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Photos 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." Related Links: |
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