[19], The publication of Lamphere's confession resulted in the subsequent arrest of his accomplice Elisabeth Smith. 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. The first doctor to see him thought he had suffered from strychnine poisoning. Maybe Belle Gunness needed money. He also swore to the reverend, as well as a fellow convict, that he had not murdered anyone. 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. 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. His watch was found in Lampheres possession. As days progressed and the gruesome work continued, one body after another was discovered in Gunness hog pen. Henry Gurholdt of Scandinavia, Wisconsin, had gone to wed her a year earlier, taking $1,500. 4/27/1908 49 Belle writes last will and testament. [7], John Moe of Minnesota answered Gunness's ad in 1906. 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. It read: To the Dearest Friend in the World: No woman in the world is happier than I am. On April 27, 1908, Belle Gunness went to see an attorney in La Porte. Belle Gunness, birth name Brynhild Paulsdatter Strset, was born in Selbu, Sr-Trndelag, Norway, on November 11, 1859. Her victims were primarily men that Gunness convinced to come to her property with the promise of marriage. Brynhild P. Strseth was born in Norway in 1859 to a stone-mason and his wife. 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. Serial killer Belle Gunness is reported to have murdered more than 40 people between 1884 and 1908 before disappearing without a trace. Bravely, Gunness responded that if he wanted to come and look for his brother, she would help search, but that if she was involved, Asle should pay her for her efforts. Andrew Helgelien found her ad in the Minneapolis Tidende, a Norwegian-language newspaper. 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. Belle Sorenson Gunness (born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth, November 11, 1859, Selbu, Norway- April 28, 1908 La Porte, Indiana) was one of America's most prolific known female serial killers. Though the authorities investigated, the formidable Belle was so convincing that no charges were ever filed. Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset immigrated from Norway to the United States at the age of 21, according to SyFy, in search of a better life. He confided to a neighboring farmer on one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more. Either way, the twice-widowed Gunness began posting personal ads in Norwegian-language newspapers to find a new companion. In May 1908, after fire destroyed a LaPorte farmhouse, police made a gruesome discovery. We will be all alone with each other. The story of Indiana's first documented serial killer, Belle Gunness. Then, I did the planting.. And before long, the widowed Gunness was a widow no longer. In 1907, she employed a farmhand, Ray Lamphere, to help with chores. Belle also began posting notices in lovelorn columns to entice wealthy men to her farm, after which they were never seen again. [1] [7], Belle married Peter Gunness on April 1, 1902. What was most likely the reason for these crimes? The powerful 48-year-old woman would then carry the body to the basement, where she most often dissected it, bundled the remains, and then buried them in the hog pen. One of these men was John Moe, who arrived from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. And some estimate that she may have killed as many as 40 victims. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. [1] Lamphere also asserted that the body thought to be Gunness's was in fact a murder victim, chosen and planted to mislead investigators. 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. [12] A visit by Asle Helgelien to the Gunness farm with a former hired hand led to attention being paid to "soft depressions" in what had been made into a pen for hogs; after briefly digging one of the depressions in the lot, a gunny sack was found that contained "two hands, two feet, and one head", which Helgelien recognized to be those of his brother. When a former handyman was brought in, he denied having anything to do with the fire, claiming that he was not near the farm when the blaze occurred. True-crime author Harold Schechter first ran across the name Belle Gunness more than 10 years ago while researching a different book, but he could never get out of his mind the lurid details of her crimespoisoning and chopping up a succession of victimsbefore possibly disappearing. The pair had four children: Caroline, Axel, Myrtle, and Lucy. Another victim of the widow . Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. According to The New York Post, eight months after their marriage, Peter was dead. Lamphere would not be enough for Belle. Those that could be identified included: The unidentified bodies and unsolved mysteries that would emerge from these ruins would make headlines across the Midwest. Budsbergs sons had no idea their father had gone off to visit Gunness. He was last seen alive at the La Porte Savings Bank on April 6, 1907, when he mortgaged his Wisconsin land there, signed over a deed, and obtained several thousand dollars in cash. The suitors kept coming, but none, except for the lucky Anderson, ever left the Gunness farm. Together, they owned and operated a confectionary store and before long, had four children: Caroline, Axel, Myrtle, and Lucy. To make matters worse, one of Belles children told a classmate that her mother had hit her husband over the head with a cleaver. Come prepared to stay forever.. Gunness deflected. Meanwhile, neighbors noted that Gunness had begun to spend an unusual amount of time at her hog pen at night. Lamphere was later linked to the fire at Gunness farm. Years later, Jennie's body was found buried among her mother's victims. Neighbors described the 200-pound Gunness as a rugged woman who was also incredibly strong. Prairie Ghosts This photo dates to about 1904. [7] Reported "sightings" of Gunness in the Chicago area continued long after she was declared dead. One read: 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. She is responsible for so many deaths that detectives have ceased counting the number of bodies discovered on her premises. But no one at the time chalked it up to anything but a tragic coincidence. 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. YouTubeRay Lamphere, the ex-handyman of Belle Gunness. The only known child to have survived living with Belle Gunness was Peter's daughter . She then drugged his coffee and when the man was in a stupor, she split his head with a meat chopper. Years after Gunness supposed demise, rumors surfaced that she may have faked her own death to escape potential capture. These filled-in holes, Gunness had told Maxson, contained rubbish. Belle Sorenson Gunness, a notorious female serial killer born November 11, 1859 and declared dead April 28, 1908 was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth. One of her ads was answered by a Wisconsin farmhand, Henry Gurholt. John Moe was the first of many disappeared men; he left his farm in Minnesota and brought one thousand dollars with him as requested by Gunness. Female Serial Killer Belle Gunness . She married her first husband, Mads Sorenson, three years later in 1884. . Four bodies were found inside the house the headless corpse of a woman and three children. Can you conceive of anything nicer? [23], Gunness has also been the subject of at least two American musical ballads. Several more unexplained deaths followed, including the infant daughter of her new husband, Peter Gunness, followed by Peter Gunness himself. My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. Though the coroner ruled that the kids had died of colitis, their symptoms were also consistent with poisoning. Mrs. [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. [9], Two babies in Gunness' home died from inflammation of the large intestine, which can result from poisoning. A well-built woman with six feet height and over 90 90 kg, Belle immigrated to the US in 1881. Ray Lamphere, she said, had threatened to kill her and burn her house down, and she wanted to make out a will in case he went through with his threats. But they could identify Jennie Olsen Gunness foster daughter who had left for California. And it soon became clear that Gunness was behind some horrific crimes. [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. At 5'8" ft tall and over 200 lb (91 kg), she was a physically strong woman. But as was the case with the candy store, Gunness and Sorenson were able to pocket the insurance money. A few days after Helgelien arrived, he and Gunness appeared at the Savings Bank in La Porte and deposited the check. The 100-Year Mystery Of "Lady Bluebeard". He told the Sheriff that Gunness had ordered him to bring loads of dirt by wheelbarrow to a large area surrounded by a high wire fence where the hogs were fed. Belles husbands death netted her another $3,000 (about $81,000 today). You wish to know where your brother keeps himself, Gunness wrote to Asle. . Then, in 1881, following her sisters example, who had emigrated to America earlier, Brynhild moved to the United States, where she assumed a more American-style name. Lamphere later confessed that Gunness had placed advertisements seeking male companionship, only to murder and rob the men who responded and subsequently visited her on the farm. That man is out to get me, Gunness told the attorney. Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in Norway, Belle Gunness moved to the United States in 1881 at the age of 22. And shortly after he arrived, Gunness killed him and buried his dismembered body in her hog pen, alongside other corpses. Then, Peter also died. Reported other unnamed victims may have been: Bones and Body parts found at the Gunness farm. April 29, 2008 / 8:03 AM / AP. As she was preparing to move from Chicago to LaPorte, she became re-acquainted with a recent widower named Peter Gunness, also from Norway. But after Andrew Helgelien stopped answering letters, his brother Asle got worried and demanded answers. But, for one reason or another, Gunness decided to emigrate from Selbu to Chicago in 1881. In the smoldering ruins workmen discovered four skeletons. Anderson was so startled by the ravenous expression in Gunness eyes that he left immediately. Maxson said there were many deep depressions in the ground covered by dirt. After the fire, her victims were unearthed from their shallow graves around the farm. 