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H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid

May 12, 2023 / 01:10:51

This episode covers part two of the H.H. Holmes saga, focusing on his life in Chicago, his pharmacy, and the construction of the infamous Murder Castle. Key discussions include Holmes' manipulative relationships, his fraudulent schemes, and the murders he committed.

Elena and Ash discuss Holmes' arrival in Chicago, where he quickly took over a pharmacy after the death of its elderly owner, Mrs. Holton. They highlight his deceitful nature and how he managed to convince her to sell him the business.

The hosts detail Holmes' marriage to Mirada Bellnap and his ongoing relationship with Clara, emphasizing his hypocritical behavior as he filed for divorce while already married to another woman. They also touch on his manipulative tactics with women and his growing obsession with wealth.

As the episode progresses, they describe the construction of the Murder Castle, detailing Holmes' plans for a building designed for murder, including secret chambers and gas jets. They discuss his interactions with various workers and how he evaded suspicion.

The episode culminates in the chilling accounts of Holmes' murders, including those of Julia Connor and her child, Pearl. The hosts reflect on the gruesome nature of his crimes and the eerie atmosphere surrounding the construction of the Murder Castle.

TLDR

H.H. Holmes builds his Murder Castle in Chicago while committing multiple murders and manipulating those around him.

Episode

1:10:51
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hey weirdos I'm Elena I'm Ash and this is morbid [Music] whoa you might hear some faint you
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probably won't actually but if you do you hear if you might hear some faint like rain tip tapping on the window you
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guys like that Ambiance yeah you guys do like that we've got a lot of people who
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are like I love that sound it sounds very calming but I don't know how you don't like the sound of rain it's very
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calming um you might not even be able to hear it because we have sound proofing but like
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you never know I don't know you know I don't know your life I don't know your ears I don't know what you're doing I
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don't know what you're doing okay what are you so I'm just kidding you're a weirdo I love you uh so yeah welcome
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back to part two of the H.H Holmes Saga yay so excited to be here we're gonna we're
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gonna get into it today so the first uh part was kind of setting it up where he came from his first marriage how he was
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a philanderer how he was a schemer how he was a shitty student how he smelled of a smegma
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he was a liar and a cheater and a frauder and just he's just an all-around [ __ ] person yeah well now we're gonna
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add murder to his repertoire oh what a what a repertoire yeah he's awful and he's gonna get awful lure so and then
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he'll get off a list yep he's gonna become one of the most awfuls ever so when we last left you guys he had just
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moved to Chicago after he was going to try that whole scheme selling the bodies of the wife and the child of his friend
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for the insurance all that stuff and then he just abandoned that and then he's like oh that's why there's bones
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buried in my basement you idiots of course I didn't murder anybody except I murdered a lot of people and now I'm
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gonna brag about it so figure it out so figure it out but yeah so we left you there so he's in Chicago now
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and as if you know the story of H.H Holmes you know that it really does revolve around Chicago Chicago is kind
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of like the room where it happened very much the room where it happened Devil in
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the White City there he is so once he'd arrived in Chicago he somehow passed the
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exam to become a pharmacist wow I would think that that's a pretty difficult exam yeah and he was only one of like a
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like a handful yeah people like I guess he had something in there maybe chemistry was his thing and that's he
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did a lot of extra stuff with chemistry so maybe he really did give himself a leg up in that department maybe but
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maybe it just wasn't great in other things or he just wasn't a good student you know yeah exactly that pretty much
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makes sense but he ended up finding work at Holton drugs which was a Pharmacy on the corner
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of 63rd and Wallace and it was owned by an elderly woman named Mrs Holton ah imagine drugs isn't it funny to think of
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like stores just being named like something drugs yeah just like Fulton drugs right
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but she explained to homes that the pharmacy actually belonged to her husband Dr e s Holton but he was very
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sick very very elderly you know ailing at the moment so uh HH wants to kick him right down the stairs and take over the
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[ __ ] pharmacy yeah the [ __ ] pharmacy kid and she was finding it a little hard a little difficult to manage
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this entire Pharmacy by herself she was elderly herself so of course like we said his ears perked up he was sensing
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opportunity here and Holmes told her I too am a doctor I thought you were gonna say he said I too am sick and elderly no
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he wouldn't lie why don't you believe you believe me he was like you know what I'm a doctor I
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have a lot of experience in the pharmacy he did not uh but he's he did pass the pharmacy exam so I think him cheated
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something happened there but he was like you know what I'm absolutely certain that I can transform this into just a
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thriving business again if you just give it to me without it so not long after he
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began work at the pharmacy because she believed him of course yeah she's a sweet woman Dr Holton did die rip um and
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he left the store and everything in it to Mrs Holton so he was fresh so the whole home sees
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this happening and he's like you know I he's he's angling tone this store so he frames it like he's doing her favor
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because he's like you you're old and ailing your husband just died you don't want to run this whole thing so he's
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like I'll buy this from you and I'll allow you to live on the second floor and she was like kind my God you are so
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nice so she agreed and he did pay her so she did she used the money that she got
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by mortgaging the stores fixtures fixtures fixtures why couldn't I say fixtures it's hard it's a I said like fixture
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because you have to do like a yeah that's hard you know words are hard uh in the stock and actually
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um Holmes bought the pharmacy and he rebranded the entire things as H.H Holmes Pharmacy so he took out the drugs
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and he replaced it with Pharmacy well there you go he made it more upstanding he was like you know what I think we do
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a little more here than just drugs you know what I'm pretty upstanding so let's change this
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um in the early days of him owning this new Pharmacy a lot of the customers would come in and they'd ask about Mrs
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Holton because people loved her she was a sweet old lady totally and every time he would say that she went on a trip to
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California oh now this wasn't strange because this is something she had said she wanted to do but she never had the
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money to do it oh sweetie she's not upstairs anymore and she hadn't returned for several weeks no and people are
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still asking where she is and when they would ask Holmes would just be like well
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you know she just loved California so much that she just stayed there she's just there you can't call her on the
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phone because like we don't have those the 1800s here so like you do this you know deal with it I guess she stayed
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with that so there was no actual physical evidence of him having killed Mrs Holton but there's no evidence that
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he didn't either and there's probably some circumstantial evidence that points to her probably being killed yeah I
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think her disappearance was not so much that she moved away or she went on a vacation to California I think he just
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got rid of that whole situation so that the entire building could be his it does
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sound like that and it's very on brand with what he would do anyways so it makes sense there you go these are
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things that he would do later so it's like it why would we not think that it would
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be this time I believe she might be his first victim but what about the boy I thought you thought the boy was that one
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I'm like I go back and forth with that one for sure could be his first victim but the you like full-heartedly Mrs
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Holton I have very little doubt that he killed Mrs Holton so she's either his first or a second yeah uh but it should
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be noted too that there are variations in this story if you're researching this case yourself too like one of the
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stories is that the woman Mrs Holton is not super elderly in that he got ownership of the store in exchange for
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promising to marry her oh [ __ ] um and either her or her daughter like the story never really makes it clear
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because again he confessed to so many different things that some of these stories got intertwined sure but this
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seems the one I told seems to be the most correct one okay um but the other story is that like they
