Crime Chronicles: The Black Widow of La Porte

We're back with the Crime Chronicles series, and this time we're looking at another mystery of sorts. We've covered a few different killers over the course of the series, and many of them were very messed up in the head. Of course, many of them got their comeuppance in the end - in this case...not so much.

The story of Belle Gunness is a dark one of greed, deception, and death. So, what's the story? Well, let's discuss the black widow of La Porte.

Belle Gunness' Early Days

Our villain of this tale was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storseth to parents Paul and Berit Storseth in Norway in 1859. She was confirmed at the Church of Norway in 1874 and started working at the age of 14, working on farms (herding cattle, and stuff like that). Her end goal was to head to the USA. She successfully made the journey to the USA in 1881 at the age of 22.

After the immigration services had finished processing her, Brynhild changed her name to Belle. After that, she headed to Chicago, planning to join her sister Nellie. Upon arrival, she got work as a domestic worker and then in a butcher's shop, cutting up animal carcasses.

Blood Money?

Belle's first marriage was in 1884 to a guy named Mads Sorenson. The couple owned a small candy store. This candy store later burned to the ground, and she and her spouse collected a hefty insurance payment. Additionally, the Sorenson home had also burned down, and two babies died of intestinal inflammation (I wasn't able to find out when). That fact about the babies was gossiped about for a while.

The Sorensons had two life insurance policies active at the same time. Mads Sorenson passed away on July 30, 1900, from a cerebral haemorrhage (brain bleed). The explanation given by Gunness was that her husband had come home with a headache, and she'd given him quinine to treat it. Her story was that she checked in on him later, only to find him dead.

She later collected a $5,000 insurance payment and moved to La Porte, Indiana.

On April 1, 1902, Belle married Peter Gunness. A week later, Peter's infant daughter died of unknown causes. Peter died eight months later from a skull fracture. The story that Belle gave the authorities was that Peter had been reaching for something on a shelf, and a meat grinder had fallen on his head. A legal inquest was called, while murder was suspected, nothing came of it. Still, Belle collected $3,000 in life insurance money.

Death by Marriage

This is where things get...weird...like, really weird.

Belle Gunness starts placing marriage ads in Chicago papers in 1905. One man who answered the ad was a farmhand from Wisconsin named Henry Gurholt. It wasn't long before he disappeared. Another man, John Moe, responded to one of Belle's ads in 1906.

The two had been corresponding for months beforehand, and he made the journey to Indiana. He was never seen again.

The Corpse Farm

April 1908, that's when Belle's crimes come to light. The Gunness farm burned to the ground. Authorities found the bodies of a headless woman and three kids. When they continued their investigations, partial remains of eleven other people.

After the fire, authorities were contacted by Asle Helgelien who'd found correspondence between his brother, Andrew, and Gunness. Asle, and a former hired hand, brought attention to some soft depressions in the ground. They subsequently uncovered several more bodies - including the remains of Andrew Helgelien.

Arson on the Farm

After the fire, a man named Ray Lamphere was arrested for arson. He later confessed that Gunness had told him to burn the farm down with her children inside.

Belle Gunness was declared dead, even though the body examined by the coroner was shorter and lighter than Gunness. When her crimes came to light, the Gunness farm quickly became a tourist attraction. This led to speculation that Belle had survived the fire and escaped justice, although whether that's true or not, we'll never know.