Whitechapel Season 2
Right after the nerve wracking events of the first season the team is faced with another set of mysterious deaths. A series of murders is linked with the acts of twin mobsters from decades ago. With plenty of clues and tons of circumstantial evidence the team is able to attribute the murders to the Krays. But they’ve been dead for decades. Or are they?
DI Chandler and his team dig into the archives to understand a new set of murders and go back to the original crime scenes. Everything is happening again, but how can they pin the murder on a suspect when they can tell them apart?
This series has a whole set of interesting twists and turns and brings up crimes from the past to help predict the future. The team is still at odds over the Jack the Ripper copycat and tensions run high as the whole department is put on notice to perform or there will be consequences.
Again, this is a pretty interesting story that makes you wonder how the team is going to catch a suspect. We also see Chandler starting to come unglued as his OCD starts to get the better of him. Crimes scenes make him uneasy and dirty and the rest of the team wonders if he’s still fit to lead. Plus, Ripperologist, Miles is back with historical documentation the team needs to follow or else there will be more bodies. But of course, everyone thinks he a quack, except for Chandler. But everyone thinks he’s a quack too.
If you like a drama that actually focuses on the story and how they solve crimes without computer technology that doesn’t exist (CSI) then you will have fun with this. The story can be a little confusing, but if you pay attention it’s quite thrilling. It’s a slow build. Nothing is solved in the first 45 minutes. And again you have to wonder if some of the cops are working for the other side.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Whitechapel Season 3
- Whitechapel Series 1
- Whitechapel Season 4
- From Hell – Rating 3 out of 5
- The Raven – John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe
- Dr. H. H. Holmes and The Whitechapel Ripper – A Review
- Paranormal Cops Series Finale?
- Lizzie Borden Took An Ax – Prequel to the Lizzie Borden Chronicles
- Haunted History – The Torso Murders – S01E06
- Paranormal Cops- Messages from Beyond – S01E06
Ghost Adventures – The Pioneer Saloon – S08E01
It’s a brand new season of Ghost Adventures and I have to admit, I approach this with a lot of trepidation. I haven’t been that impressed with a lot of their previous episodes. The reenactment theatres are really wearing thing and the overly dramatic way they present their evidence shows desperation. It’s even more blatant that they feel a place is haunted before they even get there. You know, not everything is a portal to darkness or a gateway to the other side. Sometimes a hole is simply a hole and a hole in the wall is a hole in the wall. Even though I’m a bit late on checking out the season premiere, I did just that. And unfortunately, some things never change.
For this episode, Zak, Nick and Aaron head off to the Pioneer Mine in Goodsprings, Nevada. It’s the oldest running saloon, built in 1913 as a mining town. As expected there were plenty of gunfights, prostitutes and stories of woe and sadness.
A card game got out of hand one night and Paul Coski, a cheater, ended up paying with his life. If you’ve ever visited one of these town, like Tombstone, for example, cheating at cards was about the worst thing you could do. I think kicking puppies and kittens was considered a minor offense in comparison. Well, Paul ended up getting shot multiple times and left for dead on the saloon floor. Some people say his spirit is still there.
And then we have the story of Carol Lombard, siren of the silver screen and wife of Clark Gable, who sadly died in a plane crash just a few miles from the saloon. In a miscalculation of altitude, the plane didn’t clear the mountain range and all 22 passengers on board died. The saloon was set up as a makeshift base of operations and the bodies of the dead were actually brought back there. Clark Gable waited at the saloon for news of his wife. It is believe the spirit of Jane Lombard lingers in the saloon. But to contact her, you need to address her by her real name, Jane Alice Peter. Noel Sheckells, the owner of the saloon, says who women asked for her by name and got the answer of "yes" as a response.
Some of the other paranormal experiences include the shadow of a man in cowboy hat, lingering smoke as well as voices. On the surface it doesn’t sound like much and a great many things sound like either wishful thinking or the types of noises you would expect from a hundred year old building. But as we get deeper, I have to admit, those EVPs are pretty impressive for once.
