Criminally Intrigued

  H. H. Holmes, whose real name was Herman Webster Mudgett, was a notorious American serial killer who confessed to the murders of 27 people during the late 19th century. He is often referred to as America's first serial killer. Holmes was born in New Hampshire in 1861 and had a troubled childhood. He was reportedly fascinated with death and had a habit of torturing animals. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Michigan's Department of Medicine and Surgery but dropped out before completing his degree. Holmes moved to Chicago in the late 1880s and began working at a drugstore owned by a man named Dr. E. S. Holton. When Holton died, Holmes bought the drugstore from his widow and turned it into a hotel that he called the "World's Fair Hotel." The hotel was a labyrinthine structure that contained secret rooms, soundproofed bedrooms, and a gas chamber. Holmes used these features to lure guests into his hotel and then murder them. Holme...

  John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Gacy was born in Chicago in 1942 and had a troubled childhood, with an abusive father and a difficult relationship with his mother. He was convicted of sodomy in 1968 and served time in prison but was released on parole in 1970. Gacy's killing spree began in 1972 when he lured a teenage boy to his home and killed him. He went on to lure many more young men and boys to his home, where he would sexually assault them and then strangle them to death. He buried most of his victims in the crawl space beneath his house, but some he dumped in nearby rivers. Gacy was eventually caught in 1978 when a 15-year-old boy named Robert Piest disappeared after telling his family he was going to meet with Gacy about a job. Police searched Gacy's home and found evidence of his crimes, including human remains in the crawl space. Gacy was convicted of 33 murders and sente...