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both go missing or one of them goes missing and in another version the woman's name is Elizabeth Sarah Holton
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who is the doctor and the pharmacy is owned by her and her husband but she's the doctor they said let's go with the
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feminist yeah exactly um and that they are a young couple and she decided to sell the pharmacy when
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she became pregnant so like that's another story in this version the couple doesn't
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disappear and they were actually still living in the neighborhood afterwards so like it doesn't show yeah either way
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though he wanted the pharmacy he got the pharmacy and then the two people previously owned the pharmacy were never
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seen again so like I think the puzzle piece of Moira is put together I don't think so to quote Spencer Department uh
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yeah to me it just you know Mrs Sultan was older people came in looking for her she wasn't he said she went to
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California she didn't go to California yeah no matter what he took ownership of that Pharmacy in late 1886. so now the
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pharmacy is open and it seems to be running pretty smoothly with them at the helm at the very least uh he he's like
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everything seems to be going good so like you know what I'm gonna look for some romance I'd like to point out that he is
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still married to Clara yeah uh but yeah there's that so he's turning his attention to the ladies now
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when he was in Minneapolis he met a woman named Miss Mirada bellnap murder I think it's murder
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um they've sparked up a flirtation and she seemed pretty smitten with him at the time and he made his life sound very
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exciting which like at the time it kind of was he was traveling all over the place
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um and because at the end of 1886 mirada's life was small it was kind of unexciting she was in a small town you
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know like I've never really seen the world yeah she lived with her parents in Minneapolis and worked in a music store
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it was like a cute little existence but like to her that wasn't enough she didn't feel like she was getting out
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there I got that so Holmes seemed very enticing to her and he was very Charming so and he also represented himself as a
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very intelligent man he's a doctor like that's like whoa hey I mean that's like you're young and you're getting it and
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he's also a business owner in Chicago um so Holmes knew all of this and so he wrote to Murda and courted her very
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aggressively first through letters and then he did it in person like he was really playing the long game here and
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after only a few months of talking back and forth he took a bold move and he proposed to murder and the two ended up
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being married January 28 1887. oh okay um he's still married to Clara I was like how does they just didn't realize
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in this District because it was like another district oh I think it was just in the 1800s and they like there's no
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electronic records happening there is the 1800s I keep forgetting that I'm like why didn't they know why didn't
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they just look it up on the computer why didn't they just like write that down somewhere so Murdo was very excited
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about this marriage but I think that excitement would have been slightly tempered if um he did let her know that
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he was still married to a woman named Clara that'll usually do it yeah strangely two weeks after he married
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Murda Holmes filed a divorce petition in Cook County Supreme Court against Clara
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stating that quote on the 28th day of June 1883 in the city of Ann Arbor in the state of Michigan the said Clara a
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mudget wholly disregarding and in violation of her marriage vows covenants and obligations committed adultery and
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had carnal knowledge with one JM Downer what so he's claiming they should divorce him Clara and he yeah after he's
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already married a second Woman by the way he's now filing for divorce against Clara saying Clara committed adultery
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like sir you were number one you did that super duper backwards you [ __ ] hypocrite like you are
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in the throes of adulterous behavior and you were saying she was she adultered years ago what it's a lot he he's doing
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he got married to another woman like are we clear Molina that's his right that's
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his right he's a man so and he's a doctor it gets even weirder in this divorce decree he also had put
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in there this he had put in there he further represents to your honor that he has ever since the time of said marriage
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conducted himself as a true kind and affectionate husband you dirty little liar during that time has Faithfully
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discharged all of his duties now do you remember when he abandoned her several times with their child lived off her
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money alone and beat her to the point of black eyes do you remember I remember a
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call does any of that ring as true kind or affectionate nor no nor oh well he also added into the decree that their
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six-year-old son Robert quote is now living and is under the care custody and control of your orator Hermann Webster
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mudget that simply wasn't true and never was wait so he was saying like I take care of the child like he literally had
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put in the divorce decree that that child is now living and is under the care custody control of him and that's
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not at all he had been with Clara the entire time also that's so easy to prove at one point he tried to go get Robert
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and take custody and she was like no [ __ ] and then and it didn't happen right but he's now having it put in the
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decree that Robert is in his custody I don't know if he thought he would get more money or something like that or
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something but like you're an idiot and again so easy to prove like you go to his house
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does he have a child's bedroom yeah the like the end the end and then also you don't want that child so you're just
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doing that to be an [ __ ] oh for sure but how many parents do that oh my God they don't actually want custody of the
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child they just want to do it to hurt the other people what and it's like [ __ ]
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you yeah so they looked and no one could ever find a JM Downer either that Clara
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supposedly had carnal knowledge with what is it by the way they [ __ ] oh God no knowledge is [ __ ] that's [ __ ]
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uh he likely didn't existence like he he likely did not exist no Holmes was a lying sack of [ __ ] but it doesn't really
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matter anyways because he also failed to show up on and follow up on any of the administrative requirements and the
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petition yeah and the petition like I hear that but like and the petition just lapsed it was eventually dismissed by
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the court for quote default of appearance of complaintant it's unclear whether Clara ever even
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received notice of his intention to divorce her I don't even think she knew he ever wanted to divorce her so he
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didn't get divorced you know this is giving a little bit Sheena and Raquel he makes this fake tro except it's not a
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tro and it doesn't even show up for the [ __ ] hearing he doesn't that's where my head's at except he except he
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actually like should have just divorced Clara like why are you not getting divorced yeah why are you married like
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several women at a time that well he's the sand of all in it all though so like he said obviously that's
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exactly what you think of with HH Holmes but like his marriage to Clara Holmes's
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relationship with murder started off like that of like any couple in love she helped him run the pharmacy and she
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became very just like impressed and enamored with his work ethic because he was really running this [ __ ] like she
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thought wow what a cute family we are like I'm helping you run your Pharmacy in Chicago and we're so successful and
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she later said quote ambition has been the curse of my husband's life he wanted to attain a position where he would be
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honored and respected he wanted wealth and again we see the Hallmark of his behavior is always based on money he's
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gotta be there's gotta be Capricorn in this chart I'm pretty I think his birthday he's a cancer like uh son but
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I'm like there's Captain Money Motivated Money Motivated and to a false but in the spring of that year Murda actually
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became pregnant and the bulk of the work she did was shifting you know off of her
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and her husband had to kind of like take a bigger role back in the pharmacy see I
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want to be excited for her but I feel like it's gonna end bad no you definitely don't want to be excited for
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this whole thing but um she was separated from homes a lot like she was kind of she had to be in
