Belle Gunness: The Black Widow of La Porte – America’s Most Infamous Female Serial Killer

Step into the chilling world of Belle Gunness, one of America’s most infamous female serial killers. Known as the "Black Widow of La Porte," Belle lured wealthy suitors to her Indiana farm with promises of love, only for them to vanish without a trace. By the time her crimes came to light in the early 1900s, authorities uncovered a horrifying truth—Gunness had orchestrated a series of calculated murders, leaving behind a trail of victims and an enduring mystery.

In this gripping episode, we explore Belle Gunness’s dark past, her suspected kill count of over 40 victims, and the ruthless methods she used to gain money, property, and power. We uncover how she manipulated lonely hearts ads to attract her prey, the gruesome discoveries made on her property, and the enduring questions surrounding her disappearance. Did Belle perish in the fire that destroyed her home—or did she escape to kill again?

Through detailed research and compelling storytelling, we take you inside the mind of a woman whose crimes shocked the nation and cemented her place in criminal history. Listeners will hear about her humble beginnings in Norway, her move to America, and how ambition, greed, and a chilling lack of remorse fueled her killing spree.

This episode is perfect for fans of true crime, unsolved mysteries, and infamous female killers. Whether you’re fascinated by historical murder cases or intrigued by the psychology of a predator, Belle Gunness’s story will leave you questioning just how far someone can go in pursuit of wealth and control.

Transcript

Welcome,...welcome back to Behind The Bloodstains. I'm Damien Graves.  

And I'm Lena Blackwood. And this is, um, our very special series, Black Widows, where we delve into the darkest corners of, you know, female serial killers throughout history.  

That's right. And Lena, today's subject is... well, she's absolutely chilling. We're talking about Belle Gunness. Or, as some liked to call her, "Hell's Belle."  

Oh, Hell's Belle. Yeah, I mean, that nickname definitely says it all, doesn't it? She was a Norwegian-American serial killer, if I remember correctly. Just, ugh, truly notorious.  

Absolutely notorious. Her reign of terror, it really spanned quite a long time too. We're looking at, uh, roughly 1884 all the way up to 1908. I mean, two decades of, well, doing what she did.

Yeah, and it was always, like, purely for financial gain, right? She wasn't... I mean, she was just after the money, wasn't she?  

Yeah, it seems to be the underlying motive for pretty much everything she did. Just pure monetary gain. It's, it's pretty wild. And we're going to get into just how extensive that was.

So, let's, uh, let's really dive into her beginnings, because I think it's, it's pretty fascinating. She wasn't actually born Belle Gunness, right? Her birth name was Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth.  

Yeah, that's right. Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth. And she was born in, uh, Selbu Municipality in Søndre Trondhjem county, Norway, back in November of 1859. Just, uh, youngest of eight children. Can you imagine?  

Wow, youngest of eight. So, a big family. And, uh, I mean, you know, rural Norway in the mid-1800s, it, it wasn't exactly a life of luxury, I don't think.  

No, definitely not. The records indicate that, uh, she started working on neighboring farms pretty young, actually. Like, by age 14, she was already milking and herding cattle. You know, just trying to save up enough money to, to make the journey to New York City.  

Yeah, so she had ambitions, it seems, even from a young age. To, to get out and seek something more, I guess. So, she eventually made it to the States in 1881.

Yeah, she did. And, uh, when she was processed by immigration at Castle Garden, that's actually when she changed her first name to Belle. I guess, you know, a bit more Americanized, perhaps? And then she headed straight to Chicago to join her sister, Nellie, who had, uh, already immigrated some years earlier.  

Okay, so, you know, fresh start, new name, new country. She's in Chicago with her sister. What did she do when she first got there?  

Well, initially, she was working as a domestic servant, just, you know, cleaning houses, doing typical chores. But then, this is where it gets a little interesting, she got a job at a butcher's shop. And not just any job, she was cutting up animal carcasses.  

Huh. That's... a bit of a shift, isn't it? From domestic servant to, uh, handling raw meat and bones. It kind of makes you think about, well, her later tendencies.

