Benjamin Pitezel, a Caucasian male, was murdered on September 2, 1894, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, rather than Chicago, Illinois. He was 39 years old at the time of his death. Pitezel was an associate of the infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes, whose real name was Herman Webster Mudgett. Holmes had devised a fraudulent life insurance scheme in which Pitezel was supposed to fake his own death so that they could collect the insurance payout.
However, Holmes betrayed his accomplice and killed him instead.
Holmes murdered Pitezel by knocking him unconscious with chloroform and then setting his body on fire. The crime was part of Holmes' broader pattern of deception and murder, which included multiple victims. Following Pitezel’s death, Holmes also killed three of Pitezel’s children, further cementing his reputation as one of America’s most notorious criminals.
Holmes was eventually arrested in Boston in November 1894 after authorities uncovered his fraudulent activities and murders. He was convicted of Pitezel’s murder and sentenced to death. On May 7, 1896, Holmes was executed by hanging in Philadelphia. His crimes, particularly those committed in his infamous "Murder Castle" in Chicago, remain some of the most chilling in American history.
