The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-31
True
Detective Stories
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/. Perry in his home at 131.
Callowhill street, Philadelphia,
By q na who had come In to sex
about securing a patent, did not cause
any sensation at the time, for tho
~coroner's jury gave a speedy verdic'
OF death from accidental causes
There was clear evidence that some
sort OF an explosion had taken place
"A shattered bottle which had manifest
II contained some sort Of inflammable
material. a broken pipe filed WITH
partly burned tobacco and q charred
match. lay beside the body.
An autopsy showed that Perry had
died from congestion Of the lungs
caused by the inhaling of flames OF
ehloroform, the latter having pre-
sumably formed the contents Of the
broken bottle. So, as there were no
claimants for the body and no estate,
Perry's remains were inferred in the
Potter's field. There they would have
remained undIsturbed Ii it had not
been for the evidence of a convict In
the st. Louis prison.
Shortly after Perry's death, the
Philadelphia branch Of the Fidelity
Insurance company received a letter
from Jephtha D. Howe, an attorney in
st. Louis, stating that %. F. Perry"
was really Benjamin f. Pitezel, who
had carried a $4,000 life insurance
with the Fidelity company. The only
person who could be found to identify
the body was a man named FL. Ell.
Holmes, Of Wilmette, ILL.,, who will
ingly came to Philadelphia to superin-
tend the exhum1ng Of the body.
Holmes and Howe met In the Office Of
TIA company, presumably as strangers,
and the former clearly identified the
body Of the dead man as that Of his
friend, Pitezel. Satisfied, the insurance
company paid the insurance to Howe,
Pitezel's attorney, and reimbursed
Holmes for his expenses.
The details Of the case were 70
ported In the St. Louis newspapers,
and q few days later, Marion Hedg-
SR~t0s q NSAfA( SS& V1AS q SCAGCAkSV
for train robbery, informed the COVER
nor Of the prison that he would like to
give him some information which he
considered most important.
IL you will examine the records Of
the prison." said Hedgspeth, you will
nnd that there was a man here last
summer by the name Of FL. Fl. Howard.
He was In for fraud, I think, but was
released on bail. While he was here,
Howard asked me Ii / knew any lawyer
whom 1 could recommend in connec-
ton with a swindling scheme which he
had In mind-a plan which ought to
nat at least $4,000 without any
trouble. He promised me $500 for my
information and I gave him the
lawyers name, but I never got my
I've hundred"
THE name of the lawyer I recon-
msnded to Howard was Jephtha d.
Howe and Howard Is undoubtedly
the man named Holmes who is mixed
up with that insurance case in
Philadelphia The details of the case
agree exactly with the scheme, az
Howard outlined it to me last sum
Mer." go"
A. soon an this information reached
Philadelphia, the insurance company
detailed an experienced detective
named Geyer to arrest Holmes anG
b Investigate his antecedents, for Il
was clear that Pitezel had not mel
his death through accident, but hat
been deliberately murdered. After &
months search, Holmes was tracet
to New England and finally arrested
This, however, proved to be practical
y the beginning Of the case for, tn,
further back Geyer went into Holmes
history, the more gruesome details
he discovered. In endeavoring to fin,
out what had become of Mrs. Piteze
and her five children, Geyer found il
tho cellar of a house in Toronto
house rented by Holmes under tn
name OF Canning-the bodies Of tw
children later identified as Alice an,
Eta Pitezel. From Toronto the trai
led to Indianapolis, by way of Detroi
md Cincinnati. and it was in Indiar
apOlis that Geyer discovered the bod
o1 Howard Pitezel, aged ten, jamme
into the chimney Of the furnace In
house which had been rented som
time before by q man who answere
10 the description OF Holmes.
1t was In the course OF his searcI
through Indiana and Illinois that Geye
came upon the most startling dis
7cOyery OF the entire case--thl
mysterious building in Chicago know
% 4Holmes' Castle" or "Holmehurst.
The prisoner had personally superb
tended the erection Of this struetur
and Investigation proved that it cor
tained an air-proof, sound-proof vault
communicating with the cellar b
means BIT a secret staircase. Burie'
In the cellar floor and hsif-consume,
by quicklinae were found the remain
81 Nj least five persons who had beel
Iured TO HoIInehurst and there mur
dered. 4
III Of these crimes had been commit
ted SOME time before the Pftezel af
1nir, and had III not been for the fac
That Holmes overlooked the promIsa
which he had made 70 q convict Il
~ 81. Louis prison, ii II quite pos
sfble that be would have remained a
lbsrty, i constant and deadly perl
o everyone with whom he came Il
eontacf.
Hut Detective Geyer returned I,
KAilndelphia with more than enough
eyfdance II secure conviction, AMI
Holnses psfd the penalty for hls erin.
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