Episode 200 - Holmes, Pt. II (Chicago, IL) - Less Taken

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This taking contains content that may not be suitable for
all audiences listeners, Discretion is advised.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Less a large kiln was in the basement. I closed
the door and turned on the oil to their full extent.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
There's a man sized furnace in the basement of the
murder Castle. HH Holmes meets Wade Warner before the plastic cures.
Everything's so fresh. Lime still lingers in the air, and
the loose mortar crunches underfoot as the two men head

(00:50):
to a couple of stools. Homes unrulls a set of
sloppy plans across a couple of crates, the bleu.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Lining gear, a sealed hatch, a shoot from the second.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Story with some hesitance. Warner traces his fingers along the
blueprints and mutters, insulate here, angle the flu there, keep
the oil steady with the furnace. Sure I could do
all of this, Home, studies Warner for a beat. There's

(01:34):
something off about him. Yeah, sure's Warner. He's good for
all the money, but that doesn't seem to change things
the feelings between them. Nevertheless, the drug store serves as
a slow and steady wave of customers all day long,
but by night, it's the cellar that takes the center stage.

(01:59):
There's the think clinging clatter from Warner's tools. He creates
a refractory around the firebox, fits a hatch with a
weight to soften the sound of its closing, and he
drills out small vents meant to muffle odors. He even
fits the shoot that runs up through the floorboards, and

(02:23):
no more than a week later, Warner disappears. No one's
too sure what happened. Did they get into an argument.
Holmes has a propensity for revolving door or hiring practices.
Workers come and go all the time. Perhaps Warner is
just another one of them. The end of Mister Warner

(03:08):
begins with two simple checks sums for no more than
one thousand dollars each. Holmes instructs Warner to convince people
that he's the inventor of a special glass bending furnace,
to ward off suspicion and help convince the insurance companies
that such a large contraption is absolutely necessary for his unique,

(03:31):
state of the art hotel. While Warner's busy, Holmes manages
to pass off two payments under Warner's name. Only Warner
never sees a dime of it. However, Holmes worries that
he might soon question the charade and slowly put it

(03:53):
all together. An opportunity to alleviate those concerns presents itself
one night, when mister Warner agrees to pay a visit
and inspect his finished work. Holmes watches as Warner descends
the narrow staircase, a lantern swinging in his hand. Holmes

(04:15):
has been ragging about indoor oil lamps or some kind
of special lighting, but as of this moment, the furnace
room is pitch black. The basement is still quiet. Aside
from the furnace's low hum, it almost has a rhythm

(04:36):
to it, like the breaths of a slumbering beast. As
quietly as possible, Holmes trails behind him as he approaches
the furnace. Warner smells the rotten stench of gas. It's light,
but it's definitely there. He kneels beside the furnace, inspecting

(05:00):
a valve Holmes has deliberately loosened. His back is exposed vulnerable.
Holmes moves in quickly. One hand clamps down on Warner's shoulder,

(05:23):
while the other drives a steel rod into his skull.
Warner twitches once before slumping forward with his face grazing
the furnace's steel shell. Holmes drags Warner's lifeless body by
the ankles, a crimson river trailing behind them. The furnace

(05:43):
door groans open, a blistering heat spilling out, angling it headfirst.
Holmes lifts Warner's body and shoves it into the flame.
He watches is expression this the man who built the

(06:05):
furnace now feeds it.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
A large kiln was in the castle basement. It was
into this kiln that I induced mister Warner to go,
And then I closed the door and turned off the
oil to their full extent. In a short matter of time,

(06:34):
not even the bones of my victim remained.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
You're listening to Holmes Part two from Less Taken, season four,
Hollo Lands, and it's also the two hundredth episode of
the show. In this episode, Holmes turns from partner to
predator as Benjamin Piitel's loyalty becomes his undoing. What begins
as a staged insurance scam spirals into a calculated murder

(07:31):
and then completely out of control. Please let us know
what you think of this episode when you're done by
leaving a five star rating wherever you're listening, and if
you like Less Taken, be sure to subscribe with auto
downloads on and tell a friend. It all truly helps.

