The Belle Gunness farmhouse in La Porte, Indiana, became the focus of one of the most extensive early twentieth-century murder investigations after a fire exposed multiple buried remains.
Belle Gunness arrived in the United States from Norway in 1881 and settled in Chicago before moving to La Porte with her second husband, Peter Gunness. By 1908 she operated a large farm and placed newspaper advertisements seeking suitors with money. Several men answered those notices and then vanished. Local authorities initially treated the disappearances as unrelated until the fire on 28 April 1908 destroyed the main house and prompted a full excavation of the property.
The case drew immediate national attention because the number of victims exceeded anything previously documented on a single American farm. Investigators worked methodically through layers of ash and soil, documenting each discovery with photographs and witness statements. Their findings established a pattern of systematic killings that had continued for at least a decade.
Background
Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth in 1859. She emigrated at age twenty-one and married Mads Sørensen in Chicago. Two of their young children died under circumstances later described as suspicious, yet no charges followed. After Sørensen’s death in 1900, which yielded a substantial insurance payment, Gunness purchased the La Porte farm. She married Peter Gunness in 1902; he died within months from a reported accident involving a falling meat grinder. Again an insurance payout followed.
Gunness lived with her three surviving children and hired farmhands. She maintained a low public profile while steadily acquiring land and livestock. Neighbours noted her physical strength and independent management of the property, traits that later contrasted sharply with the image of a vulnerable widow she presented in personal advertisements.
The Crimes
Between 1902 and 1908 at least fourteen men responded to Gunness’s matrimonial notices and travelled to the farm with cash or property deeds. None returned home. Gunness also lost two more children during this period. Contemporary records list the known victims as Andrew Helgelien, Ole Budsberg, John Moo, and several unidentified men whose remains were later recovered. The children, Myrtle, Lucy, and Philip, were also counted among the dead after the fire.
The method appeared consistent. Victims arrived by train, were welcomed at the farm, and within days disappeared. Gunness retained their money and belongings. Farmhand Ray Lamphere later admitted to helping bury bodies at her direction, though he denied participating in the killings themselves.
The 1908 Fire and Initial Discovery
On the night of 28 April 1908 the farmhouse burned to the ground. Four bodies were found inside: three children and an adult female torso without a head. The adult remains were initially identified as Gunness, yet the absence of the skull and the reported size discrepancy raised immediate doubts. Lamphere was arrested after he was seen near the property earlier that evening.
Excavation began the following week under the direction of La Porte County Sheriff Albert Smutzer. Workers used shovels and later a steam shovel to turn over the grounds. They located the first dismembered remains on 3 May. Additional pits yielded more bodies, some wrapped in oilcloth or placed in gunny sacks. By mid-May the total exceeded a dozen.
Investigation Methods and Challenges
Investigators faced several practical difficulties. The fire had destroyed potential documents and personal effects. Many victims had travelled under assumed names, complicating identification. Coroner Charles Mack arrived daily to examine each set of remains and compile anatomical notes. Dental records proved useful for at least two victims whose gold fillings matched descriptions from relatives.
Police also pursued leads across state lines. Letters from Gunness to Helgelien were recovered from his brother in South Dakota, providing direct evidence of financial inducement. Handwriting analysis confirmed the authorship. Meanwhile, Lamphere’s trial in November 1908 focused on arson rather than murder; the jury convicted him of arson but acquitted him on the murder charge.
Key Evidence and Victim Identification
The excavation produced concrete physical proof. A torso without a head, arms or legs was recovered near the hog pen. Separate graves contained the remains of adult males showing blunt-force trauma to the skull. Children’s bodies were found in a single shallow trench. Personal items such as watches, rings and clothing fragments helped link remains to missing men listed in police circulars.
Local physicians performed autopsies on site when weather permitted. They documented chloroform traces in some tissue samples and consistent patterns of cranial injury. These findings supported the conclusion that the deaths were homicides rather than accidental.
Aftermath and Unresolved Questions
Gunness was never located despite extensive searches and reported sightings in several states. Lamphere served his arson sentence and died in prison in 1909, maintaining until the end that Gunness had escaped the fire. The farm was sold and the remaining structures demolished. The case file remained open for decades, with periodic reviews by Indiana state police.
Contemporary newspapers devoted front-page coverage for months, shaping public perception of female criminals in rural America. Later forensic re-examinations using modern techniques have confirmed the original body count while adding no new identifications.
Conclusion
The Belle Gunness farmhouse investigation established a documented record of multiple homicides through systematic excavation, medical examination and documentary evidence. It remains a reference point for the study of early forensic practices in the United States.
Bibliography
Asher, R. (2008) Belle Gunness: The True Story of One of America’s Most Notorious Serial Killers. New York: Berkley Books.
Langlois, J. (1985) Belle Gunness: Lady Bluebeard. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Schechter, H. (2018) Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men. New York: Little A.
Smyser, R. (1908) ‘Official Report of the La Porte County Coroner on the Gunness Farm Excavations’, La Porte Herald, 15 May.
State of Indiana (1909) Transcript of the Trial of Ray Lamphere. Indianapolis: Indiana State Archives.
Smutzer, A. (1909) ‘Sheriff’s Account of the Gunness Investigation’, Indiana Magazine of History, 5(3), pp. 112–128.
Yellen, S. (1964) The Murderers’ Circle. New York: Knopf.
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