing. Okay, so this didn't really
blend like I was hoping, but it's not terrible. There was this other time, where Herman was out playing
with his friend, Tom. I think that was probably his only friend. So they're outside, they're
playing at an abandoned house, as one does in the 1800s, you know, and somehow, his friend
Tom fell off the roof, and he died. Yeah, it was like right
in front of Herman, and again, absolutely
traumatizing for Herman here. But low key, I was kind of thinking maybe this was the point where
he was introduced to death, and he was like, "Hmm, interesting." I guess watching his friend Tom
die had a big effect on him. (Bailey laughing) I'm laughing, 'cause it's like, "Yeah, I could see that, checks out." So besides all of this
little trauma, you know, little hiccups he had,
he was a smart young man. You know, he could do
big things with his life if he really tried. So once he's done with high school, he ends up getting a job as a teacher. Yeah, and he's only 16,
which is like, "Wow, "good for you," you know? And it would also be around
this time where Herman, he met a nice young woman named Clara. She was only 15 at the
time, but you know, 1800s, and they just like, they
really liked each other, I mean, so much that they ended up dating, seeing each other, and
then one year later, the two of them would get
married in July of 1879. You're probably thinking at home, or maybe you're not, but I was. I was like, "Aw, young love," you know? "This is young 1800s love." But it's not, like it's not,
they didn't (mumbles), mm, I don't know if they
really did like each other. I think, honestly, look, it's the 1800s, and what happens if you end up getting pregnant before marriage? You'll be burned at the
stake, yes, correct answer. So when they got married, or what I'm saying is the
couple went on to have a baby like real quick. The math was not mathin' up, you know? So yeah, we could say they were in love, or maybe they just didn't wanna, you know, get caught, be burned to the stake. So I don't necessarily
think this is a surprise. Well, maybe it is, because
Herman doesn't seem that bad yet, but apparently, like
neither of Clara's parents were thrilled about Herman. Clara's family thought that Herman was, you know, he was a little different. They considered him to be a
little peculiar, you know, a bit of a deadbeat, and they also really
like criticized his job, because being a school teacher back then wasn't considered a respectable
job for a man to have. Like men during this
time had important jobs, according to them, I'm not saying this, important jobs, like, I don't know, I can't even think of one,
but you know, doing man shit, and they thought it was, mmm-hmm, like a little questionable. I mean, Clara's mom was not stoked. She even like told her daughter like, "Mm, you could do so much better, "but you're probably gonna
be supporting this man "for the rest of your life." Whoops, you know, that was
a little harsh, but okay. You see, with Clara's
family, they came from money, and people with money, they
usually only want to marry into a family with money. So Clara's parents would
even go as far as like trying to help out their new
son-in-law, you know, whatever his name is, Bozo, Herman. (Bailey giggling) So they offer him a job. They're like, "Look, you
can't be a school teacher "and be with our daughter. "You gotta get a better job." So they offered him a job working in the family grocery store, and he, you know, he takes the job. At least he will be a
little less embarrassing for Clara, I guess. So Herman and Clara's son
is born in February of 1880. They named him Robert, and
it was also around this time that Herman stopped working
at the grocery store, and goes on to become an
apprentice to a doctor. I know, wow. This doctor's name was Dr. White. Mmm, it's just funny to me that you can just kind of choose a job, and back then they were
like, "Yeah, come on in. "We'll show you how to do it." So Herman works with this
doctor for about a year, and then he gets a little
antsy, and wants to move, so he goes to Burlington, Vermont. I hear they have great coats there. (rimshot crashing) Thank you, thank you, I'm here all day. So this is when Herman
starts studying medicine, and apparently he was not a
great student at this point. He wasn't really like
living up to his potential as being that highly intelligent Herman that he was growing up. And also, when he moved to Vermont, he didn't like take his wife with him. So he's living like with a roommate, so he could attend school, and then the roommate also goes to school. It was like a dorm pretty much. So he left Clara and little Robert back at wherever they were,
and he studied in Burlington. So his roommate is another
young medical student. His name is Fred. So Herman tells his
roommate that he's married, and he's like, "Look, if you can keep that "on the like down low,
that'd be great, you know?" And his roommate's like, "Okay." I think he wanted to live as a single man. I'm not sure. But he didn't want to be
married in this scenario, okay? And Fred was kind of like,
"Okay," he goes along with it, but then he starts to
notice Herman is flirting with different girls in
the classes at school. It didn't sit right with him, and then slowly that
tension starts building between Herman and his roommate, 'cause Fred is like, "I'm
not liking this guy, shady." So tensions are really
building between the two, and they end up getting into
some kind of fight, okay? But it's like the most 1800s fight I've ever heard in my life. So Fred one day had used Herman's mustache wax without asking. You know, when your
roommate uses your shit, and you're like, "What the fuck?" It was like that. Herman was livid, and then they got into a full on, one of these kind of fights. "You oughta get outta here!" Like they really did. That's what it said.