(07:51):
A quick note on our storytelling. While we do our
best to stick to the facts, we sometimes take creative
liberties to maintain narrative cohesiveness. Follow us before we follow
you on Facebook, Instagram and threads under the handle at
Let's Taken Pod, and feel free to leave a recommendation
for a future episode at lesstakanpod dot com. I'm seem

(08:15):
Humphries and this is Less Taken real life horror stories
from the Midwest. Thanks for listening, and I hope you
enjoy Homes Part two. The Murder Castle isn't some pipe

(09:14):
dream or even the rumored death hotel. It's also a business.
During after hours, Homes brings in fresh corpses to continue
engaging in the lucrative, although criminal body business. This time,
though there's no penny on turn, he even sells off
the slightly used coffins to the less morally restrained undertakers

(09:38):
and Morgues. The business becomes so big that Holmes is
compelled to bring in a cohort by the name of
doctor Russell, a man whose credentials also make several parts
of homes scheme a little more streamlined. Some historians will
argue Homes procures most of his cadavers by way of

(09:59):
body snatch, but he contends something much more sinister. Julia

(10:25):
Smythe moves into the Holmes Hotel at the age of
thirty one. She's the mother of a five year old
girl and the wife of one doctor Lawrence Connor, and
she's also called Holmes's Eye. Looking to contribute during tough times,
Julia begins working at the pharmacy's jewelry counter, before working

(10:48):
alongside Holmes, before simply just spending much more time with him.
It isn't before long that doctor Connor uncovers the affair
and abandons his family. After regaining full custody of her daughter,
Julia continues her relationship with Holmes. It all promises a

(11:11):
brighter future, but little does she know it's actually a threat.
Christmas Eve, eighteen ninety one, Julia and her daughter Pearl

(11:36):
are missing, and only HH Holmes knows where they are.
But is he willing to tell the truth or will
he take it to the grave? In one version, they're
settling down for the evening. Mind you, in eighteen ninety one,

(11:57):
Christmas isn't some blinding red, white and green capitalist mind fuck.
It's only now that the German influence of Christmas Tree
starts to spread that Jolly fat guy doesn't show up
for another forty years, at least not the way twenty
twenty five knows him so. More or less, it's just

(12:19):
another night. They're both ready to eat supper and then
unwind when an unexpected phone call echoes throughout the silent house.
It's for Julia. It's her sister. She's not well. Once
Julia gets off to call, it's a mad dash all

(12:40):
around her hotel room, weeping up the most minimal of
clothing supplies in Pearl. She storms out of the hotel,
onto a carriage, and out into the night. Holmes claims
he's a little foggy on all the details, but he's
certain Julia took Pearl to visit her perhaps dying sister,

(13:03):
but no one believes him. Holmes has plenty of yarn
to spin, but one explanation for the disappearances that makes
the most sense is also the one that fractures his ego.
Julia is pregnant again, but she won't be soon. Holmes

(13:25):
may think he has a comprehensive understanding of the human anatomy,
but in reality, he's merely memorized the names and locations
of tissue, organ, and bone. He knows as much about
performing an abortion as anyone else, but he also doesn't
accept that he's as good as any other doctor, and

(13:46):
such a common procedure can't be all that difficult. Granted,
he never imagined such a thing unfolding in a hotel
room one he owns even less, Holmes tries to calm
Julia's nerves by assuring her she's doing the right thing
and everything is going to be fine. The motive where

(14:07):
the abortion gets murky, but it hardly matters to Holmes.
All he's interested in is the thought of performing the
perfect abortion on his first try. But of course it
all goes horribly wrong. Holmes's slow, methodical footsteps bringing out

(14:57):
along the empty hallway until they pound like thunder as
he approaches one of the doors. He stands there, unmoved
and watches Emmaline sort correspondence. When she started the job
six months ago, she was cheerful with plenty of life
in her eyes and pink in her cheeks. Now she

(15:20):
almost never smiles. She's paler, thinner, She doesn't stay late anymore.
She no longer pretends as jokes are funny. It all
starts off well. There is a hacked doctor over and
Andersen with his own version of snake oil that he

(15:41):
claims can cure alcoholism. The tincture is mostly carbolic acid
in opium, but it provides a steady stream of desperate
men and women to his pharmacy and hotel. Emmaline has
always been his sort of fridge to all of this,
but now he fears that she might be pulling away.