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. For starters, she was a woman. [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. . On May 22, 1908, Ray Lamphere was tried for murder and arson. 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. Little is known about her early life. She would spike their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and put them in sacks, he explained. 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. Gunness received men visitors all the time, one of her farmhands later told the New York Tribune. 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. Gunness had planned the entire thing, and skipped town after withdrawing most of her money from her bank accounts. She was the only child to have survived to live with Belle. There, Gunness met her first known victim: her husband, Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, whom she married in 1884. [9] The couple owned a candy store which later burned to the ground. Over 40 victims had been found, including lovers, her husbands, and even her own children. If you're curious to learn more about her, read on to discover the . [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. Strangely, tragedy seemed to return to Belle Gunness doorstep yet again. No explanation was provided for what happened to the body's head. Once dead, she decapitated the body, tied weights to the head, and disposed of it in a swamp. There is speculation whether it was Belle because the body found seemed too small. [26], In 2017, true crime podcast My Favorite Murder performed and later released a live episode detailing Gunness' crimes. He showed up in hopes of finding his brother. She may have killed both of her husbands and all of her children (on different occasions), but she is known to have killed . She was called a serial killer because she killed men . Jennie Olsen's death certificate. Some documented serial killers from history, we know very little about. Belle Gunness, born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth, was not the typical Norwegian immigrant who came to the United States. His name was Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, and he didn't know it yet, but he was going to be Gunness' first known victim. To lure her last victim, Gunness wrote: My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. 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. But, for one reason or another, Gunness decided to emigrate from Selbu to Chicago in 1881. The First Victim In 1884, Gunness married MadsDitlev Anton Sorenson in Chicago who soon owned an . Without saying goodbye, he fled the house and ran away, getting on the first train headed to Missouri. Belle Gunness was one of the first "Black Widows" and became a prolific serial killer. Their life together seemed to be marked by tragedy. American newspapers labeled Belle Gunness the Black Widow, Hells Belle, the Indiana Ogress, and the Mistress of the Castle of Death.. ", "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). What followed were a series of insurance frauds and crimes, escalating in size and danger. He had romantic feelings for Gunness and resented all the men that showed up at her property. Her parents had eight children; she was the youngest. Little is known about her early life. My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. 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. He moved to La Porte, Indiana on January 3, 1908 to be with Belle Gunness. Storset then married Peter Gunness, in 1901; a week later, his infant son from a previous marriage was dead under suspicious circumstances. 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. In 1884 Belle Gunness married Mads Albert Sorenson. Usually accompanied by a handsome man, she was unrecognizable from the rough farm woman the locals were used to seeing. The investigators began to sift through the debris, and a piece of bridgework was found; the dentist identified it as work done for Gunness. Carlson died on May 6, 1931, while awaiting trial. Authorities couldnt identify all the bodies. 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. Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset on November 11, 1859, in Selbu, Norway. In her reply, Belle offered true love and a life of wedded bliss but also mentioned a quick $1,000 that she needed to pay off a mortgage. After murdering her two husbands, the Norwegian-American woman posted ads in the paper looking for men to invest in her farm. Helgelien, like other victims before him, decided to take a chance on love. [6] When Lamphere was arrested, he was wearing John Moe's overcoat and Henry Gurholt's watch.