History’s eight-part limited series American Ripper debuts Tuesday, July 11. The series posits that American serial killer H.H. Holmes and British killer Jack the Ripper were, in fact, the same person. Jeff Mudgett, great-great-grandson of H.H. Holmes, leads an investigation that secured permission to exhume the presumed body of H.H. Holmes for DNA testing to determine whether he escaped his own execution and perhaps led a second secret life.
Holmes was also known as Herman Webster Mudgett. He was born in 1861 in New Hampshire. He confessed to 27 murders but is believed to have been involved in dozens more. He was executed in 1896.
According to History, “From the moment 20 years ago when Mudgett’s world was shaken at the revelation that he was the descendant of H.H. Holmes, he became obsessed with acquiring information about his ancestor.” A retired attorney, he has partnered with former CIA criminologist, Amaryllis Fox, to launch a deeper investigation.
American Ripper is produced for History by Magilla Entertainment. Matthew Ostrom, Laura Palumbo Johnson and Jason Fox are executive producers for Magilla Entertainment. Kristen Burns and Sean Boyle are executive producers for History.
