Belle Gunness

Early life Grew up in Norway, living

in poverty

Man kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant, killing her unborn child

Turning point in life, turned violent and bitter

Coming to America “Belle was crazy for money.

it was her greatest weakness.”

First husband died of supposed heart failure, but doctors later found that he had been poisoned Fourth child died of

poisoning too

All children insured, which proved to be her motive

Peter Gunness Married again in 1901

Story was that a sausage-grinding machine fell on his head and split his skull open

Her daughter, Jennie, later admitted, “my momma killed my poppa. Hit him over the head with a cleaver.”

A few weeks later Jennie went missing, supposedly off to college far away, but her body would later be found buried

Ray Lamphere Fell in love with Belle while

serving as her suitor

Was accused for the burning of the Gunness estate

Investigators found bodies of 3 children and a woman with no head, supposedly the body of Belle Gunness

But maybe Belle set up her own death

Investigation Found an area with a soft spot in the

ground

Andrew Helgelein’s dismembered body was found in a sack, legs sawed off above the knees, disarticulated his arms, and decapitated…all body parts were shoved into a hole into his torso

In his hand he grasped curly brown hair

Finding Bodies

Discovering the Setup Investigators found that Belle had placed her

dental work on the headless woman’s body

Measurements of body parts did not match up with measurements of Belle given by her seamstress

digging At least 13

bodies were found at the site

Her legend lives on, inspired folk song

sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_G

unness http://lifeloom.com/II1Ramsland.ht

m http://www.prairieghosts.com/belle

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