(16:02):
You're not well, Holmes says as he walks into the room.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
That tawning your friend's formula. It's unstable, but I've improved it.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Emaline assures Holmes that she's fine.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
You've lost weight, you're pale. Let me help.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Emaline doesn't say a word, doesn't move, She only hesitates
and then nods. Holmes pours a liquid into a tall glass.
It's amber and color viscus, and little to Emmaline's knowledge least,
it's chloro form. Emaline stares at the substance as Holmes

(16:47):
places the glass into her hands. Can she keep trusting
these doctors? She feels like death, so what choice does
she have? Anyway, She takes a sip, thinks for a moment,
and then drinks. Her eyes fluttered, her breath slows. Homes

(17:18):
swoops in, lifting Emmeline's incapacitated body from the chair. Cradling
her like a patient, He carries her through a hidden
corridor behind the pharmacy, past the set of false doors
in gas lit alcoves the surgical room, his eyes cold,
and no matter what he tries, Emmaline bleeds too much.

(17:42):
It's Home's second attempt at performing an abortion, and it
fails quicker than the first. Yet Homes never panics. He
simply studies the gruesome scene as Emmeline bleeds out, and
he calculates. Holmes opens a trap door. The chute below

(18:03):
groans as Emmeline's body slides down to the basement with
the furnace that waits. Holmes doesn't feed her to the flames,
though he sends an empty trunk off to Anderson with
forged documents claiming she's married to a Robert Phelps. Now
in reality, or so, Holmes claims, he ships her bones

(18:26):
off to M. G. Chapel, a medical articulator. Homes pays
quietly in cash. Chapel will then wire the bones into
a full skeleton before sending it off to a medical school.
But not every one of Holmes's victims are sold off.

(18:56):
Homes stands at the edge of the vat, sleeves rolled
up up in dark gloves slick with something even darker.
The castle is quiet and down here. No one else
can hear a word. Many lies on a table behind him,

(19:17):
wrapped up tight in some kind of cloth. The laudom did, wonders.
She's still warm. Many never suffered. At least she never screamed.
She trusted him right up into her last breath. Homes
unwraptsure slowly. Her face is laid back, slack, peaceful. He

(19:44):
studies it for a moment before turning away. The vat
hisses as Holmes lifts the lid. As it fumes, curling
to the air, burning his tear ducts. He lowers Many
in head first. The splash may be soft, but the

(20:09):
chemical reaction isn't. Her skin blisters, her hair floats away
from her boiling scalp. The acid eats her into inexistence.
The site hardly faces homes. It's more like he's studying
the horrific events and analyzing them later. He drains the

(20:30):
vat and flushes the remains into the castle's vast sewer system.
Any bones that might survive, maybe he'll sell them off,
or maybe he'll just burn them into furnace. Minnie's clothing
will be burned, but her name will live on for
a little while longer. And forged documents, letters, deeds, and

(20:55):
countless other scams. Holmes wipes his gloves clean.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Harry, you that you're traveling, don't worry about me, our
heart over.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
He signs the letter with care Nanny home. Should have

(21:38):
known she'd be a problem. He watches Nanny from across
the parlor. She's a mere eighteen, young and full of trust,
at least, he hopes. He wonders if she might suspect
something about him, but it hardly appears that way. Still

(22:00):
calls Holme's brother Harry, just like Mannie always told her to.
She says Minie's going to Europe like she still buys
into all of his bullshit. First off, Nanny believes Minnie
is safe. Nanny never stopped writing back. She never once
accused Holmes of forging the letters, but now he leads

(22:24):
her down the corridor, past the false doors in dimly
lit alcoves. When she asks her about her aunt, Minnie,
Homes smiles and assures her Minnie is just getting some rest. Now,
she smiles. It's weak, but she smiles. Holmes opens the

(22:50):
door to a soundproof room. Nanny steps inside. The walls
are padded, yet the floors are bare. She turns to
ask Holmes a question, but he's already sneaking out of
the room by the time she looks around. Holmes waits outside,

(23:14):
listening to Nanny. Screams fade into silence. He doesn't get antsy,
he doesn't rush. It's like he's done this plenty of
times before. Chicago, Illinois, eighteen ninety two. Holmes's office above

(24:01):
the Murder Castle. H. H. Holmes first notices what kind
of a man Benjamin Pitzel is by the condition of
his hands. These are not the hands of any normal
clerk that he's seen. They're the worn hands of a
man tired and his endlessly fruitless pursuits to build something grand.

