Belle Gunness could lay claim to being the first female serial killer of modern times. Her story has fascinated me for many years. She was known to attract a large number of husbands and suitors, and she would quickly dispatch with them. Born 11 November 1859 in the Norwegian fishing village of Selbu. Sometimes tightrope walker for her father’s sideshow, though I do not know how, for she eventually was 280 pounds, Belle eventually moved to the United States, after her older sister Anna had invited Belle to follow. She met another immigrant, Mads Sorenson, and they married. Though they had no children of their own, they foster three daughters. The Sorensons were shopkeepers, but their shops were “prone” to fires, which luckily they were well insured.

As “luck” would have it, Mr. Sorenson died from “heart failure,” though there was some evidence that his death was caused by strychnine poisoning. Ironically, on the day of his death, one life insurance policy elapsed and another one started. Belle collected from both.

With her $8500, Belle moved her family to La Porte, Indiana, where, at that time, many people from Scandinavia had settled. Mrs. Sorenson them married Peter Gunness, a Norwegian. Unfortunately, for Peter, in 1903, a sausage grinder fell on his head and killed him, though some thought is wounds looked as if someone had struck him with a hammer. This time, Belle received an insurance payment of $4000.

Belle began to place advertisements in Norwegian language newspapers as a woman “seeking a husband.” She asked for a man who was ready to support their future together with a cash investment. The men who dared to come to La Porte where only seen around town for a few days. They all thought they were marrying a rich widow, but . . . After a short period, those men would disappear.

The foster children Belle and Mads had taken in all those years prior did not do much better. Her “daughter” Jennie supposedly left for a finishing school in California. In addition to Jennie, many of Belle’s farm hands disappeared, but those in La Porte simply viewed Belle as a woman with a string of bad luck.

On 28 April 1908, Belle’s house caught fire, the bodies of the three “adopted” girls were found in the aftermath, along with a female body, thought to be Belle, but that body had been beheaded. A local handyman was arrested, for he had had an on-again, off-again relationship with Belle. Ray Lamphere had threatened to burn down Belle’s house. When investigators were looking for the missing head [which they did not find], they found fourteen bodies, mostly in the hog pen. They were able to identify 2 handymen, Belle’s daughter Jennie, and the bodies of 5 of the “hopeful” suitors who had come to La Porte and supposedly left when not satisfied with Belle. Some of the bodies in the fire also had cyanide in their stomachs.

Immediately, people suspected the body in the fire was not Belle, but two weeks later, Belle’s dental bridge, which had little damage to it after being in a fire, was found in the rubble. The town was divided on whether Belle had been killed in the fire; therefore, when Ray Lamphere was tried, the jurors held their doubts as to whether Belle was even dead. They only found him guilty of arson. Not murder.

Reports persisted for many years following this event, saying Belle Gunness had been seen elsewhere. Some attribute 40 murders to her.

Other Sources:

PBS Journey Indiana ~ Death on the Farm: How Belle Gunness Amassed a Fortune by Luring Men to Her Farm and Chopping Them to Pieces

Hoosier History Live

There are multiple books that tell this tale from many points of view. Search of “Belle Gunness” on Amazon brings you a half dozen on the first line of the search.