Analyze The Factors That Enabled Holmes Crime

Holmes had been born into a wealthy New Hampshire family and was given the name Herman Webster Mudgett (America’s Serial Killers). “If Mudgett or his brother or sister were bad, their strict Methodist parents sent them to the attic for a full day without speaking or eating,. Mudgett’s father was especially abusive after he’d been drinking - which was often” (Spikol). However, his father was a wealthy and respected citizen and had been the local postmaster for nearly twenty five years (Taylor). It is surprising an important member of the community was a child abuser. The abuse of his father may be one of the

He grew up secluded with his two brothers, Henry and Arthur, and his sister Ellen. He also grew up with his parents who were devout Methodists. A common factor about serial killers is that they usually grew up in a strictly religious household. His home life was hard because of his mentally and physically abusive parents, especially his father. Researchers have found out that his father used tactics such as “prolonged isolation and even food deprivation. Furthermore, his father reportedly held kerosene soaked rags over Holmes and the other children’s mouths to “quiet them” when they cried.” (Concordia University). A child’s relationship with their parents is crucial in their development. Psychologists have researched this specific topic for years and drew the conclusion that, “Without the safety net of a secure attachment relationship, children grow up to become adults who struggle with feelings of low self-worth and challenges with emotional regulation. They also have an increased risk of developing depression and anxiety.” (How Childhood Trauma). Because of his parents neglecting, his idea of relationships was skewed, and he became isolated. He had no positive relationship to model after and that really took a toll on his social life. In fact, “It is possible that Holmes...was so traumatized by the abuse that it ultimately led to his inability to form meaningful relationships.” (Concordia University). He was bullied at school for being smarter than the rest of the class and having no friends. His most notable bullying incident was when “ Holmes, blindsided by classmates, was forced into a doctor’s office, where the hands of a skeleton were forcibly placed over his face.” (Concordia University). Holmes had a phobia of doctors and anatomy as a whole, and the event was so traumatic to him that his fear reversed itself and turned into an extreme interest, something that is not uncommon between trauma victims. The

Holmes did not have a pleasant childhood which led him into the huge crimes he committed and how he died at a young age. All of these crimes started when Holmes tortured animals at his house in New Hampshire(Serial 1). Most of the murders he committed happened in the “murder castle” he built across the street from a pharmacy(H.H.Holmes 2). But Holmes was later caught and was sent to jail twice. All of the people Holmes killed were just ordinary and innocent people, so why did they have to

During the construction of the “Castle” Holmes hired a carpenter named Benjamin Pitezal as his assistant because Holmes deemed him to be unintelligent and easily manipulated due to alcoholism. The victims Holmes prayed on were generally young single woman with no social ties. Holmes used a variety of methods to kill the victims. After killing the individuals; Holmes stripped the corpses of flesh and paid an individual to assemble the bones into skeleton models to sell to medical colleges for money (Wilson & Seaman, 2011). When Holmes failed to pay his debtors he and his assistant went on the run. Holmes was arrested for fraud and bonded out, however while in his jail cell he bragged to another inmate about the insurance fraud who would later reveal the crime and link to the serial killers crimes. The pair moved state to state committing frauds and petty crimes. Holmes convinced Pitezal to fake his own death so the two could collect on a $10,000.00 in another fraudulent life insurance scheme (Schmid, 2006). Holmes turned on his assistant killing not only him, but three of his young children as well. Pitezals wife alerted authorities to her missing children and husband, she was informed the remains of her husband were discovered and the realization of what had occurred with her family was uncovered. Later the

The Devil in the White City reads, “As word spread that a young, handsome, and apparently unmarried doctor now stood behind the counter, an increasing number of single women in their twenties began to patronize the store”(Larson 46). You can’t build a log cabin without wood, and you can’t be a serial killer without victims. Victims are an essential part to the art of murder. As a result, he had a plentiful picking because he was “young, handsome and apparently unmarried”.  These attributes make Holmes a very charismatic person. While Holmes was being escorted to his death, the novel reads, “This was a difficult moment for his guards. They liked Holmes. They knew he was a killer, but he was a charming killer”(Larson 386). Even though the guards knew Holmes was a despicable person, they still liked him and found him “charming”. His charisma was such a potent attribute, even if people knew the real him...as seen in the text….they stilled “liked him”. They knew he had murdered innocent women and children, but still founded him “charming”. As can be concluded from the examples, Holmes’s charisma served him well in becoming a long time anonymous perpetrator.

