Belle Gunness: America's Deadliest Female Serial Killer

On November 11, 1859, Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth was born in the small Norwegian municipality of Selbu. Twenty-two years later, she arrived in the United States with little more than opportunity and ambition. By the time her crimes were discovered, Belle Gunness—the names she would adopt in America—had orchestrated one of the most systematic killing sprees in U.S. history.

Belle's path to infamy began in Chicago in 1884, when she married her first husband, Mads Sorensen. The early signs of her predatory nature emerged almost immediately. Two foster children in their care died of "colitis" in 1896 and 1898—deaths that would later be viewed with deep suspicion. Around the same time, their Chicago home mysteriously caught fire, allowing them to collect insurance money and purchase a confectionary store. That business, too, burned down under unclear circumstances, providing the capital for a new house in Austin, Illinois.

After Mads Sorensen's death under suspicious circumstances, Belle moved on to her second husband, Peter Gunness, around 1902. Together they purchased a farm approximately six miles from La Porte, Indiana. Peter's tenure as her husband was brief. In 1902, he died when, according to Belle's account, a meat chopper fell from a shelf and split his head open. The coroner's jury, lacking evidence to challenge her story, accepted the explanation as accidental.

With Peter's death, Belle's farm became a death trap. She had three young children—Philip, Myrtle, and Lucy—and an adopted daughter, Jennie Olsen. In September 1906, Jennie vanished. Belle claimed she had sent the fourteen-year-old to Los Angeles to complete her education. When Jennie's remains were discovered on the farm in 1908, investigators concluded she had been murdered because she knew too much about Peter Gunness's true fate.

The discovery of Jennie's body sparked a full excavation of the property. What authorities uncovered was staggering: grave after grave containing the remains of victims. Belle had developed a methodical approach to murder. She placed advertisements seeking suitors, luring lonely men to her farm with promises of companionship and marriage. Once isolated on the property, many fell victim to poison, blunt force trauma, or the blade of a cleaver. She then buried them on the farm, often collecting insurance money or the victims' savings before their deaths.

Among the identified victims were Andrew Hegelein from South Dakota, John Moe, and Henry Gurholt. While at least 14 victims have been accepted by historians, some estimates suggest Belle murdered between 24 and 40 people—potentially making her one of the most prolific female serial killers in American history.

The final chapter of Belle's story remains shrouded in mystery. On April 28, 1908, her farmhouse burned down under suspicious circumstances. Four bodies were found in the ruins, identified as Belle and her three children. But questions persisted: Was the body actually Belle, or had she escaped and fled? Despite the passage of time and numerous investigations, the true answer has never been definitively established.

Belle Gunness died—or disappeared—in 1908, taking many secrets to the grave. Her legacy endures as a dark reminder of how a Norwegian immigrant's ambitions curdled into one of America's most disturbing serial killing sprees.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Gunness https://nnels.ca/items/truth-about-belle-gunness-true-story-notorious-serial-killer-hells-belle https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/ccca/belle-gunness-story/ https://www.aetv.com/articles/belle-gunness-murders-serial-killer-mystery-butcher-of-men-hells-princess https://www.biography.com/crime/belle-gunness