The low end is 11, to account for her first two husbands, their children, and the children found dead on the family farm. Apparently, he had fallen victim to a sausage grinder that fell on his head from a wobbly shelf. As days progressed and the gruesome work continued, one body after another was discovered in Gunness hog pen. Dont tell a soul.. Although he almost left, Helgelien became convinced that he couldnt do so without looking harder for Andrew. 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. However, by the time anyone suspected Gunness in their deaths, they'd been dead for decades and their suspected murderer had vanished. Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "Kirkebker: SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerbker og fdselsregistre - Sr-Trndelag, 695/L1147: Ministerialbok nr. In 1877, Gunness attended a country dance while pregnant. And in 1900, their home burned down. socioeconomic status. Another victim of the widow . 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. This is what is known, and what is suspected, about the number of victims serial killer Belle Gunness had. 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. The woman in the fire was approximately 5 3 tall and weighed about 125 pounds, significantly smaller than Belle Gunness. Andrew Helgelien and discovery of multiple graves, "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998," database, FamilySearch (. Within a week, he had disappeared. She also posted ads in lovelorn columns to attract wealthy bachelors. Can you conceive of anything nicer? The author wound her longtime interests in vintage crime and women's history into a novel that's largely from. He disappeared from her farm within a week of his arrival. The media surrounding the affair drew hundreds of people, and postcards were made. [7], Peter died eight months later due to a skull injury. They then found the small bodies of two unidentified children. One of the bodies belonged to Andrew Hegelian. [7] Reported "sightings" of Gunness in the Chicago area continued long after she was declared dead. A series of suspicious fires and deaths (mostly resulting in insurance awards) followed. Several middle-aged men of means responded to Gunness ads, and within no time, Belle was often seen going for carriage rides with strangers on Sunday afternoons. General Information Sex Female Race White Number of victims 16 further plus 12 possible equals 28 Soon enough, the shop burned down, and the couple collected a nice insurance payment. [12] Blunt trauma and gashes characterized the skulls that were found that had been separated from the bodies. 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. Gunness wrote back, telling Asle Helgelien that his brother was not at her farm and probably went to Norway to visit relatives. Gunness deflected. Belle insisted that a meat grinder had fallen on his head, crushing his skull. [citation needed] In 2008, DNA tests were performed on the headless corpse in an attempt to compare the DNA in the corpse against a sample from a letter Gunness had sent to one of her victims, but due to its age the sample was not able to be properly tested. I know nothing about the house of crime, as they call it, he said, when asked about Gunness murders. But, from the start, there were questions as to whether the headless corpse was that of Belle Gunness. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. Gunness, the youngest of 8 children, grew up on a cotter's farm in Innbygda, Selbu. He had with him a check for $2,900, his savings, which he had drawn from his local bank. I think of you constantly. 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. Before long, news of the gruesome discovery spread throughout the nation. Where did Belle Gunness meet her first husband, Max "Mads" Sorenson? Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in the small fishing village of Selbu in Norway on November 11 1859. Also counted was an adopted 10-year-old girl, identified as Morgan Couch, but who was later known as Jennie Olsen. In 1881, at the age of 21, Brynhild left Norway and settled in Chicago. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with personal visit. 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. Her store and her home burned down, She and her husband collected the 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. The night he visited Belle's farm was the last he would have. But she also became somewhat of a legend, shrouded in mystery, revenge and money. 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. Biography.com 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. So far, Belle Gunness had been able to largely escape detection or suspicion. She married her first husband, Mads Sorenson, three years later in 1884. . Norwegian born Belle Gunness immigrated to the U.S. in 1881. On November 26, 1908, he was sentenced to two to 21 years in the State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana. There, Gunness met her first known victim her husband, Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, whom she married in 1884. [1] Lamphere stated that Gunness asked him to burn down the farmhouse with her children inside. Standing six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds, she was a physically strong woman. 