Dr. HH Holmes—known as "America's first serial killer"—murdered an unknown number of people at his "hotel of horrors" during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the AP reports. Holmes' hotel "featured a bizarre labyrinth of windowless rooms, secret passageways, false floors, trapdoors," and gas vents controlled from his bedroom.
But when it was Holmes' turn to be killed—by the state for the murder of his business partner—some remained convinced the good doctor had tricked his way out of hanging and headed for South America. One of those people was Holmes' great-great-grandson Jeff Mudgett, who co-hosted American Ripper on the History Channel to find out if the body buried in Holmes' grave was actually that of the infamous serial killer, NBC Philadelphia reports.
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