Belle Gunness is an American serial killer. She committed numerous atrocities for profit. She was called Lady Bluebeard. The life of this monstrous woman will be discussed in the article.
Who are serial killers
For some reason, when you hear the phrase "serial killer", the names of men immediately come to mind. However, unfortunately, the global criminal history is familiar with a fairly large number of bloodthirsty women who fit into this category. And no matter how terrible it may sound, but in their crimes many of them were not inferior in terms of cruelty and ruthlessness to male maniacs. This article describes the story of the brutal and merciless Belle Gunness, an American serial killer.
But first, you need to decide on the concept of "serial killer." This is a person who has committed 3 or more criminal offenses at different times in order to satisfy his sexual needs, as well as for the purpose of profit. Psychologists say that most often serial killers are people with psychological disabilities who take their roots from childhood.
Monster in a skirt
Belle has over 40 proven crimes. And the worst thing is that the list of victims of the serial killer included her own children. A woman who killed her husbands and lovers for money. A mother who did not spare her children for wealth. A being for whom there was nothing holy. This "monster in a skirt" can hardly be called a person, because it is believed that not a single person will encroach on the life of his child. From her crimes, blood runs cold in her veins, and her ruthlessness causes terror even in people with strong nerves.
A family
Belle Gunness (real name BrĂĽnnhilde) was born on November 11, 1859 into a very poor family in Norway. Her father was an ordinary bricklayer, who had to work from morning to night in order to feed a large family. Belle was the youngest child, she had 7 older sisters. From early childhood, she, along with other children, had to help her mother through a farm located 60 kilometers from the nearest city of Trondheim. There is practically no information about the young years of the criminal spent in her native country. It is only known that the family was poor and dreamed of leaving the farm on which it worked.
Early years belle
There is also information that at one of the holidays held in the village, Belle received a kick in the stomach from a wealthy man. As it turned out, Brünnhilds Paulsdotter Stochette was pregnant, she suffered a miscarriage due to the blows she received. The man was wealthy, he managed to avoid any punishment. True, a little later he died of stomach pains. It is not known whether this was really a disease, or whether it was a girl’s revenge, and she poisoned him.
It is this event, it is believed, was a turning point in the life of Belle. According to the neighbors, Gunnes was not distinguished by external beauty and had a very large physique. And her life didn’t really pamper her. Due to poverty, she had to work hard. And because of the incident that happened to her during the holiday, Belle concluded that money rules the world. And from that moment they became the meaning of her life. Belle did not have the opportunity to earn and get rich on the farm, so she decides to move to America. Over the next 3 years, she works even harder and puts all the money on a ticket to the United States. By that time, one of her older sisters had already emigrated to the New World and promised to help Belle with her work.
Family Life Belle Gunness
In 1881, Gunness manages to fulfill his dream and cross the Atlantic Ocean. Her older sister, Nelly Larson, helps her get a job as a servant in a wealthy family. A chic mansion, beautiful outfits of the hosts, a table full of various delicacies, increasingly envy and thirst for profit in the soul of Gunness.
Despite the unattractive appearance, the girl still had boyfriends. In 1884, Belle married his "first love," Chicago Mads Anthony Sorensen. It is noteworthy that on the day of the wedding, the bride instead of a white dress chooses a black widow's robe. For many biographers, this fact is the first symptom of a girl’s mental illness.
Together with their spouse, Mads Sorensen, they open their own pastry shop. However, the business is unprofitable, and soon as a result of the fire, the store burns down. According to Gunness, a fire broke out because of the kerosene lamp that was in the store. Since the company was insured, the couple receives monetary compensation. It is not known for certain whether it was really a fire or the spouses themselves organized an arson for the purpose of profit.
First victims
In a marriage with Sorensen, Belle gives birth to 4 children: Carolina, Axel, Myrtle and Lucy. Older children (Carolina and Axel) die even in infancy, and also from abdominal pain. The doctor indicates the cause of acute colitis. But the most interesting thing is that the symptoms of colitis are very similar to the symptoms of poisoning: temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps. As it turns out, “caring” parents insured the lives of their children and in a short time receive a second compensation from the insurance company.
Feeling the taste of money, the young wife decides to get rid of her husband next. Mads Anthony Sorensen, a completely healthy person, suddenly dies in 1900. The official cause of death was recorded heart failure. Although there was also a version of strychnine poisoning. Although the relatives of the young man insisted on an autopsy, the widow managed to prevent this.
And here again a strange fact emerges. Mads Sorrensen "manages" to die on the day when he runs out of old insurance and begins a new one. The widow is paid double insurance, a huge sum for those times. But having felt the aftertaste of “easy” profit, Belle can no longer stop his atrocities.
