Belle Gunness
MurderpediaPortrait of Belle Gunness.
Last on the American serial killers list: one of the very first “Black Widow” American serial killers, Belle Gunness. She used cunning and deception to make a lot of money through insurance fraud. She also left a trail of nearly 40 bodies in her wake.
Born in Selbu, Norway, in 1859, Gunness longed to move to the United States and achieve her American Dream. She immigrated to the United States in 1881 and began scheming.
From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed like disaster and tragedy befell Gunness more than usual. But all of the “accidents” were carefully and brutally orchestrated by Gunness so she could make money off insurance claims.
She began to kill around 1893 after she married her first husband, Mads Sorenson. They opened up a store together and had four children and one foster child.
First, the couple’s business burned down. Next, two of her children abruptly died from acute colitis. Acute colitis and strychnine poisoning share symptoms — but this coincidence did not raise any red flags.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesBelle Gunness with her children Lucy Sorensen, Myrtle Sorensen, and Philip Gunness in 1904.
Next, her husband died under suspicious circumstances on the very day that his two life insurance policies overlapped, and Gunness got double the payload.
Gunness then moved her family to LaPorte, Indiana, and bought a 42-acre farm, which she burned down a piece of in order to collect more money.
She eventually married Peter Gunness, who added two daughters from his previous marriage to the household. When one child died under mysterious circumstances, Peter grew suspicious and sent his eldest daughter to stay with relatives. This ended up being a smart decision; she was the only child to survive Gunness’s bloodshed.
Shortly after, Peter himself was killed when a meat grinder fell on his head in their kitchen. Gunness collected his life insurance policy and later gave birth to their son.
Now a professional, Gunness thought of a more efficient way to earn money. She took out newspaper ads asking for companionship, and men visited her farm with their money. Several suitors came to Gunness’s farm, but none left.
According to Jack Rosewood, author of Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men, Gunness was brutal in her treatment of her victims’ bodies. She would often chop them up like farm animals and bury them in her backyard.
In 1908, Gunness’s luck seemingly ran out. Her farmhouse burned to the ground, and the bodies of her remaining three children were found in the wreckage alongside a headless body believed to be Gunness’s.
The brother of one of Gunness’s victims had come to town to investigate his sibling’s disappearance, and he urged police to investigate the burned farm’s grounds. On searching the property, authorities found the bodies of forty men and children.
Gunness’s right-hand man, Ray Lamphere, was arrested for murder and arson — though he was eventually cleared of the murder charges. Before he died in prison, Lamphere revealed the truth: Gunness was guilty of the crimes, she burned her own house down, and the body they believed to be hers was a fake.
Gunness was never found, and her death has never been confirmed. However, a woman in California who was around Gunness’s age died in 1931 while awaiting trial for poisoning a man. In her possession were photos of three children who resembled Gunness’s.
Now that you’ve finished reading the stories of these terrifying American serial killers, read about serial killers who thought nothing of murdering children. Then, discover serial killers who were never caught and still could be alive today.
