Belle Gunness

 Belle Gunness was a Norwegian-American murderer of the early 20th century. It’s not certain how many people she killed but the motive for murder was financial gain.

She was born in Norway on 11 November 1859. She was one of 8 siblings. Her father was a stonemason. 

Belle migrated to the USA in 1881. Her birth name was Brynhild but she began calling herself Belle. In 1884, she married a man named Sorenson. The two ran a candy store, which was not successful. It burned down and they claimed insurance money. The couple had four children. Sadly, two of them died, supposedly of acute colitis, although they may have been poisoned. Both children had life insurance. As well as her two surviving children, Belle had an adopted daughter called Jennie Olsen. 

Sorenson died in 1900 and Belle collected a large amount of insurance money. His death was ascribed to natural causes but he may have been poisoned.

Belle moved to La Porte, Indiana. In April 1902 she married a man named Peter Gunness. The two had a son. Unfortunately, Peter died in December 1902, supposedly, when a meat grinder fell off a shelf onto his head. At the time, it was decided that his death was an accident. However, Belle gained a large amount of insurance money after his death.

Belle began advertising in newspapers. She described herself as a ‘rich, good-looking widow’. She claimed she owned a large farm and she was looking for a man to marry.

The advert was soon answered. A number of men travelled to Belle’s farm, where they disappeared.  Belle persuaded them to hand over their savings to her. It’s not known how Belle killed her victims. She probably poisoned them. The bodies were buried on the farm.

In 1906, Belle murdered her adopted daughter, Jennie Olsen, aged 16, and buried her body on the farm. Jennie was probably killed because she suspected the truth. Belle told her neighbours that the girl had gone away to school. 

In 1907, Belle employed a farmhand named Ray Lamphere. She later fired him. Belle claimed that Lamphere threatened her life. 

Then, on 28 April 1908 Belle’s farmhouse burned down, killing her three children. The body of a woman was found in the burned ruins, but it was missing its skull. It’s not certain if the dead woman was Belle Gunness.

The farmhand, Ray Lamphere, was arrested for the murder of Belle Gunness and the three children. He was acquitted of murder but convicted of arson. Lamphere was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He died in December 1909.

The relatives of missing people told the sheriff of their suspicions that Belle had killed them. Digging began and the searchers found the body of Belle’s adopted daughter, Jennie Olsen. The bodies of 11 people were found buried on the Gunness farm. Unfortunately, most were too badly decomposed to be identified.

What happened to Belle Gunness is not known. Did she perish in the fire or did she fake her own death?