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the back right like she could do office work so she was just kind of relegated away from the public too and she was
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wondering yeah yeah she got lonely so her parents moved from Minneapolis to Wilmette a small village about 15 miles
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outside of Chicago I love that they were like we'll be with you I will come and hang with you and after they had like
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settled in there Murda moved in with her parents and gave birth to their daughter
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Lucy cute at first merta's parents were very suspicious of H.H homes well because this all came about very very
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quickly married baby business and I feel like parents they know it's like he went
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after young women yeah at the time and he and he went after young men for like schemes and stuff so he he was always
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going for people who he knew he could con like young and unexpected older people I feel like like elderly people
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fell for it but and somewhere in between like the parents of the whole generation
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were like something is sus about you and I don't know is and he didn't exactly endear himself to them despite his wife
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and child living in the house he was barely there like he never came to visit so they were like do you want to see
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your infant child no no okay well literally never came to see them that's good um immediately they began to
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question the kind of man that their daughter had married and had a child with and soon though he was able to
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charm his way into their good graces I'm not sure how but it took a lot of jewishing on his part it was mainly when
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they saw the ways that he like he wasn't around all the time but he showered Murda and the baby with gifts an
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adoration every time he would be there so he would love bomb a lot of the time he was there when he was there he was
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there he was just never there and he also that was beautiful you know poetry he also always had an excuse for
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his long absences it was never just like oh whatever [ __ ] it like you're working
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it's always like oh my God I know it's just like running a farm running a business you know I'm just such a such a
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businessman business money look at this briefcase like I'm very important meanwhile there's nothing in it and
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she's opens and it's just like a moth flies out but he would say that things were busy at the store and there was so
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much to do in Chicago and making it seem you know like that he was just up to his
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neck and work and he was just trying to support his little family and according to Eric Larson
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um who I will um Source his work in our show notes Holmes is Manner of dress and
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how he would frequently give a lot of gifts and like he was always about the material things that really gave off and
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especially back in those days like that he was a man of importance like he gave off that air to everybody dress for the
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job you want that's the job you have that's the thing he was very concerned with that like he always wanted to
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present himself as being a man of importance a man of means a man of power and it honestly went a long way to
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making her parents at least be eased a little bit thinking well he's going to take care of them yeah I guess so as
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this is happening he is now thinking about that Infamous Murder Castle that everybody knows about
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because now he's in Chicago he's settled there he's in an apartment near like above the pharmacy
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but he wants more and he's got grand grand plans and during the later Decades of the 19th century Chicago was going
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like there was a huge population boom a lot of people were moving West for work and opportunity and like a bigger
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brighter life kind of like how everybody's like oh my god let's go to California and become stars like it's
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the same kind of thing California New York Chicago same Vibes yeah exactly as a result new buildings were popping up
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all over the city because like people were coming in the economy was starting to Boom people were trying to make way
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for a ton of residents to be living their big apartment buildings and since arriving in Chicago and starting work
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Holmes had been eyeing this empty lot that happened to be across the street from the pharmacy and finally in the
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summer of 1888 he managed to buy it and at the time he registered the deed under
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the false name h.s Campbell this is the beginning of him using many many aliases
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to get many many things also can I just know it wasn't 1888 Jack the Ripper uh yeah so they were operating at the
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same time that's so cool like two of the world's most [ __ ] notorious serial killers operating at the same time and
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it's opposite ends of the world it's like so really wild crazy that's why a lot of people think there was some like
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layover between the two really like a lot of people thinks H.H Holmes is Jack the Ripper and I think okay Vice Versa
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oh um I think we talked about it in the episodes yeah it's a I don't know Theory
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it's a theory I was like I was like we mentioned it but but we didn't go super into it because I don't I one I haven't
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looked too I haven't looked hard enough into that theory to be convinced by it yeah and I don't want to give a full
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opinion on something that I haven't given the full court press to well and it kind of seems like at least from what
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I know HH uh Holmes is like operation of murder is very different than Jack the Rippers right it is and he is he's
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mainly money vote motivated with his Engineers but right liked killing as well like hhomes like killing and he
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liked killing women yeah he did enjoy that and it did it wasn't to me H.H Holmes isn't just a I kill for financial
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gain sometimes it's I killed because I wanted to kill right or I killed because this [ __ ] was in my way essentially
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yikes like not that's essentially no I would say yeah and it's like that's how he kind of presented himself as like she
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was a problem yeah so ouch she had to go damn and the way he would talk about it
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was very cold like that like well she became an issue so down the Chute she went crazy and he was very like
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intricate about the ways he would do it to me it doesn't really line up so far with what I've seen between the two
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cases because of mainly because of the two I think environments with which they were killing in are so vastly different
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that their methods of murder don't add up together but I don't know if that has to do with the environments yeah the
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person tailored himself to those environments right um but who knows I mean when we talked
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about it in um when we talked actually when we talked about uh it with Tobias he made a
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valid point of like it which we always thought but like I'm like oh in White Chapel if it was like somebody like H.H
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Holmes who dressed like a man of importance all the time and was very like showy he would stick out like a
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sore thumb and it's like so I don't know but then the reports of Jack the Ripper
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that he did look a little fancy so it's like but you don't know you know like we've come through a lot of different
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theories with that and it's like it could be mistaken it could be I don't know I just hate the unknown
00:23:22
it's an interesting Theory and I will look further I'm you know what I'll probably look further into it by the end
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of this series because I would like to touch upon it more by the end but I definitely want to look further into it
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and look at some dates and look at you know because I know there was some possibilities that HH was out of the
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country at certain times and that maybe Jack had left at certain times and it would be how [ __ ] crazy would it be
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if he was it was because 1888 is when Jack ended right 1888 Jack was still going oh he was still going okay
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um but but he did like I think this is when he was coming to an end so which is interesting because this is really when
00:24:01
when started beginning going right here so that is interesting it definitely is I'll be I'm excited to hear what you
00:24:10
have to say once you are yeah we're into it I definitely want to look further into it for sure the Divergence there
00:24:15
and we'll talk about it don't worry uh it's really not a Divergence though because it's all the same cool uh but so
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we were saying that by the summer of 1888 he had registered this lot across the street from the pharmacy under the
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false name h.s Campbell so this is when Holmes committed the first murder that he would wholly admit to okay he claimed
00:24:37
he killed a friend and former schoolmate named Dr lecock now he did this because uh this man had
00:24:45
a large life insurance policy and he said he lured his friend to Chicago under some kind of [ __ ] pretense
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gave him quote an overwhelming dose of laudanum and killed him that way after his murder Holmes took the body of
