La Porte, Indiana, 1908.
Smoke, thick and acrid, choked the morning air as neighbors raced towards the inferno consuming the farmhouse of Belle Gunness, a wealthy Norwegian immigrant mother with a reputation for strength and a commanding presence. Within the scorched house, firefighters found the charred remains of three children and a headless woman, believed to be Belle. The shocking revelation unearthed in the soil around her pig pens captivated the nation.
The investigators spent weeks exhuming scattered remains from shallow graves and hog pens on Belle’s farm—victims who had been drawn in by her false promises of marriage, land, and prosperity. Among them were suitors, farmhands, and wandering drifters, each answering the call of Belle’s carefully worded lonely hearts ads in Midwestern newspapers. These ads pledged companionship and security, urging men to bring their life savings to La Porte. According to Wikipedia, almost none of them ever lived to see another day.
Belle Gunness was not born in Indiana but in Selbu, Norway, in 1859, under the name Brynhild Paulsdatter Størset. She immigrated to Chicago, where she married twice—both husbands dying under suspicious circumstances. Each death left her wealthier, thanks to substantial insurance payouts. Over time, whispers spread that Belle had discovered a grim formula: tragedy as a source of profit (Schechter, Hell’s Princess, 2018).
“Her farm was no homestead—it was a human slaughterhouse, concealed behind the walls of domesticity. Suitors came with money and hope; what they found was death.”
— Harold Schechter, Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men (2018)
Her La Porte farm became a trap, the walls closing in around her. The men Belle selected were not random; they were wealthy, often Norwegian bachelors seeking a better life. The letters described a future with a friend, a life partner, and a shared peaceful home. Upon arriving, many were last seen entering her home, the door slamming shut behind them with a finality that echoed, never to be heard from again (La Porte County Historical Society).
As the ashes of the 1908 fire cooled, searchers discovered a scene of devastation. Buried in shallow graves and hog pens were the dismembered remains of at least 14 victims. Andrew Helgelien was one of the suitors, and after his sudden disappearance, his brother wrote many letters to Belle, which prompted the police to investigate the farm (documented in the LOC Belle Gunness Archive)
📜 Timeline of Belle Gunness: Marriages, Deaths, and Victims
1859 – Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Størset in Selbu, Norway.
1881 – Immigrates to Chicago, Illinois.
1884 – Marries Mads Sorenson.
July 30, 1900 – Mads Sorenson dies suddenly of “heart failure” on the one day when two life insurance policies overlapped. Belle collects both payouts.
1901 – Marries Peter Gunness, a widower with two daughters.
Dec. 1901 – Peter dies in a bizarre “accident” when a meat grinder supposedly falls on his head. One of Peter’s daughters dies soon after while in Belle’s care.
🏚️ The La Porte Farm Years (1902–1908)
1902–1908 – Belle places lonely hearts ads in Norwegian and Midwestern newspapers, luring suitors with promises of land, marriage, and security.
1902 – John Moe, a suitor, disappears after arriving with $1,000.
1904 – Olaf Lindblom disappears.
1906 – Henry Gurholdt, from Wisconsin, vanishes after withdrawing his savings.
1907 – Andrew Helgelien arrives with $2,900. He disappears; his brother’s letters later push police to investigate.
1907 – Olaf Svenherud disappears.
1907–1908 – Multiple unidentified farmhands and laborers vanish.
1907–1908 – Jenny Olson, Belle’s foster daughter, is last seen telling classmates she’s headed “to California.” Her remains are later found buried.
🔥 The Fire & Aftermath
April 28, 1908 – Belle’s farmhouse burns down. Inside: the bodies of her three children (Phillip, Myrtle, Lucy) and a headless woman presumed to be Belle.
May 1908 – Investigators uncover at least 14 dismembered victims buried in Belle’s yard and hog pens.
1908–1910s – Reports of Belle sightings surface across the Midwest; her fate remains unknown.
⚰️ The Final Tally
2 husbands dead (both insured).
1 foster daughter and 3 biological children killed.
