H. H. Holmes

Born in 1861, hanged in 1896. Really Herman Webster Mudgett, but better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes. American serial killer with a body count of either 4 (confirmed), 27 (confessed to) or several hundred (contemporary media hype). Owner of the "World's Fair Hotel" in Chicago, among whose guests he chose his victims. He probably murdered several of his employees, too, who he strictly required to take out life insurance and name him as the beneficiary.

Sources

• Martin, John. "The Master of the Murder Castle." Harper's Magazine Dec. 1943: 76-85. <http://www.harpers.org/archive/1943/12/0020617>.
• Spindler, Cara. "Mr. Hermann Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes: U-M's Most Murderous Alumnus." Michigan Today. University of Michigan. <http://michigantoday.umich.edu/99/Sum99/mt15j99.html>.