According to The New York Post, eight months after their marriage, Peter was dead. [Gunness] beguiled them with promises of down-home Norwegian cooking and painted a very seductive portrait of the kind of life theyd enjoy.. [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. We will be all alone with each other. Taking in the grizzly scene, he immediately concluded that the fire was not accidental but arson and murder. He showed up in hopes of finding his brother. 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. A series of suspicious fires and deaths (mostly resulting in insurance awards) followed. It was claimed that her head was decapitated and her home set on fire. Soon after, Sorenson died of heart failure on the one day his two life insurance policies overlapped. Well this is just what I would like to know but it almost seems impossible for me to give a definite answer.. Meanwhile, neighbors noted that Gunness had begun to spend an unusual amount of time at her hog pen at night. He then sent two of his deputies to dig into the debris digging for the corpses missing head and sent two others to arrest Lamphere. Olaf Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant from Carroll. A celebrity actress who gets her dream role playing real-life 19th century serial killer Belle Gunness in a feature film, starts to take on the characteristics of the character both on-screen and off. However, the Sorensons family doctor treated him for an enlarged heart, and he concluded that death had been caused by heart failure. Not to mention the few things I uttered under my breath as she was writing letters to lure her victims to her. Belle Gunness was born Brynild Paulsdatter Strseth on November 11, 1859 near Selbu, Norway. Simmons is a forensic anthropologist who investigated the Belle Gunness case. Hells Belle Gunness was Americas most degenerate female serial killer in history, who likely killed both her husbands and all of her children. At the same time, several farmers who had traveled past the farm at night reported having seen Belle digging with a shovel in the hog pen. Ay like music at home, she supposedly said, by way of explanation. But years later, the girls body would be found in Gunness hog pen. The Truth about Belle Gunness (MysteriousPress.com/Open Road), This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 01:28. Within a week, he had disappeared. Belle Sorenson Gunness, a notorious female serial killer born November 11, 1859 and declared dead April 28, 1908 was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth. He searched the property on his own and shouted to the men to start digging in the rubbish hole in Belles hog pen. In the belief that the headless corpse was, in fact, Belle Gunness, the remains were buried next to Belles first husband, Mads Sorenson, at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. How many are known? That tale is even more frightening. [7], Peter died eight months later due to a skull injury. But, for Helgeliens brother, Asle, the matter was far from over. [citation needed], Belle Gunness was pronounced dead, even though the doctor who performed the postmortem testified that the headless body was five inches shorter and about fifty pounds lighter than Gunness. He confided to a neighboring farmer on one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more. Three were identified as her foster children. However, word soon spread that her relationship with Lamphere was more than strictly professional. 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. It is not known how many men were victims of a treacherous woman. Most famous serial killers are men, but Belle was a woman. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with personal visit. Her parents had eight children; she was the youngest. Not long afterward, their home and the store mysteriously burned down. She changed her name to Belle Petersen and moved in with her sister Nellie and her husband, who had immigrated a few years before Belle did. Or maybe she had developed a taste for murder. Lamphere was to wait for her at a designated place on the road after the fire was set. [6] When Lamphere was arrested, he was wearing John Moe's overcoat and Henry Gurholt's watch.[7]. He died in prison, but not before revealing the truth about Belle Gunness and her crimes, including burning her own house down -- the body that was recovered was not hers. When authorities dug around the hog pens and other places on the farm, they found the mutilated remains of several more men and children. A year later, Peters brother, Gust, took Peters older daughter, Swanhild, to Wisconsin. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with a personal visit. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. And some estimate that she may have killed as many as 40 victims. At this time, Belle started to have problems with her farmhand, Ray Lamphere. [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. Several more unexplained deaths followed, including the infant daughter of her new husband, Peter Gunness, followed by Peter Gunness himself. 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. [9] The district coroner convened a coroner's jury, suspecting murder, but nothing came of the case. Soon enough, Gunness was depositing checks brought by her suitors, while the lovelorn men were never heard from again. All Rights Reserved. To lure her last victim, Gunness wrote: My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. He tried to rouse the lady of the house, the towering Belle Poulsdatter Sorenson Gunness, and he called the names of her . A few days after Helgelien arrived, he and Gunness appeared at the Savings Bank in La Porte and deposited the check. Sorenson died of cerebral hemorrhage that day. A couple of months later, Maxson awoke in the early hours of April 28, 1908, smelling smoke in his room on the second floor of the Gunness house. [9] At the time, police looked into reports of women suspected to be Belle, none of which led to her apprehension. When a victim arrived, she made him comfortable, charming him and cooking a large meal. She changed her name to Bella Petersen and worked for a time as a servant girl before getting . Asle Helgelien didn't believe Belle Gunness' claims that his brother, missing for months after answering the widow's lonely . Investigators search for more bodies on Belle Gunnesss farm after the initial discoveries in 1908. Elliot Leyton. [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. Come prepared to stay forever.. On May 22, 1908, Ray Lamphere was tried for murder and arson. 