Really Wikipedia?
They technically only pinned a single murder on Holmes. Ironically, it was his accomplice. The count of 9 are the only ones that have a paper trail.
He claimed 27, but some of those he said he killed were still alive. He was just fucking with the police, which if you read about him fits his character. Although, he later admitted to 130.
Technology and police methods at the time meant we'll never know for certain, but it was a lot.
The reason his official number is so low is because they really didn't give a shit or have the know how back then. That's why speculation later has pushed his numbers higher as people learned more about what he was up to and whatnot.
He ran a hotel during the Chicago World Fair where people checked in, but never checked out. He posted ads, like ancient Tinder, looking for wives from different states and several bit. You know how many women went missing in Chicago during that time period?
He would kill people, then file insurance claims on them and collect. He did this throughout his adult life. Think about this for a bit. How fucking easy was it to commit murder back then? they can't even track these because paperwork was so bad and Holmes would file under different names.
His murder castle was elaborate with multiple rooms providing various means of torture and death. Not to mention alarms and dead end passages to confuse those who might try and escape. He also had a massive furnace and lye vats. The police believed he could have killed as many as 200 people, but they'll never know as it was impossible to count victims in that era combined with the furnace and lye. Some researchers believe it could have been more.
You like podcasts right? Listen to Timesuck with Dan Cummins - Episode 25. It's all about H.H. Holmes. Cummins is a stand up comic who does the podcast on the side to engage his inquisitive side, and he does all the deep dive research for each episode. He'll tell you who believes what and doesn't ever really pick sides unless there's conclusive evidence.
Side note: Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to play Holmes in a movie.