It absolutely does, doesn't it? And, you know, she wasn't exactly a small woman. She was, uh, reportedly at least 170 centimeters tall, which is about five feet, seven inches. And she weighed anywhere between 95 and 113 kilograms, so that's, like, 209 to 249 pounds. She was, uh, described as physically strong in appearance.  

Right. So, she wasn't some, like, demure, tiny woman. She was, she was a formidable presence. And, and that strength, I suppose, would have been, uh, pretty useful in a butcher's shop. And, you know, in other aspects of her life, as we're about to find out, too.

Yeah, absolutely. That physical presence definitely played a role in, uh, well, her developing methods, you could say.

So, Belle is in Chicago, working at a butcher's shop, which, honestly, already raises an eyebrow given what we know. But then she gets married, right? In 1884, to Mads Ditlev Anton Sørensen.: Oh, yes, Mads. And this is where the, um, *convenient accidents* really start to stack up, wouldn't you say?  

Absolutely. I mean, they owned a candy store together, and what happened to it? Poof! Burned to the ground. And their home? Also mysteriously burned down. And wouldn't you know it, both instances resulted in tidy insurance payouts. Just, uh, you know, very lucky for them, right?  

"Lucky" is one word for it. Suspicious is another. But it doesn't stop there. This is where it gets really dark, really fast. There were two babies in their home... who, uh, died from inflammation of the large intestine.  

And of course, Belle had insured both of those children, naturally. And, uh, collected a large insurance check after each death. Which is, I mean, horrifying enough on its own.

Yeah, but what's even more bizarre is that neighbors apparently gossiped about these babies because Belle *never appeared to be pregnant*. Like, what is that even supposed to mean? Were they foster children? Were they, like, kids she just... acquired? It's unsettling.  

That's a good question. The source just says "in Gunness' home," which leaves a lot open to interpretation, doesn't it? But either way, it's a huge red flag. Kids are dying, she's getting money.  

Yeah. And then, Mads himself. Oh, boy. So, he had purchased two life insurance policies. And on July 30, 1900, get this, both policies were *active* at the same time. One was expiring that day, and the other was just coming into force.  

Right! It's almost too perfect, isn't it? Mads dies of a cerebral hemorrhage that very day.

Uh-huh. And Belle's explanation? He came home with a headache, she gave him quinine powder for the pain, and then... she checked on him later, and he was just, well, dead.  

Just like that. And, of course, Belle collected money from both the expiring life insurance policy and the one that went into effect that day. A grand total of 5,000 dollars. Which, for 1900, that's, like, a substantial sum of money, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, five thousand dollars back then would be, what, well over a hundred thousand in today's money. Easily. Enough to, you know, pack up and move to La Porte, Indiana, and buy herself a pig farm, which is exactly what she did.

And start, you know, a new chapter. With, um, a lot of unresolved questions, I think, for anyone looking back at this story.  

Exactly. So, she buys this pig farm in La Porte, Indiana, with her, you know, "hard-earned" insurance money. And it doesn't take long for her to find a new, uh, partner.  

No, it does not. Just two years after Mads's death, in 1902, she marries Peter Gunness. And, uh, immediately, things start going awry again.  

Yeah, I mean, almost immediately. The very next week, Peter's infant daughter, who was in Belle's care, dies of unknown causes. Just... gone.  

Unbelievable. You just, you hear that and you think, "Okay, this is not a coincidence." This is... this is a pattern, Lena.  

Oh, for sure. This is absolutely a pattern. And then, only eight months later, Peter Gunness himself dies.

 Yeah, and how does Peter die, Lena? Because, of course, Belle has an explanation for it.

Of course she does! She claims he was reaching for something on a high shelf... and a meat grinder, like, just happened to fall on him. And it, uh, smashed his skull. A meat grinder, Damien.  

A meat grinder. I mean, first of all, who has a meat grinder on a high shelf? And second of all, for it to fall with enough force to smash his skull? That just sounds like, I don't know, a very convenient, albeit gruesome, accident, right?  

It sounds like, um, someone perhaps helped that meat grinder along. Or, you know, swung it directly. But the local authorities must've thought so too, because a district coroner actually convened a coroner's jury. They suspected murder.  

