Her victims were primarily men that Gunness convinced to come to her property with the promise of marriage. [citation needed][17][18] The Bechly narrative, entitled "Lanphere's Confession" [sic], contains this summary from Bechly: In the confession, Lanphere [sic] said that he had killed Mrs. Gunness and children with an ax, sprinkled the bodies with kerosene and set fire to them and the house. Belle collected $3,000 insurance money for Peter's death. Her actual fate is unconfirmed. Gunness then began meeting wealthy men through a lovelorn column. 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. She was one of America's first woman serial killers convicted and put on death row. Olaf Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant from Carroll. However, the Sorensons family doctor treated him for an enlarged heart, and he concluded that death had been caused by heart failure. Several more unexplained deaths followed, including the infant daughter of her new husband, Peter Gunness, followed by Peter Gunness himself. She dumped the corpse into a hog-scalding vat at other times and then covered the remains with quicklime. But she also became somewhat of a legend, shrouded in mystery, revenge and money. One common, but unverified story, says that when she was about 18 years old, she was pregnant and attended a country dance. Belle Gunness left Chicago with her daughters Myrtle and Lucy, along with a foster daughter named Jennie Olsen. 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. But the men who came to her farm would not have a life to enjoy for very long. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. By his count, he said she had murdered 42 men and had taken amounts from them ranging from $1,000 to $32,000. Belle Gunness, birth name Brynhild Paulsdatter Strset, was born in Selbu, Sr-Trndelag, Norway, on November 11, 1859. [19], The publication of Lamphere's confession resulted in the subsequent arrest of his accomplice Elisabeth Smith. It is believed the couple produced two children whom Gunness poisoned in infancy for the insurance money. Hunting Humans: The Rise of Modern Multiple Murder examined the _____ _____ of serial murders. The following week, while Peter was out of the house, his infant daughter died of unknown causes in Belle's care. He had with him a check for $2,900, his savings, which he had drawn from his local bank. Belle insisted that a meat grinder had fallen on his head, crushing his skull. Gunness wrote back, telling Asle Helgelien that his brother was not at her farm and probably went to Norway to visit relatives. Gunness emigrated to the United States in February 1901 together with her two children, Myrtle and Lucy. The headless adult female corpse was never positively identified. Who wrote Hunting Humans: The Rise of Modern Multiple Murder. A short time later, the man who had kicked her died of what was said to be stomach cancer. . 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 . BLACK WIDOW: Belle Gunness, from Selbu, Norway, is infamous as America's first woman serial killer. [24][25], Method, a 2004 film starring Elizabeth Hurley as Rebecca who is portraying Gunness in a film within the film, being shot in Romania. Also unclear is how many victims Gunness had killed. 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. 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When authorities dug around the hog pens and other places on the farm, they found the mutilated remains of several more men and children. At age 14, Gunness began working for neighboring farms by milking and herding cattle to save enough money for passage to New York City. Norwegian born Belle Gunness immigrated to the U.S. in 1881. One of her ads was answered by a Wisconsin farmhand, Henry Gurholt. He later stated that the expression on her face was so sinister and murderous that he let out a loud yell, and she immediately ran from the room without uttering a single word. The couple collected the insurance money and bought a new home. Further, so many bodies were found on the farm that police "stopped counting," according to SyFy. Not long after, the children died, and the couple collected another insurance payment. You wish to know where your brother keeps himself, Gunness wrote to Asle. 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. Some of these were most undoubtedly additional victims, though they were never proven. Standing six feet tall (183cm) and weighing over 200 pounds (91kg), she was a physically strong woman. [20] The inconsistencies between the two confessions, including the matter of the survival of Belle Gunness, remain historical issues that are not fully resolved. [9] The district coroner convened a coroner's jury, suspecting murder, but nothing came of the case. The night he visited Belle's farm was the last he would have. And shortly after he arrived, Gunness killed him and buried his dismembered body in her hog pen, alongside other corpses. (Serial Killer) Belle Sorenson Gunness, birth name Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth, was a Norwegian-American serial killer. Meanwhile, a man whose brother had been in contact with Gunness believed he'd been murdered and had begun asking questions. I think of you constantly. [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. He showed up in hopes of finding his brother. Meanwhile, a man named Asle Helgelien had found correspondence between his brother, Andrew, and Gunness. Although he almost left, Helgelien became convinced that he couldnt do so without looking harder for Andrew. [12], Immediate inspection of the site revealed that there were dozens of such "slumped depressions" in the Gunness yard, and further digging and investigation at the site yielded multiple burlap sacks containing "torsos and hands, arms hacked from the shoulders down, masses of human bone wrapped in loose flesh that dripped like jelly", from trash-covered depressions that proved to be graves. 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. No explanation was provided for what happened to the body's head. Some time after the death of her second husband, according to The New York Post, she took to placing personal letters in a Minneapolis Norwegian-language newspaper, promising men love and happiness if they would come to her farm with their money. John Moe of Elbow Lake, Minnesota. 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. In the end, Ray Lamphere was charged with arson but not murder. 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. Curiously, the corpse itself seemed to be much too small to be hers. However, The New York Post suggests that she may have killed as many as 28 people, while Mental Floss claims that she killed "at least 20." Best Known For: Serial killer Belle Gunness is reported to have murdered more than 40 people between 1884 and 1908 before disappearing without a trace. But did Lamphere actually cause the fire? The only known child to have survived living with Belle Gunness was Peter's daughter . Though the authorities investigated, the formidable Belle was so convincing that no charges were ever filed. Somehow, she convinced local authorities to hold a sanity hearing, but Lamphere was pronounced sane and released. Before long, Gunness and Helgelien began exchanging romantic letters. 40. 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. Anderson had come to the Gunness farm from Missouri with money and a hopeful heart. She was a giant of a woman, with a bloodthirst so strong it led her to kill upwards of 25 people. On the morning of April 27, 1908, the farmhand on a lonely property outside La Porte, Indiana, woke to the smell of smoke. The story of Indiana's first documented serial killer, Belle Gunness. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. 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. Meanwhile, authorities struggled to determine whether the headless corpse theyd found in the burned farmhouse belonged to Gunness. Belles husbands death netted her another $3,000 (about $81,000 today). Story by Thomas Duke, 1910 . Belle explained that Peter reached for something on a high shelf and a meat grinder fell on him, smashing his skull. As they began turning the earth, they found four bodies- skillfully sliced apart and wrapped in oilcloth. However, he had helped Belle bury many of her victims. The district coroner reviewed the case, unequivocally announced that he had been murdered, and convened a coroners jury to look into the matter. 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 . Feeling terrified and uncomfortable, Anderson believed that Gunness intended to murder him. A series of suspicious fires and deaths (mostly resulting in insurance awards) followed. 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. If you're curious to learn more about her, read on to discover the . Gunness had insured both of the children and collected a large insurance check after each death. 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