Legendary Murderess Mystery: Case Closed?
The Gunness Family
Jan. 14, 2008 -- The century-old mystery surrounding the death of Belle Gunness, perhaps the world's most prolific female serial killer, might be finally solved, following DNA testing carried out by a team of U.S. researchers.
A Norwegian immigrant who lived in Indiana at the turn of the last century, Belle Gunness murdered dozens and dozens of people, dismembered their bodies, and buried them in her yard. Perhaps more than 40 people were buried in the ground of her 42-acre farm in LaPorte, Ind.
Nearly all the victims were men -- wealthy prospective husbands recruited by ads in lonely hearts columns.
The butchery came to light when Gunness' house burned down on April 28, 1908, revealing the bodies of a beheaded woman and three young children.
A Grim Investigation
At first it was thought that the bodies belonged to Belle Gunness and her three children Myrtle, Lucy and Phillip. But as further investigation into the property revealed more dismembered body parts, doubts were raised as to whether the headless woman was really Gunness.
"Like most researchers, I believe that Belle Gunness did not die in the fire of her home, but that she killed another female to fake her death," University of Indianapolis graduate student Andrea Simmons told Discovery News.
Simmons, a 47-year-old attorney who returned to school with an eye toward working on international genocide investigations, recently exhumed the disputed remains and hopes to compare them with DNA samples from Gunness' letters.
The casket she exhumed in a Chicago-area cemetery contained not just an adult woman's body, but also the partial remains of two children.
"Instead of answering questions, it just opened up more," said Stephen Nawrocki, the forensic anthropologist who leads the University of Indianapolis team.
Initial analysis of the woman's remains did not help.
"Some of the physicians who examined Belle's remains in 1908 believed they were of a woman who stood only 5 feet, 3 inches. Belle stood 5 feet 8 inches...However, our analysis of her long bones indicates a height...within Belle's range. The age range is correct, too," Simmons said.
At this point, only DNA testing can provide a definitive answer. Simmons hopes it can be completed within the next few months, possibly in time for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the bodies in April. Legendary Murderess Mystery: Case Closed?
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
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Whose Bones?
Obvious Motives
Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset in 1859 in the small village of Selbu, Norway, Gunness immigrated to the United States at about age 22 and Americanized her name to Belle.
In 1884, Gunness married Max "Mads" Sorenson. The couple opened a confectioner's shop in downtown Chicago. Soon the building burned down, and the couple collected insurance money.
In 1898 another fire destroyed Gunness' house, and she collected insurance again. Of her four children, two died in infancy -- officially because of acute colitis, but most likely because of poisoning. Indeed, they were both insured and the insurance paid off.
Mads died on July 30, 1900 -- the only day that two life insurance policies on him overlapped. His symptoms were those of strychnine poisoning. The insurance companies paid $8,500. Gunness bought the farm on the edge of La Porte.
In 1902 she married Peter Gunness. One week after the marriage, the man's infant daughter died. Gunness, himself, lasted less thnt a year. Belle Gunness collected $3,000 in insurance.
After her husband's death, Gunness began advertising for potential husbands in Scandinavian newspapers. Candidates were asked to bring all their money as proof of their good intentions. As they met their Gunness, they were poisoned.
In 1906, Belle's young employee disappeared -- her body was unearthed in the property after the fire. Most likely, she had discovered Gunness' activities.
The 1908 fire was the final chapter to her story, though questions over her real fate continued to puzzle true-crime aficionados for a century.
Identity Crisis
Rumors about Gunness' escape are well grounded. First of all, there is the headless body found in the house -- and therefore no chance of using dental records to identify the body. Moreover, just before the fire, Belle made out a will and bought kerosene.
The blaze was blamed on her handyman, Ray Lamphere, who was in love with Gunness. Lamphere confessed on his prison deathbed that he set the house on fire and helped Gunness in her escape. According to Lamphere, the headless body belonged to a woman from Chicago whom Belle had just hired as housekeeper.
According to one theory, Gunness moved to Los Angeles, changed her name to Esther Carlson and murdered a man she was caring for.
Carlson, who bore a striking resemblance to Gunness, died in prison before her trial in 1931.
If it is not possible to extract DNA from envelopes Gunness addressed to one of her victims, Simmons plans to extract DNA from Gunness' sister. She will also likely test Carlson's DNA.
Suzanne McKay, a great-granddaughter of Belle Gunness' sister and one of the last living relatives of the infamous serial killer, supports the project.
"I had often wished that somehow we could prove by present-day DNA, to all the naysayers, that it was not Belle in that grave," McKay, who is writing a book on her notorious relative, told the Indianapolis Star.
"I am sure that she killed a young woman from Chicago, poisoned and beheaded her the night before the fire, and placed her in the basement, to make it look like she and the children had been killed."
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Gardner32
:
It's funny, I just discovered this case on Wednesday and have been looking up information since. I came across all these pictures last night and was going to post about it tonight but someone beat me to it. LOL Great minds think alike! hehe 
I have read that she did give birth to Philip. Apparently, one of the reasons she got away with killing Guness (despite Jennie being overheard telling a classmate her mom killed her dad, and even being brought before the coroner's inquest about it) was because she was pregnant with Philip at the time.
