7. Holmes tried and failed to fake his own death
With the assistance of St. Louis attorney Jeptha Howe, with whom Holmes planned to split the money, Holmes created a scheme through which his own death would be faked, using a cadaver which Holmes planned to disfigure by burning it, after which he would travel to his Fort Worth property under another name. Accordingly Holmes purchased a $10,000 life insurance policy on himself, with Howe as the beneficiary, in preparation for the scheme. The plan was executed, the claim was filed, and the insurance company refused to honor the claim. Aware that Howe’s law partner was his older brother and was not part of the scheme, Holmes decided not proceed with legal pursuit of the claim, and instead came up with a modified scheme including Howe and Benjamin Pitezel.
The new plan featured Pitezel setting himself up as a Philadelphia chemist, who would be killed in a lab explosion, leaving his body too disfigured for reliable identification. Holmes would again provide a cadaver suitable to the scheme and the insurance payment would be made to Pitezel’s widow, who would then split it with Holmes and Howe. Pitezel traveled to Philadelphia under an assumed name and rented an appropriate space. Shortly after Pitezel arrived in the city Holmes visited with his partner’s wife and announced a modification to the plan, to which she acceded. Whether Howe knew of the new plan has never been fully established, but when Holmes went to Philadelphia to execute the scheme, he did not bring along a cadaver.