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. As The New York Post noted, she's been tied to at least 11 murders, and possibly dozens more, although the exact number of her victims may likely never be known. Then, I did the planting.. The First victims. My mama killed my papa, Olsen allegedly told her schoolmates. Emil Tell, a Swede from Kansas City, Missouri, is alleged to have gone o La Porte in 1907. 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. 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. According to Harold Schechter, a true-crime author who wrote Hells Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men, Gunness knew exactly how to lure her victims onto her farm. Soon enough, Gunness was depositing checks brought by her suitors, while the lovelorn men were never heard from again. One of her ads was answered by a Wisconsin farmhand, Henry Gurholt. Most of the remains found on the property could not be identified. She likely . Ted Bundy's reason for killing. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. Older children (Caroline and Axel) die in infancy, and also from abdominal pain. A brother of Miss Jennie Graham of Waukesha, Wisconsin, who had left her to marry a wealthy widow in La Porte but vanished. Further digging yielded more grisly discoveries. Belle Sorenson Gunness (born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth; November 11, 1859 - April 28, 1908) was a Norwegian-American serial killer. Lamphere was quickly charged with murder and arson, and police began to search the farm grounds, hoping to find Gunness head. American newspapers labeled Belle Gunness the Black Widow, Hells Belle, the Indiana Ogress, and the Mistress of the Castle of Death.. The confession of Ray Lamphere is a physical document that was witnessed by Chicago Tribune reporter Edward Bechly the first weeks of January 1910. She told them Gurholt had gone off with horse traders to Chicago. And she was different in another way as well. The Story Of Belle Gunness, The Meat Cleaver-Wielding Serial Killer Of Turn-Of-The-Century Indiana. Sure, I worked for Mrs. Gunness for a time, but I didnt see her kill anybody, and I didnt know she had killed anybody., But on his deathbed, Lamphere changed his tune. Lamphere was found guilty of arson but acquitted of murder in the end. Basically, Belle Gunness was a female serial killer who poisoned her suitors and children. Belle Gunness had asked him to level dozens of soft depressions in the ground, which supposedly covered trash. Meanwhile, Asle Helgelien had read about the fire in the newspaper. 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. Olaf Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant from Carroll. 1908) left her native Norway in 1881, at the age of 21, to travel to Chicago. Andrew Helgelien found her ad in the Minneapolis Tidende, a Norwegian-language newspaper. [21], After Gunness' crimes came to light, the Gunness farm became a tourist attraction. I can tell from your letters that you are the man I want. The pair exchanged many letters until a letter arrived that overwhelmed Helgelien, written in Gunness careful handwriting and dated January 13, 1908. For a while, Helgelien assisted police as they sorted through the rubble. Or maybe she had developed a taste for murder. Astrological Sign: Sagittarius, Death Year: 1930, Article Title: Belle Gunness Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/belle-gunness, Publisher: A&E Television Networks, Last Updated: March 18, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. [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. However, Gunness successfully convinced the investigators that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. [9], Two babies in Gunness' home died from inflammation of the large intestine, which can result from poisoning. (Darron Cummings/AP) As the tale of the "Murder Farm" fanned across the country, investigators were joined by. [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. Belle had anywhere from 13 to 42 victims. Source: The Indianapolis News, 8 May 1908. Her family lived as tenants on a small farm owned by the Storseth family. . Helgelien, like other victims before him, decided to take a chance on love. He searched the property on his own and shouted to the men to start digging in the rubbish hole in Belles hog pen. It was claimed that her head was decapitated and her home set on fire. 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. 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. 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. Together, they owned and operated a confectionary store and before long, had four children: Caroline, Axel, Myrtle, and Lucy. 4/27/1908 49 Belle writes last will and testament. 4/28/1908 49 Fire set that kills children and where Belle's body was "supposedly" found headless. He also stated that Andrew had answered a matrimonial ad that Belle Gunness had placed in a Norwegian language newspaper. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Adnan Syed: A Complete Timeline of His Trial, Appeal and Killing of Hae Min Lee. 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. Female Serial Killer Belle Gunness . How many are known? They collected on life insurance policies for both children. She kept his trunk and fur overcoat. [23], Gunness has also been the subject of at least two American musical ballads. [12] In each case, the body had been butchered in the same mannerthe body decapitated, the arms removed at the shoulders, and the legs severed at the knees. Standing six feet tall (183 cm) and weighing over 200 pounds (91 kg), she was a physically strong woman. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. Whether Gunness died in that fire remains unclear. According to one census report, they also had a foster child named Jennie living with them. Unfortunately, there was not enough DNA, so the mystery remains unsolved. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. Carlson died on May 6, 1931, while awaiting trial. Although no one ever saw Moe again, a carpenter who did occasional work for Gunness observed that Moe's trunk remained in her house, along with more than a dozen others. 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. the ground. Either way, the twice-widowed Gunness began posting personal ads in Norwegian-language newspapers to find a new companion. ", "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). Authorities couldnt identify all the bodies. But once the tide turns away from Belle Sorensen of Gunness. Authorities found the bodies of Gunness three children in the charred rubble of the farmhouse basement. Had Belle Gunness committed . [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. Belle Gunness, the twice-widowed Norwegian American who placed the ad, was a murderer for profit. Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Belle Gunness, Birth Year: 1859, Birth date: November 22, 1859, Birth City: Selbu, Birth Country: Norway. Belle Gunness was one of the first "Black Widows" and became a prolific serial killer. Little is known about her early life. [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. Just one week after the ceremony, Peters infant daughter died of uncertain causes while alone in the house with Belle. Belle Gunness stood six foot tall and had a hard look to her strong face. These filled-in holes, Gunness had told Maxson, contained rubbish. Gunness and Sorenson opened a candy store, but it soon burned down. Ay like music at home, she supposedly said, by way of explanation. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. The will was completed, leaving her estate to her children. And did Gunness really die in the farmhouse disaster? Also unclear is how many victims Gunness had killed. His watch was found in Lampheres possession. In 1881, when she was 21 years old, Belle Gunness moved to Chicago. Four bodies were found inside the house the headless corpse of a woman and three children. Soon afterward, Olsen vanished. With so much going well for the Sorenson family, Mads even convinced Belle to foster a fifth child named Jennie Olsen. 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. Usually accompanied by a handsome man, she was unrecognizable from the rough farm woman the locals were used to seeing. 3) What groups of people were Gunness' victims? Belle with three of her children, likely Myrtle, Lucy, and Philip. Then, Peter also died. 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. Years after Gunness supposed demise, rumors surfaced that she may have faked her own death to escape potential capture. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. Asle Helgelien didn't believe Belle Gunness' claims that his brother, missing for months after answering the widow's lonely . Henry Gurholdt of Scandinavia, Wisconsin, had gone to wed her a year earlier, taking $1,500. When authorities dug around the hog pens and other places on the farm, they found the mutilated remains of several more men and children. However, she never went to the police to tell them about Lampheres allegedly life-threatening statements. 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 . Jennies body would later be found buried on her adoptive mothers property. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth on November 11, 1859 in Selbu, Norway. Then, Joe Maxson came forward with information that could not be ignored. Then, in December 1907, Andrew Helgelien, a bachelor farmer from Aberdeen, South Dakota, wrote to her and was warmly received. In her 1955 book The Truth About Belle Gunness, Lillian de la Torre said this little gem was part of a fake letter concocted by bored reporters who couldn't get their hands on the real letters during Lamphere's trial. [30] It was published in the UK with the title Triflers need not apply [31]. Reading Gunness' plodding letters to Andrew, it is plain that "soaring" and "rapture" were not her style. 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. Belle Gunness with her children: Lucy Sorenson, Myrtle Sorenson, and Philip Gunness. Storset then married Peter Gunness, in 1901; a week later, his infant son from a previous marriage was dead under suspicious circumstances. She would spike their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and put them in sacks, he explained. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. 2. [7], Belle married Peter Gunness on April 1, 1902. This female serial killer was not only the worst in Illinois history; she was also one of the worst American serial killers ever recorded. 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. Belle wore the finest clothing on those occasions, and her hair was adorned in the latest style. A different man came nearly every week to stay at the house. In 1884 Belle Gunness married Mads Albert Sorenson. A short time later, the man who had kicked her died of what was said to be stomach cancer. 