The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-11-24
Holmes Admits That Hanging Is
Too Good for Him.
HE SUPPORTS THREE WIVES
Forgery, Bigamy, Body-sna,ching and
Other Lesser offenses In Quick
Succession.

Philadelphia, Pa, Nov. 20.-Arch-
conspirator H. H. Holmes, accom-
panied by Mrs. Pitzel and a woman who
calls herself Mrs. Holmes, arrived in
this city today in the custody of De-
tective Crawford of the Fidelity Mutual
Insurance Association. Mrs. Holmes
disappeared soon after her arrival and
no clue to her whereabouts could be
obtained. 1t is thought she is stop
ping at a hotel in the neighborhood Of
police headquarters. After the arriv-
al the party was closeted with Superin-
tenden of Police Linden until late in
the afternoon. When the conference
was over, Detective Crawford detailed
the story of the trip, the most impor-
tant feature of which was the revelat-
ton made to him by Holmes of the
story of his whole life.
STORY OF A VILLAIN.
1t reads like most sensational 70
nance. Holmes sat beside the detec-
tive with handouts on. The train had
scarcely emerged from the Boston
depot before the prisoner tried to bride
his captor. He offered the detective
$500 if he would allow him to escape.
He said he was raised in Burlington
Vermont, and went to college in De-
troit. Here he formed the acquaintance
of a medical student who. he said
furnished the body in New York in the
present case. During vacations they
worked on farms to raise college ex-
penses, but one summer found them
selves without means and then the
medical man suggested the idea of get
ting body and beating an insurance
company. This was twelve years ago
They obtained a body in Chicago.
took it east, arranged the details Of
Identification and successfully got
money with which they continued their
studies. They worked the scheme after
wards with success, obtaining sums
ranging from $4,000 to $4,000
Once Holmes got his life insured for
100000 He went to a hotel in Rhode
Island. At that time he wore a beard
He secured a corpse in Chicago, cut
off the head and took the body to a
lonely spot not far from the hotel. Then
he shaved off his beard, returned to
the hotel asked for Holmes and en-
gagged a room to wait for him. He had
brought the head with him and burned
it in the fireplace of the hotel. This
scheme, however, fell through, the
mother of his wife, when she discovered
it, threatening to tell the police and
Holmes fed to the west.
MURDER IN CHICAGO.
Resuming his story. he said that
while living in Chicago, about Is months
ago, he fell in love with a typewriter
girl and furnished a house on the out
skirts where they lived together.
A younger sister came to visit them
and the woman grew so jealous of
her that in a quarrel one day she strucF
her over the head and killed her. To
save the woman with whom he lived
Holmes put her body in trunk, load
ed it with stones and sunk it in the
lake This girl had property in Texas
and he and Pitzel took it off her hands
and sent her abroad. 1t was worth, he
said $4,000, and after getting it in
their hands they went through Texas
buying carloads of horses on notes on
this property, but as they never had
a legal title to the property, the notes
were worthless. To save this property
Holmes said he and Pitzel formed a
scheme for swindling the Fidelity COM
pany.
He told the detective that for the
crimes he committed he deserved to be
hanged a dozen times.
He admitted that he is supporting
nearly two dozen persons, including
the girl murderer, her mother and
brother, two orphans in Chicago, three
separate alleged wives and their chill
dren and his own mother and father in
Kankakee He maintained that Pitzel
is alive in San Salvador.