(Bailey laughing) Anyways, Fred, he ended
up with like a black eye, and a pretty scratched up face. Herman went off. So things really aren't
going that great in Vermont, you know, like for school and everything, 'cause like Herman's kind
of weird and awkward. But this is when Herman
finds his passion in life. His passion, his calling? Something like that, you know? Dissecting bodies, and money. Money was Herman's biggest motivator. It was his North Star, and the passion was
only growing with time. I mean, there's a story
about how around this time in his life, when he's
in Vermont, and whatnot, he had a cobbler come
fix his shoes for him, and told him that he
would pay him 43 cents. Bargain, I know. He's like, "I'll be right back. "I gotta, I left my wallet,
I'll be right back." So he leaves, and he comes back, and, well, he doesn't come back actually. He leaves, he ghosts him, and he just never shows his face again. And then if he ran into
the shoe guy, the cobbler, Herman's like, "What
are you talking about? "I sent that money with
my, I came looking for you. "You weren't here. "I asked my friend to
get, it's your fault." He was really good at gaslighting. So he would do this to people, and just kind of make
them feel a little crazy, and nobody really knows like
what happened to the money. I'm gonna assume he didn't even have any. He's like, "Yeah, I'll pay
you back, man, be right back," and just never showed up again. He was becoming a scammer. So he loved money, right? Great, but his passion
for dissecting bodies is what would be his ultimate
toxic trait, you know? So in medical school,
dissecting cadavers is one of like the main ways you
learn how to treat bodies, or you know, if you're gonna be a doctor, you're probably gonna have to dissect, and look at like human parts, right? And Herman was so into it. He's like, "Oh my God, I love this. "What's this, liver?" He was just like living, learning, loving. And Herman was just so into this that he would actually take
his classwork home with him. For example, there was one
morning at his dorm room, where he's staying with
the roommate, you know? So Fred is noticing
something stinky going on. He's like, "I don't, I
don't know what's going on, "but this shit stinks." So he goes downstairs, and
he tells like the landlady that he just did not
sleep well that night, and the landlady said that,
or she noticed that Fred, he just looked really
pale, like he saw a ghost. So she goes upstairs later that morning to like tidy up their room, and she noticed a really
strong smell coming from their room, stinky, you know? So she's starting to use
her nose to investigate where the source is at. So she's looking around, looking around, and then she sees like under Herman's bed, there's a dark object. So she grabs her broom, you know? She kind of like (imitates
broomstick tapping), tries to pull it out,
whatever was under the bed, which was not, surprisingly, crusty socks. But instead, she pulls
out what seemed to be a dead baby. Girl, I got questions, I feel like this is enough. We don't need to go on from here, right? So for one of like Herman's classes, they were doing, it was a
cadaver for their class, the dead baby for class, and he was having so much fun with it, he just decided to take it home. I don't know, you guys. I really just don't know. What was he gonna do, keep dissecting it? What was he gonna do? What
was the end goal there? I don't know. I don't know. So I think once Herman
goes to this college, he's really like leaning into that weirdo side of him, you know? And it's not just the
dead babies under his bed. It's also how he would treat his family. I mean, no surprise here. Well, it's sad that I say that, but it's like, of course, Herman was like pretty abusive to Clara, and it's while he's in Vermont
that she finally has enough. She's like, "I'm not taking
this anymore, I'm leaving." He must've been totally fine with it, because she ends up leaving him, and she also ends up living
with Herman's parents. That part I couldn't really figure out, because I thought her
parents were well off, so I was like, "Why
don't you just go home?" I don't know, maybe they felt some kind of like obligation to her. I don't know, she's part
of the family, you know? So she lives with Herman's parents. So now that Herman is free
from the old ball and chain, he decides, "Hey, I'm bored of Vermont. "I should go somewhere new." So he decides it's time
to go to medical school at the University of Michigan, which was like a great
move for a young man. He's entering medicine,
and this school is becoming like a serious scientific frontier. I mean, this is the time in
history when like healthcare, medical attention stuff
was a little funky, like, I don't know, questionable. But now, it was like evolving, and it was becoming what we consider modern medicine today, you know? And Herman was right there
at the forefront of it all. And it's like, "Go, Herman! "You could be a doctor and do things!" And it's like, "No."
(Bailey laughing) "No, of course not." But Herman, he ends up
using medical school and this kind of free-for-all
frontier industry to conduct, conduct, thank you, his first little like money-making crimes. It's like he loves bodies,
and medical stuff, and money. Interesting combination there. Again, back then, like medical school
was just the Wild West. It was the Wild West
with so many like change, and so much exploration,
and discovery happening. That is when medical schools,
they really needed cadavers to teach people with, right? And there was like this
huge need for them. I mean, how else do you expect people to practice, you know, or learn? On alive bodies? I don't think so, and this
gets Herman to thinking, "Hey, there's a demand for bodies. "If there's a demand,
there's an opportunity." So once class ends, Herman goes
up to his anatomy professor, and says, "Hey, I heard you need bodies. "I got a guy," which I don't
really know if he got a guy. I think the guy was himself. Yeah, so Herman is thinking
like, "You know what? "There are bodies just
like hanging around, right? "They're in like a cemetery."
