Was H.H. Holmes Jack the Ripper, or were there really just two comparable serial killers in the world at the same time? Artwork

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But Have You Heard About?

Was H.H. Holmes Jack the Ripper, or were there really just two comparable serial killers in the world at the same time?

January 26, 2022 • Courtney and her cool friends • Season 2 • Episode 19

What did you think of todays' episode?

But have you heard about H. H. Holmes? He was a serial killer, and fraudster that was active in the late 1800s, and is most widely known for his murder hotel in Chicago that he mostly used during the 1893 World's Fair. Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, was an American con artist, murderer, and trigamist, the subject of more than 50 lawsuits in Chicago alone. he was born in 1861, and later died by hanging in 1896 (or did he 🤔.) Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886, and started construction on his building in 1887. While there aren't as many reliable accounts of him actually luring strangers to his unfinished hotel to kill them, he did admit while in prison of numerous murders, he was only charged with one--the murder of his business partner.

While talking about Holmes and his many atrocities is pretty fitting to this podcast, it's the conspiracy theory that he was ALSO Jack the Ripper that was the central point of this episode. There are traits and timelines known about Jack the Ripper that line up with Holmes. Holmes and his assistant could have taken time before the completion of his hotel to go to London, take steps to learn about his killing techniques, and Holmes' anatomy education in the states lines up with the precision Jack the Ripper had. The Jack the Ripper murders started in August of 1888, and ended in November. These murders, or the canonical five, could have been committed by Holmes. Want to hear Matt and my take on this? Tune in to this week's episode and let us know your thoughts.