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leecoch to Grand Rapids Michigan he did this because it would look like Lee Cox had died accidentally in his home and
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then he collected the Forty thousand dollars from the life insurance policy kind now this is one of the murders
00:25:12
people waver about because he loved to talk about murder in Mayhem when he was caught and he really wanted to make
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everybody like you gotta know I'm a [ __ ] monster like he wanted you to know he was like let me tell you how bad
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I am he doesn't need to make us believe he is a [ __ ] monster that's the thing like
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he had he has no need to exaggerate and yet he does all the time it's very strange but either way there is mention
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a lot in his youth like in his early days in any research you see of a classmate at college named Robert
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leacock now he was actually the one that Holmes claimed helped him originally come up
00:25:51
with the idea of Faking a death and using a medical dead body to claim Insurance fraudulently so it would be a
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little poetic of homes to then use that plan on his friend who he came up with it with but take it to another level and
00:26:06
just murder him for it like it would be something he would do that's a lot and when he confessed he said quote like the
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man-eating tiger of the tropical jungle I roamed about the world seeking whom I could destroy
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dramatic that's him yeah that's him that's him and his mustache uh now for the Des so this all began
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this is what began the Murder Castle idea was what he said okay he said after this whole scheme after he went through
00:26:37
with it he got the money he was ready to go he said I had this Grand idea for a Murder Castle and according to Holmes
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the design and the purpose of it really came to him all at once after this this was like the igniting thing he had like
00:26:52
an epiphany yeah he said he originally envisioned a massive three-floor building three stories up the first
00:26:58
floor would have retail shops pharmacies jewelry shops clothing stores in his words he said it would be quote to
00:27:05
generate income and allow him to employ as many women as possible that he could then that he could then murder okay the
00:27:12
second and third floors were going to be apartments for rent and he was going to
00:27:16
have his own very fancy apartment in the giant corner you unit of the second floor like essentially kind of like a
00:27:22
penthouse exactly and he would have a large window that he could gaze over 63rd and Wallace I just got distracted
00:27:28
by the palace like I kind of want that I know you don't want this one no now this
00:27:32
was all the normal Logistics of a building it seems yeah like that seems like a very normal building it's great
00:27:37
except all the women and it seems innocuous to a certain extent sure pretty normal seems like some kind of he
00:27:44
seems like a piggy guy who just wants to like hire women he's like Doug Dimmadome
00:27:48
there you go well this part was important to him like that it was important to him to have a
00:27:57
very front-facing business model a very front-facing looking building that yeah no one could question but what was more
00:28:04
important to him was these Macabre little details that were going to be hidden inside the bones of the building
00:28:09
they were much more important and much more exciting to him in particular to us they're [ __ ] horrifying to give you
00:28:17
an idea some of the features he wanted was a giant shoot that was what would extend from one of the apartments on the
00:28:23
second floor all the way down to a secret chamber in the basement that would seal off
00:28:28
then he also wanted a large room in his own personal apartment that you would have to walk into and then there was a
00:28:35
walk-in vault in that that was airtight with iron walls oh why would you want that also how do you talk to the
00:28:41
contractors don't worry about it he also wanted gas jets throughout the entire building that would be controlled only
00:28:49
in his personal office so he could turn on gas and just gas you anywhere he wanted to no one's going to notice that
00:28:56
in the blueprint nope he also don't worry we're gonna get to that he also wanted a large basement with secret
00:29:01
storage chambers inside that would seal off okay and like you said your first thought is
00:29:07
how you gonna get this built my guy right how are you gonna do this well he wanted this all to be very practical
00:29:13
from the sense of his murderous intentions obviously he needed easy ways of disposing of and hiding dead bodies
00:29:19
he was not willing to bend on any of this this was his vision but he also wanted this psychological aspect to it
00:29:26
like he knew this was all there but no one else was going to know this was there he knew the gas jets would be
00:29:32
there but the guests wouldn't and he loved the idea of this like whole like I know but they don't kind of thing and it
00:29:38
all just fed into his desire to like just [ __ ] with people yeah and also kill people but he knew like we do that even
00:29:46
though he wasn't willing to bend on any of this he was making this happen he knew that um these curious design
00:29:53
aspects draw a little suspicion from any architect like you said perhaps so without any kind of skill set in
00:30:01
designer building he actually began drawing up plans for the building himself that's really crazy yeah that's
00:30:06
the thing that kills me with him he's one of those people that you're like you could have done something great if you
00:30:12
would just put your mind to it like you weren't a brilliant guy but you had a working you had hard work ethic when you
00:30:18
put your [ __ ] mind to it but nothing terrible causes exactly and it's like like this like you're learning a skill
00:30:25
set yourself to do it would ask you something but you're accomplishing a skill set to build a Murder Castle
00:30:30
because you're scared someone will figure it out what a wild [ __ ] like like this too like this is just real
00:30:37
like what this is real and what's so there was a population boom in Chicago like I said at the time people were
00:30:44
moving over there and it meant that there was going to be no shortage of Labor like people were going to be
00:30:49
wanting to work on these kind of things but there was again still that problem that these workers were going to ask too
00:30:54
many questions friends so even though he had put together the blueprints and he was gonna have
00:30:59
somebody help him he devised a strategy that would allow him to get the building constructed
00:31:04
without any suspicions the plan was he was going to constantly change the Architects buildings laborers none of
00:31:12
them were going to be able to get a clear or complete picture of what was being built they wouldn't be able to ask
00:31:18
any questions because they were only going to get bits and pieces of it I feel like that's like that's such a
00:31:23
gamble to take his whole life was a [ __ ] gamble everything he did was a gamble I'm just thinking of like work
00:31:28
we've had to do on the house and I'm like wow I can't imagine being like okay you finished that now I'm gonna call
00:31:32
someone out like you just and what he would do was he would just not pay the person and be like [ __ ] you you're
00:31:37
you're fired like just bring someone else in and be like okay start working on this you're creating so many issues
00:31:43
for yourself and they would just be more confused really like they'd just be like
00:31:46
what and not realize how weird all of this was together and also due to the lacks inspection processes in Chicago at
00:31:55
the time and the limited protections for Laborers he was going to be able to get
00:31:59
away with not really paying right buddy like it really wasn't going to be an issue like you were saying two people
00:32:04
are so desperate for work that they're probably not asking that many questions exactly that's the other thing he's
00:32:09
banking on that but it is a really like cunningly smart thing to do to one start
00:32:15
the blueprint process yourself to make sure you get all those weird things in there right then hire Architects have
00:32:22
them work a little more on it than fire them before they're done hire another one to build off that other thing hire
00:32:27
fire that one bring in laborers to start building this little extension fire them
00:32:32
when they're done with it hire another one to do that one like that way you're getting it piece milled together and
00:32:37
nobody can fully get a full picture of what's Happening Here maybe they know a shoot is in there but they're like
00:32:42
what's that shoe for and you're like a little garbage bye like it's just no one can really get into the like
00:32:47
nitty-gritty of what's happening it's like you're giving everybody a little piece of the puzzle but like but nothing
00:32:52
that they can jump off of exactly the construction of the quote-unquote Murder Castle which he was calling the Holmes
00:32:59
Castle yeah began in the summer of 1889. again partially working from Holmes's own design Blueprints and also working
00:33:07
from plans partially developed by local Architects um two of which were Charles Berger and
00:33:14
Edward gallner the labor and materials were going to be from Aetna Iron and Steel
00:33:19
Holmes was ready to begin using this Murder Castle before it was even started though like he was like let's go before
00:33:26
the foundation had even been completed he was already making plans to get this thing going
00:33:32
early in the construction he actually approached a bricklayer named George Bowman and he approached him with a very
00:33:39
strange proposition I'm not just a bricklayer just doing his job yeah I know about HH Holmes and Bricks yeah now
00:33:46
Bowman later said he asked me if I wouldn't like to make money easier than what I was doing and of course I told
00:33:53
him yes yeah who wouldn't and according to Bowman he said a few days later he came over to me and pointing down into
00:33:59
the basement said you see that man down there well that's my brother-in-law and he's got no love for me neither have I
00:34:05
for him now it would be the easiest matter for you to drop a stone on that fellow's head while you're working and
00:34:11
I'll give you fifty dollars if you do it what fifty dollars well at the time oh we're
00:34:16
talking about yeah I know I gotta keep remembering girls that's a loss I'm like fifty dollars that's it
00:34:22
for the murder of a man it's honestly unknown what the purpose of this kill proposition was to be quite honest he
00:34:30
probably just wanted to see that he could do it he that's because he wanted to either make money oh that's from some
00:34:35
Avenue by doing this or he was just honestly asking to see if Bowman was a guy he could trust I think he was
00:34:41
looking for a guy he could trust but either way Bowman quit and never returned to the job smart man he was
00:34:46
like bye no thank you trust me though not everyone working the job site was so kind and willing to run away from this
00:34:53
man in April of 1889 Holmes met um excuse me and um it was in it's later than April
00:35:01
in 1889 I had the wrong month Holmes met a carpenter by the name of Benjamin Pizza I think it's Pizza I think you're
00:35:09
right at first pyzel's job was to take care of the horses that were going to be used on the construction site because
00:35:15
again we're in the 1800s uh but oh my God we are we are but over time he actually gained Holmes's trust a lot and
00:35:24
he became like an assistant to homes like a personal assistant pythal was a little like homes he had a history of
00:35:31
