Described at the time as a case without known parallel, a case that author matt lake says philadelphia broke wide open. Matt we caught him and we got the body, yeah. Hed have gotten away with it too if it werent for those darn philly kids. George most of h. H. Holmes notoriety centers in chicago, around the site of whats now this us post office. It was there, in 1889, that he built his famous Murder Castle Hotel ahead of the citys world fair, a castle full of secret chutes and gas chambers. Some who arrived were never seen again. Matt hed wind up putting them into an airtight room and turning a gas on in there until they suffocated. George experts believe holmes made big money selling his victims body parts and swindling their insurance. And in 1894, holmes brought his swindling to philadelphia and this corner of 13th and callowhill. It was here, lake says, that greed finally got the best of him. In his scheme to get insurance money, he killed his business partner, making it look like an accident. But a philadelphia investigator uncovered his scam and holmes was arrested, leading to the discovery of his heinous crime. Newspapers covered his trial daily right here in city hall, and the philadelphia inquirers publisher paid him for his confession, a total of 27 murders he claimed. As holmes sat in the moyamensing prison, now the site of this south philly acme on passyunk, lake says, eager crowds gathered just to be near the execution. Matt this was the crime of the century as far as everybody here was concerned. George but as soon as the hanging was over, news stories swirled, questioning whether he might still be alive. Matt maybe he faked his death. George and that theory is where holmes story is being dug up again, more than 100 years later, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in yeadon, where his family wants to know if he was actually buried in a block of cement in an unmarked grave. The nbc10 investigators discovered this petition to exhume holmes body, filed by his greatgrandchildren and signed by a judge in march. It says, family lore indicates that holmes managed to escape through some subterfuge, and that someone else was hanged and buried at the gravesite. The university of pennsylvania Anthropology Department will attempt to extract dna from the remains. Forensic scientist arthur young is not involved, but tells us, as long as those remains were relatively protected, the anthropologists should be able to find usable samples in a remaining tooth or bone. And with that dna, a centuryold question can be answered once and for all was holmes execution his biggest swindle of all . Matt its going to be really exciting to find out. Rosemary joining me now is nbc10 Investigative Reporter george spencer. George has been on top of this story for months. You join us with some new developments, so whats the latest . George yeah, its been an interesting one, rosemary. This is a story thats attracted so much attention, you know . And since we first aired that story, people have kind of come out of the woodwork, and everybody with their own sort of connection to this story. Perhaps the most interesting, though, is thiswas this family we spoke to from south jersey who came forward, emailed us through our website, said, we actually have a family bible that was signed by h. H. Holmes, dated the day of his execution. This family bible has an inscription in it that appears to have been written by holmes right before he was led to the gallows. Their connection, as a philly family, longtime philly family, they have an ancestor who was a catholic priest, who apparently worked at the catholic parish thats directly around the corner from what was the site of the moyamensing prison, now that acme down in south philadelphia that a lot of people even shop at. So, he was this catholic priest, and they imagined that he ministered to a number of the inmates there at the moyamensing prison, you know, 100 plus years ago. And h. H. Holmes was just one of the prisoners that walked through there during his time, you know . Although he had this major connection to americasyou know, americas first serial killer, this major connection to a murder spree, and their relative who owned this bible originally probably ministered to holmes in his final days. Rosemary wow, so what does the inscription say . George the inscriptions is asking basicallysome of its hard to make out, which is sort of a fascinating element. Its a little different than other pieces of holmes handwriting that we saw, although it is quite clearly written by him. You kind of get the heaviness of his final days, even in the way hes writing there. But its a short inscription basically asking this priest to pray for his soul. You know, writing to thefather daley was his name, you know im going to be departing earth soon, in a matter of hours, you know, i pray thati ask that you pray for my eternal salvation. And so, imagine this south jersey family, theyre, of course, theyre cleaning out books from a deceased relative, and they come across this bible, they just think its a family bible. They open it up, theres some newspaper clippings inside, and they put two and two together, and they realize this is probably the final written word of americas first serial killer. Rosemary an incredible find, and what seems to be quite a