Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in Norway, Belle Gunness moved to the United States in 1881 at the age of 22. Edward Bechly, a journalist, was given a secret assignment to acquire access to a confession and publish it, thus bringing a second, inconsistent Lamphere account to light. [26], In 2017, true crime podcast My Favorite Murder performed and later released a live episode detailing Gunness' crimes. All Rights Reserved. On April 28, 1908, a fire destroyed a family farm near La Porte, Indiana. Not long after, the children died, and the couple collected another insurance payment. The powerful 48-year-old woman would then carry the body to the basement, where she most often dissected it, bundled the remains, and then buried them in the hog pen. Neighbors described the 200-pound Gunness as a rugged woman who was also incredibly strong. She wanted the ground made level, so he filled in the depressions. Although her farmhouse burned down in April 1908, seemingly with her inside, some believe that Gunness slipped away perhaps to kill again. Jennies body would later be found buried on her adoptive mothers property. Belle Gunness was one of the first "Black Widows" and became a prolific serial killer. That tale is even more frightening. Hunting Humans: The Rise of Modern Multiple Murder examined the _____ _____ of serial murders. Concurrently, Gunness had begun to develop problems with a farmhand named Ray Lamphere. At the time, Gunness did not mention that she was pregnant, despite the possibility that it might have inspired sympathy, and in May 1903, Gunness gave birth to a son she named Phillip. Olaf Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant from Carroll. [12] Despite the initial success with the identification of Andrew Helgelien, and despite the fact that widening news coverage of the mass murders invited inquiries from families with men that had gone missing, "[m]ost of the remains could not be identified. There, Gunness met her first known victim her husband, Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, whom she married in 1884. But did Lamphere actually cause the fire? [1] Gunness is thought to have killed at least fourteen people, most of whom were men she enticed to visit her rural Indiana property through personal advertisements, while some sources speculate her involvement in as many as forty murders. Even DNA tests that were done decades later from envelopes that Gunness licked were unable to definitively answer if she had died in the fire. Gunness collected money from both the expiring life insurance policy, and the one that went into effect that day, making a total of $5,000. Gunness, according to Lamphere, had drugged the woman, then bashed in her head. But once the tide turns away from Belle Sorensen of Gunness. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it. And before long, the widowed Gunness was a widow no longer. Though estimates vary widely, Belle Gunness is believed to have killed at least a dozen people (and possibly upwards of 40) between 1884 and . [7], Peter died eight months later due to a skull injury. The district coroner reviewed the case, unequivocally announced that he had been murdered, and convened a coroners jury to look into the matter. What's more, Gunness simply vanished off the face of the earth at the same time her crimes came to light. In 1877, Gunness attended a country dance while pregnant. How did Belle Gunness Kill Her Victims? She changed her name to Bella Petersen and worked for a time as a servant girl before getting . And did Gunness really die in the farmhouse disaster? socioeconomic status. He disappeared from her farm within a week of his arrival. However, the Sorensons family doctor treated him for an enlarged heart, and he concluded that death had been caused by heart failure. When first interrogated as to his whereabouts on the night of the fire, Lamphere claimed that he was in the company of an [African-American woman] named Mrs. Elizabeth Smith until 4 a.m., or one-half hour after the fire started, but he subsequently confessed that he burned the . Ray Lamphere, Gunness's hired hand, was arrested for murder and arson on May 22, 1908. But no one at the time chalked it up to anything but a tragic coincidence. Belle also began. [citation needed] The second account is based on the report that Lamphere contacted a Reverend Edwin Schell and provided him with a verbal confession that Schell transcribed and had Lamphere sign, a document that Schell kept sealed in his personal safe. She killed most of her suitors But many couldnt help but notice that she bore a striking resemblance to Gunness and even had a photograph of kids who looked a lot like Gunness children. In addition to three . Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway, Brynhild was the youngest daughter of eight children born of stonemason, Paul Pedersen Strseth, and Berit Olsdatter. In response to her letter, Helgelien rushed to her side in January 1908. As they began turning the earth, they found four bodies- skillfully sliced apart and wrapped in oilcloth. Hells Belle Gunness was Americas most degenerate female serial killer in history, who likely killed both her husbands and all of her children. She married her first husband, Mads Sorenson, three years later in 1884. . Soon enough, Gunness was depositing checks brought by her suitors, while the lovelorn men were never heard from again. He opened the hall door to a sheet of flames and screamed Gunnesss name and those of her children but got no response. Belle Gunness, the twice-widowed Norwegian American who placed the ad, was a murderer for profit. In December 1902, Peter himself met with a tragic accident. According to Belle, he was struck on the head when a sausage-grinding machine had toppled off a high shelf in the kitchen. Ay like music at home, she supposedly said, by way of explanation. Leliter, telling him she feared for her life and her children. My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. 35: Belle Gunness. She was confirmed at the Church of Norway in 1874. [7] She moved to the United States in 1881. Gunness married her first husband shortly after moving to America, but he died under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind a sizable life insurance policy. Who Was Belle Gunness? The family of one of Belle's victims gave Nawrocki and his team an envelope sent from the LaPorte . He had with him $1,000 from an insurance company and had borrowed money from several investors. A well-built woman with six feet height and over 90 90 kg, Belle immigrated to the US in 1881. She wanted something more and soon began to look for new suitors by inserting the following advertisement in the lovelorn column of newspapers in large midwestern cities: Personal Comely widow who owns a large farm in one of the finest districts in La Porte County, Indiana, desires to make the acquaintance of a gentleman equally well provided, with view of joining fortunes. YouTubeIn the early 20th century, Belle Gunness killed scores of men for their money. Wikimedia CommonsBelle Gunness with her children: Lucy Sorenson, Myrtle Sorenson, and Philip Gunness. [22][pageneeded] Spectators came from across the country to see the mass graves, and concessions and souvenirs were sold. In her letters, Gunness had asked her mark to bring all of his money and not tell anyone what he was up to. Meanwhile, neighbors noted that Gunness had begun to spend an unusual amount of time at her hog pen at night. A few weeks later, a reverend came forward with Lampheres confession before he died. An unknown man and woman are alleged to have disappeared in September 1906, the same night Jennie Olson went missing. But they could identify Jennie Olsen Gunness foster daughter who had left for California. And it soon became clear that Gunness was behind some horrific crimes. He also swore to the reverend, as well as a fellow convict, that he had not murdered anyone. An autopsy was considered unnecessary because the death was not thought suspicious. Three were identified as her foster children. However, a neighborhood boy said he had seen Lamphere running down the road from the Gunness house just before the structure erupted in flames. Belle Gunness was known as many things: the "Female Bluebeard," the "High-Priestess of Murder," the "Mistress of the Castle of Death," the "Queen of Crime," and "Hell's Princess." . You wish to know where your brother keeps himself, Gunness wrote to Asle. BLACK WIDOW: Belle Gunness, from Selbu, Norway, is infamous as America's first woman serial killer. It was claimed that her head was decapitated and her home set on fire. We shall be so happy when you once get here, Gunness purred in one letter. Story by Thomas Duke, 1910 . However, Gunness successfully convinced the investigators that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. He admitted to a fellow inmate that he and Gunness had killed 42 men together. Neighbors gossiped about the babies, since Gunness never appeared to be pregnant. The idea that the decapitated body belonged to Gunness was called into question, and a farmhand/accomplice claimed that the alleged murderer had taken the money she'd fleeced from her victims and vanished. He never returned for his belongings, nor did he ever speak to Gunness again. What's even more terrifying is that Gunness was never properly caught or discovered. Belle Gunness may or may not be one of America's most prolific