But as we get all the details and back story, those incredibly over used, overly dramatic scenes of blood on the floor, a head vibrating back and forth and other dramatizations to instill that sense of foreboding came out. Please, just stop. It’s frustrating and to me just cheapens the whole thing. Let the story speak for itself, stop the flowing blood imagery and scenes out of a horror movie. No, it doesn’t scare me in the slightest, it just looks plain stupid. And you wonder why no one takes paranormal investigations seriously? How about you take yourselves and the subject matter seriously first.
Zak and Aaron check out the saloon with the owner Noel Sheckells looking for answers about the female crying. They get the response of "Ruby" not Carol or Jane Alice as they were expecting. And when asked how many spirits were there, she quickly gives the reply of two. When asked if Paul was there, the cheater at cards, she indicated "I think so" and "he’s here". These came quite quickly, were short and noticeably clear. So many of their other EVPs are a garbled mess, but these were easily distinguished. This is the first time I would agree with their analysis of what they heard. Who knows who Ruby actually is, but it really does sound like they made contact with her. Is she the one crying? That wasn’t caught. Was she killed by Paul? That would be total speculation. Was she one of the 250 prostitutes brought into town? Again, nothing but a guess. But it does sound like some poor woman is there and may be in distress.
As for other evidence, there are two "linear type anomalies" which to me look like crickets flying around, but Zak swears up and down they have debunked these as bugs, even though we can clearly hear crickets as they try to talk to Paul at the poker table.
And speaking of Paul, they set up a Rem Pod and bring out some drinks to try and talk to Paul. And perhaps it worked since the pod goes off and they get a very clear "whiskey" as to what he was drinking the night he died. It comes several minutes after the question, but the word is still distinct. This might not be Paul and it may not be an answer. It might be some other spirit wanting a taste of the whiskey Zak is holding.
Some other curious EVPs are caught when Zak asks the question, "how many bodies are buried or were thrown in the mineshaft under the saloon. They get a pretty distinct answer of "nine". Are there really nine bodies buried under the saloon? Are they victims of murder or is there something far less sinister to the story? Unfortunately, that’s the only answer we get.
While Zak and Aaron was investigating the saloon, Nick and Billy head off to the Belle Mine since there are claim of activity out there. Of course, the "noises" the owner hears sound more like the sounds of animals, creaking support beams and falling rocks. But the lads go for a look anyway. For the most part they simply risk their lives as they go down 300 feet worth of mineshafts. They hear some noises, but nothing really comes across as unexplained.
The most compelling thing about this episode where the EVPs and I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that. Unlike the hundreds of others that have been offered up, these actually made sense to me. They were clear, didn’t squeak or squelch and gave an actual answer we could understand. I think this may be the first time they really captured something. Who knows what it is, since I don’t think it’s Carol Lombard or the card cheat Paul, but it does sound like they’ve got a hold of someone…
There is already another show out, I wonder if that evidence is as good as what they present in this one. Minus the "linear type anomaly".
Other Articles of Interest:
- Ghost Adventures – Palace Saloon – S13E03
- Ghost Adventures – S08E09 – Mustang Ranch
- Ghost Adventures – Palmer House Hotel – S07E04
- Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07
- Ghost Adventures – Black Moon Manor – S07E05
- Ghost Adventures – Eureka Mining Town – S15E14
- Ghost Adventures – Return to Linda Vista Hospital – S06E05
- Ghost Adventures – Bannack Ghost Town – S09E04
- Ghost Adventures – Samaritan Cult House – S14E03
- Ghost Hunters International – Port Arthur Penitentiary – S02E10
Whitechapel Series 1
History is repeating itself as bodies start turning up, murdered in the same style as Jack the Ripper. The local police force is baffled and can’t bring themselves to accept a copycat murder. But they have more problems as they clash with their new Detective Inspector who doesn’t think they look, act or even smell real policemen. How can they solve crimes when they lack discipline and hygiene?
So begins Whitechapel, where Detective Inspector Chandler is put in charge of a group of men who don’t want him around. His obsessive compulsive habits go against their disorder and chaos. But they’re forced to work together as they race to find clues or even a suspect.