departure from, obviously, his life. George right, you know, thats sort of what caught their attention was this narrative around holmes of being this remorseless serial killer. This is a guy who, as we mentioned in the story, confessed in a paid confession killing up to 27 people. No one knows exactly what the true number was, but this is a guy who went through his life, i mean, he was not only a killer, he was a swindler too, you know . He made money off of this lengthy career of killing people, insurance scams, all sorts of scams. So, he was seen as a pretty remorseless guy and a guy who lied up until the very end. So, theres a question of, you know, does this final request for forgiveness and this inscription in the bible, does that show he changed in his final hours, or was it yet another kind of lie to, you know, try and get the priest on his side right before hes taken to the gallows . Rosemary speaking of right before hes taken to the gallows, was he taken to the gallows . George the big question, right . So, thats the question thats being explored by his descendants right now, and its a question that, as of yet, we still dont have the answer to. The dna test that is intended to answer this fundamental question, did he swindle his way out of his own execution, we dont have those results yet, but thats obviously the question that everyone is still hanging on in terms of figuring out, how did this story actually end . Rosemary what else do we know about his personal life . Was he married . Did he have close family in philadelphia . George you know, he was seen as kind of a popular guy in the beginning, hard as it is to believe. When upon first meeting, he was one of those sort of charismatic type figures who was able to make friends quickly. Unfortunately, at least for many of the women in his life, it didnt end well, especially during his chicago period. These would be women who hed kind of charm on the front end of things, either romantically or ask them if they needed a job working at his, you know, his socalled murder hotel in chicago, offer them work. And, you know, so he was charismatic on the front end and started relationships with a number of the women who he later murdered. So, he did marry a couple of times, often, you know, trying to get money out of it ultimately. So, continuing sort of his reputation as a swindler. But he moved around the country, and he only really ended up in Philadelphia Running from his other scams, if that makes sense. Rosemary george, do not go anywhere. In just a minute, well be joined by writer matt lake. Matt edited a book of h. H. Holmes writings and journals. But first, tomorrow is memorial day. Of course, we cant forget that. How much do you know about this day of remembrance . Memorial day used to be called something else. Do you remember the original name . Find out if youre right when we come back. Rosemary before the break, we asked if you knew what memorial day was originally called. If you answered decoration day, you are right. Now, back to our discussion about the notorious h. H. Holmes. Hes been called americas first serial killer, tried and convicted right here in philadelphia. Joining me again is nbc10 Investigative Reporter george spencer, and local writer matt lake. Matt edited the book holmes a serial killer in his own words. Its a book of the writings, letters, and journals of h. H. Holmes. Matt, thanks for joining the conversation. Matt pleasure to be here. Rosemary so, matt, well start with you. The grandson of h. H. Holmes believes that he was jack the ripper, what do you believe . Matt well, jeff, mind you, hashe washes done a great deal of investigation into this. Hes dug up a lot of convincing arguments. Its really hard to tell. Its entirely possible. Hes made some very convincing arguments to that effect. There are other convincing arguments to the effect that when he mentions london, for example, when h. H. Holmes mentioned london, it could be london, ontario. He spent a lot of time in ontario. In fact, he committed two of his final murders there in toronto. So, you know, for every argument he makes, theres a counterargument. George its a pretty fabulous narrative, but there are a lot of questions i think you and i have talked about, matt, about how realistic it was, especially imagine this is not the day of plane travel, you know . This is in the, what, late 1800s, right . So, there are questions about how realistic it was somebody could have made it from chicago to london, committed all of these acts as jack the ripper in london, made it back to the United States. It would have been a pretty tight timeline, i think. Matt its true, his Stomping Ground really was the northeastern United States and into canada. So, it would be unusual for him to stray out. The timeline does work, it does work. But realistically, you know, this was his Stomping Grounds. Rosemary heres my question if hes going to sell his confession, i mean, youd seemingly want to sell a confession of 27 murders compared to 2 murders, correct . George right, and the question i think that also behind that is this, why sell your confession while youre in jail, right . What are you going to do with that money . And matt, i mean, i know you have ideas about it. This guy was a guy who liked money, matt, right . I mean, he was always, all of his