The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-08-14
HOLMES 4 HUMAN FIEND
One of the Most Remarkable Grim
inaIs Of the Century.
MURDER WAS HIS MANIA.


men and Children After Insurlny Their
Lives---A Sketch Of His Bloody Career
--His Real Name is Mudgett and He
Was Born in New Hampshire.
Weird and grewsome beyond human con-
ception almost are the developments at Chi
cago in the case of Holmes. the alleged muir
derer, bigamist and swindler, now in jail
at Philadelphia, awaiting trial. From almost
every nook and corner Of his malodorous
"castle" are coming evidences Of murder in
tie form Of ghastly relics Of bodies that were
slaughtered. Each hour adds to the discov-
cries. In fendish cunning they were laid
away and would have remained forever
unknown but for the action OF the au-
thorities in ordering the place torn down.
From the great vault. from the ruins
OF the cellar, from the vat In which chem
icals were placed, from every place, In fact.
that could hide body are evidences OF
Wholesale murder. Chicago Is now vieing
with Detroit Toronto and Philadelphia In
an endesvor to obtain possession OF the &C.
cused that justice may be meted out to him.
No series Of crimes Of the century, In cold
blooded atrocity or In the number OF unfor-
tunate victims, In any degree approaches this.
The victims ranged In age from nine to fifty
years. Many were believed to have been
murdered for the sake Of the insurance they
carried. Others were sacrificed, fearing they
knew the secret. They were made away
with in divers manners. The body OF one
was cut up into small pieces and fed into a
stove. That Of another was put into trunk
and sunk in the lake. Two others were shut
up in q vault and allowed to die there, the
bodies being subsequently articulated and
the skeletons sold to medical student.
Not only Is the cellar Of the "castle"
veritable graveyard. but the bones OF other
victims are scattered all over the country.
One is believed to have been murdered In
Arkansas and two in Canada. The trail OF
the murderer Is all over the country, and IN
every case It was either the getting OF In
surance money or the fear Of discovery that
was the motive. These capital o1enses were
necessarily accompanied by minor ones,
such as arson and perjury, but the grayer
crimes may be summarized ss follows:
The murder of B. F. Pietzel.
The murder Of Alice Pietzel.
The murder Of Nellie Pietzel.
The murder Of Howard Pietzel.
The murder Of Mrs. Julia Connor.
The murder of Anna Williams.
The murder of Minnie Williams.
The murder Of Emma Cigrand.
The murder OF Milford G. Cole.
The murder Of DR.. Russler.
The swlndling Of insurance companies to
the extent Of at least S250,000.
Criminal history is without parallel for
Holmes. He seemed to have mania for
crime. There was no form too revolving Tor
him, no deed too daring. Murder and
swindling was his life business. he -pur-
sued 1t as a profession and with q boldness
that was startling almost beyond credence.
He operated everywhere and anywhere, with
headquarters at Chicago. His "castle"
there was ghastly mausoleum.
Like most other criminals Of method,
Holmes was not born in criminal surround
ings. His was an educated shrewdness,
duickened and made alert by the risks he
ran. It was not common, low cunning. but
the development Of plan that was the lie
work of a daring criminal.
The story of the life Of Holmes Is grew
some tale. If written In fiction 1t would be
denounced as unnatural and improbable. It
would be deemed utterly beyond belief that
in every city Of consequence in the country,
except the city Of New York, he had piled
successfully his criminal trade and finally
was only brought behind prison bars through
the accusation of train robber, whose only
grudge was that Holmes had not recon-
pensed him for an introductiontoa "usefup'
man.
This man Holmes, confessed bigaamist, per-
jurer. swindler and alleged murderer, was
born short distance from London, In the
New Hampshire hills. His real name Is
Mudgett. Besides Holmes he is known to
have used the alias Howard. His parents
were plain, homely country folk, but with
ambitions for their boy. He was the prize
boy in his classes always. From his farm
home he went to Gilmartin and there taught
school. He saved money enough to attend a
medical college at Burlington, vt. Then he
went West and entered upon his career OF
crime, which included murder, arson, swind-
ling insurance companies, bigamy and burk-
Ing.