Lullacide

Belle came from Norway to make her fortune in America. She was a large, strong woman with dark hair and good practical sense. She married. Her husband died. The life insurance paid nicely. She married again. That husband also died. The insurance paid nicely again. Belle began to see a pattern. She was very good at patterns.

Belle Gunness immigrated from Norway in 1881. Her first two husbands both died under suspicious circumstances, with insurance payouts following each death.

Belle bought a farm in La Porte, Indiana, and placed advertisements in Norwegian-language newspapers. 'Comely widow seeks a partner, a homestead, and a home,' she wrote. 'Triflers need not apply.' The men who wrote back were lonely and hopeful and they had savings. Belle wrote back to all of them. She was very warm in her letters.

Gunness placed personal ads in Scandinavian-language papers across the Midwest, targeting men who mentioned property and savings.

The lonely men came to the farm one by one. They brought their suitcases and their savings and their best hopes. Belle met them at the gate, smiling broadly. 'Come in, come in,' she said. 'Dinner is ready.' The neighbors noticed that the men who arrived at Belle's farm never seemed to leave it. They assumed things had worked out well. They had not worked out at all.

Remains of up to 40 people were found on the property. Most victims were men who came to court Belle, often withdrawing their life savings before arriving.

In April 1908, the farmhouse burned down. In the ashes, the sheriff found four bodies: three children and a headless woman. 'It must be Belle,' said everyone. But the woman was much smaller than Belle, and Belle was very large. A handyman named Ray had been fired that week. Ray was arrested. Ray was tried. Ray was convicted. Whether that was fair is another question.

The fire and headless body led to suspicion that Gunness faked her death. Ray Lamphere, her farmhand, was convicted of arson. He later claimed Gunness escaped.

Some people say Belle died in the fire. Some people say she walked away and lived quietly somewhere under a new name, a large and practical widow starting over. The farm was searched thoroughly. They found more than forty pounds of bone. They never found Belle. Some businesswomen are very good at knowing when to close up shop.

The case was never fully resolved. A woman matching Gunness's description was reportedly seen in multiple states for years afterward. Her fate remains officially unknown.