crimes, even, i mean, we know him as a murderer, but he was a swindler kind of from the beginning. Matt thats right, yeah, he washe didnthe had no remorse about killing, but he didnt enjoy it. He enjoyed making money. Most of his murders were related to he would sign a deal, get peoples money off them, and then, you know, lets walk into this room here and have a celebratory drink. Hed slam the door and he would turn on the gas. Gassing was his modus operandi, airtight rooms where he would suffocate people so that it washe didnt have to get his hands dirty. He seemed to be that kind of a guy. After they died, he would render their skeletons down and sell their skeletons to doctors offices. George always making money. Matt its all about the cash. Rosemary so, in terms of this remorseful letter to the priest who gave him the bible, do you believe that he had a change of heart . Matt it reads very sincerely. He thanks father daley for all his work in saving him from eternal damnation. He asks father daley to pray for his soul after he died. But he was a people pleaser. Yeah, this is the kind of thing that would make father daley feel good about himself, and that was really what he did, with a profit motive usually. But it was force of habit. This manthis is default mode, lets charm people. Rosemary mmhmm, in terms of the family, the descendants of h. H. Holmes, have you gotten any sense of what they believe and why this is important to sort of, for lack of a better word, unearth matt this is breaking news, this part about the bible is, you know, so its been out in the air for about a week now. And so, im not sure that george the family just revealing that detail about having this bible and sort of the final artifact, thats very recent. I think in terms of Holmes Family and considering that theres definitelythere remains some financial incentive in all of this, wouldnt you say, matt . To bring the holmes storytheres tremendous interest in this story. And so, there is capitalizing on the possible narratives around whether or not he actually died, whether he might have been jack the ripper. Theres profit to be made in a story that has really captured peoples imaginations. Rosemary so, in terms of h. H. Holmes, as you put it, rendering down these skeletons and bodies, did he have any medical training, i mean . Matt he was, his original name was mudgett, a great name. But he was a medical doctor. He trained as mudgett as a medical doctor. And then he had many aliases, but he did most of his business as h. H. Holmes. And so, yeah, he was a trained doctor, he knew what he was doing. And part of the medical connection was that he would take out Life Insurance policies on people. And as a medical man, he had ways of getting cadavers. These were, you know, available for dissection practice and so forth. So, there was a lot of talk about him, you know, sort of killing peoplenot actually killing people, taking it, making Insurance Fraud, and then substituting another body. George andgo ahead, matt. Matt oh, i was going to say it was insurance scams that was his undoing. George that was his bread and butter, and thats finally what took him down in philadelphia was this insurance scam. What was it, 13th and callowhill, right . Where thats where he had his final office and committed the Insurance Fraud that really ended up taking him down. Rosemary george, whats next in this saga . George well, certainly, everybody wants to know the primary question that the family was after, was he actually buried in that gravesite . Did he somehow, you know, miraculously through some final swindle, swindle his way even out of execution . So, thats the question we will be following over the coming months. Rosemary george spencer, matt lake, thank you both for your work. And thanks for joining us, appreciate it. Both thank you. Rosemary now to our next memorial day quiz, how much do you know about the day we celebrate tomorrow . According to memorialday. Org, with the traditional observance, the u. S. Flag is raised, then solemnly lowered to halfstaff. How long should it remain there . All day, until noon, or until the end of the week . Find out if youre right when we come back. Rosemary before the break, we asked how long the flag should stay at halfstaff on memorial day. Is it all day, until noon, or until the end of the week . If you said until noon, youre right. Thats according to memorialday. Org. The demise of the union in the workplace may be overblown and overstated. While its true Union Membership has declined over the past 3 decades, the numbers year over year are down only slightly. The bureau of labor statistics reports less than a 1 dip from 2015 to 2016. And at least one union with membership in the philadelphia area is seeing some gains. Seiu, the Service Employees international union, is the largest Property ServiceWorkers Union in the country. Local 32 bj organized more than 2,000 janitors in the philadelphia suburbs and in delaware in 2006. In 2012, the union organized more than 2,800 Security Officers working in universities, hospitals, and commercial offices in philadelphia. And just this year, local 32 bj organized more than 1,400 subcontracted airport workers at philly international. Joining me now are gabe morgan, the Vice President of local 32 bj for pennsylvania and delaware, and