Yeah, they did. But... nothing came of the case. No charges, nothing. Just another mysterious death in Belle's orbit. And, um, another insurance payout, of course.

Of course. Another 3,000 dollars for Peter's death. So, she's amassed a pretty significant fortune by this point, wouldn't you say? With all these accidents and illnesses.  

I mean, it's just mind-boggling, isn't it? How she keeps getting away with this, time and time again. It just... it's like she's a black hole for misfortune, but she's the only one benefiting from it.  

Yeah, and it's always, you know, conveniently her family members, or people close to her, who just... vanish, or die, and she's always there to collect. It's truly chilling. 

What happens next, though, is where it gets, uh, even more calculated.  

It really does. Because after Peter, she sort of... changes her strategy a bit. Instead of waiting for potential victims to, I don't know, stumble into her life, she starts actively seeking them out. And how does she do that? She places marriage ads in Chicago newspapers.  

Oh, the classic "lonely hearts" scam, effectively. But, like, with a much, much darker twist. She's not just after their affections, she's after their assets, right? She's specifically looking for men who have money.

Exactly. Men with assets, lonely men, probably looking for a fresh start, a good woman, and she's there, supposedly offering just that. And, uh, they'd travel to her farm in La Porte.

And, you know, these poor souls, they probably think they've found, like, a dream come true, you know? A good woman in the countryside. But, Belle... she had other plans.

Oh, for sure. The first one we hear about, uh, is a Wisconsin farmhand named Henry Gurholt. This was in 1905. He answers one of her ads, travels to La Porte...

Right, and he even writes to his family, saying he likes the farm, he's in good health, and he asks them to send him seed potatoes. Like, what a mundane request, you know? Just seems totally normal.

Totally normal! And then... crickets. Nothing. His family, of course, gets worried when they don't hear from him again. They contact Belle. And what's her story?

Oh, she's got a story. She tells them he just... went off with horse traders to Chicago. Like, "poof," gone. And, uh, conveniently, she kept his trunk and his fur overcoat. Just, you know, as a memento, I guess.

Yeah, right. A memento. And then in 1906, we have John Moe from Minnesota. Same deal, answers her ad, they correspond for a few months, and he travels to La Porte. What does he do first thing? He withdraws a large amount of cash.  

Of course he does! He's bringing his life savings to his new bride-to-be, you know? What could go wrong?  

Uh-huh. And no one ever sees John Moe again. But, here's where it gets interesting. A carpenter, who did occasional work for Belle, he observed that John Moe's trunk remained in her house.

Oh, that's not good.

No. And not just Moe's trunk, Damien. He observed more than a dozen other trunks in her house.  

More than a dozen... so, I mean, that's just a mountain of evidence, isn't it? Like, if you were that carpenter, you'd be thinking, "What in the world is going on here?" That's a lot of lonely hearts who, uh, didn't make it back home.  

Right? It's just... it's like a warning sign, isn't it? A collection of all these lives that just disappeared into Belle's farmhouse. And each one, presumably, brought their savings, their assets, their hopes for a new life. And she just... took it all. And them.  

Yeah, it's... it's just horrifying to think about. This collection of vanished men. And then, I guess, eventually, this whole awful operation... Finally comes to light, right?

It does. And in a really, really dramatic way. You know, this whole facade, this quiet farm life, it all goes up in smoke, quite literally.  

Oh, yeah, the fire. That's the pivotal moment, isn't it?  

Exactly. April 1908. The Gunness farmhouse in La Porte, Indiana, it just... burns to the ground. And initially, the authorities, they find the bodies of a headless adult woman, and her three children, and they think, "Oh, my gosh, it's Belle Gunness and her kids."

Right, so the narrative initially is, like, this tragic accident, you know, poor Belle tried to save her children, and they all perished. But something, uh, obviously doesn't quite add up.

No, it definitely doesn't. And that's where things get truly disturbing. Because shortly after the fire, the La Porte police get contacted by a man named Asle Helgelien.  

Asle Helgelien... that name sounds familiar. Is he related to...  

He is. He's the brother of Andrew Helgelien, who was one of the men Belle had corresponded with. And Asle, you know, he'd found these letters between Andrew and Belle, where she was basically petitioning him to move to La Porte, to bring money, and to keep the whole move a secret. Which, looking back, is just so, so sinister.

