The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-05-16
o of His r

Story of His Life.
Herman w. Midget, better known as H.
II. Holmes. was one of the most conspicu-
GUS criminals OF modern times. and II the
murder confessions" which he has writ
ten can only partially be believed, he was
without q peer as a bloodthirsty demon.
HIS recent ingenious confession" wherein
persons was disproYed, partly at least. by
the appearance. of several of the so-called
victims; but Holmes, object in making the
a sum said to be 81. 500 ard which amount is
SAID TO have been settled upon the Grim
sions' have served to increase the sensa-
tionalism Of the case. the only capital
crime, for which Holmes had to answer
;. 1884: Of BENJAMIN +. piieetzei, his fellow
conspirator. The murder was committed
In the dwelling. No. 1916 Callowhill street.
degree, the Animation by the Pennsylvania
supreme court of the verdict and the re-
cent refusal Of Governor Hastings to grant
q respite are so well known that a narra-
ton OF these facts Is unnecessary.
Holmes was captured in Boston. Mass.
In the latter part of 1894, by Owen Hans
upon thex%strength of a telegram from Fort
Worth, Tex, where he was wanted for
horse stealing and for other charges OF
larceny. AT that time officials of the FL
deity Mutual Life association Of P%hiladel-
phia were hot on Holmes trail for de-
iraudlng the concern out Of $1,000 in CON
Ing insured for that amount and the ac-
cused believing horse stealing to be a high
crime In Texas. he voluntarily confessed to
insurance fraud. He did not. for a mo-
ment. dream that he was then suspected
OF the murder OF Pietzel. and he came to
philadelphia without requisltion papers
He expressed a Willingness to be tried here
on the conspiracy charge in preference to
that Of horse stealing at Fort Worth. Be
confession" to Mr.. Hanscom:
When l concluded il was time to carry
out our scheme to defraud the insurance
and shipped 1t in a trunk to Philadelphia.
| turned the check for the trunk over to
Pietzel on the Sunday nearest the LIST of
On our way q New Ne York. ortes Ten rear days VS. a nser
the payment of the money I saw Pietzel
IN Cincinnati. 1 took the three children to
that city, where the father saw them.
a p1e' ae,, agEeed to so south, and he took
Chicago because had business there. We
all met again in Detroit. Pietzel took the
children and went to South America. Dur
husband was alive. but she did not know
he had thu children. If she was aware of
Il t l,ains she w would insist hat the crooked
der to keep Mrs. Pietzel from her husband
| had to tell her that he was here and
th lehas t Ira from one city to another.
admissions that Holmes subsequently
made. In fact he acquired a penchant for
making confessions that surprised the
The insurance officials had good ground
for believing Holmes had murdered Pietzel
and the three children, so when the pris-
to- ma arei snot IN Ph haoafansIan he A WaS b nrg sid
SO without hesitation. but 1t varied some
what from the one made In Boston. 1t
substituted for Pietzei in the Caliowhill
street house. and Its Identification by
Alice Peitzel as that Of her father a week
money was received from the insurance
company and its subsequent division be-
81 sWef To1 Mri ), pie,ze Ia 5deptha P; Howe; the
Howe of receiving $500 for his share in
the transaction.
Howe was indicted for conspiracy. but
recently the case against him was
dropped.
Soon after Holmes was brought to Phila-
delphia, Detective Geyer visited him in the
the body at 1916 Callowhi!l street on Sep
ton with the Willy Holmes the detective
emerged from the prison with a ''confes-
sion" IN which the accused said the body
was not that Of Pietzel. but was one sub
stituted to defraud the insurance COM
pany.
win s ssethe later seon nel~es h0 H%r. es ssye!
he said. that story ! told you about the
Of benjamin F. Pietzel. but. 1 did not 1ot m pTny
der MIN or his children. On Sunday morn
inpg, September 2, I found Pietzel dead in
house. ! found a note In IA bottle, telling
me that he was tired of life and had finally
decided to commit suicide. He requested
me 10 look after the insurance money and
take, care of his wife and family. j then
liked up the body in the position it was
r rIsht. IheSe srn S 9 y e speak 1f are all
London. / gave Howard to Minnie Will
i ia hsr N r Detrpit and l sent Alice and Nellie
Jams in Niagara Falls and sailed for Eu-
rope from New York"
Between this time and his trial for con-
spiracy to dcfraud the insurance company
70 winch he pleaded guilty, Holmes made
many other Confessions" but they diff
fered very little from those already given.
h Each =. time he pretended to tell the truth
body believed what Holmes said about
Pietzel,, and he would not say anything
all right.
In his many interviews with District At
torney Graham. Holmes persisted that the
three missing Pietzei children were with
suaded Mr.. Graham to nave an advertise
ment In the shape of a cipher puzzle in
pose Of Il br 4 n Esw M|pb,a pa R,1i,a for m. the ! na p mr.
little Pietzels back from Europe. The dis
trict attorney placed but little faith in
I Wha t MoImes told him, but ,he a q was
fort. When the bodies OF Nellie and Alice
Pietzel were unearthed in Toronto, Holmes
asa'sa ch haxlnF b sa,1es nere located Whsn How H
~superannuated stove In 1%rvlngton, Ind,
Holmes calmly denied any knowledge Of
Minnie, Williams and her sister were dis
covered, Holmes said that Minnie killed
Mamie In a JEALOUS frenzy, and he buried
ously denied having put Minnie to death
SO as to SECURE her property. The disap-
P Ma,tnn Of OF Emily cygrand was traced to
sumed bones that hat we're rel fou iMS I Rlt ths e ehi-
s sass Of ofa Hoime are vi en1Mn K bs t the last St
time that Holmes was taken to the dis
tTles attorneys It office to confess" Mr..
gave a repetition Of his pietu res e'G falses
hoods. He actually gave the district at
tt9 e ,nny a ye,itable Jolly about The Pietzel|
tremely dramatic. MI. Graham said:
mu uHdel%es' w . S are an Hou i;n nj ph;,s 1yIng
for the murder of Benjamin Pietzel."
Holmes, nerve was still with him, and he
sa nro NJ defy y9n; Yon haye no evidence
with disgust and determination at Holmes
and said; You will surely hang In Phila-
delPhia for numbering BENJAMIN Pletzel."
district attorney endeavored to prove dur
Ing the trial, through Detective Geyer,
that Holmes also killed the Pietzel chill
dren, but Judge Arnold, before whom the
case was tried, declared this to be irrele-
want. Geyer had unearthed the murder Of
the children after a prolonged investiga-
ton, and the commonwealth was prepared
to prove that Holmes had also committed
these crimes.
Holmes embraced the Catholic faith
when 1t became evident to him that he
must hang, and Rev, Father Daily minis
tered to his spiritual wants. Throughout
his trial and subsequent imprisonment
this arch-criminal maintained a nonchal-
ance that was remarkable.
CHAIRMAN CARRIERS CALL,