Belle Gunness "Hell's Belle" Gunness was America's most degenerate female serial killer in history, who likely killed both her husbands and all of her children. On July 30, 1900,[10] both policies were active at the same time, as one would expire that day and the other would enter into force. The first doctor to see him thought he had suffered from strychnine poisoning. Lamphere would not be enough for Belle. the ground. Investigators search for more bodies on Belle Gunnesss farm after the initial discoveries in 1908. She also seemed to spend a lot of money on wooden trunks which witnesses said she could lift like a box of marshmallows. Meanwhile, men showed up one by one at her door and then kept vanishing without a trace. In what may be a rather cruel bit of irony, some of her letters invited the men to "come prepared to stay forever," according to SyFy. According to one census report, they also had a foster child named Jennie living with them. However, she never went to the police to tell them about Lampheres allegedly life-threatening statements. His name was Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, and he didn't know it yet, but he was going to be Gunness' first known victim. When drinking, Lamphere often boasted of sleeping with his employer, which came as a surprise to those who only saw Belle as the burly woman who liked to dress in mens overalls and do her own hog butchering. Sorenson died of cerebral hemorrhage that day. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. She is responsible for so many deaths that detectives have ceased counting the number of bodies discovered on her premises. But, for one reason or another, Gunness decided to emigrate from Selbu to Chicago in 1881. That tale is even more frightening. Shutterstock. After they had corresponded for several months, Moe travelled to La Porte and withdrew a large amount of cash. 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. Elliot Leyton. In 1877, Gunness attended a country dance while pregnant. Her adopted daughter Jennie's body would also be found on Belle's property. Most of the remains found on the property could not be identified. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. He moved to La Porte, Indiana on January 3, 1908 to be with Belle Gunness. He died there of tuberculosis on December 30, 1909. Billed as "based on a true story," Tom Logan is directing the film, which stars Traci Lords cast as the murderous Belle Gunness. From 1884 to 1908, it's believed that Belle Gunness killed, at least, 14 people. 2. [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. This Norwegian-American had insured her first husband and two of her children before. Sorenson died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. Early clues pointing to an accomplice assisting Belle in her murderous schemes first surfaced when one Julius G. Truelson, Jr., the son of an upstate New York piano manufacturer, told Ralph N. Smith, LaPorte prosecuting attorney from the 2nd Judicial District, that he had arranged for Belle to kill his new bride. He quickly jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes. An autopsy was considered unnecessary because the death was not thought suspicious. 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. [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. Meanwhile, Asle Helgelien had read about the fire in the newspaper. Although her farmhouse burned down in April 1908, seemingly with her inside, some believe that Gunness slipped away perhaps to kill again. Christie Hilkven of Dovre, Wisconsin, sold his farm and came to La Porte in 1906. In 1881, at the age of 21, she moved to the United States in search of wealth and gave herself the Americanized name of Bella (Belle) Petersen. YouTubeRay Lamphere, the ex-handyman of Belle Gunness. Belle had lured this woman from Chicago on the pretense of hiring her as a housekeeper only days before she decided to make her permanent escape from La Porte. Belle wore the finest clothing on those occasions, and her hair was adorned in the latest style. [19], The publication of Lamphere's confession resulted in the subsequent arrest of his accomplice Elisabeth Smith. He raced to town to get help, but by the time it arrived, the house was already in smoking ruins. I fear one of these nights he will burn my house to the ground.. A series of deaths and disappearances of people associated with her followed, many of which fetched her insurance . As she was preparing to move from Chicago to LaPorte, she became re-acquainted with a recent widower named Peter Gunness, also from Norway. 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 . [6] When she was processed by immigration at Castle Garden, she changed her first name to Belle, then travelled to Chicago to join her sister, Nellie, who had immigrated several years earlier. [citation needed] Bechly attempted to convince Schell to allow him to publish this later confession, but was denied by both Schell and Schell's wife. The next thing she knew, her husband was dead. Well this is just what I would like to know but it almost seems impossible for me to give a definite answer.. She immigrated to the United States, where she lured her victims to her remote farm in Indiana. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. The investigators had previously checked her bank accounts, and though a small amount was remaining in one of her savings accounts, the money in all other accounts had been completely withdrawn shortly before the fire, suggesting that the evil woman had created a great hoax and evaded the law. The local dentist then stepped in, stating that he could make an identification if any dental work could be found. The First victims. As they began turning the earth, they found four bodies- skillfully sliced apart and wrapped in oilcloth. Belle insisted that a meat grinder had fallen on his head, crushing his skull. Then, Sorensen died, not at all suspiciously on the day that one life insurance policy was set to expire and another had just come into effect. In 1884, Gunness married Mads Albert Sorenson in Chicago, and two years later, they opened a candy store that was not very successful. ", "Female Indiana serial killer, the 'comely' Belle Gunness, loved her suitors to death", "Day Trip: Step into Historic LaPorte, Indiana; Visit 19th Century Courthouse, Museum, Miniature Horse Farm", "Potempa: Murderess Belle Gunness film starting production in LaPorte", "a book review by C. C. Harrison: In the Garden of Spite: A Novel of the Black Widow of La Porte", https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317016/triflers-need-not-apply-by-bruce-camilla/9781405945455, Belle Gunness, the Lady Bluebeard: Narrative Use of a Deviant Woman, Only Belle: Bare Belle - En seriemorder fra Selbu, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belle_Gunness&oldid=1141635952, Articles lacking reliable references from July 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Articles with incomplete citations from July 2019, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from July 2019, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Articles needing additional references from July 2019, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lillian de la Torre (1955). Soon enough, the shop burned down, and the couple collected a nice insurance payment. Then, on July 30, 1900, tragedy struck again. He admitted to a fellow inmate that he and Gunness had killed 42 men together. Neighbors described the 200-pound Gunness as a rugged woman who was also incredibly strong. And she was different in another way as well. He had romantic feelings for Gunness and resented all the men that showed up at her property. She was confirmed at the Church of Norway in 1874. Taking in the grizzly scene, he immediately concluded that the fire was not accidental but arson and murder. While there, she was attacked by a man who kicked her in the abdomen, causing her to miscarry. He disappeared from her farm within a week of his arrival. Between 1884 and 1908, the Norwegian immigrant is believed to have slain over 40 people in Chicago, Illinois, and La Porte, Indiana, profiting from insurance claims and other scams before disappearing without a trace. Then, Peter also died. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. According to The New York Post, eight months after their marriage, Peter was dead. Had Belle Gunness committed . [7], John Moe of Minnesota answered Gunness's ad in 1906. Then, the farm became something of a tourist attraction, with thousands of gawkers turning up and in some cases, taking souvenirs, according to The New York Post. Strangely, that date represented the last day of Sorensons life insurance policy as well as the first day of his new policy. Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset, better known as Belle Gunness is a Norwegian-American serial killer who targeted men who showed interest in marrying her. They had four children together but two allegedly died of acute colitis. The April 28, 1908, fire at Gunness' farm seems to have shut the book on the Norwegian immigrant's murder spree, inasmuch as she was never heard from again and was, initially at least, presumed dead. Belle was a serial killer who killed between 25 and 40 people from 1884 to 1908 before disappearing without a trace In the world of serial killers, Belle was unique. Belle also began. She was a Norwegian-American serial killer. We shall be so happy when you once get here, Gunness purred in one letter. She was a giant of a woman, with a bloodthirst so strong it led her to kill upwards of 25 people. On November 5, 2007, with the permission of descendants of Belles sister, the headless body was exhumed from the grave by a team of forensic anthropologists and graduate students from the University of Indianapolis to learn her true identity. Most famous serial killers are men, but Belle was a woman. Though her husband's family demanded an inquiry, no charges were filed. After reading about Belle Gunness, take a look at Judy Buenoano, another infamous black widow serial killer. However the fourth, believed to be Gunness, was inexplicably missing its skull. [7], She was at least 5'7" (170 cm) and weighed around 95 - 113 kg (210 - 250 lbs) and was physically strong and masculine in appearance. . Olaf Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant from Carroll. Shortly after dispensing with Lamphere, she presented herself at the La Porte County courthouse, declaring that her former employee was not in his right mind and was a menace to the public. Two people who had known Gunness claimed to recognize her from photographs in her possession, but the identification was never proved. Source: The Indianapolis News, 8 