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Legendary Murderess Mystery: Case Closed?

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

Photos

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.