The former handyman also stated that Belle had become a very rich woman. . She kept his trunk and fur overcoat. This letter was later found at the Helgelien farm. This is a story that will shock you more than most, because of t .more Get A Copy Kindle Unlimited $0.00 Amazon Stores 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. 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. I know that you are now to come to me and be my own. Jennie Olsen's death certificate. That tale is even more frightening. Lamphere ended up in prison because of his connection to Gunness and the fire on her farm. Helgelien became even more convinced of foul play when he went out to the ruins of Belles home and watched as the men digging for her head turned up eight mens watches, assorted bones, and human teeth instead. Shutterstock. 4) What were the first documented crimes connected to Belle Gunness? Married with Sorensen and Belle has born 4 children: Caroline, Axel, Myrtle and Lucy. This photo dates to about 1904. . Suspicious, Asle started asking questions around town and then came the fire. In her letters, Gunness had asked her mark to bring all of his money and not tell anyone what he was up to. An unknown man and woman are alleged to have disappeared in September 1906, the same night Jennie Olson went missing. Then, in December 1907, Andrew Helgelien, a bachelor farmer from Aberdeen, South Dakota, wrote to her and was warmly received. She introduced them as cousins from Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and from Chicago She was always careful to make the children stay away from her cousins.'. The local dentist then stepped in, stating that he could make an identification if any dental work could be found. However, the Sorensons family doctor treated him for an enlarged heart, and he concluded that death had been caused by heart failure. He admitted to a fellow inmate that he and Gunness had killed 42 men together. [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. Belle Gunness may or may not be one of America's most prolific serial killers. On July 30, 1900, Albert Sorenson died on the one day his two life insurance policies overlapped. Soon afterward, Olsen vanished. She died of tuberculosis while awaiting trial. She would spike their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and put them in sacks, he explained. Initially, the bodies were believed to be Belle and her children, Myrtle (age 11), Lucy (age 9), and Phillip (age 5). [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. [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. Can you conceive of anything nicer? Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. The 100-Year Mystery Of "Lady Bluebeard". She was never tracked down and her death has never been confirmed. To their horror, they ended up finding Andrew Helgeliens head, hands, and feet, stuffed into an oozing gunny sack. Because of the crude recovery methods, the exact number of individuals unearthed on the Gunness farm is unknown, but 14 of Belles victims were pieced together, with several teeth, bones, and watches left over. 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. Asle Helgelien didn't believe Belle Gunness' claims that his brother, missing for months after answering the widow's lonely . Belle also began posting notices in lovelorn columns to entice wealthy men to her farm, after which they were never seen again. Bell Gunness killed more than ___ people over several decades. 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! Her actual fate is unconfirmed. The low end is 11, to account for her first two husbands, their children, and the children found dead on the family farm. She suggested that maybe Andrew Helgelien had gone to Chicago or perhaps back to Norway. In the end, Ray Lamphere was charged with arson but not murder. She also chloroformed her children, smothered them to death, and carried them to the basement. Afterward, the locals said that Brynhilds personality drastically changed. However, she never went to the police to tell them about Lampheres allegedly life-threatening statements. Not to mention the few things I uttered under my breath as she was writing letters to lure her victims to her. 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. It is believed the couple produced two children whom Gunness poisoned in infancy for the insurance money. Her foster mother initially claimed that shed been sent to school in California. On June 13, 1900, Gunness and her family were counted on the United States Census in Chicago, recording her as the mother of four children, of whom only two were living: Myrtle A. and Lucy B. 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. One of these men was John Moe, who arrived from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Belle Gunness's First Husband. The story of Belle Gunness makes you wonder if some people don't really need motivation, some people . Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset, better known as Belle Gunness is a Norwegian-American serial killer who targeted men who showed interest in marrying her. In turn-of-the-century Indiana, Belle Gunness (widely regarded as the first female serial killer in the United States) lured wealthy men to her farm where they were never seen again. Then, Joe Maxson came forward with information that could not be ignored. 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. 