What's In 'Devil In The White City's' Grave?

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Many believe he's America's first serial killer, and some think he may also be behind London's Jack the Ripper killings. H.H. Holmes admitted more than two dozen murders, targeting victims during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. He was arrested, tried and hanged in 1896 in Philadelphia — or was he?

A descendant of Holmes, born Herman Webster Mudgett, wants to know if the famous murderer and con-man managed to pull off one last trick. Lawyer-turned-author Jeff Mudgett has been digging into Holmes' story since discovering that the notorious killer is his great-great-grandfather. Holmes' crimes gripped the nation, and newspaper reports at the time of his execution speculated that he may have cheated death by scheming to have someone else hanged and buried in his place.

Mudgett chronicled his search for answers about Holmes in his book "Bloodstains." He successfully petitioned for permission to have Holmes' grave exhumed and revealed in an interview with NBC Chicago what he found after digging began in April.

He said archaeologists found a pine box, which he believes was used as a decoy. Beneath that, encased in cement, was a human skeleton — and according to Mudgett, legend has it that Holmes asked that his body be entombed in cement. “Chills went up and down my spine," he told NBC. "To see that skeleton and that skull with the brain still inside, which is a phenomenon that scientists still have not explained… scared the heck out of me."

Tests — and positive ID on the remains — are pending, and the skeleton is being studied at the University of Pennsylvania. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Meanwhile, Mudgett's search for answers about Holmes continues. The History Channel's new series "American Rippers" explores Mudgett's theory that Holmes is in fact Jack the Ripper. The series premiered July 11, and episodes are available online.

Mudgett told NBC he would also like to see the location of Holmes' so-called "Murder Castle" — now the site of the Englewood Post Office — explored. An enormous maze of a building at Wallace and 63rd streets, it was where Holmes offered lodging for tourists during the World's Fair. The building had hallways leading to nowhere, rooms rigged with gas pipes and a "human-sized kiln," according to Chicagoist.

In addition to Mudgett's book, Holmes inspired Erik Larson's best-seller, "Devil In The White City." A film version of the movie, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is reportedly in production.

(Holmes photo via Wikimedia Commons; Holy Cross Cemetery photo by Matt Slocum | Associated Press)