derrell vereen gibbs, a union member who works as a Security Officer. Thank you both for being with us. So, gabe, tell us more about the diversity of your membership. Gabe morgan well, 32 bj, which is the Largest Private Sector Union in philadelphia, and as you said, the Largest Private Sector Union in the world, haswe have members who speak 17 languages. We represent the majority of workers who clean and maintain and Guard Buildings from providence, rhode island, all the way to northern virginia, and out west to pittsburg. So, were really a union that looks like americans look in cities throughout the northeast. Rosemary derrell, you are a Security Officer at a local university. How has being in the union impacted your life . Derrell gibbs being in the union is much better than not being in the union. I mean, wages, healthcare, a voice that allows for you to impact your future. I mean, its way better. Rosemary seiu has been very vocal, politically speaking, most recently during International Workers day on may 1. What did you hope to accomplish, and did you achieve that goal . Gabe you know, our goal, as always, is to try and figure out how to lift workers out of poverty, and how to make it so that folks who are working for a living can provide for themselves, provide for their family. And you know, that day and many other days like it have been about raising wages, protecting workers rights. And workers now in this country are facing an onslaught against those rights in a way that we really havent seen since our grandfathers or even greatgrandfathers time. So, one day doesnt make it, but were going to keep fighting until we win. Rosemary derrell, is the political activism of the union, is that something that drew you in, attracted you to it . Derrell not originally, but once you get involved, especially with 32 bj, theres no way you cannot be involved politically. Ive even gone throughthey have a program called the scla, which actually teach you how to be more politically involved, and then help that build your community. And were much about community. Rosemary do you think, though, it puts a target on your back, so to speak . Gabe i think that in this country, any worker whos making a decent living in the Service Sector on some level has a target on their back because the majority of americans working the Service Sector, which is the majority of americans, do not experience the kind of pay increases that working people used to experience. But the other thing id say isand i think the biggest point about 32 bj or seiu is that we understand that whether youre in a union or youre not in a union, all workers deserve to make a decent living. And so, we of course fight hard for our existing members, but our members also fight hard for their entire community. So we fight just as hard to raise the minimum wage or get paid sick days for everybody as we do to fight in our own jobs. Rosemary the strength, of course, of any union is the ability to strike. I mean, thats what makes unions very different from, you know, nonunionizedthe nonunionized workforce. Critics, of course, would argue that it disrupts the labor and it strains the future relationship between management and employees. How do you respond to that . Gabe you know, half of the city population of philly, working population, makes less than 15 an hour. All across the country, people are seeing their wages be suppressed as manufacturing jobs have gone away. People are going to work for huge multinational Service Sector companies that pay minimum wage or less. And so, the questions really not whether to strike or not strike. The question is, are American Workers going to have the rights to be able to fight to lift themselves out of poverty in the Service Sector just like, once upon a time, they were able to do in manufacturing . Rosemary in the beginning of this segment, we mentioned the new Union Membership that seiu has brought in over the past few years. Why do you think youve been able to mobilize people in this area . Gabe because i think workers in this country, if they have an opportunity to try and do something about their circumstances, will. And our experience has been, you know, thousands of philadelphians who clean buildings came together, fought to raise wages, thousands who Guard Buildings came together. Weve seen folks at the airport for 4 years, theyve seen their wages go from as little as 5 an hour to 12 an hour. So, i think what the big difference is is were really focused on those places where people work in the Service Sector. And when you fight, you win. Rosemary gabe morgan and derrell vereen gibbs, thank you so much for being with us, appreciate it. Both thank you. Rosemary thats it for this edition of nbc10 issue, thank you for joining us. On this memorial day weekend, we leave you with a moment to pause and remember the heroes who died defending our country and our freedom. Cc by aberdeen captioning 18006886621 abercap. Com health, is having the freedom to do what you want to do with your life, every single day. So at aetna, we promise to keep finding new ways to join you so nothing gets in your way. Because no matter where it is youre going, or whatever stage of life youre in. We believe that when it comes to health. You dont join us. We join you. 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