Whitechapel is quite interesting in that it focuses on the police force and how they deal with trying to solve the crime. What do they do when they have no evidence? How do they move forward when everyone is saying Jack the Ripper is back?
Going outside the lines they consult a Ripperologist who enlightens them on the crime urges them to take the mythology seriously. What follows is a group of men who can’t work together chasing after a killer they can’t identify.
And it works very well. Everyone comes across as a suspect. So many people seem to have an ulterior motive. Even when it looks like they’re on top of the murders and have the location picked out, it still happens right under their noses. Who’s the mole in the force? Is Jack the Ripper wandering among them?
Even though it’s only three episodes it’s a very well written and well executed story that will make jump up to play the next one in the series. I watched these through Amazon and found it to be very enjoyable. As with most BBC productions, the grim nature of the content is implied and they don’t dwell on the gore at least not visually. They consult the Ripper lore and go into details about the murders, but you want see the streets or the screen running with blood.
The original murders are detailed and the original crime scene photos are put up on the board so they can compare with modern day events. Even the alternate theories are explained and tested. There is plenty of history with modern day drama.
If you have an Amazon Prime account you can watch the series for free or you can pay a mere $2.99 to watch all three episodes. That’s about the cost of a bottle soda these days isn’t it?
Each episode is around 45 minutes and will keep you guessing until the end, because after all, Jack the Ripper was never caught was he….?
Other Articles of Interest:
- Ripper Street – I Need Light – S01E01
- Whitechapel Season 2
- From Hell – Rating 3 out of 5
- Whitechapel Season 3
- Dr. H. H. Holmes and The Whitechapel Ripper – A Review
- Aaron Kosminski Named as Jack the Ripper Through DNA Evidence
- Jack the Ripper ‘was invented to win newspaper war’
- Killer Contact – Jack the Ripper – S01E01
- Murder Maps–Life and Crime in London
- The Hunt for Jack the Ripper
The Murder Hotel of H. H. Holmes
In 1995 a New Jersey collector buys a set of 100 year old wax cylinders, one of the first mediums used for recording sound. What he discovers is a voice admitted to the murder and torture of multiple people. His investigation reveals this is the story of H. H. Holmes the infamous and perhaps first serial killer in the United States. A man who dug up graves and sold body parts for money and ultimately built his Murder Castle in Chicago. What we have in this investigation is a slight different take on the Holmes story with some new and interesting interviews.
The story starts with Holmes becoming a medical student. He used the money and influence from his first wife to get into medical school, then left her shortly thereafter. His daily routine was to dissect and catalog bodies. It’s not hard to imagine he no longer saw a value in human beings. They were simply a commodity. It was also during this time he was introduced into the racket of getting corpses and selling the skeletons to the medical school. He learned this from the school janitor who had access to all parts of the college and was easily influenced. From here Holmes made a very tidy profit of digging up graves and selling the parts.
From the selling of bodies he moved to insurance fraud. He came up with the idea to fake his own death and collect the insurance with a friend. His brilliant planned turned to frustration as he couldn’t find the right body. Strangely, the event turned him to thoughts of suicide and he was sent to an asylum. While locked away he revises his plan and comes up with something new. He gets his friend to take out an insurance policy and Holmes kills him for real to collect $20,000. This is the money he uses to head to Chicago.
Holmes is able to buy property and establish himself. He starts off with the chemist shop then has grand ideas of building his hotel. From the day the first bricks are laid this will be a house of murder. The chutes, trap doors and dead end hallways weren’t added later, the castle was built from the ground up with those in mind. Holmes knew what he was doing and knew he was going to murder a lot of people.
Holmes performs a series of swindles and profits huge amounts of money from them. Between the chemist shop, the previous insurance fraud and the money from selling skeletons, he’s a very wealthy man. But it’s not enough and Holmes keeps pushing forward to earn yet more money and swindle even more people. It seems to me he took this as a game. He enjoyed taking advantage of people. It was a thrill and a sport to use his charms and power of persuasion to get what he wanted.