petty crimes misdemeanors he's kind of an air dwell and eventually it all caught up to him and he was arrested for
00:35:38
passing bad checks in Indiana while he was out where while he was still working for homes those stand-up months so
00:35:45
Holmes actually bailed paitzell out of jail yeah that's his right hand he paid the amount in bad checks by the way he
00:35:51
bailed him out with bad checks failed the man sitting in jail for bad checks out of jail with bad checks is nothing
00:35:57
but a poet uh piedcell failed to return to Indiana for the trial so now they were just like now babe nothing could
00:36:04
happen they're like we're out Jay-Z and Beyonce On The Run together they're as thick as thieves together because now
00:36:10
they're the boss and the assistant it's like the assistant to the regional manager from the office there you go now
00:36:16
after a year or two the unpaid bills and the schemes and the lying and the fraud
00:36:21
it started to catch up with Holmes that'll happen unfortunately for the most part though individual laborers
00:36:27
many of them were immigrants they had no way of getting the money owed to them that's so funny yeah and that sucks he
00:36:33
just got away with that but remember he's using Aetna Iron and Steel for the supplies that's a major company who
00:36:42
doesn't give a [ __ ] about your feelings so they sued his ass and when he didn't
00:36:46
pay his debts they were like we're [ __ ] taking all this back dude but when they sued him in the fall of uh in
00:36:52
the fall of 1889 he tried to use like usual [ __ ] tactics and excuses that he did to get out of paying them
00:37:00
and one thing he did was he changed the deed on the property to make it look like it was owned by his mother-in-law
00:37:08
yeah so he said he wasn't responsible for the debt because it was in her name how do you just do that he just did that
00:37:17
like what for the most part like so literally he had first registered that deed under a false Alias right but
00:37:25
that's and then when he started getting in trouble he just shifted it all into his mother-in-law's name and was like
00:37:30
these are her deaths I don't know what you're talking about but I love that and like nobody was like yeah dude like
00:37:36
clearly you just did that yeah that's the thing back then you could do that easily you can shift it out like Who's
00:37:41
Gonna Catch You you know you just like write her name in there and you're like there it is you just like check up it on
00:37:46
the previous writing rub it off exactly so for the most part all his like legal [ __ ] was handled by his lawyer Edward
00:37:54
Marr who actually did manage to successfully like push off creditors for a while but he was and he was honestly
00:38:02
his lawyer till he was like executed essentially damn um and he did manage to help him out in
00:38:07
this scenario I think they just like kind of backed off a little bit because it was under her name that was going to
00:38:14
be an issue but you wouldn't think this Murder Castle would be like you would think that this would be a very long
00:38:20
process of building this thing it's huge and with all this complicated it's an annoying long project there's all the
00:38:27
constant turnover of workers and Architects there's legal troubles now associated with it but the actual
00:38:34
construction of the building happened really quickly really it was literally like pretty much done by the end of
00:38:40
1889. Why wow yeah like a year or excuse me it was done by 1890. okay so like um
00:38:47
two-ish years yeah and I think they were putting like finishing touches on it until 91 but it was essentially like
00:38:52
livable at that point um Holmes had already moved Murda Lucy and her mother the one he had thrown the
00:39:00
deeds into into the large Corner apartment on the second floor I think that's how he was able to get away with
00:39:06
doing these kind of things was he would then don't worry about it don't worry about it I'm handling it here's your
00:39:11
beautiful Penthouse yeah like here you go it's like a Jada Essence Hall look over there exactly so yeah they all got
00:39:17
to live on there and a short time later he sold the drugstore across the street the original one that he got from Mrs
00:39:23
Holton um and the new owner who bought it he was like oh like you're gonna love it
00:39:28
here you have no competition there's no other drugstore like you're the only Pharmacy like I'm telling you this place
00:39:33
is gonna be a booming it's great like don't worry about it and he was like oh great business see you later bye he
00:39:39
turns around and opens a new drugstore on the first floor what an actual douchebag yeah but that's a perfect
00:39:46
example of why you don't just have a an agreement By Word of Mouth he's such a dick yeah like he's just such a dick
00:39:52
yeah he does things just to be a dick because he's such a [ __ ] voice he loves it now among the first few because
00:40:02
again you don't know which one is his first murder victim that's so crazy but among the first among them
00:40:09
um in Chicago was John dubry and it was actually one of his investors in the Murder Castle
00:40:16
it was a man that homes owed money to dubry have had actually arrived in Chicago to see the ad the complete
00:40:26
completed construction of the castle and to get his money that he owed uh this was on April 18th 1891 because like I
00:40:33
said in 91 it was like dunsky sure and he hadn't even entered the building when he actually dropped to the ground
00:40:40
outside the pharmacy and began convulsing oh according to Benjamin Nixon who was like uh I think he was in
00:40:47
the jewelry store on the first floor he might have even um owned it I think he saw Holmes rush
00:40:54
outside to debris side and quote port a dark liquid down debris throat and he died immediately
00:41:02
one on the street I wonder so did wood homes have anything to do with his convulsions beforehand or no idea or if
00:41:10
it was just a happy accident that he was able to pour something down his throat that would kill him instantly holy [ __ ]
00:41:16
I don't know but debris death may not like he didn't get any money from it but he didn't lose any money
00:41:23
either well yeah because he's gonna have to pay him yeah get money out of it and he would have
00:41:29
had to pay a small fortune to him I mean he was an investor in the thing that was
00:41:34
a lot he was essentially alone on the castle right he didn't have to pay anymore right so he didn't get money out
00:41:39
of it now during the construction of the castle and into its first year he was engaged in a lot of schemes like little
00:41:47
schemes you know like the the snake oil salesman kind of schemes like he would sell mineral water to people and say it
00:41:54
would like cure all this [ __ ] but it was just vanilla infused tap water sounds
00:41:58
kind of good um he would con widows out of their pensions you know he was very into that
00:42:04
he's such a yeah like low down [ __ ] ass he is a low down just dirt bag yeah he really is I mean he's capable of
00:42:13
murder so obviously but like so low down then every way though the little like like
00:42:25
but he was still very committed but while doing these schemes he was committed to his murder-for-profit idea
00:42:31
that was his main thing right and in 1891 shortly after everything was done Holmes approached a woman who did his
00:42:38
laundry and he had he had a proposition or oh God and she was the laundress um for like the actual castle
00:42:46
um and he I know he would pay the one he said I'll pay you six thousand dollars that's a lot back then I'll give you six
00:42:55
thousand dollars to take out a life insurance policy in the amount of ten thousand dollars which is even more and
00:43:01
she was like why the [ __ ] would you pay me to do that like I don't understand why would I do that and he said well
00:43:06
then after you die I would make four thousand dollars Prof profit on the investment and in the meantime you can
00:43:12
spend the six thousand dollars however you want you just get six thousand dollars free and clear
00:43:18
and this woman was really young and her job as a laundress really didn't make her any money so she was going to
00:43:24
absolutely agree to this she was like of course I want six thousand dollars right
00:43:28
now nothing is ever that good like he had her but then he apparently leaned in close to her and softly said
00:43:35
don't be afraid of me and if that was Thomas Shelby sign me up like I will buy that life insurance does
00:43:44
he say that to people like no but I just thought that's something that Thomas Shelby would absolutely do like he has
00:43:49
that Vibe okay like I'm not afraid but this is Herman Webster mudget who smells like scrotum exactly so she immediately
00:43:56
said something about him just I that was off it scared me and she was like I immediately declined the offer anybody
00:44:04
that says don't be afraid of me for out of the blue no reason I'm afraid and I think he was trying to
00:44:12
do the like don't be afraid of me like you know what I mean like aren't I charming and like being so on the nose
00:44:18
that like but you're like you actually are scary like that's what I meant when I said like if Killian Murphy is leaning
00:44:24
into you and saying don't be afraid of me I'm like I'm not you know what though I would still be afraid
00:44:30
Harry mother s could walk up to me and say don't be afraid of me and I'd be like you know
00:44:34
what Harold it's been a good run it's been a good [ __ ] run but Herman Webster mudget says that to me and I'm
00:44:40
like I would run so far away so that this lady was like absolutely not he just like what is wrong with you yeah
00:44:46
he's trying some [ __ ] so it's like when people say like I don't bite I'm like yeah I figured because we're all humans
00:44:51
here yeah exactly so in 1890 like the year before yep after a long bidding and like crazy process it was announced that
00:45:01
the next World's Colombian Exposition would be held in Chicago and it was going to be held between May and October
00:45:07
of 1893. so this timing was supposed to coincide with the celebration of Christopher Columbus's arrival in North
00:45:13
America holy [ __ ] uh the world's Exposition was a huge fair with all the fair accoutrements
00:45:21
um and it was held in and around Jackson Park it was going to be celebrating the
00:45:25
scientific and technological advancements of the modern world it was so funny to think about very mustache
00:45:32
twisty and bowler hat wary and old sport kind of Vibes you know like everyone's got a cane loves it yeah it just feels
00:45:38
right Parasol's in the air yeah okay exactly the fair was going to be a massive spectacle it was going to very
00:45:45
much draw in hundreds of thousands of visitors to Chicago visitors it was going to be a huge huge Boom for the
00:45:53
local economy it was a huge win for them to get it here and a huge win for Mr yeah for Chicago in Holmes he was
00:46:02
probably pretty psyched about tourist dollars coming in like regular ones like you know there was going to be a lot of
00:46:08
Boom in the account economy that's good for everybody but he was not one to waste opportunities that were just going
00:46:14
to stroll into his life especially if it involved bringing unsuspecting women into his orbit exactly so he was like
00:46:21
well this is even better like this works for me so so that's when Ned and Julia Connor arrived in Chicago no they were
00:46:29
in need of work a place to stay and somebody they knew was like you should check with this guy H.H Holmes he's got
00:46:36
a new building I'm sure there's employment opportunities in it there's also places to live like he's a perfect
00:46:41
guy to go to and apparently they were right because he had a jewelry store on the first floor and he happened to need
00:46:49
somebody to work there it was crazy oh wow so Ned was hired like on the spot to work in that jewelry store and they
00:46:56
ended up moving into an apartment in the Holmes Castle better still Holmes was like Julia can
00:47:03
work in the pharmacy with me oh God and I can train her to keep the books like you guys just got two jobs and one
00:47:08