serial killers. [30] It was published in the UK with the title Triflers need not apply [31]. He slammed the door and then, in his underwear, leaped from the second-story window, barely surviving the fire that was closing in around him. Little is known about her early life. He had romantic feelings for Gunness and resented all the men that showed up at her property. Norwegian born Belle Gunness immigrated to the U.S. in 1881. La Porte County Historical Society MuseumInvestigators search for more bodies on Belle Gunnesss farm after the initial discoveries in 1908. One man, George Anderson, managed to escape with his life when he realized Gunness had murder on her mind. [21], After Gunness' crimes came to light, the Gunness farm became a tourist attraction. There, Gunness met her first known victim: her husband, Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, whom she married in 1884. Curiously, the corpse itself seemed to be much too small to be hers. She made her home in Chicago and started working as a maid. After murdering her two husbands, the Norwegian-American woman posted ads in the paper looking for men to invest in her farm. [7], Her criminal activities came to light in April 1908, when the Gunness farmhouse in La Porte, Indiana burned to He moved to La Porte, Indiana on January 3, 1908 to be with Belle Gunness. Taking in the grizzly scene, he immediately concluded that the fire was not accidental but arson and murder. Feeling terrified and uncomfortable, Anderson believed that Gunness intended to murder him. Her suitors were her next victims, each of whom brought cash to her farm and then disappeared forever: John Moo, Henry Gurholdt, Olaf Svenherud, Ole B. Budsburg, Olaf Lindbloom, Andrew Hegelein, to name just a few. She was raised on a small farm in Innbygda, Norway, and grew up to be a physically very strong woman, standing 5 9 tall and weighing over 200 pounds. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with a personal visit. Belle Gunness's First Husband. However, there was a rather glaring problem with their conclusion: the body of the adult was headless not something that generally happens in a fire. The 100-Year Mystery Of "Lady Bluebeard". Soon enough, the shop burned down, and the couple collected a nice insurance payment. Over 40 victims had been found, including lovers, her husbands, and even her own children. Belle Gunness, also known as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strset, was a Norwegian-American serial killer who operated in Illinois and Indiana from 1884 until 1908. When they failed to hear from him after that, the family contacted Gunness. Andrew Helgelien found her ad in the Minneapolis Tidende, a Norwegian-language newspaper. Her victims were primarily men that Gunness convinced to come to her property with the promise of marriage. Chares Neiburg, a 28-year-old Scandinavian immigrant living in Philadelphia, told friends that he would visit Gunness in June 1906 and never returned he had been working for a saloon keeper and took $500 with him. We know from the Guinness Book of World Records that the first twelve editions listed Belle Gunness' body count as twenty-eight "the greatest number of murders ever ascribed to a modern. She kept his trunk and fur overcoat. However, by the time anyone suspected Gunness in their deaths, they'd been dead for decades and their suspected murderer had vanished. She may have killed both of her husbands and all of her children (on different occasions), but she is known to have killed . Over the next several years, more men, sometimes accompanied by their children, would show up, their checks would be deposited, and they'd never be heard from again. Although he almost left, Helgelien became convinced that he couldnt do so without looking harder for Andrew. We will be all alone with each other. Most of the remains found on the property could not be identified. To outsiders, Belle Gunness might have looked like a lonely widow who lived in the American Midwest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first doctor to see him thought he had suffered from strychnine poisoning. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. But, for one reason or another, Gunness decided to emigrate from Selbu to Chicago in 1881. Ray was deeply in love with Gunness and performed any chore for her, no matter how gruesome. Then, Peter also died. After travelling to La Porte, Gurholt wrote his family, saying that he liked the farm, was in good health, and requesting that they send him seed potatoes. Gunness claimed they were a Los Angeles professor and his wife who had taken Jennie to California. Gunness wrote back, telling Asle Helgelien that his brother was not at her farm and probably went to Norway to visit relatives. A series of suspicious fires and deaths (mostly resulting in insurance awards) followed. [7], Gunness began placing marriage ads in Chicago newspapers in 1905. It gave details of the slaying, and told of his part in the former murders which occurred at the Gunness farm, his task usually being the burying of the bodies in the garden. One of these men was John Moe, who arrived from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Gunness then began meeting wealthy men through a lovelorn column. Sheriff Smutzer then took a dozen men back to the farm and began to dig, and on May 3, 1908, the diggers unearthed the body of Jennie Olson, who had vanished in December 1906. She would spike their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and put them in sacks, he explained. Together, the seemingly happy couple opened a confectionery store and had four children togetherCaroline, Axel, Myrtle, and Lucy. Not Only Was Belle Gunness America's First Female Serial Killer, But She Just Had To Live In Indiana. Bell Gunness killed more than ___ people over several decades. Another report in 1931 suggested that she may have been a woman known as Esther Carlson, who was arrested in Los Angeles, California, for poisoning August Lindstrom, a Norwegian-American man, on February 9, 1931, for his money. But in reality, she was a serial killer who murdered at least 14 people. [13] The brother of one victim had warned Gunness that he might arrive at the farm shortly to investigate his brother's disappearance. Within a week, he had disappeared. [7], Sorenson had purchased two life insurance policies. What is certain is that she murdered most of her boyfriends and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. But years later, the girls body would be found in Gunness hog pen. This photo dates to about 1904. Strangely, tragedy seemed to return to Belle Gunness doorstep yet again. For these reasons and others, it's impossible to say how many people Gunness murdered. She got away without a trace and it's still a mystery as to where she went today. Authorities eventually found the remains of over 40 victims on her property, but Belle disappeared without a trace. [12] With these discoveries, the perceptions of Belle Gunness, as reported in newspaper descriptions of a praiseworthy womandying in the fire that consumed her house, "in a desperate attempt to save her children"were reassessed. In the span of two days, investigators found a total of 11 burlap sacks, which contained arms hacked from the shoulders down [and] masses of human bone wrapped in loose flesh that dripped like jelly.. Further digging yielded more grisly discoveries. Strangely, that date represented the last day of Sorensons life insurance policy as well as the first day of his new policy. [9] In November 1908, Lamphere was convicted of arson in connection with the fire at Gunness' house. He told the Sheriff that Gunness had ordered him to bring loads of dirt by wheelbarrow to a large area surrounded by a high wire fence where the hogs were fed. [9], Two babies in Gunness' home died from inflammation of the large intestine, which can result from poisoning. Or perhaps she simply wanted to be free to kill again. Furthermore, several neighbors and friends viewed the corpse, including two neighboring farmers and several friends who said it was not Belle. Reporters described her home as a horror farm and a death garden. Curious onlookers flocked to La Porte, as it became a local and national attraction, to the point that vendors reportedly sold ice cream, popcorn, cake, and something called Gunness Stew to visitors. She changed her name to Belle in 1881 when she came to the United States. At the age of 22, she immigrated to Chicago, Illinois in 1881.She murdered over 40 people including two of her husbands and about 4 of her children. Next came George Anderson from Tarkio, Missouri, who said he would pay the mortgage off if they decided to wed. Late that night, while sleeping in the guest room, Anderson awoke startled to see Belle standing over him, peering into his eyes and holding a candle in her hand. His name was Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, and he didn't know it yet, but he was going to be Gunness' first known victim. [12] Lucas Reilly, quoting The Chicago Inter Ocean in Mental Floss, noted that, The bones had been crushed on the ends, as though they had been struck with hammers after they were dismembered [and that] Quicklime had been scattered over the faces and stuffed in the ears. Not long afterward, their home and the store mysteriously burned down. Triflers need not apply. Harvey's first-known victim died in 1970, and it wasn't until 1987 that he pleaded guilty to killing 37 people most of whom he murdered while working in Cincinnati and London, Kentucky . For a while, Helgelien assisted police as they sorted through the rubble. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. [9] The district coroner convened a coroner's jury, suspecting murder, but nothing came of the case. There, she set about starting her new life. Bert Chase of Mishawaka, Indiana, sold his butcher shop and told friends of a wealthy widow and that he was going to look her up; his brother received a telegram supposedly from Aberdeen, South Dakota, claiming Bert had been killed in a train wreck; his brother investigated and found the telegram was fictitious. The Story Of Belle Gunness, The Meat Cleaver-Wielding Serial Killer Of Turn-Of-The-Century Indiana. We try to fit the pieces together through a few old photos, family and county records, and folklore. Henry Gurholdt of Scandinavia, Wisconsin, had gone to wed her a year earlier, taking $1,500. Belles husbands death netted her another $3,000 (about $81,000 today). Where was Belle Gunness born? What was most likely the reason for these crimes? Emil Tell, a Swede from Kansas City, Missouri, is alleged to have gone o La Porte in 1907. Belle Gunness. Belle collected $3,000 insurance money for Peter's death. My mama killed my papa, Olsen allegedly told her schoolmates. Belle Gunness (also known as Lady Bluebeard, The LaPorte Black Widow, The Mistress of Murder Farm, and Hell's Belle) was probably one of America's most prolific serial killers. The most well-known letters that Belle Gunness wrote was to her final victim Andrew Helgelein. Ray Lamphere, she said, had threatened to kill her and burn her house down, and she wanted to make out a will in case he went through with his threats. Belle began putting the following ad in out-of-state newspapers: "Comely widow who owns a large farm in one of the finest districts in La . Some of these were most undoubtedly additional victims, though they were never proven. She died of tuberculosis while awaiting trial. Though the coroner ruled that the kids had died of colitis, their symptoms were also consistent with poisoning. Gunness caught Bruce's attention as a young girl who grew up just north of Selbu. She was nicknamed "Hell's Belle" after it was discovered that she was a prolific serial killer. Ray Lamphere, the ex-handyman of Belle Gunness. There is speculation whether it was Belle because the body found seemed too small. What followed were a series of insurance frauds and crimes, escalating in size and danger. He searched the property on his own and shouted to the men to start digging in the rubbish hole in Belles hog pen. According to The New York Post, eight months after their marriage, Peter was dead. Apparently, he had fallen victim to a sausage grinder that fell on his head from a wobbly shelf. In 1893, Belle met and married Mads Sorenson. [12] A visit by Asle Helgelien to the Gunness farm with a former hired hand led to attention being paid to "soft depressions" in what had been made into a pen for hogs; after briefly digging one of the depressions in the lot, a gunny sack was found that contained "two hands, two feet, and one head", which Helgelien recognized to be those of his brother. If you're curious to learn more about her, read on to discover the . It was initially hoped that a sealed envelope flap on a letter found at the victims farm would contain enough DNA to be compared to that of the body. Lamphere was later linked to the fire at Gunness farm. Another victim of the widow . She hit him with a meat cleaver and he died. [23], Gunness has also been the subject of at least two American musical ballads. Fellow Norwegian-Americans flocked to her property hoping for a taste of home along with a solid business opportunity. Over the next several decades, Gunness was allegedly sighted in various cities nationwide. Gunness dried her tears and collected her husbands life insurance policy. In the end, Ray Lamphere was charged with arson but not murder. Answer: Selbu, Norway Belle was born on November 22, 1859. [20] The inconsistencies between the two confessions, including the matter of the survival of Belle Gunness, remain historical issues that are not fully resolved. Belle Gunness, born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth (November 11, 1859 [3] - possibly April 28, 1908), nicknamed Hell's Belle, [1] was a Norwegian-American serial killer who was active in Illinois and Indiana between 1884 and 1908. She also chloroformed her children, smothered them to death, and carried them to the basement. Then, learn about Leonarda Cianciulli, the serial killer who turned her victims into soap and teacakes. 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