So, Andrew had gone to her farm, brought money, and then, shocker, disappeared. And Asle is, like, "Hey, my brother's gone, and he was with this woman whose house just burned down."  

Precisely. So Asle visits the Gunness farm with a former hired hand, and their attention is drawn to these... "soft depressions" in what used to be a pen for hogs.  

Oh, no. I'm already getting chills. Soft depressions.  

Yeah. And they start digging. Just briefly. And what do they find? A gunny sack. And inside that gunny sack are "two hands, two feet, and one head."

Oh, my god.  

And Asle, horrifyingly, recognizes them to be his brother's.  

That's... that's just, I mean, the sheer, visceral horror of that. Finding your brother, like that. That's just beyond belief.  

I can't even imagine. And that's just the beginning. Because after that initial discovery, they realize there are dozens of these "slumped depressions" all over the yard.  

Dozens? So this wasn't just a one-off thing. This was a pattern. A, a graveyard.  

A full-blown mass grave, essentially. Further digging yields multiple burlap sacks. And I mean, the descriptions are just... they're gruesome. They found "torsos and hands, arms hacked from the shoulders down, masses of human bone wrapped in loose flesh that dripped like jelly," from these trash-covered depressions.

D-d-dripping like jelly? That's... that's just... I can't even process that image. And they were all, like, dismembered in the same way?  

Yes. In each case, the body had been butchered in the exact same manner. Decapitated. Arms removed at the shoulders. Legs severed at the knees. And the skulls that were found, they showed signs of blunt trauma and gashes. I mean, it was just... it was a slaughterhouse.  

 And how many bodies... I mean, did they even get a full count?

 Well, they found parts of five bodies on the first day. And then an additional six on the second day, some in shallow graves under the original hog pen, others near an outhouse or even the lake. And at that point, Damien, "the police stopped counting."

They stopped counting. That just tells you the sheer scale of it, doesn't it? It's unfathomable. And so, obviously, this completely changes the perception of Belle Gunness, right? From this tragic victim to... something else entirely.  

Oh, absolutely. The newspaper descriptions of her as this "praiseworthy woman" dying in a desperate attempt to save her children... they were completely reassessed. She went from saint to serial killer in a matter of days.  

And, I mean, even with all these discoveries, and despite the news coverage, were they able to identify all these victims?

Sadly, no. Despite the initial success with Andrew Helgelien, and despite the widening news coverage that invited inquiries from families with missing men, most of the remains... they couldn't be identified. It just goes to show you how many lives she just... erased.

Unbelievable. Just... absolutely chilling. And you know, we have all these bodies, this horrific scene, but the original thought was that Belle herself perished in the fire, right? So how does the truth about her involvement, and perhaps her escape, really come out?  

Well, that's where another crucial character comes into play: Ray Lamphere. He was Belle's hired hand, and... uh, on-and-off lover, apparently.  

Oh, of course. There's always... a lover, or someone close by, isn't there?  

Always. And Lamphere, he was actually convicted of arson in connection with that fire at Gunness's house. So he's already in the thick of it.  

Okay, so he's arrested, and I'm guessing he starts talking? He's got to know something.

Oh, he absolutely does. In November 1908, he starts confessing, and his story is just... it's wild. He essentially says that Belle had been placing those advertisements, you know, seeking male companionship, but it was all just a ruse to murder and rob the men who responded and came to the farm.

So, it wasn't just a fire, it was a deliberate act. And he's admitting to this?  

He is. And not just that. He claimed that Belle herself asked him to burn down the farmhouse... with her children inside.  

Wait. She asked him to burn it down with her own children inside? That's... that's a whole new level of depravity.  

I know. It's truly shocking. And then, here's the kicker: Lamphere also asserted that the body that was initially thought to be Belle's in the fire was actually not her. He said it was a murder victim, someone she chose and then planted there to mislead investigators.

So she faked her own death. Oh, my god. And what was her motivation for that? Like, why then?  

