Summersode 2: Hell's Belle
Brynhild Paulsdatter Storset came to America from Norway, following her older sister Nellie. Nellie found work then love in Chicago. Would Brynhild find the same? After changing her name, Belle quickly found work and also a husband, Mads Sorenson. But it would be her second husband’s surname that would make her infamous, Belle Gunness.
In April 1908, authorities responded to a fire in LaPorte, Indiana, and what they found in the ashes shocked them. Three children dead. But those were not the only bodies. There were 11 more buried around the property.
In this minisode, we discuss the crimes of Belle Gunness and learn more about her family as well as the ghastly discovery involving one of Belle’s nephews and another serial killer.
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Summersode 2: Hell's Belle
Belle as a young woman, likely before her marriage in 1884
Brunnild Storset Larson, better known as Nellie, Belle’s older sister.
Source: The Pittsburgh Press, 7 May 1908
First husband, Mads Sorenson
Belle with daughters Lucy and Myrtle
Belle with three of her children, likely Myrtle, Lucy, and Philip
Second husband, Peter (Peder) Gunness
Adopted daughter Jennie Olsen
Jennie Olsen’s death certificate
Belle had anywhere from 13 to 42 victims.
Source: The Indianapolis News, 8 May 1908
It came out later than Andrew Helgelien served time in prison for arson and bank robbery.
Source: Burlington Daily News, 15 May 1908
The sentencing for Andrew Helgelien twenty years before his tragic murder.
Source: The Saint Paul Globe, 12 Jan 1887.
Ray would die in jail the next year.
Source: Lewisburg Chronicle, 23 May 1908
A better photo of Ray Lamphere
Source: The Indianapolis News, 8 May 1908
Actual image of the farm
This was an actual postcard.
Where the bodies were found.
The remains of Belle’s basement.
Listen to find out how Michael Bauer, victim of serial killer Larry Eyler, is related to Belle Gunness
Source: The Indianapolis News, 30 Nov 1983
Click to enlarge and read. This is Esther Carlson. It was suspected that she was, in actual fact, Belle Gunness.
Source: The Record, 27 Feb 1931
A slightly better image
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Progressive Era America by William Kostlevy
SOURCES
Wikipedia
We use a multitude of resources when researching a family tree up to an including census records from 1800-1940, marriage records in various states, draft registration cards, newspaper articles, and more. If you would like more specific details on where information was obtained, please email us and we’ll respond in a timely manner.