14 confirmed victims exhumed.
Dozens more suspected — with estimates as high as 40+.
Belle’s own death remains a mystery.
Lamphere Found Guilty of Arson, the newspaper headlined on Thursday, December 3, 1908 (The Spanish Fork Press, 1908). Ray Lamphere, Belle Gunness’s hired farmhand and rumored lover, played a pivotal role in the mystery that surrounded her downfall. Obsessed with Belle yet spurned when she dismissed him, Lamphere was seen by neighbors as jealous of the wealthy suitors who answered her “lonely hearts” ads. When Belle’s farmhouse burned to the ground in April 1908, killing her three children and leaving behind a headless female corpse, suspicion quickly fell on him. He was charged with arson and murder, though ultimately convicted only of arson. Before his death from tuberculosis in 1909, Lamphere allegedly confessed that Belle had planned the fire herself, planted another woman’s body to stage her death, and fled La Porte under the cover of smoke. He admitted to helping her bury some of the victims but insisted he was not a killer. Whether accomplice or scapegoat, Lamphere’s testimony cemented the enduring theory that the “Black Widow of La Porte” escaped justice and vanished into legend (Schechter, Hell’s Princess, 2018; Wikipedia).
“Lamphere was her assistant. They say they have proof that he helped her to dismember the bodies.”
— The Macleay Chronicle, Australian coverage of the Gunness case, June 25, 1908 newspapers.com+11trove.nla.gov.au+11murderpedia.org+11
What drew people to Belle Gunness’s story was not only the murders themselves but the strange cocktail of horror, mystery, and spectacle that surrounded them. The sheer scale of her crimes—at least 14 bodies unearthed and rumors of dozens more—was almost unthinkable in an era when women who killed were expected to do so quietly, with poison, and in small numbers. When her farmhouse burned in 1908 and a headless body was discovered inside, the unanswered question of whether Belle had truly died or escaped only deepened public fascination. Newspapers sensationalized her case, branding her the “Lady Bluebeard” and the “Hell’s Princess,” highlighting the shocking contrast between her identity as a mother of three and her secret life as a butcher of men. Thousands of people flocked to La Porte to watch the excavations, buying postcards and souvenirs from the so-called “murder farm,” turning her crimes into a grim tourist attraction. In the end, Belle became something larger than a criminal—she became a folk monster for the Midwest, a living “Bluebeard” whose lonely-hearts ads promised love and prosperity but delivered only death (Schechter, Hell’s Princess, 2018; Chronicling America; Wikipedia).
The greatest mystery remains:
In the aftermath of the April 28, 1908 fire at Belle Gunness’s farm, authorities discovered a headless female body amid the ruins alongside the bodies of her children. The remains were initially assumed to be Belle’s. Still, skilled observers quickly noted discrepancies: the body was several inches shorter and much lighter than Belle, who had been tall and robust. Research Guides+12Wikipedia+12hoosierhistorylive.org+12.
The uncertainty of the body’s identity became a defining element of the legend. In 2008, forensic experts and investigators revisited the case at the University of Indianapolis—or nearby facilities—to conduct DNA testing on the remains in an effort to confirm identity. However, due to the body’s age and degradation, the DNA results were inconclusive hoosierhistorylive.org.
Today, there is still no definitive confirmation that the body was Belle’s. As a result, speculation continues: Did Belle die in the fire, or did she plan it and escape, using the body as a decoy? Despite more than a century of investigation, her fate remains one of true crime’s most enduring mysteries. The unanswered questions about her fuel the enduring legend of Belle. Unlike other killers, her story culminates not in vengeance or finality, but in an enduring mystery.
🩸 Belle Gunness Among Her Dark Contemporaries
Belle Gunness did not act alone; her accomplices were always nearby. In the early 1900s, with an ominous chill in the air, predators seemed to lurk around every corner, turning love, trust, and domestic life into implements of murder. Belle distinguished herself not only through her cruelty but also by mirroring—and sometimes exceeding—the actions of the men who were notorious in her time.
