Body of 19th century serial killer Dr H.H. Holmes to be exhumed to quash rumours he escaped the noose

The body of a 19th century serial killer is being exhumed in suburban Philadelphia at the request of his great-grandchildren, who hope identifying his remains will quell centuries-old rumours that he conned his way out of his execution and escaped from prison.

A Delaware County judge gave the go-ahead to exhume the remains of Dr. H. H. Holmes in a court order dated March 9. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which owns Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon where the body was located, confirmed the exhumation was to take place but it wasn’t immediately clear when the process started. WCAU-TV in Philadelphia showed footage for a front-end loader removing dirt from a grave at Holy Cross Cemetery on Friday.

Holmes, the pseudonym of New Hampshire-born physician Herman Webster Mudgett, killed an undetermined number people at his hotel of horrors during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The so-called “murder castle” featured a bizarre labyrinth of windowless rooms, secret passageways, false floors, trapdoors, and a vault. Most of the rooms had gas vents, which were controlled from Mudgett’s bedroom. Many of the rooms were soundproof and could only be locked from the outside.

He confessed to 27 alleged killings. But it was the murder of his business partner in Philadelphia that led to his conviction and hanging in 1896.

The exhumation and DNA analysis will be performed by the Anthropology Department at the University of Pennsylvania. The great-grandchildren — John and Richard Mudgett and Cynthia Mudgett Soriano, all of California — submitted DNA samples to the university, according to their petition seeking the exhumation.

Judge Chad Kenney’s order states that the remains are to be re-interred in the same grave after testing, whether or not they belong to Holmes.