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. Either way, the twice-widowed Gunness began posting personal ads in Norwegian-language newspapers to find a new companion. How many are known? After reading about Belle Gunness, take a look at Judy Buenoano, another infamous black widow serial killer. [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. Authorities eventually found the remains of over 40 victims on her property, but Belle disappeared without a trace. Although he almost left, Helgelien became convinced that he couldnt do so without looking harder for Andrew. Lamphere was quickly charged with murder and arson, and police began to search the farm grounds, hoping to find Gunness head. A few days later, Helgelien was gone, but Gunness appeared at the bank to make an additional $1200.00 deposit. Little is known about her early life. Then, I did the planting.. 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. Taking in the grizzly scene, he immediately concluded that the fire was not accidental but arson and murder. Gunness, the youngest of 8 children, grew up on a cotter's farm in Innbygda, Selbu. Only one person seemed to be catching on to Gunness habits: her foster daughter Jennie Olsen. By his count, he said she had murdered 42 men and had taken amounts from them ranging from $1,000 to $32,000. At age 14, Gunness began working for neighboring farms by milking and herding cattle to save enough money for passage to New York City. Whether Gunness died in that fire remains unclear. 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. 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. He disappeared from her farm within a week of his arrival. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. Gunness caught Bruce's attention as a young girl who grew up just north of Selbu. The story of Indiana's first documented serial killer, Belle Gunness. When he was just 18, Robinson went on a violent killing spree, during which he killed three young women and seriously injured two. Belle Gunness. Belle also began. The headless adult female corpse was never positively identified. Gunness wrote back, telling Asle Helgelien that his brother was not at her farm and probably went to Norway to visit relatives. Norwegian born Belle Gunness was born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in November 1859. [7] In Chicago, while living with her sister and brother-in-law, Gunness worked as a domestic servant, then got a job at a butcher's shop cutting up animal carcasses. He searched the property on his own and shouted to the men to start digging in the rubbish hole in Belles hog pen. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. But the men who came to her farm would not have a life to enjoy for very long. [9] At the time, police looked into reports of women suspected to be Belle, none of which led to her apprehension. On-site was County Sheriff Albert Smutzer, who had heard about Lampheres alleged threats. Gunness left her attorneys office. Belle explained that Peter reached for something on a high shelf and a meat grinder fell on him, smashing his skull. [9], Two babies in Gunness' home died from inflammation of the large intestine, which can result from poisoning. 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. Lamphere was arrested and charged with murder, with his cries of innocence falling on deaf ears. 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. She killed most of her suitors and boyfrie Alchetron Sign in Sneha Girap(Editor) However, word soon spread that her relationship with Lamphere was more than strictly professional. One of Robinson's surviving victims led to his eventual arrest. [8], Gunness married Mads Sorenson in 1884. You wish to know where your brother keeps himself, Gunness wrote to Asle. Ray Lamphere, Gunness's hired hand, was arrested for murder and arson on May 22, 1908. T.J. Tiefland of Minneapolis is alleged to have come to see Gunness in 1907. In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. 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. At first, investigators believed the bodies to be Belle Gunness and her three children: Myrtle, age eleven, Lucy, age nine; and Phillip, age five. The two once apparently had a relationship, but Lamphere had left in a jealous rage after Helgelien arrived. 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. Triflers need not apply.. 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 coroner described the incident as a little queer but believed that it was an accident. I think of you constantly. She was nicknamed "Hell's Belle" after it was discovered that she was a prolific serial killer. status aspirations. What was most likely the reason for these crimes? 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. As days progressed and the gruesome work continued, one body after another was discovered in Gunness hog pen. [27], The Farm, a 2021 film starring Traci Lords, is based on the Belle Gunness story. Or perhaps she simply wanted to be free to kill again. In 1907, she employed a farmhand, Ray Lamphere, to help with chores. [2] She killed most of her suitors and boyfriends, and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. [11] Further investigation unearthed the partial remains of at least 11 additional people on the Gunness property. Anderson was so startled by the ravenous expression in Gunness eyes that he left immediately. Then, on July 30, 1900, tragedy struck again. This Norwegian-American had insured her first husband and two of her children before. Then, learn about Leonarda Cianciulli, the serial killer who turned her victims into soap and teacakes. [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. Authorities found the bodies of Gunness three children in the charred rubble of the farmhouse basement. Belle Gunness. No replies by letter considered unless sender is willing to follow answer with a personal visit. 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. How did Belle Gunness Kill Her Victims? 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. The number murdered was estimated to be as many as 40. She wanted the ground made level, so he filled in the depressions. ", "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). 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