(24:26):
They're calloused, ink stained, and perhaps shaky from going too long.
In between drinks, he's putting the final touches on a
gas life fixture in the hallway just outside Holmes's office.
Once he's done with the repair, he steps through the
door and stands before Holmes at in hand, as though

(24:48):
waiting his approval. Homes studies Benjamin's posture, the way he
constantly rocks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other,
the way he tries to hide it when his eyes
dart toward the bottle of whiskey on Holmes's desk. Holmes

(25:09):
knows Benjamin would love a drink, but he never offers one,
and Benjamin never asks for it either. He's a man
that's lost too many battles, plus that would be impolite.
He's a man that's failed often enough to know how
to hide it. And that's exactly what makes Benjamin Pizel

(25:31):
useful to HH Holmes. Benjamin's a family man with five
children and a wife who, for whatever reason, still believes
in him. Benjamin isn't a criminal by nature, but that
doesn't really matter the Homes he doesn't need a criminal.

(25:52):
He needs someone desperate. He needs someone who needs The

(26:17):
arrangement is simple, or it begins that way. Benjamin is
responsible for running miscellaneous errands, dining, ambiguated paperwork, and posing
as a business person whenever Holmes needs a second name
on his documents, all the usual administrative duties. Of course,

(26:39):
surprisingly Benjamin's good at all of it, is usually more
than willing to pivot whatever rule is necessitated by Holmes's
latest scheme. In exchange for his efforts, Benjamin receives my
new advances a place to call home, or at least
stay in part, or the illusion thereof. Holmes knows Benjamin

(27:06):
probably has plenty of questions regarding the hotel the Murder Castle,
but he rarely asked them. He never asked what's behind
some of the locked doors, and maybe he doesn't want
to know. Philadelphia, Summer eighteen ninety four. There's a house,

(27:40):
a narrow brick building on callow Hill Street that's just
far enough away from the town's center to avoid unnecessary
or unwanted attention. Holmes rents the house under another one
of his dubious pseudonyms, B. F. Perry. Why this house?

(28:00):
Why bring Benjamin Pitzel all the way here? It all
begins to make sense as he watches Holmes finish unloading
some glassware, some chemicals, and a few scorched belongings. All
Benjamin brings with him or a suitcase and a hangover.
Holmes explains the new plan in plain terms. Benjamin will

(28:25):
fake his own death in a lab explosion, and Holmes
will collect a ten thousand dollars insurance payout. He promises
that no harm will actually come to anyone from this. Furthermore,
he'll find the perfect davere to use in his place.
It'll be charred beyond recognition, but Holmes will be trusted

(28:48):
enough to confirm its Benjamin. All Benjamin needs to do
is lay low for a while. His family will be
taken great care of by Holmes himself. There are dozens
of ways this can go wrong, but as always, Benjamin
nods he'll do it. After a bit more discussion, Holmes

(29:10):
watches Benjamin leave the room. Once he's certain he's gone,
Holmes slides open a drawer and pulls out a bottle
of chloroform. He's guesstimating a bit, but he thinks he
knows the correct dosage for a man of Benjamin's size.
He makes note of this in his ledger. See there's

(29:32):
no cadaver there never was. September two, eighteen ninety four.

(29:57):
The second story room is deathly quiet. All the windows
are shuttered, and there's a strong odor like alcohol and
scorched wood. Benjamin Pizzol lies on the floor, unconscious and
barely breathing. The chloroform bottle sits beside him open. Holmes

(30:20):
kneels down next to his head and studies Benjamin's chest
as it rises and struggles the fall. His breathing becomes
more rapid now. His lips twitch as though ready to
say something, but he doesn't get that chance. Homes soaks

(30:41):
a cloth and more chloroform and presses it tight over
Benjamin's face, and he waits. Benjamin twitches before falling, still
wasting little time, Home scurries around the room, retrieving a
large container of benzene. He douses the floor and Benjamin's

(31:02):
body in the accelerate. Then he strikes a match. The
fire spreads fast, flames shooting out across the floor in
all directions. Quickly. Home steps outside, closes the door, and

(31:24):
simply walks away as his former friend and colleague burns alive.

(31:45):
Fall eighteen ninety four. H. H. Holmes stands on a
train platform in Cincinnati, Ohio, watching three children disembark. He
knows these kids. They're Alice Nelly and Howard Benjamin Pizel's children.

