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Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861 – May 7, 1896), better known under the name of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or more commonly just H. H. Holmes, was one of the first documented serial killers in the modern sense of the term.〔"Index to births, early to 1900", Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, New Hampshire. FHL Microfilms: film number 1001018〕〔Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Board of Health. "Death registers, 1860–1903". Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1962.〕 In Chicago, at the time of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Holmes opened a hotel which he had designed and built for himself specifically with murder in mind, and which was the location of many of his murders. While he confessed to 27 murders, of which nine were confirmed, his actual body count could be over 200.〔 He brought an unknown number of his victims to his World's Fair Hotel, located about west of the fair, which was held in Jackson Park. Besides being a serial killer, H. H. Holmes was also a successful con artist and a bigamist. ==Early life== Holmes was born as Herman Webster Mudgett in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, on May 16, 1861, to Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price, both of whom were descended from the first English settlers in the area. Mudgett was his parents' third-born child; he had an older sister Ellen, an older brother Arthur and a younger brother Henry.〔New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics. "Index to births, early to 1900", Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, New Hampshire. FHL Microfilms: film number 1001018〕 Holmes's father was a farmer from a farming family, and his parents were devout Methodists. According to the 2007 ''Most Evil'' profile on Holmes, his father was a violent alcoholic. Holmes excelled in school, which led to bullying by jealous classmates. In an attempt to scare him, the bullies forced him into the local doctor's office and made him stand face to face with a human skeleton, and placed the skeleton's hands on his face. Holmes later recalled that at first he was frightened, but then found the experience fascinating. He also wrote that the experience cured him of his fears. Holmes soon became obsessed with death and later started a hobby of dissecting animals. At the early age of 16, Holmes graduated from high school and took teaching jobs in Gilmanton and later in Alton, New Hampshire. In 1878, he committed his first murder by overdosing a former classmate with laudanum to collect his insurance money. On July 4, 1878, he married Clara Lovering in Alton; their son, Robert Lovering Mudgett, was born on February 3, 1880, in Loudon, New Hampshire (as an adult, Robert became a certified public accountant, and served as city manager of Orlando, Florida). At the age of 19, Holmes enrolled in the University of Vermont in Burlington, but was unsatisfied with the school and left after only one year. In 1882, he entered the University of Michigan's Department of Medicine and Surgery and graduated in June 1884 after passing his examinations. While enrolled, he stole cadavers from the laboratory, disfigured the bodies and claimed that the victims were killed accidentally in order to collect insurance money from policies he took out on each deceased person. His marriage to Clara quickly fell apart, and he eventually abandoned his wife and son. He spent the next couple of years working various jobs and continued with his scams. After he moved to Mooers Forks, New York, a rumor began spreading that Holmes was seen with a little boy, who later disappeared. He claimed that the boy went back to his home in Massachusetts. No investigation took place and Holmes quickly left town. He later traveled to Philadelphia and eventually got a job as a keeper at Norristown State Hospital, but quit after a few days. He later got a position at a drugstore in Philadelphia. While working at the store, a boy died from taking medicine that was bought from the store. Holmes denied any involvement with the child's death and immediately left the city. Right before moving to Chicago, he decided to change his name to Henry Howard Holmes to avoid the possibility of his previous scam victims catching up with and reporting him.〔''H. H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer'' documentary〕 On January 28, 1887, while he was still married to Clara, Holmes married Myrta Belknap (b. October 1862 in Pennsylvania)〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Person Details for M B Holmes in household of Jno A Ripley, "United States Census, 1900" )〕 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He filed for divorce from Clara a few weeks after marrying Myrta, but the divorce was never finalized.〔 Holmes had a daughter with Myrta, Lucy Theodate Holmes, who was born on July 4, 1889, in Englewood, Illinois〔Lucy Theodate Holmes, passport application, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (on-line ). Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906–IMarch 31, 1925; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1490, 2740 rolls); General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59; National Archives, Washington, D.C.〕 (as an adult, Lucy became a public schoolteacher). Holmes lived with Myrta and Lucy in Wilmette, Illinois, and spent most of his time in Chicago tending to business. Holmes married Georgiana Yoke on January 17, 1894, in Denver, Colorado,〔〔"Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KNQH-NNX : accessed 16 December 2014), Henry M Howard and Georgiana Yoke, 17 January 1894, Denver, Colorado, United States; citing p. 16256, State Archives, Denver; FHL microfilm 1,690,090 .〕 while still married to Myrta.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「H. H. Holmes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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