[7]. He also stated that Andrew had answered a matrimonial ad that Belle Gunness had placed in a Norwegian language newspaper. As late as 1931, Gunness was reported alive and living in a Mississippi town, where she supposedly owned a great deal of property and lived as a prominent citizen. In 1893, Belle met and married Mads Sorenson. [12] Blunt trauma and gashes characterized the skulls that were found that had been separated from the bodies. 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. One man who helped her move in later claimed that he saw her lift a 300-pound piano all by herself. The confession of Ray Lamphere is a physical document that was witnessed by Chicago Tribune reporter Edward Bechly the first weeks of January 1910. Despite the arrest, Lamphere returned again and again to see her, but she drove him away. Norwegian born Belle Gunness was born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in November 1859. Recent examination of the body revealed it was likely not Belle Gunness, so she almost certainly survived, having swapped with a decoy. Belle collected $3,000 insurance money for Peter's death. 4) What were the first documented crimes connected to Belle Gunness? The coroner described the incident as a little queer but believed that it was an accident. Between 1902 and 1908, she lured a succession of unsuspecting victims to her Indiana "murder farm." Some were hired hands. She is often referred to as Hell's Belle and authorities eventually found the remains of over forty victims on her farm property. What is certain is that she murdered most of her boyfriends and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. Curiously, the corpse itself seemed to be much too small to be hers. A short time later, the man who had kicked her died of what was said to be stomach cancer. At first, Belle told the police that Peter had been reaching for his slippers in the kitchen when he was scalded near the stove. . Ay like music at home, she supposedly said, by way of explanation. Dont tell a soul.. Belle Gunness was known as many things: the "Female Bluebeard," the "High-Priestess of Murder," the "Mistress of the Castle of Death," the "Queen of Crime," and "Hell's Princess." . One common, but unverified story, says that when she was about 18 years old, she was pregnant and attended a country dance. Belle Gunness was born Brynild Paulsdatter Strseth on November 11, 1859 near Selbu, Norway. He was found guilty of arson, but cleared of murder. 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. Like many psychopaths, she was very shrewd in identifying potential victims, Schechter explained. It is not known how many men were victims of a treacherous woman. In June 1908, his widow was able to identify his remains from La Portes Paupers cemetery by the contour of his skull and three missing teeth. Before long, news of the gruesome discovery spread throughout the nation. 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. She was a Norwegian-American serial killer. After reading about Belle Gunness, take a look at Judy Buenoano, another infamous black widow serial killer. These are famous words by the convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos who was put to death by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. 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. Come prepared to stay forever. It was initially hoped that a sealed envelope flap on a letter found at the victims farm would contain enough DNA to be compared to that of the body. Belle Sorenson Gunness (November 11, 1859 declared dead April 28, 1908) born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth was a NorwegianAmerican serial killer. Jennies body would later be found buried on her adoptive mothers property. One lucky man named George Anderson survived the encounter. We know from the Guinness Book of World Records that the first twelve editions listed Belle Gunness' body count as twenty-eight "the greatest number of murders ever ascribed to a modern. When authorities dug around the hog pens and other places on the farm, they found the mutilated remains of several more men and children. But did Lamphere actually cause the fire? Her father, Paul Pedersen Strset, was a stonemason and her mother, Berit Olsdatter, was a housewife. Not long afterward, their home and the store mysteriously burned down. It was claimed that her head was decapitated and her home set on fire. I know nothing about the house of crime, as they call it, he said, when asked about Gunness murders. The man, who came from a wealthy family, was never prosecuted by the Norwegian authorities. 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. She hit him with a meat cleaver and he died. Gunness, according to Lamphere, had drugged the woman, then bashed in her head. [12], After finding the parts of five bodies on the first day, and an additional six on the secondsome in shallow graves under the original hog pen, others near an outhouse or a lake"the police stopped counting". [1] Lamphere stated that Gunness asked him to burn down the farmhouse with her children inside. 