Belle Gunness: The Serial Killer of La Porte, Indiana
Just a few weeks prior, the house on the Gunness farm had burned to the ground. Mystery began swirling even before the flames were extinguished. The bodies of Belle Gunness, the farm's owner, and her three adopted children were found in the rubble. Shockingly, the body of Gunness was missing its head.
Discovery of Andrew Helgelien’s dismembered body sent speculation into overdrive. What was happening at the Gunness farm?
More searches turned up more bodies, dozens of them. A carnival atmosphere ensued. Some 15,000 people showed up. They came to watch LaPorte County Sheriff Albert Smutzer conduct this ghastly investigation up close.
“They came out in horse and buggies, they came in interurban trains. Even people came in automobiles, especially wealthier people who could afford automobiles at the time. Even boys skipped school and came out on their bicycles to watch the digging out of Belle Gunness’ farm. This was huge entertainment. It was wild and crazy,” says LaPorte County historian Bruce Johnson.
The remains of Jennie Olson were soon found among the ashes, dismembered like the rest. Belle Gunness had been telling people that her eldest adopted daughter was away at school. Reality was ever so slowly sinking in. Belle Gunness was not the quiet widow farmer. She was a prolific and brutal serial killer.
Who Was Belle Gunness?
Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth in Norway in 1859. She emigrated to the United States in 1881. At the time of the fire at the farm, she was twice widowed. Her first husband, Mads Sorensen, died on the one day that two of his life insurance policies overlapped. Poison was suspected, but no autopsy was conducted.
“He came from work, she said, and he wasn't feeling well, so he went to lie down. He had been under a doctor's care for a heart ailment. She said, ‘I got some medicine from the pharmacist. I gave him this powder.’ And then, of course, he ended up dead,” Johnson describes.
Belle remarried, this time to a man named Peter Gunness. They used Belle's insurance payout to buy the farm in La Porte. However, Peter Gunness would soon be dead. Belle claimed that a meat grinder had fallen from a shelf, striking him on the head and killing him.
Johnson says, “That's what she said happened. However, it didn't just fall. She clobbered him to make sure he was dead.”
Suspicions were once again aroused, but no charges came. Widowed once again, Gunness began posting personal ads in regional Norwegian language newspapers.
“The ad said ‘woman looking for a partner, nicely located farm, would like to have a partner in same,’” explains Johnson.
But there were stipulations.
“‘Sell everything you own. Bring only cash. Don't tell anybody anything because this is a secret between the two of us,’” Johnson lists.
Many curious bachelors showed up to explore the offer. They were rarely heard from again. Based on examinations of the bodies found at the farm, the formidable Gunness likely bludgeoned the men to death.
Johnson says, “She would cut them up into pieces; she would cut off their heads, their arms, and their legs, and then she would put them into a gunny sack with quicklime to help preserve them until she could find a time for burial.”
Belle Gunness' Crimes and Possible Escape
Gunness’ greed and her ruthlessness seemed boundless.
“I figure she killed at least 21 people,” states Johnson. “She got an average of about $3,000 per person that came to the farm. If you take all of them, I think she got at least $50,000 maybe, all together. In today's money, she probably got at least $1 million.”
Her crimes seemed clear, but one major Gunness mystery remained. Without a head, it was impossible to positively identify her body. The question lingered: had she escaped? The alleged remains of Gunness were exhumed in 2007. DNA tests, however, were inconclusive.
“I was at the digging up of the body in Chicago and saw that skeleton and how it had been through a fire and the head was gone, parts of the body were burned off,” Johnson explains. “It’s not her body. I truly feel that she got away. I don't think we'll ever find out any more details.”
More than a century later, much is still left unknown about Gunness and what drove her to commit such heinous acts.
“I don't know what happened along the way to make her end up like this. They say money is the root of all evil, and I think that's just what happened in this situation,” concludes Johnson.
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The above video is a clip from Journey Indiana from WTIU. You can watch more segments and full episodes at pbs.org/show/journey-indiana/
