Was serial killer H.H. Holmes also Jack the Ripper? His relative makes a case in Fort Myers

Jeff Mudgett learned the shocking truth at a family dinner: His great-great-grandfather was H.H. Holmes, the infamous con man and serial killer who operated a so-called “Murder Castle” during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Soon, Mudgett found himself diving deep into his “evil ancestry” and researching the murderer whose real name was Herman Webster Mudgett.

“When I learned of these terrible origins I have, I was quite passionate to determine how much of the H.H. Holmes story was true, and how much was legend and lore,” the Las Vegas resident says. “And that passion became an obsession.”

His obsession eventually led to yet another startling discovery — a handwriting analysis that Mudgett says proves Holmes and Jack the Ripper were actually the same person. He explored that evidence in his 2011 book “Bloodstains” and the 2017 History Channel documentary series “American Ripper.”

Now he’s doing it again in an 80-minute theatrical show at Fort Myers Theatre. And he’s hoping for an attentive, curious and even skeptical audience — especially for the Q&A session afterward.

After all, serial killers are a hot topic in American pop culture. And Holmes is considered to be the country’s first known one — confessing to at least 27 murders in his small Chicago hotel and some historians claiming as many as 200 (although he was only convicted and sentenced to death for one murder).

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Holmes and the World’s Fair also were the subject of Erik Larson’s 2003 historical non-fiction book “The Devil in the White City,” now being adapted into a Hulu TV miniseries starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Holmes.

“There are literally millions of people in this country that are fascinated with the man and the story,” Mudgett says.

That includes Lucy Sundby, executive director of new theater-production company Gold Theatricals, which plans to bring “out-of-the-box” theater to stages all over Southwest Florida. Mudgett’s “American Monster” is the company’s debut show.

It was Sundby, in fact, who pitched the idea of a Fort Myers show to Mudgett. She also produced "American Monster."

“I’m a big fan of weird and unusual serial killer stuff,” Sundby says and laughs. “I should’ve been a detective. I’m really into that kind of stuff. And I did watch ‘American Ripper’ on the History channel.”

Mudgett — a former attorney — says he looks forward to visiting Fort Myers and making his case to his audience.

“I’m going to treat the audience as my jury,” he says. “And we’re going to have them ask questions at the end of the show about their doubts and about their disagreements and any debates they want to have. I’m looking forward to that.”

“American Monster” plays Friday and Saturday, March 3-4 at Fort Myers Theatre. Here’s more from our interview with Mudgett:

You mentioned that people are obsessed with H.H. Holmes. And in general, people are obsessed with all serial killers. Any thoughts about why?

Wow. I guess you’ll have to pull in a Hollywood producer and have him share that answer.

But it’s a fascination because I think we’ve all pondered the possibilities and turned them off, thank God. … We want to be good people and not go that path.

Have you ever done a show like this before?

Years ago, I did a TED Talk on Holmes being Jack the Ripper. But this is a great opportunity for me, because I’m not limited to 17 minutes and I actually get to go through the evidence that I have — direct evidence that I could’ve used in a court of law back when I was practicing in California.

Tell me more about what you’ll be doing onstage in Fort Myers.

I’m going to describe Holmes. I’m going to describe the Ripper and the five victims. I’m going to explain to the audience the standards that the Supreme Court has come up with for evidence of this type — handwriting analysis comparison — which I think proves the point.

Any author that writes a book about Jack the Ripper is going to get attacked. That’s just the way it is. But none of them have had a piece of evidence like I have. I don’t think it’s been given a fair opportunity yet.

Tell me about the evidence you’ve found that prove Holmes and Jack the Ripper were the same person.

Sure. When I started writing the story about my great-great grandfather and what it was like suddenly discovering that evil ancestry — which quite frankly changed my life — I was approached by some incredible investigators who had for a long time theorized that Holmes was the Ripper, based on some handwriting comparisons they had with the famous "Dear Boss" letter (allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper to London’s Central News Agency in 1888).

Their expert opinions they’d received from graphologists made a direct match — not just something similar. But I knew that wasn’t enough. So I contacted scientists at the University of Buffalo and they agreed to run the comparison for me of the “Dear Boss” and Holmes’ handwriting, and they came up with some amazing numbers, which I’m going to share with the audience.

What’s some of your other evidence? I read that Holmes took a trip to London around the time of the Ripper killings. Is that right?

You know, we looked into that for a long time and we never could prove that he was actually in London at the time. But you’re dealing with an incredible criminal here who used 41 different aliases, who was never caught by any police in the United States or identified for committing the crimes he did.

You know how he was caught? He was caught by the life insurance company. They were finally fed up with him defrauding them … and they’re hired the Pinkerton detectives, the best in the world, who set everything else aside and tracked him down across the country, even into Canada, before they were finally able to gather enough material that they could walk the Massachusetts police through an arrest.

I know Holmes was trained as a surgeon, and there have been a lot of theories that Jack the Ripper was also one (due to the way the victims’ organs were removed).

I have a firm belief that Jack the Ripper’s been mischaracterized by history for over 135 years. And Scotland Yard even admitted that to me. … There was never just one man and the five victims. There was a copycat involved.

And like you say, the No. 4 (victim), Catherine Eddowes, had organs removed by someone who had anatomical knowledge, in my opinion. And removed cleanly, as Holmes would have been able to do having gone to the University of Michigan medical school.

Let’s talk about how you found out you were related to Holmes. I understand it happened at a family dinner.

I was about 40. I’d never heard anything about it before. My grandmother was into ancestry, and she’d hired a team of professionals to find out where we came from — and it came out different than she was hoping (laughs).

And the reaction we had watching my grandfather have this reveal at this family dinner was amazing, because it was obvious that he had known and had never told the rest of the family. We’re talking about his grandfather.

I started wondering about this thing. You start wondering about your own existence and realizing that the reason you’re here now was because of the conscious decisions of someone who many in America now are considering the leading suspect for deviltry.

We’re not talking about a psychotic here. We’re talking about a man who had a high IQ. We’re talking about a man whose most famous quote is he was born with the Devil in him, “and he’s been with me ever since.” A man who could’ve been anything he wanted to be in life — he was that intelligent — and instead he went this direction.

Why do you think Holmes did what he did?

That born evil thing, I think, is correct. I don’t believe he was psychotic. And that’s why I would like to see criminology and psychology use his life more as their method of predicting another in the future.

So basically you think he was just born evil. That’s the only explanation: He was evil.

Yeah. I think when they put “premeditated” on Wikipedia, his picture should be there. That’s the definition of the term.

− This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368.

If you go

What: “American Monster”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 3-4.

Where: Fort Myers Theatre, 16120 San Carlos Blvd., No. 5, south Fort Myers.

Tickets: $45

Info: goldentertainment.us/gold-theatricals or ftmyerstheatre.com

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Serial killers Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes: The same person?