Well, according to Lamphere, the brother of one of her victims... you know, someone like Asle Helgelien... had warned Gunness that he might arrive at the farm shortly to investigate his brother's disappearance. So, this impending visit, this potential exposure, motivated Belle to destroy her house, fake her own death, and just... flee.  

That makes so much sense. It's, like, her entire operation is about to unravel, so she pulls the ultimate disappearing act. And Lamphere, he's just there, an accomplice to all of it.  

Right. And it's interesting, when Lamphere was arrested, he was actually found wearing John Moe's overcoat and Henry Gurholt's watch. So he was literally walking around with evidence of some of her victims on him.

Unbelievable. The audacity! And then he confesses again, right? There was another, even more detailed confession.  

There was. A journalist named Edward Bechly was actually given a secret assignment to acquire access to a second confession from Lamphere and publish it. This confession was made to Reverend Edwin Schell, who was a minister in LaPorte. Lamphere personally requested Schell to visit him at the Indiana State Prison.

So, a reverend... that's an interesting choice for a confession.

Yeah, Schell realized the gravity of it. He recorded Lamphere's verbal confession on paper, had him sign it, and then he sealed it up and locked it in his personal safe. Bechly tried for ages to get Schell to let him publish it, but he was denied.  

So, the details were kept under wraps for a bit, then?  

For a bit, yeah. But then a separate newspaper published a story speculating about this second Lamphere confession, and that seemed to change things. Eventually, Schell offered the confession to Bechly, and it was published. And the publication of that confession, the Reverend Schell one, actually resulted in the subsequent arrest of Ray Lamphere's accomplice... a woman named Elisabeth Smith.  

Oh, wow. So she had an accomplice beyond Lamphere? Or was Smith an accomplice to Lamphere, who was an accomplice to Belle? This gets so tangled.

Well, she was considered Lamphere's accomplice, so I guess to Belle, by extension. It just goes to show how many layers there were to this whole horrific scheme. But yeah, this second confession really solidified the narrative that Belle had, in fact, orchestrated her own escape.

So, we have Ray Lamphere's confession, which, you know, it paints a pretty clear picture that Belle faked her death. But was it, like, widely accepted at the time? Or was there still a lot of doubt?  

Well, there was still a *lot* of lingering uncertainty, even with Lamphere's confession. I mean, think about it: they found a headless body, right? And it was initially identified as Belle. But the doctor who performed the postmortem... he testified that the headless body was actually about five inches shorter and roughly fifty pounds lighter than Belle Gunness was known to be.  

Oh, wow. That's a significant difference. Like, you can't just brush that off. And... no head? So how could they even identify it in the first place, really?

Exactly. There was no explanation, none whatsoever, for what happened to the body's head. So, whether Gunness actually died in that fire or if she really did escape, it just remained, um, uncertain for a very, very long time.

And people were probably, you know, seeing her everywhere, right? Like, that classic serial killer phenomenon.

Oh, absolutely. Reported "sightings" of Belle Gunness in the Chicago area continued for, like, long after she was officially declared dead. In fact, the sheriff at the time actually blamed a Chicago American reporter for, quote, "inventing the escaped story," which then, you know, fueled all these sightings.  

That's so interesting. So it was almost like a media sensation that just, like, kept it alive, this idea that she was still out there. And I know, decades later, they actually tried to put this mystery to rest with, like, modern forensic science, right?  

Yeah, they did. In 2008, so, like, a hundred years later, DNA tests were actually performed on that headless corpse. They were trying to compare the DNA in the corpse against a sample from a letter Gunness had sent to one of her victims.

Oh, that's a smart idea, using a letter. So, did they finally get a definitive answer?

Unfortunately, no. Because of its age, the sample wasn't able to be properly tested. So, the mystery, it just... it endures. It really does.  

That's so frustrating for anyone trying to get closure, I'm sure. And then, there's this really morbid twist, which I think speaks to the public's fascination with true crime, even back then. The Gunness farm itself... it became, like, a tourist attraction, didn't it?  

Oh, it absolutely did. After Belle's crimes came to light, that farm became a full-blown tourist attraction. Spectators came from all across the country just to see the mass graves. And get this, they even had concessions and souvenirs being sold.

No way. So people were, like, buying hot dogs and, like, little trinkets at a mass grave site? That's... that's truly disturbing on another level.

