The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-05-08

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Ged. stealing two ear loads q Acgsso -
they vent and shipping then 70 y Louia-
II vas after this Incident thai Hcimo
conserved the idea Of having Pts1kIs Lie
Insured He told PitzeI how easy u vas -
bat an insurance company With . sab
ss1tuee body. and P1tzei fen into the
scheme. Ths application vas made ~
the Chicago agency Pitsel was h fan
health, and the risk vas considered 6rSe
rate. They left Chicago together 10 search
for q body. In August 1874 Holmes and
Pf.sei came East and Holmes rented the
house 1t lxs CaEcwkiu street, Q ram
shzckss old building. for Pitxel 70 start
IN the patent rights business under the
name Of 3. F. Perry. Holmes called on
Pstxel frequently. Pltxel vas seen Up 70
10 o'clock on Saturday night. September
l. That night he drank . great deal BE-
fore he went TO bed Nothing was again
seen Of him Until the following Monday.
when Eugene Smith. carpenter. who had
been employed to do some work In the
house. found his body lying on its back
on the soor Of the second story back
room The face was biackened and blss-
tered as II from burns. and near by lay
. broken bottle which had contained ben
zine. By the side Of the body was q pipe
partly tIled with tobacco. Appearances
Indicated that an explosion had occurred.
while the man Was lighting his pipe. The
police believed IL vas an accident. and no
one for a moment entertained the theory
of murder. The eoroner's jury gave . YER
Dict of death from inhaifng the fumes q
chioroform.
About three weeks after this occurrsnee
J. d. Howe. . ST. Louis attorney. after
correspondence with Coroner Ashbridge.
OF this city. came here and asserted that
the body was that OF Benjamin F. Pitxei,
and that he Howe) was here to collect
Sfs.9 insurance from the Fidelity COM
pany. for which amount . policy had been
made out in favor Of Mrs. Pitxel in Chi
cago . year before. Meanwhile Holmes,
who had introduced Pitxel to the insur-
ance agents. was induced by them to
come TO Philadelphia and identity the
body. This he did positively, and SO did
Alice Pitxel. the ls-year-old daughter Of
the dead man. With this unequivocal tes-
timony the insurance company paid the
money. Some time afterward Marion C.
Hedspefh. the notorious train robber In
Jail at st. Louis. declared that Holmes.
while In an adjoining cell. had told him
OF conspiracy with Pitxei and Howe to
swfndle a Philadelphia insurance conn
pany by the substitution OF q bodt.
Holmes was captured after q long chase
by the detectives From the moment Of
his arrest Holmes told stories ingenious
although conflicting First he declared
that the body found was not that of Pit
Eel. but substitute. and that Pfs1el was
In South America Then he retracted this
statement and averred that the body was
Pitzefs and that he had committed sui
eide while Respondent, and that he
Holmes) in order to secure the Insurance.
money had given the case the appear
ance OF an accident Holmes was placed
on trial In this city for Pitzers murder
on Monday. October . last. The trial
ended the following Saturday night in q
verdict Of guilty OF murder In tho first
degree. The jury was out two hours and
. half-"for the sake OF appearances"
They had agreed upon their verdict in
one minutes time. The trial was one Of
the most sensational known 70 this or any
other city.
This Is the story OF the murder Of Ben
Jamin F. PItzel. but with 1t are interviewer
the schemes and acts which brought about
the killing Of at least eight other victims.
These were Alice and Nellie Pitxel, the
little daughters of Benjamin, who were
asphyxiated in q trunk in Toronto. Can
ada: Howard Pitzel. the young son. killed
In Indianapolis, Holmes cutting up and
burning the remains In . stove: Julia L.
Common. divorced wife Of l. Common and a
bookkeeper for Holmes: Pearl Connor. her
daughter: Emily G. Cigrande. Of Ander-
son. Ind, stenographer for Holmes: Min
ME r. Williams, OF Fort Worth. Tex. his
private secretary. and Mana Williams. her
sister. The murder Of these persons has
been fixed upon him almost certainly. but
there are at least . dozen other cases
which have been laid at his door.
Holmes was born at Chinatown. y. H..
thirty-eigat years ago. His parents wero
among the most respected persons In their
part of the state. His father had been
postmaster for more than twenty-four
years Holmes had two married sisters
living in Boston and one brother. Holmes
was first married to Miss Clara Loving in
1913. He afterward studied medicine. and
lived with his wife but little Later he
married Miss Myrtle z. Belknap, Of VILLA
mette. suburb Of Chicago. His third wife
was Miss Georgiana Yoke, OF Franklin,
Ind. whom he married In Denver. To
facilitate his business Of murder Holmes
built his celebrated castle In Chicago.
three-story building ostensibly for stores
ana living apartments. The place was
fitted up with padded rooms secret cham
hers. vaults and quicklime watts, and this
part OF the story smacks Of the romances
OF medieval times. Here 1t Is thought
sudden and violent deaths came to tho
Williams girls. Emily csgrande. Mrs Julia
Connor and her S-year-old daughter Pearl
Minnie Williams. when q child, inherited
Sseooo from an uncle. When she became
OF age she went on the stage. In 1872 she
met Holmes In Chicago and became his
stenographer, living with him as his wife
In 1888 she invited her sister Mana. then a
school teacher IN Texas, to v,si, her at
thu castle She did so. Soon afterward
both girls disappeared forever. II IL be-
neved that Holmes killed them 10 get the
$4,000. The Chicago police found several
skeletons in the castle, and two Of them.
they think. are all that remain Of the ham,
less Willtarns sisters. Holmes, making n
trade OF murder. employed q private ar
ticulator and had the skeletons Of his VIC
tins mounted and then sold for cash
Emily Cigrande was another woman en-
pioyed as stenographer by Holmes. who
suddenly disappeared. Mrs. Julia Conner
was the wife OF a 1eweier who worked for
Holmes Through Holmes attentions to
the wife the two were separated. and Aft
erward both the woman and her ,ittie
daughter disappeared. Recently Holmes
evolved a so-called confession. defail,rv
with horrible caimness how he had ex-
terminated twenty-eeven fellow creatures
ana coldiy setting forth the varied ara
bloody tortures he employed Blu. the man
was an etrocious liar. and several OF those
with whose murder he charged h,rnrsi,
have since denied the story with their own
lifS- However. It is certain that tho ass
tinction ne so obviously coveted OF heinv
me greatest monster Of modern times was
fairly earned by the crimes that have hesn
proven.