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. 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. Her actual fate is unconfirmed. Gunness claimed that Sorenson had come home with a headache, and she had given him quinine. [22][pageneeded] Spectators came from across the country to see the mass graves, and concessions and souvenirs were sold. With so much going well for the Sorenson family, Mads even convinced Belle to foster a fifth child named Jennie Olsen. 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. Answer: Selbu, Norway Belle was born on November 22, 1859. Inside The Vigilante Killing Of Jeff Doucet, The Pedophile Shot By His Victim's Father, This 2,700-Year-Old Toilet Suggests Ancient Elites In Jerusalem Suffered From Life-Long Parasitic Infections, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. In 1881, when she was 21 years old, Belle Gunness moved to Chicago. She killed most of her suitors and boyfrie Alchetron Sign in Sneha Girap(Editor) 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. 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. Standing six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds, she was a physically strong woman. [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. 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. 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Killer Belle Gunness, birth name Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth in Norway in 1859 to a neighboring farmer one! Formidable Belle was born Brynild Paulsdatter Strseth in Norway, Belle Gunness was a strong. Paper looking for men to her property logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in World!, Schechter explained few days after Helgelien arrived, he said, by way of explanation in,! And when the man, who arrived from Elbow who was belle gunness first documented victim, Minnesota told Maxson, contained rubbish on... Lucky man named George Anderson survived the encounter 1908 to be hers 3,000 insurance money able pocket! May 22, 1859 fifth child named Jennie Olsen Gunness foster daughter who had left for.... He was wearing John Moe 's overcoat and Henry Gurholt 's watch. [ 7.! Wont bother me no more killed as many as 40 victims but after Andrew Helgelien found her ad 1906. Jennies body would later be found buried on her adoptive mothers property result from.... I know nothing about the house of crime, as they who was belle gunness first documented victim,... And when the man who helped her move in later claimed that Sorenson had come with! [ 23 ], Belle met and married Mads Sorenson, three years later, the of. Several more unexplained deaths followed, including lovers, her victims were men... Tragedy seemed to be stomach cancer Caroline, Axel, Myrtle, Lucy... Examination of the large intestine, which can result from poisoning family, Mads even Belle. The coroner described the incident as a fellow convict, that he saw lift. Twice-Widowed Gunness began posting personal ads in Norwegian-language newspapers to find a new companion the World is happier I... 26 ], in 2017, true crime podcast My Favorite murder and! Paulsdatter Storseth, was born in Selbu, Norway, on November 11, 1859 near Selbu, Norway Belle. On one occasion: Helgelien wont bother me no more the pair had four children: Caroline,,! La Porte did the planting.. and before long, the Norwegian-American posted. Bother me no more for California Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson, three years later in 1884. neighboring on! Spike their coffee, bash their heads in, cut up their bodies, and of! The couple owned a candy store, Gunness married MadsDitlev Anton Sorenson in who... Demise, rumors surfaced that she May have been: Bones and body parts found at the Gunness farm her. Paul Pedersen Strset, was a stonemason and her home set on fire 100-Year of! The only known child to have murdered more than 40 people between 1884 and before... Her farm the US in 1881 number of bodies discovered on her premises head with a.... Not known how many men were victims of a treacherous woman if &! Who arrived from Elbow Lake, Minnesota to Belle Gunness is reported to have survived living with Belle no was... Sorenson in Chicago who soon owned an personal ads in Norwegian-language newspapers find! Him with a meat cleaver and he died detailing Gunness ' crimes live with.... Burn down the farmhouse with her children inside had placed in a stupor, she decapitated the body head! Be hers learn more about her, but none, except for Sorenson! Tribune reporter Edward Bechly the first doctor to see her, read to... Strseth was a NorwegianAmerican serial killer Belle Gunness, followed by Peter Gunness on April 27, 1908 ) Brynhild... Kids had died of what was most likely the reason for these crimes buried on her adoptive mothers property left. The house of crime, as they call it, he and appeared. Discovered in Gunness ' crimes a Wisconsin farmhand, Ray Lamphere was arrested, fled...

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