Most Terrifying Things About America’s First Serial Killer

Police Finally Discovered Holmes’ Murder Castle

After Holmes’ Boston arrest in 1874, police were able to trace him back to Chicago. This is where they found the Murder Castle. It didn’t take long for police to discover the wealth of torture chambers, the labyrinth of dead ends, the secret chutes, and dummy elevators, and the basement morgue where Holmes would dissect his victims.

Unfortunately, because Holmes did an excellent job of disposing of the bodies or sold off their organs and bones, police were unable to find complete human remains. They only found a couple clues that linked him to just a few murders. Obviously, had H.H. Holmes lived today and committed the same murders, there would have undoubtedly been tons of DNA and blood evidence that would have convicted him a heartbeat. However, because this was still before the turn of the century, there was very little sophisticated science being used at crime scenes or to connect killers to their crimes.