Hi, it's Joe, and what you are about to hear is a sample of an episode from a new podcast I created

called True Crime Blueprint. Now, if you like it, it vibes with what you're looking for in a

true crime podcast, go over and subscribe to the new one. You can find links if you need them

in the episode notes of this episode. I'll be releasing weekly episodes there. Full deep dives,

no 10-minute restriction. So, again, if you like this new podcast and you want to hear the full

episode, it's very important that you search for, or go to the episode notes of this episode to find

the links for True Crime Blueprint. There's this assumption that serial killers are driven by compulsion,

by sexual sadism or rage or psychotic delusions, that they're fundamentally broken in a way that

makes them kill. But what if I told you about someone who started out as a straightforward

con artist, running insurance

scams and frauds, and sort of drifted into murder because it was more efficient than the

cons?

That's H.H. Holmes.

He had a business problem, and murder became his solution.

This is True Crime Blueprint.

Before we get into who Herman Webster Mudgeett became, we need to understand what he was trying to do.

This was 1880s America, and the country was building systems faster than it could secure them.

Life insurance is becoming standardized, but companies in different states don't talk to each other.

Railroads mean you can be in three different

cities in a week using three different names. The Postal Service is expanding, but there's no way

to verify who's actually sending these letters. Herman Mudgeett looked at all of this and saw

an opportunity. Opportunity to make money. When he enrolled at the University of Michigan Medical School in 1882,

...