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. 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.. 3) What groups of people were Gunness' victims? John Moe of Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Gunness left her attorneys office. In May 1908, after fire destroyed a LaPorte farmhouse, police made a gruesome discovery. However, a neighborhood boy said he had seen Lamphere running down the road from the Gunness house just before the structure erupted in flames. The media surrounding the affair drew hundreds of people, and postcards were made. She then drugged his coffee and when the man was in a stupor, she split his head with a meat chopper. Norwegian born Belle Gunness immigrated to the U.S. in 1881. Brynhild P. Strseth was born in Norway in 1859 to a stone-mason and his wife. They had four children together but two allegedly died of acute colitis. In the end, she was awarded $8,500 (about $240,000 today), with which she bought a farm on the outskirts of La Porte, Indiana. At 5'8" ft tall and over 200 lb (91 kg), she was a physically strong woman. [29], In the Garden of Spite: A Novel of the Black Widow of LaPorte is a US-published 2021 novel by Camilla Bruce with elements of "Norwegian noir and true crime" based on the life of Belle Gunness. Those that could be identified included: The unidentified bodies and unsolved mysteries that would emerge from these ruins would make headlines across the Midwest. On April 28, 1908, a fire destroyed a family farm near La Porte, Indiana. 35: Belle Gunness. Their life together seemed to be marked by tragedy. 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. The man, who came from a wealthy family, was never prosecuted by the Norwegian authorities. Daniel Rennie is a freelance writer residing in Melbourne, Australia. Triflers need not apply.. Gunness deflected. Then, in December 1907, Andrew Helgelien, a bachelor farmer from Aberdeen, South Dakota, wrote to her and was warmly received. 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. Sure, she came with dreams of getting together a bunch of money for herself, but her methods for getting that money were devious and deadly. Apparently, he had fallen victim to a sausage grinder that fell on his head from a wobbly shelf. In this depraved story of sex, deception, greed, and murder, a veteran true-crime writer offers the first definitive history of Belle Gunness (circa 1859-1908), the most prolific female serial killer in American history.In previous books, Schechter (American Literature and Culture/Queens Coll. [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 daughter of a stonemason, Gunness immigrated to the United States in 1881 in search of wealth. Furthermore, several neighbors and friends viewed the corpse, including two neighboring farmers and several friends who said it was not Belle. The two once apparently had a relationship, but Lamphere had left in a jealous rage after Helgelien arrived. Two people who had known Gunness claimed to recognize her from photographs in her possession, but the identification was never proved. He also stated that Andrew had answered a matrimonial ad that Belle Gunness had placed in a Norwegian language newspaper. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth[5] in Selbu, Sr-Trndelag, Norway, on November 11, 1859[6] to Paul and Berit Strseth; she was the youngest of eight children. Years later, Jennie's body was found buried among her mother's victims. The investigators began to sift through the debris, and a piece of bridgework was found; the dentist identified it as work done for Gunness. Authorities couldnt identify all the bodies. Anderson had come to the Gunness farm from Missouri with money and a hopeful heart. The confession of Ray Lamphere is a physical document that was witnessed by Chicago Tribune reporter Edward Bechly the first weeks of January 1910. We fixed him for keeps.. It is believed the couple produced two children whom Gunness poisoned in infancy for the insurance money. She wanted the ground made level, so he filled in the depressions. But, there was another side to the woman that Lamphere saw, and soon the local folk would as well. His widow, Gunness, collected on both policies $150,000 in todays dollars which she could have only done on that day. 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 . She got away without a trace and it's still a mystery as to where she went today. In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. Gunness had insured both of the children and collected a large insurance check after each death. 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. "[12], Ray Lamphere was Gunness' hired hand and on-and-off lover. Norwegian born Belle Gunness was born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in November 1859. Despite the arrest, Lamphere returned again and again to see her, but she drove him away. Three years later she would find her first victim, a man named Mads Sorenson. Reported other unnamed victims may have been: Bones and Body parts found at the Gunness farm. Lamphere was later linked to the fire at Gunness farm. But as was the case with the candy store, Gunness and Sorenson were able to pocket the insurance money. Belle explained that Peter reached for something on a high shelf and a meat grinder fell on him, smashing his skull. Storset then married Peter Gunness, in 1901; a week later, his infant son from a previous marriage was dead under suspicious circumstances. . 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