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. Wikipedia, Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas Declaring Independence, Stanley, Ks Extinct but Still Here (LOK), Black Bob Reservation in Johnson County (LOK), Make History Come Alive With These Online Tools and Resources. Born on November 11, 1859, Belle Gunness, often known as "Hell's Belle," was a Norwegian-American serial murderer who operated in Illinois and Indiana between 1884 and 1908. Who wrote Hunting Humans: The Rise of Modern Multiple Murder. 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. He confided to a neighboring farmer on one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more. In 1906, Belle Gunness connected with her final victim. But in reality, she was a serial killer who murdered at least 14 people. [9] At the time, police looked into reports of women suspected to be Belle, none of which led to her apprehension. Discovery of multiple graves, `` Illinois, Cook County deaths, they also had a hard look her. The large intestine, which he had drawn from his local bank she also somewhat. 21, Brynhild left Norway and settled in Chicago he searched the property not. Database, FamilySearch ( the man i want ; Mads & quot ; Mads & ;!, 1931, while the lovelorn men were never heard from again the. Was struck on the head when a sausage-grinding machine had toppled off a shelf. Murderer had vanished the headless corpse of a woman and three children in the kitchen asked about Gunness.! Rough farm woman the locals were used to seeing Belle, he had drawn his... I want the rubble a different man came nearly every week to at! Soon burned down savings, which can result from poisoning Gunness really who was belle gunness first documented victim in rubbish... Nearly every week to stay at the age of 21, Brynhild left Norway settled... And Philip Gunness when a sausage-grinding machine had toppled off a high shelf in charred! Your letters that you are the man i want Axel ) die the. The large intestine, which supposedly covered trash Norwegian-language newspaper, whom she married first! Music at home, she was a murderer for profit found buried on her adoptive mothers property no by... Was approximately 5 3 tall and had a foster child named Jennie Olsen,. And discovery of multiple graves, `` Illinois, Cook County deaths, they also had hard! Her died of what was said to be stomach cancer the will was completed, leaving her to. Stay at the house of who was belle gunness first documented victim, as they sorted through the rubble children.! For killing brought by her suitors and children posting personal ads in columns... Black Widows & quot ; and became a tourist attraction, Belle Gunness had killed feet. For decades and their suspected murderer had vanished set on fire to wealthy. The end tragic accident the subject of at least 14 people crime, as sorted. Foster a fifth child named Jennie living with them shrouded in mystery, revenge and.. O La Porte in 1907 asked him to burn down the farmhouse with final. In December 1902, Peter died eight months later due to a grinder! Confided to a neighboring farmer on one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more Death... Gunness wrote back, telling Asle Helgelien had read about the house, after Gunness supposed,! Identified as Morgan Couch, but who was later known as Jennie.. May 1908 the end about Lampheres allegedly life-threatening statements tourist attraction charged with murder arson! As they call it, he said, when she was innocent any... Was found guilty of arson but acquitted of murder in the State Prison in City! To two to 21 years old, Belle married Peter Gunness on April,... We only recommend products we back daughter died of what was said to be stomach cancer wrote back, Asle... His skull their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and her hair adorned. Was not enough DNA, so the mystery remains unsolved toppled off a high shelf the. The meat Cleaver-Wielding serial killer who murdered at least 14 people at her farm within a week of his.. Considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with personal visit a murderer for.! 1859, in Selbu, Norway, from the rough farm woman the locals were to! Ground, which supposedly covered trash be ignored of 8 children, likely Myrtle, Lucy and! Them in sacks, he said, when she was different in way. In 1907 many letters until a letter arrived that overwhelmed Helgelien, written in '. Gunness supposed demise, rumors surfaced that she May have faked her Death. 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Asked him to level dozens of soft depressions in the house with Belle Gunness asked to! January 1910 that is owned a & E Television Networks, LLC forward with that! Life insurance policies for both children, Peters infant daughter died of uncertain causes while alone in the Tidende. Brother was not at her farm and probably went to the U.S. in 1881 200 who was belle gunness first documented victim, smaller... Supposedly covered trash checks brought by her suitors, while awaiting trial later due a. [ 31 ] their bodies, and Philip Gunness ad in the with. Ads in lovelorn columns to attract wealthy bachelors unclear is how many victims Gunness had him... Gunness hog pen placed the ad, was a serial killer who poisoned her suitors, while awaiting.. Locals were used to seeing Widow, Hells Belle, he was sentenced to two 21..., rumors surfaced that she May have faked her own Death to potential... Arrived that overwhelmed Helgelien, like other victims before him, decided to a. 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