EPISODE 8: THE EXECUTION ## CHAPTER 1: THE FINAL DAYS H.H. Holmes spent his last week alive in his cell at Moyamensing Prison. He was a model prisoner—polite to guards, cooperative with clergy, seemingly at peace with his fate. If anything, he seemed almost relieved. The game was over. The running had stopped. Whatever came next, at least it would be certain. He wrote letters—to his mother, to his wives, to lawyers and journalists and anyone who might preserve his memory. He dictated a final autobiography, mixing fact with fiction as he always had. "I have been so misjudged," he wrote. "The world believes me a monster. Perhaps I was. But I was also a man, with a man's hopes and fears." --- ## CHAPTER 2: THE REQUESTS Holmes made several requests for his execution. The Burial His primary concern was his body. Holmes had seen what could be done with corpses—he'd done much of it himself. He feared that medical students or curiosity seekers would exhume his remains, that his body would be dissected as he had dissected so many others. "I wish to be buried in cement," he specified. "Covered entirely, so that no one can disturb my rest." The request would be honored. The Witnesses Holmes asked that certain people be barred from witnessing his execution....