New Black Widow Residence
With the money received, this scary female serial killer buys a farm for herself and moves to Indiana with her children . But somehow, a new fire causes the loss of part of Belle’s buildings and property. And again, insurance companies had to fork out to cover the loss of the unfortunate woman.
By this time, the widow Belle Gunness is meeting her "new love." She turns out to be a wealthy widower Peter Gunness, who had a little daughter in her arms. Poor Belle is unlucky again in her personal life. First, in a strange way, one week after marriage, the widow's stepdaughter dies, and six months later, her husband and her husband die from their lives. The cause of Peter’s death is a huge meat grinder that “accidentally” falls on his head, breaks his skull and leaves no chance for life. And again, the young woman, and besides, who is in an interesting position, does not arouse suspicion among detectives. Belle not only escapes punishment, but once again she is paid insurance compensation.
The next victims of the widow
Subsequently, the "infernal Belle" repeatedly tries to "arrange" his personal life. To do this, she advertises in a newspaper about finding a life partner. Belle had no shortage of applicants. She entered into correspondence with many, some of them even came to visit her on a farm to meet in person. They brought with them jewelry, money, securities in order to prove their worth to the widow. But the trouble is, all these unfortunate mysteriously disappeared and did not return home.
The police did not look for them either, since there was no one to announce their disappearance. Indeed, the prudent Belle, a female serial killer, invited only single men to her farm who did not have close relatives. It is not known for certain how many men were victims of an insidious woman.
But once luck turns away from Belle Sorensen Gunness. Another widow's victim, Andrew Helgeline, turned out to have a brother, Asl, who, after the disappearance of a relative, throws his forces in his search. With the help of the found love letters, he goes on the trail of the widow. To begin with, Asl writes letters to the widow, trying to find out at least something about the fate of his brother, and then, sensing something was amiss, decides to visit Belle Gunness himself. But late ...
At this time, the widow Belle Gunness, sensing that she "smells fried," writes a statement to the police about the alleged threats from her employee Ray Lamfer. Say, the man lost his head from love for her, tortured her with his scenes of jealousy and promised to get rid of her and the children. On the same night, April 28, 1908, the farm burns down. In the remains of a burned house are found 4 corpses: 3 children and one female without a head. Police officers arrest Ray Lamfer and accuse him of killing Lady Bluebeard and her children.
Confessions of Ray Lamfer
During the investigation, Andrew Helgeline’s watches are found on the farm, but all detectives write them off to the grief-lover Lamfer, not even suspecting that the landlady herself could have committed such brutal killings. Due to a lack of evidence, Lamfer cannot be sentenced to death, but soon Lamfer fell ill with consumption and died in prison. And it was his confession to the priest before his death that revealed all the circumstances in the Belle Gunness case.
So, Ray Lamfer swore that he did not participate in the killing of people, but helped the widow get rid of the corpses. Belle Gunness invited the grooms to visit, while convincing them in advance to take their savings with them, then gave them a drink with sleeping pills and killed them in various ways. For example, Belle was very good at carving animal carcasses and sometimes she cut the bodies of her victims into small pieces that she could feed to pigs, or demanded that Lamfer bury them. Lamfer himself helped her because he really loved her.
Lamfer also pointed out the burial sites of the victims. After excavating, the investigators found many remains, but it was not possible to establish how many victims were actually.
Staging the death of a black widow
Ray Lamfer swore in his testimony that the woman had planned the fire. She herself first put her children to sleep, and then set the farm on fire. The female corpse did not belong to Gunness.
As the arrested man explained, a few days before the accident, Lady Bluebeard invited a non-local woman to her job. On the very first day, she drugged her with sleeping pills and killed her. This explains the absence of the head of the troupe, because even in those days it was possible to determine whose corpse it was by dentures.
How did the story of the black widow end?
For the sake of wealth, this woman sacrificed even her own children. It is not known for certain how her life turned out in the future. However, after the detectives became aware that the day before "her death" the widow withdrew all her savings from the account, it became clear to everyone that Lady Bluebeard was alive and hid in an unknown direction.
Even according to the most minimal estimates, it was established that the widow made a huge fortune in her "black" affairs, and at least 42 people became her victims, except for family members.
The story of the Blue Beard went around America for a long time and shocked the inhabitants of the country. For several decades, it seemed to be seen in different cities of America. For the last time in 1931. A woman named Esther was arrested for poisoning her husband and trying to obtain monetary compensation. Several people who at that time still remembered the story of Belle Gunness claimed to have recognized it from photographs. But these words were not enough. The offender died in prison without waiting for the verdict.
Instead of an afterword
How Belle Gunness spent the rest of her life remains a mystery. It remains a mystery how an illiterate woman managed to write letters and lure wealthy men into her networks. Well, the most important question that remains open to this day - what kind of monster did you have to be in order to kill your children for your sake? In fact, she can be called the most cruel woman in the world ...