Henry Holmes' Killer House “The Castle”

Holmes studied medicine at the University of Michigan and settled in Chicago in 1886 as a doctor and pharmacist. In the following years he married several women who disappeared without a trace after a while. He always appropriated their fortunes, so that he used the money to build a hotel in Chicago called “The Castle”. The house had several trap doors, secret passages and torture chambers, a room with an acid bath and a room that could be filled with gas. Most of Holmes' victims died here. H. H. Holmes sold some of the bodies and skeletons at universities.

Since the World's Fair was held in Chicago in 1893, his hotel was well attended, with mostly only young, single women staying overnight. After the police became aware of him, he set fire to his own house in the summer of 1895 to cause insurance fraud. Although the house burned down completely, the remains of over 100 victims, including women and men and children of all ages, were found.

Holmes escaped from Chicago after being searched by the police. On his flight across the United States, H. H. Holmes killed more young women. Half a year later, the multiple serial killer was caught and sentenced to death in 1896.