Belle Gunness (1859–1908?)
Method: Lured suitors with lonely hearts ads; poisoned, dismembered, and buried them on her Indiana farm
Victims: 14+ confirmed (suspected 40+)
Fate: Presumed dead in the 1908 fire, but the body was never confirmed
Source: Wikipedia, Schechter, Hell’s Princess (2018)
Johann Hoch (1855–1905) – “The Bluebeard of Chicago”
Method: Married women under aliases; poisoned with arsenic
Victims: Believed 20–24
Fate: Executed in 1906 (Chicago)
Source: Wikipedia
H.H. Holmes (1861–1896) – “The Murder Castle Killer”
Built a labyrinthine hotel in Chicago with hidden rooms and crematoriums during the 1893 World’s Fair.
Killed business associates and lovers for money and convenience.
Executed by hanging in 1896.
📖 Source: Wikipedia – H.H. Holmes; Schechter, Harold. Depraved (1994).
Jane Toppan (1854–1938) – “Jolly Jane, the Angel of Death”
Method: Boston nurse; injected morphine/atropine, watched patients die
Victims: 31 confessed
Fate: Declared insane; confined for life (1902)
Source: Wikipedia
George Joseph Smith (1872–1915) – “The Brides in the Bath Killer” (UK)
Method: Married women drowned them in bathtubs for insurance
Victims: 3 confirmed
Fate: Executed in 1915 (England)
Source: Wikipedia
Henri Désiré Landru (1869–1922) – “The Bluebeard of Gambais” (France)
Method: Placed ads, lured widows, killed & burned remains in the stove
Victims: 11 confirmed
Fate: Executed by guillotine in 1922 (France)
Source: Wikipedia
📚 Why She Still Haunts Us
Schechter’s Hell’s Princess reanimates Belle’s tale with chilling precision, portraying her as both a product of her time and a monstrous exception to it. In an era when women were idealized as homemakers, Belle inverted the archetype—turning her domestic farmstead into a slaughterhouse.
“As the Wall Street Journal chillingly titled its review, *‘A Butcher Named Belle’, *Schechter’s portrayal of Belle Gunness is unflinching in its brutality…” wsj.com
True crime endures because it exposes our darkest contradictions, and Belle Gunness stands at their center: an immigrant chasing the American dream, a mother who murdered her own, and a woman who may have literally vanished into legend.
🔗 Sources Mentioned
Schechter, H. (2004). Depraved: The shocking true story of America’s first serial killer, H. H. Holmes. New York, NY: Pocket Books. https://www.abebooks.com/9780743490351/Depraved-Definitive-True-Story-H.H-0743490355/plp
Schechter, H. (2018). Hell’s princess: The mystery of Belle Gunness, butcher of men. New York, NY: Little A. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hells-princess-harold-schechter/1127133416
The Wall Street Journal. (2018, May 18). “Hell’s princess” review: A butcher named Belle. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/hells-princess-review-a-butcher-named-belle-1526679269
La Porte County Historical Society. (n.d.). Belle Gunness collection. La Porte, IN: Author. https://laportecountyhistory.org/
The Spanish Fork Press. (1908). Lamphere Found Guilty of Arson. [VII, 46] https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85058245/1908-12-03/ed-1/?sp=1&q=Belle+Gunness&r=-0.013,0.125,0.326,0.279,0
The Macleay Chronicle. (1908, June 25). Belle Gunness: The Indiana murderess. Trove: National Library of Australia. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/174466495
Hoosier History Live. (2021, October 23). Belle Gunness, the “Lady Bluebeard” of La Porte. Hoosier History Live. https://hoosierhistorylive.org/mail/2021-10-23.html
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Belle Gunness. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Gunness
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Belle Gunness. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Gunness
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Johann Hoch. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Hoch
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). H. H. Holmes. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Jane Toppan. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Toppan
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). George Joseph Smith. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Joseph_Smith
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Henri Désiré Landru. In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 29, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9_Landru