that's wild and then Julia's sister Gertrude moved into the city a few months later and he was like I'll employ
00:47:14
her as well wow what a great guy such a nice guy oh and that's so sad too that they probably were like wow like how
00:47:21
lucky are we yeah and like what a kind guy like he's just like ready to help people who come into the city now to Ned
00:47:29
things felt like wow we've been really struggling and this is finally falling all into place but he said that but
00:47:36
there was always something about H.H Holmes that he said made him uncomfortable was it Justin like it it
00:47:41
was probably the smegma uh he seemed overly interested and attentive to Julian Gertrude yeah I grossed him out
00:47:50
made him feel weird that feeling he continued to feel some type of way about homes as they started become better
00:47:55
acquainted and he said he kept noticing stranger and stranger Behavior he was just an odd guy and he said on one
00:48:02
occasion Holmes was like I got something to show you Ned and he was like okay and
00:48:07
he showed him that large Vault that he'd installed in his uh his apartment and he
00:48:13
showed him another one in the basement and he showed him one in the basement and said Ned step inside no and Ned
00:48:19
stepped inside and he closed the door and before he closed the door he said I just want to show you how well this is
00:48:25
soundproofed oh my God and so he shut the door and he said I shut the door and put my ear to the crack but could only
00:48:31
hear a faint sound and he was immediately worried and put off by the fact that Holmes had made a point of
00:48:38
showing him this weird secret vault and then demonstrating to him how it locks and how by the way Ned no one will hear
00:48:46
you in here he let him out of it so terrible but this was definitely a just so you know this is where I can put you
00:48:53
we're moving out in two and a half minutes goodbye bye now over time during this whole thing because remember Holmes
00:49:02
is paying a lot of attention to Julia like it's getting weird so things between Ned and Julia are becoming
00:49:09
strained right because she's kind of fallen for it again AJ Holmes is very Charming he's got it all he's he's these
00:49:17
women are being told the world they are seeing the world they are seeing him as this very important guy this very
00:49:25
wealthy and connected guy and at the same time they're making money exactly now they're arguing a lot Ned and Julia
00:49:31
and you know he was really having trouble with how much attention was being paid to her and how she was
00:49:37
seeming to like it and he later told reporters I finally told her we could not go on that way I told her that I
00:49:43
told her on a certain day we would quit that she could go her way and I would go
00:49:47
mine and when that day came I did not go upstairs to our room but stayed downstairs and slept in the barbershop
00:49:53
oh that's so sad so when the months let followed this Ned tried to get his relationship back on track he was like
00:49:59
we were fine before right this is ruining everything this guy literally came in and just like took complete
00:50:05
control of it and Gertrude her sister left the city a while later so like she wasn't around anymore so that was just
00:50:11
Julia and he was trying to fix it but during this time Holmes suddenly offered out of nowhere to sell Ned the pharmacy
00:50:19
what on the first floor he does not even have like Pharmacy experience well and he was like I want you to own the store
00:50:25
like not be a pharmacist but I want you to own the business and of course Ned is like hell yeah are
00:50:31
you kidding me and he's like this is going to be the thing that's going to improve me and Julia's relationship I'm
00:50:35
going to be a business owner like I'm going to take her attention but unfortunately the business made things
00:50:41
worse because Holmes had sold it to him knowing he hadn't paid a [ __ ] dime to any of his creditors and now those debts
00:50:48
sorry Ned those are your debts you haven't heard at all so now not only is he struggling to keep this thing afloat
00:50:54
but he's now having creditors coming after him for money but he did that he didn't do no now the issues between Ned
00:51:02
and Julia were made way worse by the fact that Julia had actually given birth to a daughter named Pearl Pearl um so
00:51:09
any divorce would include a pretty unpleasant custody agreement between the two of them so it was getting the
00:51:16
Discord it's just getting worse very contentious but things were not improving between them the pharmacy was
00:51:21
being a huge money pit and a big struggle on both of their lives so Ned told Holmes I took a job with a jewelry
00:51:28
company in downtown in Chicago I don't want the pharmacy I want out and a short time after he'd left the castle Ned made
00:51:36
one final attempt to try things to make things work with Julia but by then she was engaged in a full affair with Holmes
00:51:44
very uninterested in Ned Julia refused to get back together and Ned packed up his things and moved to Gilman Illinois
00:51:53
and he filed for divorce and he signaled his intent to gain custody of pearl I hope he did
00:52:00
keep hoping that so by the Fall why you say that to me so by the Fall Holmes had
00:52:06
moved murta and Lucy yeah his wife and child you might remember yeah were they living Sorry were they in his apartment
00:52:13
or were they in the oh they were in here in his apartment uh remember he's also married to Clara still yep and murder
00:52:19
and he's also having an affair with Julia yeah so how does he even keep all the names straight yep so uh well don't
00:52:25
worry he moved Murda and Lucy his wife and child um into a house several miles away okay in downtown Chicago and he was
00:52:32
just spending most of his time at the castle where murder didn't know it but he was having a full-blown affair with
00:52:37
Julia Connor so this affair was super intense like very passionate very intense and Holmes kept telling her I'm
00:52:45
going to marry you I'm going to marry you and it's like my guy you're married to two other women you're not even
00:52:51
supposed to be married to the woman you're married to and Julian knows that he's married and it's like if he's
00:52:56
telling you he's gonna marry you do you really think that means that much to him
00:52:59
no no so he's constantly promising he's going to marry her but once Ned left Chicago
00:53:06
suddenly it all yeah because it's not as exciting yeah all of a sudden he'd lost interest the
00:53:13
risk of getting caught was gone there was really no there's no confirmation fruit anymore right and he's
00:53:18
uninterested by it that's so [ __ ] so by November of 19 of 1891 Julia told Holmes that she was pregnant
00:53:26
again yeah oh remember Pearl is Ned's child yes yes no I know but she's pregnant again oh no uh so said now you
00:53:35
have to marry me he doesn't think so Holmes was like okay and then he was like yeah I guess I do
00:53:42
have to marry you so he was like yep I'll marry you but on one condition and she was like what is that and he said
00:53:48
you're gonna get an abortion oh my God and he said and I'm gonna perform it oh god oh no Julia reluctantly agreed
00:53:57
and several weeks later she was on an operating table that he had put together in one of the empty apartments on the
00:54:05
second floor of the House of the castle that's dirty she's on the table he poured chloroform onto a rag and held it
00:54:12
to her mouth and nose to sedate her but he should have only had to do that for like a second instead he just held it on
00:54:20
there held it into place and continuously dripped more and more chloroform onto the rag while it was on
00:54:26
her face she struggled to get off and tried to fight him off but after several minutes of this horrific torture he felt
00:54:33
for a pulse and she was gone as well as The Unborn Child wow wild that he could do that to a woman carrying his child
00:54:41
too it gets worse oh he then walked into Pearl's bedroom oh no and did the exact
00:54:47
same thing to Pearl oh a child who was likely about five or six oh my god oh I hate him so much or maybe not
00:54:57
even she might have been like four oh my God now once everybody was dead Holmes contacted a man named Charles Chapel who
00:55:06
homes uh knew was a trained articulator what is that a person trained in stripping the flesh from human bodies in
00:55:12
preparation for medical instruction which I never asked yeah uh he'd make them into an articulated skeleton
00:55:18
essentially great Charles Chapel asked absolutely no questions when he was led to An Empty Apartment in the castle
00:55:24
where a dead body was he knew Holmes was a doctor and he just kind of accepted the claim that he had been doing some
00:55:31
kind of dissection and he wanted this body cleaned so we offered him 36 dollars to clean the body make a fully
00:55:38
articulated skeleton and skull and he was like sure so Chapel returned the body afterwards and he homes sold her
00:55:47
skeleton to the heinemann Medical College Chicago no one knows what happened to Pearl
00:55:55
but when investigators excavated the basement of the castle they did find the bones of a child between the what they
00:56:01
think is the ages of four to ten years old oh so it could have been her sweet Pearl now in the days after this Julia's
00:56:09
neighbors Mr and Mrs John Crow who worked who lived in the in the castle asked about her and pearl where did she
00:56:18
go where did they suddenly disappear and no one else in the building had seen them for days and finally they caught up
00:56:23
with homes and they were like what happened and he was like oh Julian pearl left early for a planned trip to
00:56:29
Davenport Iowa um obviously like you didn't she tell you and they were like I don't know
00:56:37
about that but they were like okay I guess we have to just accept this explanation right and it was only after
00:56:41
his arrest that they learned that Julia had never gone to Davenport oh they didn't learn until after he was arrested
00:56:46
and then imagine like obviously they have no reason to yeah so in January 1892 a new family moved
00:56:55
into the Connor's old apartment the Julia Ned Connors apartment and Pearl and when they arrived in to move in
00:57:04
they found it completely the way it was the dishes were still out on the table Pearl's clothes were laid out on a chair
00:57:12
oh my God it was like they had just walked out one afternoon and never returned which is because what happened
00:57:18
what happened great Holmes explained to them that Julia the person who had lived
00:57:22
here before her sister had become ill a few weeks earlier and she and pearl had had to leave right away to tend to her
00:57:29
and according to Holmes there was no need to pack up their belongings as Julian Pearl were well provided for and
00:57:35
would not be coming back I'd be like yeah that's great but like you're the landlord you should have worse
00:57:41
yeah like what the [ __ ] like I have to just like take all this [ __ ] out of here
00:57:45
now and move mine in yep now he gave a different version of this story to others when they asked because of course
00:57:51
he's giving three different things about what happened to Julia and pearl it's also like maybe you should stick with
00:57:56
the same story brother yeah I mean glad you didn't but yeah when others asked he
00:58:01
claimed that Julia had briefly come back in early January to settle up rent she told him and at that time quote
00:58:07
announced not only to me but to her neighbors and friends that she was going away yeah she didn't say that to anybody
00:58:14
though but apparently he knew ahead of time that Julia had mentioned to others that she had plans to visit her sister
00:58:20
in Iowa at some point so the story would seem legit he had planned this all out [ __ ] he also vehemently denied any
00:58:28
claims or rumors that he had any kind of inappropriate sexual relationship with Julia they were just friends what are
00:58:34
you talking about yeah for sure even though like it was very clear like very very clear like Ned knew everybody knew
00:58:42
but he later said quote that she is a woman of quick temper and perhaps not always a good disposition may be true