(Bailey laughing) Sorry for laughing, it's
just, he's thinking about it. "No one's using those bodies. "They're just laying in the ground." So Herman, he pulled himself
up by his bootstraps, grabbed a shovel, and started
digging up these graves to get the bodies. #self-made? I don't know, but what he was doing was called grave robbing, so yeah. It was very much illegal back then. But Herman, he didn't care, okay? He's like, "I just need
to make some money. "People need bodies. "I'm not gonna get caught." He's like so overconfident for someone who's never done it before. It's very bizarre. So Herman, he would literally, you know, dig up these graves,
pull out these bodies, and then sell them to the medical school. And Herman found out
that this was an easy, and like it was good money, you know? One estimate said that he made like what would be a million dollars today by selling these bodies,
and he made it quick. So yeah, he's like, "Why get a job? "I can just sell these bodies." I mean, during this time, like he wasn't the only one doing it. It was like a, you know,
black market type of deal. But Herman was definitely one of the biggest players out there. Now, I don't know if this is funny, or if this is like just
a weird coincidence. I giggled a little, because
I'm not kidding you, Herman lived on a street. The street that he lived
on was called Cemetery Way, and as a bonus, he lived
directly across the street from an actual cemetery. Herman was like, "It's meant to be, okay? "God is telling me I have to do this." So it really worked in
his favor, you could say. So life on Cemetery Way
was not great for Herman. His classmates, because he was attending the University of Michigan, remember? And a lot of his classmates were not fond of this Herman guy. They said he was dumb, that he was weird, and he also gave people the creeps. And I was like, "What does that mean?" Like what's 1800s creep, you know? Like people didn't know
what was off about him, but there was something,
you were just kind of like, "Mm, I don't really like you," but you don't know what it is. You just get that weird vibe. So a lot of people were kind of like that. A big reason why they
also thought he was weird, because he was cross-eyed,
so (laughs) it's not funny, because like, but they
thought it added to him like giving off that shadiness, and they also said, I think
the grossest part of all, they said that he smelled weird. Ugh. The other students would say that he had a, quote, "Peculiar odor." And then they gave him
the nickname Smegma. Smegma. Do you know what a smegma is? Well, if you don't know,
according to WebMD, a smegma is the thick,
white, cheesy substance that collects under the
foreskin of the penis. Smegma. So maybe you could see why
he wasn't that well-liked. He had a funky odor, looked
a little shady, was weird. You get it. Just the smell alone, I think
I would keep my distance. So Herman graduates medical
school in 1884 at the age of 23, and he goes on to become
a school principal. Now, once he gets a little bored, once again, he's very antsy, he then moves to Philadelphia, and he starts working at a local pharmacy. But I guess this doesn't last very long, because something kind of strange happens. A little boy had mysteriously died after taking medicine
supplied to the boy by Herman, and then once Herman got word of this, he just was like, "Oh, that's crazy. "Well, time to clock
out," and he just leaves. No one sees him again. Did he do it? I don't know, but by his
actions, I would say maybe. Smegma, that's a fun word, smegma. Hey, what's that? Smegma. What are you doing? Smegma. So now, it's 1886, and 25-year-old Herman got the hell out of Philadelphia, and decided to go to Chicago, and this is a big turning point for him, because this is when he
decides to rebrand himself, and he changes his name
to Henry Howard Holmes, in other words, H.H. Holmes. So around this time, there was a very popular book series out. It was called "Sherlock Holmes," and remember, growing up,
like Herman, he loved to read, and he would confirm later that he named himself
after Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, he was like, "I mean,
Sherlock Holmes is a character "of towering intellect,
and he's also a genius." And Herman's like, "Oh my God, me." So makes sense, right? I'm gonna keep calling him Herman, 'cause I think it's kind of cute. So okay? Great, plus, I'm not gonna
give him what he wanted. He wanted to be known as H.H. Holmes, and no, I'm not doing that. You're Herman, know where you came from. So he's in Chicago, and he
starts an entirely new life, you know, just from scratch. And Chicago was a perfect
place to do just this, because the city itself was rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire. I guess this fire had just
ripped through the whole city in 1871, killing around 300 people. 1/3 of the city's
residents lost their homes, and the fire burned for
about four miles long and a mile wide. I guess, in the end, like it destroyed nearly 18,000 buildings. Shit, you know? So with that being said,
the city's kind of in ruins, and they're looking to rebuild into the great city
they were trying to be. So the city itself was
offering very low prices to a lot of land to like kind
of get people to come back and build for them. So Herman is seeing
this as an opportunity. He's like, "Oh, I could
get land for really cheap, "buy whatever I want." I mean, not buy whatever I want, but like, "Build whatever I want, "and probably make money,
or something," you know? He's like, "You know, I
don't know, we'll see." This is when Herman really
leans into his conman era. So he starts out with something
that he's familiar with. He gets a job at a drug store, and this drug store is called
E.S. Holton Drug Store. The owner of this drug store,
his name was Everett Holton. He had recently died. We don't know what of, most likely cancer, but all we do know is
it was natural causes. So Herman goes to the now widow, and he's like, "Look, I got money. "Can you please sell me the drug store?" And she's like, "Okay," you know? Some sources say that Ms. Holton, after that, she mysteriously disappeared. Now, many say that she took
the money and she just ran, which I think kind of makes sense. Why not? And then others think that
