Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes

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

Dr. H. H. Holmes has a passion for murder, and he hides his true personality behind an act of a charming man managing a hotel. Since Holmes uses his creativity to disrupt the lives of innocent people, he brings out the Black City of Chicago. As a result of Holmes’s passion for murder, he has to keep his psychotic talent secret. Only very few people know Holmes’s true lifestyle, and if they do, he kills them. Holmes weaves his way into to his victims’ lives to manipulate them for his personal benefit.. Even though the White City masks some of Chicago’s problems, evil still

Jack the Ripper was one of the most famous and renowned killers in history. Even though he was not the first serial killer, he was the first killer to strike on a metropolis setting. Jack the Ripper was in his prime at a time when the media had a strong control over society and society as a whole was becoming much more literate. Jack started his killing campaign at a time of political controversy between the liberals and social reformers along with the Irish Home rule partisans. The reports of Jack the Ripper were collected and reported by the police, but then the different newspapers with their political influences slightly distorted the stories to give them their own effect. It has been more the one hundred years since the last murder

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.

According to Exodus 20:13 “you shall not murder,” however the world consists of countless people who disobey this command. Murderers are especially horrific if they are serial killers because it is awful enough to kill one person, but to murder repeatedly is sickening. It is extremely depressing to know that some murderers never get caught. One of the most infamous serial killers whose identity was never uncovered is Jack the ripper. Numerous people have different theories relating to who Jack the ripper was, but none have been proven. One main theory is that America’s first serial killer, H. H. Holmes was London’s Jack the ripper. To find evidence to prove the theory of whether or not H. H. Holmes was Jack the ripper; crucial evidence to look at are the similarities between the killers.

The Whitechapel Murders and those of Jack the Ripper are not generally one and the same. Over a period of three years towards the end of the nineteenth century a number of prostitutes were murdered under different circumstances – the murder of prostitutes was not an especially unique occurrence during those times but several of the murders drew particular attention on account of the savagery with which the victim's bodies were mutilated. Within the Whitechapel Murders was a cluster of murders that demonstrated sufficient similarities as to suggest that they were committed by the same person. One of the first instances of serial murder was thus identified and sensationalised in the media as the work of ‘Jack the Ripper', nicknamed on the

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).

His goal, however, was to murder innocent tourists a lure them into his “Murder Castle,” which was a hotel he opened up in order to charm unexpecting future victims into a trap. Holmes applied a vast amount of ways to kill a victim, one example that was reported was a human kiln, with the potential to reach up to 3000 degrees celsius, and found multiple human remains inside the kiln (Whalen, par. 10). In a way he was an architect like Burnham, he designed this “Murder Castle,” and designed each of his murders to perfection. He even described himself as almost insane, which some artist have no shame of admitting: “‘I was born with the devil in me,' Holmes wrote. '

4. Henry H. Holmes was a very dangerous, and disturbed man. He loved money and tricking people into thinking that he could be trusted. That’s why I believe that both money, and control were possibly to two of his main motives. It is important to try to understand the motives of a person like Holmes so that situations similar to this can be avoided in the

“Holmes was charming and gracious, but something about him made Belknap uneasy. He could not have defined it. Indeed, for the next several decades alienists and their successors would find themselves hard-pressed to describe with any precision what it was about men like Holmes that could cause them to seem warm and ingratiating but also telegraph the vague sense that some important element of humanness was missing.” (pg 23) There are two levels of power, emotional and physical power. Holmes was the kind of man who had learned to master both. He was stunningly handsome, and emotionally manipulative, a poison for anyone who could get close to him. In this quote, it shows just how addictive Holmes was to the people around him. He’s like candy. After you’ve had a piece or two, deep down you know it’s not good for you, but the feelings it gives you trump all doubt you have. A deadly mix of youthful exhilaration and feelings of lust, and the combined fact that the man they want so badly is a cold serial

The Chicago city itself provided the vanishing of people, a cover-up after a murder. Holmes has everything that a typical American figure should be. A “handsome” and “unmarried” young doctor, now living in Chicago (46). It was to create a strong American Ideal, showing wealth and appearance. So, it was a way for him to blend into the population of Chicago while at the same time murdering people without their knowledge because he looks like an American Ideal. It was the control of space and anxiety from the people. His murdering of Mrs. Holton was a success because of his cover up that she is visiting California, and buying her drug store. (45 – 47). “Holmes smiled and explained that she had decided to visit a relative in California, something she had wanted could not have done with her husband on his deathbed…. sometime modified the story by saying she had decided to settle their permanently” (47).

Holmes murdered dozens - perhaps hundreds - of people who stayed in his hotel while they were in Chicago to attend the World 's Fair. His victims were primarily women, but he preyed occasionally on men and children as well. His Murder Castle was specially

When comparing the fundamentals of Holmes’s backstory to that of the Shelley’s classic Frankenstein’s monster, there are many aspects that are frighteningly similar. Behind both of their backstories, they both felt excluded from the rest of society because of their differences, they experienced a harsh early development period in their lives, and most importantly, they both have deep, personal logic developed from these two other factors influencing them to murder innocent people. Though in their own minds they were enforcing justice upon the world, the results of their actions damaged the lives of innocent people to a much greater degree than improving their own. This is what makes a monster. Though appearances have played a part in the defining what a monster is for some time, the monsters of the present are not necessarily visually monstrous. In their minds and souls, the modern monster acts as the traditional monster does. Their hearts are filled with wickedness and anger, obsession, and the lust to achieve whatever they may desire, no matter if taking or destroying lives is necessary to obtain it. This is what classifies a monster in fiction and nonfiction, and in the past, present, and future. A monster can be eight-foot tall abomination, or a twenty-four year old college student from Aurora, Colorado, all a monster needs is a motivation to drive