Unlike popular belief, Holmes enjoyed the company of women and seemed to relish in the idea of seducing them. He had many lovers, had multiple children and was even married multiple times. Whether or not his sexual gratification came from brining harm to these woman isn’t quite known, but he had multiple affairs and even set up a ladies employment agency so he could find new female talent. But not all the women gave in to his charms. He was rejected a few times and one of those women, Emilline Segrand ended up getting gassed in his vault. It’s believed her footprint is seared onto the door of the vault.
Holmes also killed Minnie William, an heiress from Texas with $50,000 worth of land in Texas. He carried on relationships with Minnie and her sister. Both women ended up dead, but Holmes didn’t get a stake of that Texas land.
As the Columbian Exposition or World’s Fair gets underway, Holmes is ready with his hotel. He’s able to get dozens of guests onto the grounds and because of the secret passage ways and chutes is able to kill without anyone noticing. Holmes goes so far that he has a surplus of bodies laying around. The bodies are even crated up and waiting to be shipped out when the police come to discuss his many outstanding debts around town.
It’s unclear how long Holmes could have gotten away with work, but it was his insurance fraud of Benjamin Pietzel (Pitezel) that caused his downfall. Holmes set up yet another insurance scam to substitute a body for Ben and they would split the money. Holmes simply went ahead and killed Ben to collect the money. From there he tries to keep Pietzel’s wife placated by telling her Ben is in hiding and works to take her to him. This is the cross country flight from justice that leads to many of the Pietzel children being killed.
What is interesting, and something we haven’t seen before is the great-grandchildren of Benjamin Pietzel. They have followed the trail of Holmes in order to bring closure into their lives. Like Jeff Mudgett who is trying to make sense of his family tree, the Pietzel’s are trying to understand the events that lead up to the murder. And it was by sheer accident, coincidence or perhaps good fortune that their grandfather was spared. He was the baby of the family and while his brother’s and sister’s met with a terrible end, he was left alone. It’s sort of easy to forget that Pietzel was ultimately victim in all this too. He met a horrible end by being tied up, doused with benzene and set on fire. He was burned alive.
When Holmes was caught it was because of insurance fraud, not murder and investigators knew nothing of the Murder Castle, Ben Pietzel or the children he was whisking around the country. He was even held in conjunction with horse theft in Texas, but nothing ever came out about murder. All of that came to light much later and the letters the children wrote, which Homes kept, allowed Geyer to ultimately track them down and charge him with a single murder.
It seems more and more evidence is coming to light about Holmes. But as it does, it seems the story gets more cloudy. Holmes was a murderer, but how many people did he actually kill? Was it just Ben Pietzel and Emiline Segrand or did he really use the Castle as a murder factory? Is the body count closer to 200 or perhaps even higher? And what of his multiple confessions? Did he exaggerate to make a name for himself in history? Did he want to burn bright for decades to come rather than just fading away? And is there a link between Holmes and Jack the Ripper? The handwriting samples supplied by Mudgett suggest there is. It’s also stated that Holmes was out of Chicago during the time of the murders? Was he in London? Does that explain why the killer wasn’t caught?
This story just keeps getting deeper and deeper. And I think more people are on the trail of discovery. The remnants of Holmes still linger and we can still track them. The site of his Castle still exists. His diary has been uncovered. The grandchildren of his victims are speaking out. I wonder where this story will take us from here?
Oh, and by the way, I don’t believe for a moment that the voice on the cylinder is actually the voice of Holmes. The chances of that are slim to none. Rather, I’m sure that’s a voice actor reading the confession Holmes was paid to write.
H.H. Holmes – Serial Killer – Murder Hotel
3D View of the Murder Castle
H.H. Holmes on Wikipedia
Other Articles of Interest:
- The Dark Life of H.H. Holmes
- Haunted History Season 1, Ep. 3 "Murder Castle"
- Martina Cole’s Ladykillers
- Bloodstains – Jeff Mudgett
- H.H. Holmes to be exhumed
- Dr. H. H. Holmes and The Whitechapel Ripper – A Review
- Ryan Buell arrested and facing criminal charges
- Bloodstains – The Analysis
- The Devil in White City
- Holmes Own Story
Recent Comments