(32:07):
They amble along in travel worn coats and weathered leather bags.
They don't know what to make of homes. Their faces
are pale, their heads are low, and their eyes dar
in almost every direction but his. They're nervous, despite the
grief etched deep across their faces. Homes greets them with

(32:30):
a warm, bold voice, one almost foreign to his own ears.
He attempts to bring to children some relief by explaining
that their father is very much still alive. What they
don't realize is that their father is merely hiding. See,
it's all part of a masterful plan. Holmes promises the

(32:51):
Pichel children that they'll be reunited with their father soon enough.
The kids aren't one hundred percent sure they comprehend the
full scale of their father's operation, but apparently it involves
plenty of moving. Holmes moves them from city to city,

(33:12):
from Detroit to Indianapolis to Toronto. It's his way of
creating new aliases and alibis, and all along the way,
Holmes tries to keep the children's woes at Bay by
offering them toys in sweets and telling them stories. He
keeps them close. But it's all falling apart. The logistics

(33:37):
are quickly becoming unraveled, nearly as fast as Homes is
burning through some of the insurance money. Holmes comes up
with a new plan. He's going to split up the children.
Howard is the first to separate from the trio. In part.
Holmes picks them first because he's most likely to bind
into the idea that it would be safer. Holmes rents

(34:00):
a house in Indianapolis under the name Cook right before
purchasing a wood burning stove. It's no furnace, but he's
measured the interior. He's done the math. From there, he
moves Alice and Nelly over to Toronto. He tells them

(34:22):
Howard is with their father and they'll all be together soon,
that they mustn't write to their mother, it's too dangerous.
The girls obey, and they even write letters to homes dictation.
When he asks, they smile and photographed, and just by

(34:42):
raising his palm, they'll wait. Holmes watches them sleep in
a rented room in Toronto. He studies their faces. They
look a lot like Ben, and that's becoming a pro problem.

(35:56):
Holmes's plan is not quite a plan at all. It's
a lot of improvisation stitched together by necessity and greed.
He never intended to keep the children alive. They're just
witnesses their liabilities. They are names on insurance policies and

(36:19):
tools for emotional manipulation. However, his goals are complex. He
wants to secure the insurance payout by presenting Ben's death
as accidental and completely unconnected to fraud. By this, he
helps to control the narrative by keeping the children isolated, mobile,

(36:43):
and silent. He also wants to eliminate all loose ends,
Howard first, then Alice and Nelly before they can contradict
his story or be traced. There is an issue with
his wife, Carrie Pizel. The only idea he has for

(37:07):
this is to somehow exploit her grief, possibly by feeding
her forged letters and false hope, and the goal of
keeping her compliant and distracted. Still, Holmes isn't doing any
of this out of panic. He's simply adapting as he goes.

(37:28):
Each lie is more of a pivot, and in his mind,
each murder is some kind of solution, no matter how vague.
He's already purchased the trunk for Alice and Nelly, and
he's chosen a house in Toronto. The plan is in motion.

(38:21):
Thank you for checking out Holmes. Part two, the two
hundredth episode of Less Taken. Come back soon for the
third and final installment of Homes, where we wrap up
the tales of horrific murders and the murder Castle itself,
and then lead to Holmes's ultimate demise. In the meantime,

(38:43):
please let us know what you think of the show
by leaving a fair rating and review wherever you're listening,
and if you like the show, be sure to subscribe
with auto download, don and tell a friend. It all
truly helps. You can also write to us or less
taking Pod at gmail dot com, Visit lesstakenpod dot com

(39:05):
to leave reviews and also suggest story ideas, and check
out all things Less Taken, including our merch Be sure
to follow us before we follow you on Facebook, Instagram
and threads under the handle at less Taken Pod. A
quick note on our storytelling. While we do our best
to stick to the facts, we sometimes take creative liberties

(39:26):
to maintain narrative cohesiveness. I'm Seiem Humphries and this is
Less Taken, real life horror stories from the Midwest. Once again.
Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for our second Halloween throwback
of twenty twenty five, and then in November, the third

(39:46):
and final installment of homes.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
Let's Taken. Is a Chase County production.

Speaker 1 (40:20):
Chase County Productions

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Episode 200 - Holmes, Pt. II (Chicago, IL)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 200 - Holmes, Pt. II (Chicago, IL)