May 1908. In 1884 Belle Gunness married Mads Albert Sorenson. What is certain is that she murdered most of her boyfriends and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. He confided to a neighboring farmer on one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more. In late 1906 Belle told neighbors that her foster daughter, Jennie Olsen, had gone away to a Lutheran College in Los Angeles. [28], Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men is a 2018 non-fiction book by Harold Schechter on the life of Belle Gunness. Among the known facts about Belle Gunness is that she was an imposing woman, very tall and 250 pounds and that only one child - her second husband's daughter Swanhild - survived her clutches. It does not take one long to tell when to like a person, and you I like better than anyone in the world, I know. She died of tuberculosis while awaiting trial. [7], Gunness began placing marriage ads in Chicago newspapers in 1905. 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. [6], After the fire at the Gunness homestead led to the discovery of bodies believed to be Gunness and her children, La Porte police authorities were contacted by Asle Helgelien, who had found correspondence between his brother, Andrew Helgelien, and Gunness; the letters included petitions for him to relocate to La Porte, to bring money, and to keep the move a secret. She also chloroformed her children, smothered them to death, and carried them to the basement. Lamphere ended up in prison because of his connection to Gunness and the fire on her farm. Although he almost left, Helgelien became convinced that he couldnt do so without looking harder for Andrew. How did Belle Gunness Kill Her Victims? Within a week, he had disappeared. Eerily, in 1931, a woman named Esther Carlson was arrested in Los Angeles for poisoning a Norwegian-American man and attempting to steal his money. Initially, authorities found the remains of an adult woman and three children and quickly concluded that they belonged to the homeowner, a Norwegian immigrant known as Belle Gunness and her three foster children. She also posted ads in lovelorn columns to attract wealthy bachelors. Her foster mother initially claimed that shed been sent to school in California. Andrew Helgelien and discovery of multiple graves, "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998," database, FamilySearch (. A few weeks later, a reverend came forward with Lampheres confession before he died. And Gunness also claimed that she needed to make a will because Lamphere had apparently threatened her life. Ay like music at home, she supposedly said, by way of explanation. Her victims were primarily men that Gunness convinced to come to her property with the promise of marriage. By the time she disappeared, he estimated that she had accumulated more than $250,000 through her murder schemes over the years a considerable fortune for those days (about $6.7 million today). What's more, Gunness simply vanished off the face of the earth at the same time her crimes came to light. Their home had also burned down, and both instances granted the couple insurance payouts. Without saying goodbye, he fled the house and ran away, getting on the first train headed to Missouri. 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. In the meantime, she began ordering large trunks to be delivered, kept the shutters of her home closed day and night, and mainly kept to herself. In 1893, Belle met and married Mads Sorenson. The essential fact, however, was that the murderess was not alive as a fugitive. Usually accompanied by a handsome man, she was unrecognizable from the rough farm woman the locals were used to seeing. But she also became somewhat of a legend, shrouded in mystery, revenge and money. Lamphere was found guilty of arson but acquitted of murder in the end. General Information Sex Female Race White Number of victims 16 further plus 12 possible equals 28 When I hear your name mentioned, and this is when one of the dear children speaks of you, or I hear myself humming it with the words of an old love song, it is beautiful music to my ears. Newly flush with cash, Gunness bought a 48-acre farm in La Porte, Indiana. [13] The brother of one victim had warned Gunness that he might arrive at the farm shortly to investigate his brother's disappearance. Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset immigrated from Norway to the United States at the age of 21, according to SyFy, in search of a better life. But as was the case with the candy store, Gunness and Sorenson were able to pocket the insurance money. Maxson said there were many deep depressions in the ground covered by dirt. [23], Gunness has also been the subject of at least two American musical ballads. Gunness, the youngest of 8 children, grew up on a cotter's farm in Innbygda, Selbu. For a while, Helgelien assisted police as they sorted through the rubble. One lucky man named George Anderson survived the encounter. How many are known? And in 1900, their home burned down. Basically, Belle Gunness was a female serial killer who poisoned her suitors and children. I was not satisfied, Helgelien recalled, and I went back to the cellar and asked [one of Gunness farmhands] whether he knew of any hole or dirt having been dug up there about the place in spring.. Gunness was back a few days later to complain to the sheriff that Lamphere had visited her farm and argued with her. Just one week after the ceremony, Peters infant daughter died of uncertain causes while alone in the house with Belle. However, when he was introduced to Andrew Hegelian Belles new husband-to-be, he made a scene, and Belle promptly fired him on February 3, 1908. Strangely, tragedy seemed to return to Belle Gunness doorstep yet again. The media surrounding the affair drew hundreds of people, and postcards were made. Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in Norway, Belle Gunness moved to the United States in 1881 at the age of 22. Local people refused to believe that her husband could be so clumsy he had run a hog farm on the property and was known to be an experienced butcher. But, for one reason or another, Gunness decided to emigrate from Selbu to Chicago in 1881. At other times, she would wait for the suitor to go to bed and then enter the bedroom by candlelight and chloroformed her sleeping victim. Simmons is a forensic anthropologist who investigated the Belle Gunness case. 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. She got away without a trace and it's still a mystery as to where she went today. Married with Sorensen and Belle has born 4 children: Caroline, Axel, Myrtle and Lucy. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,.css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}contact us! No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with personal visit. These are famous words by the convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos who was put to death by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. [1] According to Lamphere, this impending visit motivated Gunness to destroy her house, fake her own death, and flee. Although the police found a set of teeth among the ruins, there was still some debate as to whether or not they belonged to Belle Gunness. Gunness emigrated to the United States in February 1901 together with her two children, Myrtle and Lucy. However, he had helped Belle bury many of her victims. Ole B. Budsberg of Iola, Wisconsin, vanished in May 1907. An unnamed man from Montana told people at a resort he was going to sell Gunness his horse and buggy, which were found with several other horses and buggies at the farm. Those that could be identified included: The unidentified bodies and unsolved mysteries that would emerge from these ruins would make headlines across the Midwest. Belle Gunness left Chicago with her daughters Myrtle and Lucy, along with a foster daughter named Jennie Olsen. More reports of missing men began to pour in from surrounding Midwestern states, and relatives began to appear from all over the region to claim bodies. 3) What groups of people were Gunness' victims? All of them told of lonesome brothers, uncles, and cousins answering Belles matrimonial ads and traveling hopefully to La Porte with their life savings stuffed in their pockets. . This photo dates to about 1904. You wish to know where your brother keeps himself, Gunness wrote to Asle. ; Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American . But, from the start, there were questions as to whether the headless corpse was that of Belle Gunness. Abraham Phillips, a railwayman of Burlington. She contended that he posed a threat to her family and had Lamphere arrested for trespassing. Then, in December 1907, Andrew Helgelien, a bachelor farmer from Aberdeen, South Dakota, wrote to her and was warmly received. (Serial Killer) Belle Sorenson Gunness, birth name Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth, was a Norwegian-American serial killer. Gunness explained he had come home with a headache and she provided him with quinine powder for the pain; she later checked on him and he was dead. Gunness left her attorneys office. She wanted the ground made level, so he filled in the depressions. The couple claimed the insurance money for both. [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. On the morning of April 27, 1908, the farmhand on a lonely property outside La Porte, Indiana, woke to the smell of smoke. Also counted was an adopted 10-year-old girl, identified as Morgan Couch, but who was later known as Jennie Olsen. When authorities dug around the hog pens and other places on the farm, they found the mutilated remains of several more men and children. There, Gunness met her first known victim: her husband, Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, whom she married in 1884. Unfortunately, there was not enough DNA, so the mystery remains unsolved. You, the sweetest man in the whole world. Reading Gunness' plodding letters to Andrew, it is plain that "soaring" and "rapture" were not her style. 695A07, 1860-1877, s. 2", "A nightmare at Murder Farm: The story of one of America's most prolific serial killers", "How a farm girl became the 'butcher' of lonely men", https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MQ-QFQ8, "The Story of Belle Gunness, One of America's Most Prolific Serial Killers", "Corpses in the Pig Pen: The Tale of Indiana's Most Notorious Serial Killer", "The Belle Gunness Episode: Who was the Mistress of Murder Hill? The ground covered by dirt an adopted 10-year-old girl, identified as Morgan,! When you once get here, Gunness began placing marriage ads in lovelorn columns attract. 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