I know, right? It just shows you the absolute morbid curiosity, the human fascination with these dark stories, especially when they involve such a prolific and mysterious figure like Belle Gunness.

And speaking of that morbid curiosity, it's clear that Belle Gunness, whether she escaped or not, she's definitely left an indelible mark, not just on La Porte, Indiana, but on popular culture itself, hasn't she?  

Oh, absolutely. Her story, it's just so chilling and, honestly, almost unbelievable, that it's been, like, a wellspring for all sorts of creative works. I mean, she's even been the subject of American musical ballads. Can you imagine?  

A ballad about Belle Gunness? That's... that's a choice, but it speaks to how much she captured the public's imagination, you know?  

It really does. And beyond music, she's a huge figure in true crime literature. There's a fantastic non-fiction book called 'Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men' by Harold Schechter, which really dives deep into her life.  

Yeah, and I think that title 'Hell's Princess' really encapsulates, you know, her persona, this seemingly innocuous woman hiding such darkness. But it's not just true crime, right? Her story has inspired a lot of fiction too.

Definitely. There's a novel from 2021, 'In the Garden of Spite: A Novel of the Black Widow of LaPorte' by Camilla Bruce. And, um, it was actually published in the UK with the title 'Triflers Need Not Apply,' which, oh my god, that's just perfect for her.  

'Triflers Need Not Apply' – that's quite a warning, especially given her method of luring victims. It's almost like a dark, twisted personal ad.  

Right? And there's also a more recent Norwegian novel from 2023 called 'My Men' by Victoria Kielland, which is another fictionalized account of her life. And even a Spanish novel, 'Bajo tierra seca,' was inspired by her. So her reach, it's truly global.  

 Wow. She's crossed oceans, literally, in literature. And what about on screen? Has her story made it to film or TV much?

It has! There's a 2004 film called 'Method' where Elizabeth Hurley actually portrays a character portraying Gunness in a film within the film. It's a bit meta, but it shows her influence. And more recently, 'The Farm,' a 2021 film starring Traci Lords, is also based on Gunness.  

So, she's made it to the big screen. And, of course, because we're doing a true crime podcast right now, I have to ask, has she been featured in other podcasts?  

Oh, absolutely. She's a staple. For example, 'My Favorite Murder' actually released a live episode detailing her crimes in 2017. So yeah, she's a popular subject for us true crime enthusiasts, you know?

She really is. It just cements her place as one of history's most fascinating, and frankly, most terrifying, female serial killers. I mean, the sheer scale of her crimes, the mystery surrounding her fate, and just her, uh, cold, calculating nature... it's all just so compelling.  

It really is, Damien. And it’s why her story continues to be told, analyzed, and, um, honestly, just sends shivers down your spine, even all these years later. She truly earned that nickname, "Hell's Belle."

And, you know, Lena, discussing Belle Gunness, it just… it really highlights the depth of human depravity, doesn't it? Her story is so disturbing, yet that lingering mystery of whether she escaped or not, it just keeps you thinking.  

It absolutely does, Damien. It's one of those cases that, uh, just sticks with you, you know? The sheer audacity of her crimes, the way she just… disappeared. It’s a chilling reminder that sometimes, the most dangerous monsters are the ones you least suspect.  

Yeah, for sure. And with that, we're going to wrap up this episode of Behind The Bloodstains. It's been a truly, uh, fascinating, if not a little unsettling, dive into the world of Belle Gunness for our Black Widows series.  

We really hope you, uh, enjoyed listening, or, well, maybe "enjoyed" isn't the right word for such a dark story, but we hope you found it as compelling as we did. Thank you so much for tuning in.

Yes, a huge thank you to all our listeners for joining us. We really appreciate you spending your time with us, delving into these grim histories.  

And, uh, if you’re, like, curious about who else we'll be covering in our Black Widows series, definitely stay subscribed. We have a lot more terrifying tales of female serial killers coming your way.

That's right. Join us next time on Behind The Bloodstains for another deep dive into the annals of true crime. Until then, stay safe, and, um, maybe don't answer any suspicious personal ads.

Good advice, Damien. We'll talk to you next time!