Robber Helps Catch Killer

H. H. Holmes was America’s first known serial killer in the modern definition of the word. Holmes operated “the Murder Castle”, a Chicago hotel during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Holmes would eventually be convicted of sixteen murders but may have murdered more than 100 people during his operation of the hotel. What is less well known is that سینٹ. Louis Police Chief of Detectives William Desmond provided the information that led to Holmes’ capture.

Chief Desmond obtained the information due to his continuing contact with Marion Hedgepeth, a Western outlaw born in Missouri. Hedgepeth and his gang of three other men robbed a train in the Glendale area of St. Louis County on November 30, 1891.

Hedgepeth and his men met at 4244 Swan Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood of St. Louis to divide the money. The men then fled to California through Salt Lake City.

Desmond and his men found clues at the house, which was torn down before 1897. Desmond telegraphed several Western police departments. Hedgepeth and Adelbert Slye were returned to St. Louis for trial. The two other robbers were killed by Western policemen.

Chief Desmond obtained confessions from both men, who were convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in the Missouri penitentiary. Chief Desmond maintained a cordial acquaintance with Hedgepeth and Slye in attempt to gain more information about their activities. Marion Hedgepeth would provide more than Desmond ever expected.

While Hedgepeth was in the St. Louis jail for an appeal hearing, his cellmate was a house swindler named H. M. Howard. Howard approached Hedgepeth about an insurance swindle that he needed the services of a good local lawyer for and promised $500 to Hedgepeth for his assistance.

کچھ وقت, Howard, who was actually killer, thief and bigamist Herman Webster Mudgett aka H. H. Holmes, betrayed some of his Chicago activities to Hedgepeth. When Holmes failed to pay Hedgepeth the agreed upon $500, Hedgepeth reported Holmes conversation to Chief Desmond.

Chief Desmond wired to the Chicago Police, who discovered the remains of possibly hundreds of victims in the basement. Holmes killed mostly women but did kill a few men and children.

Pinkerton detectives trailed Holmes to Philadelphia, where he was arrested in 1894. Convicted of nine murders and five attempted murders, he was executed in Philadelphia on May 7, 1896.

For the information that he provided, Marion Hedgepeth was paroled by Governor Joe Folk in 1907 after serving 14 years of his 25 year sentence. Chief Desmond put in a good word for Hedgepeth with Governor Folk.

Like many criminals before and since, Hedgepeth could not go straight. During an attempted Chicago saloon robbery on New Years Eve 1909, a Chicago police officer shot and killed Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth was one of the fastest guns in Old West circles but age (54) and tuberculosis took its toll.

Chief Desmond continued to solve crimes in St. Louis but fewer would be bigger than the case of H. H. Holmes. I wonder why Hedgepeth helped him solve it. آپ کو کیا لگتا ہے?

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