00:58:49
but that any of her friends and relatives will believe her to be an amoral woman or one who would be a party
00:58:55
to a criminal act I do not think okay Jan um so that happened in the spring of 1892
00:59:03
Benjamin pyzell his assistant there not this [ __ ] he traveled to Dwight Illinois
00:59:08
which is a small village about 25 miles from Chicago I found this interesting because immediately for some reason I
00:59:15
thought of him like I made the little quip about him being like assistant to the regional manager yeah and then wife
00:59:20
traveled to Dwight Illinois that is funny um but he went there because he was getting treatment for alcoholism but uh
00:59:28
Ben was uh Benjamin yeah he was doing that at the Keely Institute and while he was there receiving treatment he met a
00:59:35
young woman named Emmeline segrand and at that time she was working as a stenographer for The Institute what's
00:59:41
this sonographer yeah the like typer right person um takes a transcription and pyth cell
00:59:47
was just taken by her beauty like he saw her away just like oh my God so when he
00:59:52
returned home from to Chicago after the treatment he told Holmes All About This Magnificent beautiful young woman girl
01:00:00
shut your mouth oh he did this on purpose he knew that Holmes would be seriously interested in this he was
01:00:05
doing his job as his assistant I found you a pretty young thing but he's oh I I'm here I am thinking
01:00:11
that like he's in love with this oh no he said she's just she's just beautiful you should kill her hey she's this
01:00:16
beautiful young woman you would probably like her oh my God so he knew that he would be very interested in this and he
01:00:22
was right he loved the idea of a beautiful woman almost as much as she loved the idea of killing a beautiful
01:00:27
woman so Holmes wrote to Emmeline and based only on pietzel's description he wrote to her like wow heard pietzel's
01:00:36
description he was like gotta write to this girl very King Henry VIII very much and he offered her a job at twice the
01:00:42
salary she was making now as a stenographer at the Keely Institute so of course she was like uh yeah like
01:00:49
twice the salary or anything he would sign up for that so she arrives in Chicago she finds a room at a boarding
01:00:54
house and she begins work as Holmes's assistant with the ABC copying company which is one of his sham businesses that
01:01:02
was operating on the first floor he had a [ __ ] ton of those he had like a closing company yeah right and he had he
01:01:07
had like a glass bending business down there that was a sham too but the landlady of the boarding house she was
01:01:13
staying at called segrand a very pretty girl and was a favorite among the borders so she seldom went out with any
01:01:20
of the young men so she's known very much so as a beautiful woman but apparently she immediately liked
01:01:27
Holmes he was all over her praising her constantly spoiling her with attention and gifts and the landlady later said
01:01:34
she was greatly infatuated with Holmes and never ceased talking about him I did not like him he could not look one in
01:01:41
the face to me this signals a little bit of a difference to the he didn't look you in the eyes thing he wouldn't even
01:01:48
look you in the face yeah like this guy there is a little there's something there there like that's different than
01:01:53
the strabismus kind of situation where he can't like focus on your eyes exactly he wasn't even looking you in the face
01:01:58
it's also like all these women are taken with him the women that are taken with him work beneath him exactly so it's
01:02:05
that whole like power oh like man and power kind of yeah but the women who are like I don't know I always thought he
01:02:09
was going to murder someone yeah we're just the ones that are doing their own thing right and it wasn't long until he
01:02:16
shammed his way into a romantic relationship with poor Emeline now other employees noticed like at the castle in
01:02:22
the different businesses they noticed and everyone around them knew something was going on one of Holmes's Castle
01:02:28
tenants Dr Maurice Lawrence told the inter-ocean we felt that she was be she was to be more pitied than blamed he was
01:02:36
apparently very kind to her always buying flowers and presents for her and taking her to the theater and places of
01:02:42
entertainment they always they nearly always ate their meals together in his office having them sent up from the
01:02:48
restaurant on the first floor so they're living this like beautiful life of eating like lunches together and
01:02:54
buying or things taking her out very much like just showering her I'd like to realize he is married to Clara he is
01:03:03
also married to murder he has a child Lucy he was carrying on affair with a woman named Julia who had a child named
01:03:10
Pearl who was also pregnant with his child he murdered Julia and that child in Pearl and is still married to Murda
01:03:17
and Clara and Clara has a son with him George Robert Robert why did I say George I was like we were like actually
01:03:24
yeah absolutely now which is just like what the [ __ ] so at this point he would
01:03:29
have had three children at this point he would have had three children okay okay
01:03:34
um or no he would have had two children because Pearl was not his but she was pregnant Julia yeah but he just says
01:03:40
Robert and Lucy oh and Lucy yes you're right you're correct yeah um so he's Robert
01:03:46
Lucy and he would have had Julia's child so yeah he would have had he would have
01:03:49
had a child technically absolutely what a [ __ ] [ __ ] actual piece of [ __ ] uh and murders just across town yeah
01:03:57
like a few miles away and he's carrying on this like very public Affair and she has no idea and according to the
01:04:04
everything she doesn't know okay and if she did she was like [ __ ] you now in the
01:04:09
winter of 1892 Emmeline told several people she would be returning to Lafayette Indiana to visit her parents
01:04:17
for a few weeks before Christmas now according to her cousin Dr B.J segrand who'd visited with her very
01:04:24
shortly before she was scheduled to leave he said Miss Mr Grand was changing her feelings towards homes
01:04:30
like something happened that turned her off don't know what maybe he leaned in and said don't be afraid don't be afraid
01:04:36
of me because then several days passed and no one in Inglewood had seen or heard from Emily Instagram no when the
01:04:45
wife of Dr Maurice Lawrence the tenant in the castle who had that other quote asked like about her two homes he simply
01:04:53
said quote oh she's gone away to get married oh what this obviously was a little
01:05:00
weird because uh she'd never dated anyone but him it was pretty clear that they were in a relationship and Emily
01:05:06
never mentioned leaving early and no one ever heard of Emeline being engaged to someone else
01:05:11
also she said that she was very put off about how he spoke about it he was very anxious appearing
01:05:17
he couldn't look at her when he said it he was very monotone he didn't want to talk too much about it and now this is
01:05:23
the second woman who's just up and left him uh out of suspiciously yeah and it's
01:05:28
to her it felt like he was hiding something and scared it was going to come out if he said too much yeah like
01:05:33
he was really hiding something here and so the next day she notices that she sees homes and two
01:05:41
of his assistants carrying a heavy trunk out of the castle and loading it into a
01:05:45
wagon one day after that Holmes left Chicago for the house in Wilmette where Merta
01:05:51
and Lucy lived and murdered his parents because remember he's married with a child two times over I just want to keep
01:05:58
reminding you of that he went to his wife's house when he returned a few days later he
01:06:03
made a point of showing Mrs Lawrence in particular who had asked about Emmeline he showed her an envelope that
01:06:10
he'd got containing cards announcing Emily's supposed wedding to Robert Phelps on December 7th 1892. as if she would
01:06:19
send him a wedding invitation or announcement well a few weeks later emmeline's trunk arrived at her parents
01:06:26
house in Indiana it had all her clothes all her belongings that she had taken with her when she left for that job
01:06:33
and according to Eric Larson's book her parents hoped that she'd sent the trunk trunk because she must now be marrying a
01:06:41
wealthy man and she doesn't need all this old stuff didn't say that but her cousin BJ pointed out that Emmeline was
01:06:48
in the habit of writing her parents two or three times a week right if that was the case she definitely would have
01:06:53
written and she had not written so you think the big trunk was all her things that they moved out oh no I think she
01:06:59
was in that big trouble and they disposed of her along the way I think she so whatever the case the
01:07:05
trunk arrived that was the last time that her family got anything from her now according to Holmes's confession
01:07:11
leader Emmeline quote had become almost indispensable in my office work and the idea of losing her to an unknown fiance
01:07:19
and Dwight was unacceptable so he stuck with that so he said I endeavored upon several occasions to take the life of
01:07:27
the young man and failing in this I finally resolved that I would kill her instead
01:07:32
um I don't think so so he claimed he lured Emeline into the large vault in his office and closed the door causing
01:07:41
her quote to suffer the tortures of a slow and lingering death Jesus Christ what is worse about this is it's very
01:07:49
likely true yeah I believe it was he tested it out with uh Ned the name Phelps which is supposedly her fiance's
01:07:56
name was a known Alias of Benjamin beitzel which he was using around the time he
01:08:02
would have met emelina at the Keeley Institute oh [ __ ] never existed and then people would have been like oh yeah like
01:08:08
she did talk to a guy named Phelps now two on January 2nd after she disappeared the fall in uh 93 Holmes asked Charles
01:08:16
Chappelle for help now do you remember Charles Chappelle is the articulator uh-huh and he said
01:08:22
Holmes sent him a trunk containing a young woman's body to be stripped of Flesh and articulated now a few weeks
01:08:30
later the LaSalle Medical College of Chicago received a delivery of a nicely articulated skeleton
01:08:37
oh no when police searched the castle after he was arrested inside that large Vault that they said he said he put her
01:08:44
in they found a woman's footprint in the enamel on the wall and it was made with
01:08:49
so much force that it was unable to be wiped off oh my God she was trying to escape and like kick her way out of
01:08:55
there was true so brutal and he was selling their articulated skeletons to medical
01:09:03
colleges those medical colleges must have been haunted as like what the [ __ ] and that is where we are going to end
01:09:13
for part two I didn't see that coming you [ __ ] because we're gonna get some more trust we have a lot more
01:09:19
coming and it's a lot so we're gonna and I want to look into the the Jack the Ripper thing a little more for part
01:09:26
three I want to like to see if I can get into that a little more yeah so uh hang
01:09:31
tight okay but he's he's just gotten started and he's already this bad so awesome Yep
01:09:41
so that is part two of HH Holmes we have the Murder Castle being built we have it
01:09:46
being in full operation so far we haven't seen the um the little Macabre element all the Macabre elements being
01:09:54
used we've seen that Vault being used quite a bit yeah we have we have seen that a lot yeah but I'm scared there's
01:10:00
yeah there's a lot that's about to happen and I'd like you guys to hang tight and I'm scared about the bricks of
01:10:06
it all yeah just just hold on to your butts you know okey dokey smoking well we love you and we hope you keep
01:10:12
listening and we hope you keep it weird you already know the drill you don't don't do don't ever
01:10:21
don't move to Chicago or anywhere for that matter and build a Murder Castle [Music]
01:10:43
foreign [Music]