Herman may have, you know, removed her from the situation, so he didn't have to actually pay her. Nobody knows for sure. So he gets this place, it's 1888. Herman is 27 years old, and he's ready to like build his empire. So while working at the drug store, directly across from him was
this like empty plot of land. I mean, the land was super cheap, and Herman's just thinking
of all the possibilities. He could build some kind
of like giant complex, like almost for free, and then
it's all profit, you know? So he does just that. He buys the land. He hires contractors,
day workers, craftsmen, just people to like help him build a frickin' building, and all that. But of course, because Herman is Herman, he decides, "I'm not gonna pay
these contractors and stuff." Instead of paying them, he would complain that they did a really
bad job, or he would lie, and say like, "I sent you guys
the money, you didn't get it? "Well, I, I know I sent it. "It even had a stamp. "You didn't get it? "Well, that's not my fault. "You must've been drunk and misplaced it." So he pulled that kind of shit. So he literally got this
whole like complex built literally for free, because
like he didn't pay anybody. He was such a scammer, just wild. So Herman, he starts off by building, well, his team that he didn't pay, they built a really cool place. He wanted something that'd be cool, and have lots of different things in it, kind of like almost a mall. So the first floor, it had
a pharmacy, a jewelry store, a barber shop, a restaurant,
and also a blacksmith. Yeah, all of that on the first floor. Talk about a one-stop shop, huh? So great, he builds all that. And then in 1889, Herman
is kind of realizing that he's a very, he's lonely. He's a lonely man. He doesn't have any companionship
in his life, you know? By the way he smells,
I'm sure there wasn't a lot of people interested in him. It's safe to say at this point in his life he really didn't have a
lot of friends, either. So he decides that he should
get a business partner. It's kind of like a partner, right? So he can't leave. He's your partner, he's your
friend, he's your companion, but also, he's helping
you with the business. So Herman brought this guy on, and his name is Benjamin Pitezel. Now, this Benjamin guy, mmm, he's also, just everyone's a hot mess at this time. When Benjamin first meets
Herman, he's like 33 years old, and he was working as a carpenter. Most likely, Herman met him during the construction
job on his building, and I guess like there was
something about this guy that Herman was like, "That's my man. "That's my man right there." I'm sure like there was something about Benjamin's personality that Herman was able to pick up on, also, his weaknesses, you know? Like Herman sensed a bit of
vulnerability in Benjamin, and/or maybe he had also
like some shaky morals. It was kind of true. I mean, Benjamin, he
loved to drink alcohol. He loved alcohol. It was his life, and he
really struggled with it. And because of this, it might have put him in a very desperate situation, where Herman could really
take advantage of him. In 1889, the word alcoholic was literally just starting to be used to mean like somebody who drinks too much. So Herman told Benjamin that if he came to like work for him, he
would make his life great. You know, Benjamin would have
money, he would have security, and Herman told Benjamin that he could also cure his alcoholism, because he went to medical
school, of course, hello. Now, Benjamin's believing him. He's like, "What? "Oh my God, yeah, you
did go to medical school. "You can probably cure me." You see, when Herman was
working in the pharmacy, he was a bit of a pusher,
you know, a pusher, because Herman really dabbled in the snake oil side of medicine. So you know, like natural ways of healing that are a little questionable at times, Herman was into that. Anything that would
make him money, really. Herman would make a lot of
promises to his customers that he could cure their
cancer with like bubble gum. "Yeah, just chew it twice a
day, it'll change your life." He did well. People didn't know any better. It's 1889, okay? I don't know what they're doing. So yeah, what I'm getting at is Benjamin becomes Herman's sidekick. They're like Bert and Ernie. They're working together, they're forming a good
bond and friendship, and eventually, Herman
meets Benjamin, his family, and he has a quite large family. Benjamin was like married
to a woman named Carrie, and the two of them had five kids. So Herman being the stinky man that he was somehow became very
friendly with the kids, almost like an uncle. Yeah, he was Uncle Herm. I'm trying to take my time, because we're only halfway
through the story, okay? So look, now we enter the next
phase of building for Herman. So the first floor of this
building is totally legit, you know, has all those stores, and stuff. But now that he has Benjamin, you know, he had this partner who could help him with his little ideas. But also Herman wanted
a, he wanted a lady, he wanted a lover. So in 1890, Herman begins having an affair with a married woman, mmm-hmm. Her name was Julia. So Miss Julia, she had actually worked at one of the businesses
on the first floor, and once her husband had
found out about the affair, he leaves her and their daughter. So it's now Julia and her
little girl named Pearl, the two of them. Now, both of them are living with Herman, and they've become just
really dependent on him. And then around the same time, Julia, she finds out that she's
pregnant with Herman's baby. Oh, I know. He's like, "Fuck, this kind
of like slows down my plan." And then, you know, it's so weird, because Christmas Eve of that
year, they just disappeared. It's weird. He's like, "I don't know, they just left. "That's crazy, huh?" Literally, just vanished. Where'd they go? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. So sadly, Julia and Pearl,
they were like never found. They just moved on, I guess, or did they? I don't know, but they
were literally never found. People have their theories, but Herman said that
Julia had actually died trying to perform an abortion on herself. But even then it's like,
"Okay, but where's her body at? "And where's Pearl?" I don't know. Nobody knows. Okay, so Herman is ready
to continue his building, which he tells Benjamin is
now gonna be like a castle. So in order to keep building
this castle, they need money. So Herman goes to
different like investors, and he's going to them,
and he's telling them that he's planning on
turning the third floor of his building into a hotel. And on it, they were like, "Oh
my God, we love that idea," and they love that idea because the World's
Fair was coming to town. So the World's Fair was
like this massive event that was held in Chicago in 1892, and it was like to celebrate
the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus in Chicago. But with that being said, tons
of people come to the town because they all wanna
go to the World's Fair. Like I think there's around
25 million people that visit. Isn't that nuts? Anyways, so investors know that
like Chicago was going to be a major destination, and
they would need hotels, and there really weren't
any around during this time. So Herman just tells the investors that it's gonna be a hotel, but he really didn't have
any intention of actually making it into a hotel. Maybe some people could stay, but he's like, "I'm not doing that shit." But he got a good amount
of money from investors, and he's like, "Cool, thanks." It was just so easy
for him it seemed like. So he gets some money and he
continues building upwards, and for his castle, three stories, baby. So now it's 1892, and
Herman begins another affair with a young woman named Emeline, yeah, Emeline, Emeline. So Herman was like introduced
to her by Benjamin, and I guess Herman was captivated, or whatever, you know? He just wanted to like
bang, let's be honest. But Herman offers her
a job working for him for double the pay, because
she was currently working at some rehab center, and he's
like, "How much you make?" And she tells him, and he's like, "Okay, I'll pay you double
that if you come work for me "as my personal secretary." So naturally she's gonna
be like, "Fuck yeah. "Okay, I'm in." So Herman and Emeline, they,
of course, begin a romance, and I guess he ends up proposing to her, which would be exciting for her, except pretty soon after,
she tells the neighbors that she's moving home to
Indiana, and doesn't say why. They're like, "Aren't you
getting married though, girl? "Like what's going on?" So people are just kind of
minding their own business, but it was noted, and
then just like previously, she was never seen again. What the hell's going on? I know, and like the neighbors would ask. They'd go up to Herman, and be like, "Hey, what happened to so-and-so? "I thought you guys got engaged." And he's like, "No, she ran away "to marry some other man named Robert." Like, "Okay." So that happens, and then a year goes by, and Herman is a little lonely again, so he wants a companion. So he ends up going on
a trip to Minneapolis, and he meets a woman named Myrta. He meets Myrta, and he like
falls in love, whatever, same shit, different day. And he's like, "Will you move
back to Chicago with me?" And she agrees. She's like, "Sure, you seem cool. "I like your mustache." Herman also tells her, "You can," "I'll give you a job, you
can help me at my drug store. "I have my own drug store. "You can work there, make money." And I mean, sounds great. She moves with him. Myrta was a little different
than his past lovers, though, because she seemed to
really, really like him, and she was like also
a little bit jealous. Yeah, she was like a jealous girlfriend. Anytime people would come in, and like Herman would talk to a woman, or like look at a woman, she'd
be like, "What are you doing? "Who's that? "Are you fuckin' her? Do you want to?" You know, so she's starting
to get on his nerves, and then shortly after, Myrta,
she becomes pregnant, ugh. So maybe Herman really liked her too, because he actually gets married to her. Yeah, I don't know how. He's got like how many
wives at this point? (Bailey scoffing)
Yeah, but he marries her. Great, so then Myrta goes on to give birth to their daughter, a girl named Lucy, and then
we really don't hear much about them after this,
because for some reason, he sends Myrta and Lucy up
to live with some family north of Chicago, and he would only visit
them like twice a year. And sadly, that's a wrap on Myrta. Never hear about her again. It's like, "Okay, what's going on?" (Bailey laughing)
So as time is going on, Herman is running out of money. So he's like, "Dude, we
gotta get some money. "We gotta get some work. "We gotta do something," right? So he and Benjamin, they go down to Texas, and Herman like meets this
woman who was an heiress to a little mini fortune, some kind of like estate
out in Fort Worth. So he meets this woman, and he's like, "Okay, this is my prize right here. "I gotta seduce her." So her name was Minnie, and
even though she fell victim to Herman, she was actually,
she wasn't a dumb-ass, okay? So this woman is like, "You know what, I need a fresh start." And so, she knows that
Chicago is considered like a booming town. So she moves there, okay, and heads to an an employment
agency to look for a job. So Herman meets her there
and hires her as a secretary. Now, she was smart, remember? She was a very smart young woman, and most likely the theory
is that she was helping him with his dirty business. Her name had appeared on like
a bunch of different documents and she definitely knew what he was up to. You know what I'm saying? She knew. I mean, she was very wealthy, and she just trusted that her
and Herman were like partners. So she had no problem
signing over her estate in Fort Worth to him. Yeah, and then she somehow
convinces her sister to do the same thing. Now, once this is locked
and loaded, guess what? Once again, never seen again. It's so exhausting, I know. I'm like, "Dude, you are busy. "Just chill out for a minute." Well, after Minnie disappears, like I'm tired right now with this, but I have to tell you,
he gets married again. I know, we're tired. He's 33, she's 24, her name is Georgiana. So technically, she's his third wife, because he's still married to Clara, and allegedly Myrta, and now, Georgiana. Okay, yeah. What he liked about
Georgiana was that she came from a wealthy family, and she
had a bit of an inheritance coming from her grandmother. So Herman's like, "Mmm,
you're 10 in my book. "Let me snatch you up." We all know that Herman
likes to collect wives, and girlfriends, and all that, right? Okay, great. Well, I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, where are they
all going, you know?" Well, let me tell you about the second floor
of Herman's castle, okay? I think the best way to show you is with a picture right
here, and insert photo. (photo chiming) Okay, great, so what he built was actually pretty genius, right? Herman knew that in order
to actually pull off the kind of fraud he really was fond of, which were like medical
cures, insurance fraud, screwing over contractors,
and manipulating people. He just deep down needed to kill. If he was gonna feed this passion of his, he knew he needed to be
able to get away with it. So he built this insane group of chambers on the second floor that were
literally chambers of death. So if you look at this, you
can see things like laboratory, or asphyxiation chamber, which was a room he built
with gas lines going to it, so like he could put people in there, and then gas 'em to death. What the fuck? Yeah, second floor, baby. He built that shit. I wonder if the contractors were like, "I wonder what's gonna happen in here. "Kind of odd." So there were rooms that
were completely surrounded by like the other rooms, and so, therefore like there
were no windows around. So like no one even knew it existed. On top of that, he soundproofed
a lot of the rooms, and he used asbestos to soundproof it. So like no one could hear
any of his victims screaming, or asking for help, you know? There was even a garbage chute, where he could easily dispose of a body from like a room upstairs
to the lower area, where he had built an actual crematorium. So inside of there, it had acid baths, and also an oven that could heat up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, yeah, I'm worried. Like what the fuck is
going (mumbles), no words. I mean, it was, again, like
really smart for that time, and like no one would
see what was going on. No one would smell anything going on. It's like these people and
their bodies would just be gone. It was pretty genius, but like terrifying at
the same time, you know? But in total, like the second
floor alone had 35 rooms. I don't even, no comment. So Herman said that he was
going to like rent out the rooms like a hotel, which he
didn't really end up doing. He ended up renting out like
to people as long-term rentals, and it worked out for him. Like nobody questioned what
was on the second floor. They either assumed like
it was more offices, or it was gonna be like a hotel, or no one, just no one
had questions, okay? So Herman, he ends up going to Texas, and he starts like building another giant castle-like thing, you know? This time, though, what
he does is he goes, he buys the land, buys the property, he takes out a bunch of mortgages on it, he gets the cash, and then he leaves town. Kind of smart.
(Bailey laughing) I'm not saying he should do that. It's just like, "Okay, yeah,"
you get it, kind of smart. Anyways, on his way out,
Herman sees some horses, and he thinks to himself like, "Oh, I should take those horses, "because I could probably make
some money on those horses." He's just always thinking
about making money. Anyway, so he takes like all
these horses on his way out, and he sells them, takes the cash, and just gets the fuck outta Texas. But this would really all become the beginning of the end for him, because what had happened
was he would get caught, arrested for more fraud,
and when he went to jail, he met a notorious train robber. I know, this sounds so
cartoony, a train robber. His name was Marion Hedgepeth. So this Hedgepeth guy, he
was involved in a gang, and they called themselves
the Hedgepeth Four, and this Marion guy, he was
all over like wanted posters, and on the wanted posters,
posters it said like, it would describe him as having
impeccably polished shoes. I mean, that's really
gonna narrow it down, huh? Now, this Marion guy, he
would be caught, Hedgepeth, he would be caught by the
Pinkerton Detective Agency. They were kind like private detectives. I mean, they would catch everybody, and then they finally
caught that Hedgepeth guy and his whole gang in the year 1891. So when Herman came and
like started sharing a cell with him, he told him
all about like a new plan that he was hatching up
with his friend Benjamin, and they were going to fake his
death, and get money for it. I guess Herman had convinced Benjamin to take out a life
insurance policy on himself, and then what they were gonna
do was fake his own death, and then they could split the money. (Bailey laughing)
Yeah, (mumbles). So Herman's telling this
to that Hedgepeth guy, and Hedgepeth is like, "What, what? "That's genius," you know? And he's like, "I want in." And he gives Herman the
name of a shady lawyer, who could probably help them find a body that they could say was Benjamin's body. And in exchange, Hedgepeth just wanted, you know, a little bit of a cut. So Herman said like, "Oh, yeah, for sure. "Give me that number, you're in." So on September 4th, 1849, Benjamin's working at a drug store, and he has like regular clients. One of his regulars comes in, and finds Benjamin dead. But it was like the real Benjamin. I guess what really
happened was that Herman, he got Benjamin really drunk, so drunk that he either passes out, or probably passes out, or
just was completely out of it, and then Herman, he went up to him, and was able to overpower
Benjamin with chloroform. Forgot about that one, I know. And once Benjamin is out,
Herman just keeps pouring more and more chloroform
directly into his throat. Yeah, while like pressing on his chest to make sure that it got into his stomach. Herman then arranges
the body to make it look like a chemistry accident, as
if he like accidentally broke a bottle of benzene and a beaker. So then Herman lights a match really close to Benjamin's body, just trying to cause an explosion, and then he gets the fuck out of there. He figured that the body would be found, ruled as an accident,
and just go on, right? So he's just waiting for that news. But it didn't happen that way. When the police came out
to investigate the scene, they thought the whole thing
was like not an accident, did not look like an accident. They're like, "Some foul play
has been involved in this." The explosion theory had
been completely dismissed, because the death was so sudden from the chloroform poisoning. This was determined by the investigators and autopsy reports, and they believed, I mean, it was obvious to them that the body had been staged. For some odd reason, though,
the coroner's office, they ruled it as an accident, because Herman is just
one lucky bitch, right? And then they didn't even dig further into like what really happened. So, "This is a story
about a girl named Lucky." Her name's Herman, 'cause he just has the
best luck, doesn't he? But this does kind of like
make Herman panic a little bit, because like that was close. He was like, "That was real close." Well, lucky for Herman, the
plan was still working out. The check, the insurance
check, had been mailed, and Benjamin's wife, she got
the most money, like 7,200. Herman got $5,000, and
what happened was that he forgot to pay someone else, and that was Marion Hedgepeth. Mmm-hmm, now, I'm no expert, but maybe you wanna pay that guy who's like a train robber
that you met in jail. I just feel like you
probably wanna make sure to pay that guy, but you know, Herman was always looking for a bargain. No, he wasn't, he was looking
to just rip people off. Okay, but Herman was
having a bit of a problem, because Benjamin's wife, she didn't know that it was actually
Benjamin that was dead. She thought it was like the
whole body double situation. She had no idea that her
husband was not coming back. But the daughter of Carrie and
Benjamin, her name's Alice, she knew the truth, and
Herman was questioning whether or not she would be
able to keep it from the family. I mean, she's young, I doubt it. So Herman was like, "Okay, I
need to deal with the family." So remember earlier I had
said that to these kids, Benjamin's kids, he was
considered Uncle Herman, right? So he invites the kids
all back to his house. He's like, "I'll help you guys heal. "Come with Uncle Herman." And he takes the children in. The children are like writing
letters back to their mom. The letters, the letters are, they're sad, but like they keep saying that Uncle Herman is kind of weird. Something's weird about him. Well, it wouldn't take long
for Uncle Herman to poison. He poisoned one of the little boys by putting cyanide in his
like eggs with his breakfast. So this little boy, he ends up dying, because he's poisoned by eggs. So after this, Herman ends up
dismembering the boy's body, he shoves it into the stove
along with like some corn cobs and wood and then lights it on
fire with corn cobs and wood. Yeah, weird, and apparently,
he did it really quickly, because he had killed the boy at 6:00 p.m. and still made it to
his train at 9:00 p.m. So remember there were like,
I think there were five kids, so he's killed one. Now, he's gotta like
continue with the others, and he does so. He ends up killing two more
by poisoning their food, and then he buries them in the cellar. And I don't know if he's
just getting sloppy, or just he's exhausted at this point, but he puts very little effort into like hiding their bodies. He didn't dismember them, and he just buried them
in a shallow grave. Okay, well, one thing for sure is you can't rip off a con man. You just, you can't do that. So remember that Hedgepeth guy? He's like, "I'm gonna
find this little shit." But he doesn't have luck. So he's like, "Okay, I'm gonna rat him out "to law enforcement. "I'm gonna go tell the
insurance investigators "that this guy is a fraud." That's when Fidelity Mutual got wind that Benjamin didn't
die in like an accident, and they sent investigators
to go like snoop around, and eventually, they end
up bringing in Hedgepeth to question him, and he rats them all out. He tells them their whole story, Herman. He's like, "Yeah, in jail,
he told me he was gonna, "it was gonna be insurance fraud." Uh-oh, it's not gonna be very good. So at this time, Herman's
really starting to panic. He knows like shit's going down, and he does the weirdest thing. Remember his very first wife, Clara? Well, in 1888 he goes to Clara's house, and he tells her that he was
in a terrible train accident, and he got amnesia, and
he forgot all about them. And he's like, "It's crazy! "And then I woke up today, and I was like, "'Wait, I used to be married!'" So he's telling her all this, hoping that she's gonna believe it. He's like, "Isn't that nuts? "I came outta my coma, and
you are my first thought!" But little did Herman
know that the police, or I should say like
that Pinkerton PI people, they were just right on his ass waiting for the perfect
moment to arrest him. They couldn't just go arrest him just yet, 'cause they didn't have
any actual like proof, but they ended up getting like a telegram from the people in Texas. Remember when he was there
and he stole a horse? He was like, "Yeah, come here, horses." Authorities in Texas had sent a telegram to the authorities
wherever he was staying, and it said like, "Larceny of one horse," and like that was all the
information they needed to go out, close in, and arrest Herman Mudgett. Yeah, it was over. November 17th, Herman
Mudgett, AKA H.H. Holmes, was arrested for the murder of Benjamin. They don't know about everything
else just yet, you know? So in July of 1895, the
investigators go out to the castle, and they start digging around,
and then what they find, you know what they find,
absolutely mind-blowing. They were not ready. 1895, they don't know
what the hell is going on. The first thing they
noticed was that the smell in the cellar was apparently like beyond just the smell of death. It was like nothing investigators
had ever smelled before. They called it unnatural. And then they went down to, or they went over to the drug store, and they found a hidden door
that was lined with asbestos, for soundproofing, yes, and
they figured it was a place he could lock someone in, and
no one would hear them scream. What the hell, dude? He was so bored. Like I don't know what he was doing. Like okay, he would lock 'em in, but then he wouldn't torture, or anything, which I think is great. Like at least he wasn't torturing. I think locking in a room
is kind of torturous, but, you know, normally, you hear about some other shit going down. He just locked them in a room, and like left them there for a while until he was ready to kill them. Like what was that? Anyways, investigators, they found a stove on the third floor. It had ashes inside the stove, and inside they also discovered
like a watch and chain, and this watch and chain had belonged to the missing Texas
woman, or Texan woman. Her name was Minnie. Remember Minnie? Yeah, it belonged to her. They also found a dummy
elevator that was being used in the restaurant on the first floor, but it could also be
used for bodies instead. Yeah, and once they went
to the second floor, that's when they discovered so much more. They found the fake passages and stairs. They found doorways that led to nowhere, and secret panels that
led to secret rooms. I mean, it was a lot, right? Now, press gets a word of this,
and they go pretty insane. Of course, in newspapers, they're all talking about
the story, the tabloids, and it was insanity. The headlines were wild. It would be like, "Ribs in the ashes!" It's an insane story. Do you blame 'em? There's a murder castle. You don't hear that every day. But they were also kind of
like making the story worse, and there was like a bunch
of tabloids coming out and just making wild claims. So that part like really
kind of messed up the story, because it was taken as truth. So it gets really messy. So Herman's trial comes up, and he did not get along
with one of his lawyers. So he's like, "You know
what, fuck that guy. "I'm gonna represent self." Of course he did, of course he did. And as you're aware, I'm
sure, these never go well. But you know what, he
ended up pleading guilty, which I thought was like interesting. I thought he would've said, "Not guilty!" So at first he was, you know,
trying to defend himself, saying he had nothing to
do with Benjamin's death, and he was trying to convince the court that Benjamin had killed himself, and he had nothing to do with it. But he would actually, Herman,
he would end up taking money in exchange for giving
like his side of the story to the press. So he confessed to 27 murders in total, and he also went on to say
that he was possessed by Satan. Yeah, he told the papers that he was born with the devil in him, and like he knew he had
to like kill people. I was like, "Oh, okay, yeah, okay." So the good news is that
he got some money for this. The bad news, he got the death penalty. So Herman, Herman, he was hung in prison on May 7th, 1896. I guess it kind of was
a shitty death sentence, because like his neck didn't
snap like it's supposed to, so he kind of like dangled for a while. It was a slow death is what I'm saying, and, mmm, you can't really
be that mad, can you? I think slow and painful is
probably the best for him. Yeah, I guess he ended up
like slowly suffocating for like 20 minutes, and
then he shit his pants, and then he died. So you know, not too mad about it. Now, Herman only had one request. He wanted, after he
died, he wanted his body to be buried in concrete, so
that nobody could dissect him. I know, I thought that was a
little weird, 'cause I'm like, "Okay, so you did it to
everyone else, but you, why?" Maybe he was an alien, I don't know. But he did not want anyone
to dissect him, okay? And the court actually granted this. Kind of odd, but okay. And then I was mind
blown, because in 2017, 2017, they ended up
exhuming Herman's body, and his grave was just
like his murder castle, very creative. There was a fake coffin, okay? There was a fake coffin
buried in the ground, but then once they moved that coffin, they found the concrete,
and then a second coffin. I know, I don't know what the
fuck is going on in the story. I mean, I just don't know. It was said that his body
was so well-preserved that it still had her
Herman's signature look, the handlebar mustache. Now, I haven't finished my look, which is surprising,
'cause this was a long one. It was difficult for me, though. But let me tell you this. Let me tell you this, 'cause this is very interesting. Let me get out my lash. So here's what I'm gonna end it on, because it's quite interesting. There's actually some
evidence out there to suggest that Herman, AKA H.H. Holmes,
was actually Jack the Ripper, notorious London serial killer who mutilated and
murdered six sex workers, and whose identity was
never discovered, that guy. You see, Herman's
descendant, Jeff Mudgett, thinks that Herman was
in fact Jack the Ripper, and even though that's an insane theory, there's some evidence
that actually backs it up. First of all, Herman left a pretty significant paper trail, right? He was always taking
notes, writing letters, making deals, signing documents, whatever. But there was a strange gap
in Herman's like paperwork, or deals happening between
mid-1888 and early 1889, the exact period when Jack the Ripper was on his murder spree in London. Also, there's ship, ship records,
(Bailey laughing) ship records of an H. Holmes on a passenger ship returning
to the US from London after the final Ripper murder. You wanna talk about suspish, hmm? I was like, "What? Tell me more." And like, turns out, man,
it's a whole nother story. But I mean literally, because our next "Murder,
Mystery & Makeup" has been also requested many times. So I'm gonna do, I'm working
on a two-part deep dive into Jack the Ripper, two part. There's a lot. I don't know how to do, it'd be like a five-hour frickin' video. So I was gonna do a two-parter,
because I wanna know. I think, I think it was H.H. Holmes. Anyways, so that's the
story about H.H. Holmes. There's so much I had to
leave out, because, you know, this is easily also would
be a three-part, parter, and I thought about it, but mm-mm. It's just all insurance fraud
mainly, and like, that's fine. That's what he did. He loved money. I really think that was his motivator, but it's just bizarre
how far he took it, huh? And like for the weird and unique style of killing he did, you would think he was like
all about murdering people, but it just seemed like
they were disposable, and he was really just
trying to get their money. I don't know, this dude is weird. Okay, it's funny, this is so long, and I didn't finish until the very end, 'cause I was like, "I
don't wanna finish early," but then look at me, tee-hee. But I think I like this makeup look. Anyways, H.H. Holmes,
was he a serial killer, or just a bored, dedicated businessman? My personal opinion, I think
he was Jack the Ripper, but we'll find out more next time. I also just really don't like this guy. He was exhausting. I don't know how he found the
time to do as much as he did. It was wild. Anyways, thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you have a
wonderful rest of your day. Please make good choices out there. Play with some makeup today if you want. Do something pink. But other than that, leave
down in the comment section who you want me to talk about next time, and I'll be seeing you guys later. (dramatic music) Goodbye! (dramatic music)