His Victims were lead by the promise for cheap lodging in his hotel.2With the World Fair happening Holmes saw the event as the perfect opportunity to commit the murders he has been. He knew that with such a big event and how many foreigners would even come that his murders would go unnoticed until it was too late, and they did. His main targets were foreign or just gullible women3; those that wouldn’t be missed or have people come looking for them, especially when millions of people are in town, they won’t be noticed

He had several stores and a restaurant in the building. The third floor had rooms and offices to rent and it contained Holmes’s bedroom but it was the 2nd floor that had the horrible secret of the building. This floor had 35 rooms all designed as killing chambers, his victims would get caught up in this maze where doors lead nowhere and once they would turn a corner Holmes would surprise them and eventually kill them. Now the basement was worst of them all he had a chute that led down there so he could easily dispose of the bodies, it was like a medieval torture chamber, acid vats, quick lime pits and crematorium and this is where he would clean his victim’s bones and mount them and sell them to local universities and medical schools. Now, I have heard of some of the things that serial killers have done but this takes the cake, it made my stomach turn.

1884 to 1886 he lived in Mooers Forks, New York City and Philadelphia. He was accused of the disappearance of a young boy in New York and the death of a boy in Philadelphia (Holmes). H.H Holmes denied having any form of involvement to either cases. In 1886 Holmes moved to Chicago, Illinois. When he moved to Chicago that is when he formally changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes, but better known as H.H Holmes. In Chicago he acquired a pharmacy (H.H Holmes).

He had two children, one son and one daughter. He went out of sight for six years after abandoning Clara and his son. He would always somehow come up with some con as to where he was and what he was doing during the time of his victims' deaths. The police had always questioned him, but had never really pinned anything on him. No one wanted to believe that Holmes was an evil master mind. He was so handsome and charismatic. His tall stature and piercing blue eyes made women often swoon at the sight of him. He could also talk anyone into anything at the sound of his voice and the medical, knowledgeable jargon he used. He even got an old lady to give him her husbands pharmacy after his death sometime after he arrived to Chicago. Other sources said that he killed her and inherited the pharmacy without anyone knowing what happened. Either way the old woman should have been happy that such a noble man was running her pharmacy. He was always the perfect assistant, making sure that her money was going towards helping the company in any way. He would even meet up with venders, creating a stable environment for her and her dying husband. He eventually killed her but when others would ask he stated that she had moved to California, but had no forwarding address (Taylor, Troy).

With the estimated 200 victims of Holmes 9 confirmed and 27 confessed, we could have pin pointed exactly if he was their murder and this would have eased so many families minds who wondered what had happened to their loved ones. In the late 1800s when identifying a body, family members would have to recollect on features such as, teeth or hair, if it was still available. For example, long black hair was used to describe Nellie Pietzal. In cases now, we use fingerprints to identify bodies and most of the time their killer simply because of evidence left on the victim. It is hard to tell how many people walked into Chicago’s fair daily, but with the help of today’s technology we could pin point every set of prints that were there. In fact, most of Holmes victims were lured from the fair to his very own hotel where the crimes were committed. This alone could have aided in the incarceration of H. H Holmes

Holmes was born into a well to do family, he often got in trouble and punished by his abusive father. He was also bullied because of how small he was. Researchers say that serial killers are “frequently the products of broken, or severely brutal homes, where they have themselves been subjected to gross cruelty, sexual abuse, and in some cases prolonged and systematic torture” (Whittington-Egan 327), this shows that Holmes’ home life was a contributing factor on how he became as sadistic as he was. Why would he later want to prey on women? He wanted power and people to feel how he felt when he was younger, hopeless and alone. According to Richard Whittington-Egan, Holmes’ motive for murder was “financial profit—admixed with sexual advantages” (351). As a young boy Holmes, like most serial killers in the making, had a fascination for torturing and dissecting animals. It was said that he left them “reveling in their pain and took care to make sure they stayed alive, helpless, and distressed for as long as possible” (Gibson 212), this shows how much his psychopathic tendencies were starting to develop at a really young age, and how he felt pleasure in other’s pain. Eventually, Holmes moved

1. The theories and perspectives in this unit focus on the environmental and social influence of crime. Do you think that environmental and social conditions influence crime? Why or why not? Between biological, psychological, and social factors, which one do you think plays the biggest role in crime? Why?

The idea of serial killers and the role they play in our lives has fascinated people since the cases of Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes, although serial murderers existed before them. The infamous and mysterious complexities of these cases have puzzled and terrified people for over a century. Perhaps due to the deviant and taboo nature of serial killings, people in our society and others have tried to attribute many reasons for why they occur. In this search for answers, one major scope has been widely left out of the research: the sociological imagination. It is through this method of understanding that I will attempt to explain the development of serial killers and apply theories that explain the frequency of serial killings in our society.

A theory is an explanation of why or how things are related to each other (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Additionally, a theory is defined as a plausible or scientifically acceptable principle, or a body of principles, offered to explain phenomena (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). Furthermore, crime theories examine and attempt to identify relationships among humans, criminal behavior, and specific factors such as biological factors, psychological factors, sociological factors, and economic factors (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Since we have defined a theory, let us further discuss how theories are created beginning with the components of a theory.

Biological theory states that the individual will have certain traits will be transmitted from parent to children through genetics and not from social learning. Along with the juvenile having similar facial characteristics, which some believe also predisposes them to criminal behavior (Palmerin, 2012).