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    Most intense
  • 80
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Episode Highlights

  • The Rise of H.H. Holmes
    Holmes's journey from a schemer to a murderer unfolds as he settles in Chicago.
    “He's just an all-around [ __ ] person.”
    @ 01m 25s
    May 12, 2023
  • Marriage and Deceit
    Holmes marries Murda while still being married to Clara, showcasing his hypocrisy.
    “You dirty little liar!”
    @ 12m 34s
    May 12, 2023
  • The Murder Castle Dream
    Holmes begins to envision the infamous Murder Castle amidst Chicago's population boom.
    “He wants more and he's got grand plans.”
    @ 19m 38s
    May 12, 2023
  • The Birth of the Murder Castle
    Holmes' vision for a Murder Castle ignited after his first murder, showcasing his sinister intentions.
    “I had this Grand idea for a Murder Castle”
    @ 26m 40s
    May 12, 2023
  • A Chilling Proposition
    Holmes offered a bricklayer $50 to commit murder, revealing his manipulative nature.
    “I'll give you fifty dollars if you do it”
    @ 34m 11s
    May 12, 2023
  • Shifting Blame
    Holmes changed property deeds to evade debt, showcasing his cunning and deceitful tactics.
    “He just shifted it all into his mother-in-law's name”
    @ 37m 29s
    May 12, 2023
  • The Construction of Murder Castle
    Holmes' ambitious project was completed surprisingly quickly, with legal troubles and worker turnover.
    “It was literally like pretty much done by the end of 1889.”
    @ 38m 38s
    May 12, 2023
  • Holmes' Deceptive Business Practices
    Holmes tricked a new drugstore owner into believing he had no competition, only to open his own.
    “What an actual douchebag.”
    @ 39m 43s
    May 12, 2023
  • The Tragic Fate of Julia and Pearl
    Holmes performed a horrific abortion on Julia and then murdered her child, Pearl.
    “Wild that he could do that to a woman carrying his child.”
    @ 54m 39s
    May 12, 2023
  • Emmeline's Mysterious Disappearance
    Emmeline tells friends she’s visiting family, but then vanishes without a trace.
    “Oh, she's gone away to get married.”
    @ 01h 04m 53s
    May 12, 2023
  • Holmes's Dark Confession
    Holmes admits to planning Emmeline's murder after fearing she'd leave him for another man.
    “I finally resolved that I would kill her instead.”
    @ 01h 07m 30s
    May 12, 2023
  • The Horrifying Discovery
    Police find evidence of Emmeline's struggle in Holmes's vault, revealing his brutal methods.
    “She was trying to escape!”
    @ 01h 08m 53s
    May 12, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • Oh what a repertoire, yeah he's awful.
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid
  • Ambition has been the curse of my husband's life.
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid
  • I roamed about the world seeking whom I could destroy.
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid
  • He was such a low down dirt bag.
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid
  • He poured chloroform onto a rag and held it to her mouth.
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid
  • What the [ __ ]?
    H.H. Holmes, Part 2 | Morbid

Key Moments

  • Marriage Proposal10:31
  • Ambition's Curse15:42
  • Murder Castle Vision26:40
  • Deceptive Tactics37:29
  • Murder Castle Completion38:38
  • Mysterious Disappearance1:04:19
  • Dark Confession1:07:30
  • Brutal Evidence1:08:53

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown