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Belle Gunness
Serial murder is a thankfully rare occurrence, but not rare enough. Per the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) organization and categorization standards, in order to be classified as a serial killer, a person must have committed at least three homicides over a period of time. There are many different types of serial killers; those that kill for profit and those that kill for sexual gratification. Among the rarest of serial killers is the female serial murderer. Only three percent of all serial killers are female and those that choose to commit these crimes do so most often have financial gain as a motive. One of the most notorious female serial killers of all time was Belle Gunness who murdered not only a large number of affluent male suitors, but very likely also killed her own children and an unknown woman in order to fake her own death and escape unpunished by the American judicial system.
Belle Gunness was born in Selbu, Norway in 1859 and then immigrated to the United States sometime in 1881 (Gibson 2010,-page 35). Three years later, Gunness married Mads Sorenson and they opened a confectionary store. The store mysteriously burned...
On July 30, 1900 Belle's husband passed away, supposedly from an enlarged heart. July 30 was the sole day in which one life insurance policy was still active as it was about to lapse and a new one began. Although the family of Mads Sorenson were all highly suspicious no autopsy was performed. There is also speculation that during the marriage, Gunness may have given birth and subsequently murdered two of her four children.
Following her husband's demise, Belle Gunness moved to La Porte, Indiana where she married widower Peter Gunness. One week after the wedding, Peter's infant daughter died. By the end of the year Gunness himself had died, having according to Belle had a sausage grinder fall off of a shelf and onto his head, killing him instantly (Gibson 2010,-page 38). An adopted daughter, Jennie Olson also disappeared at that time. Gunness claimed that Jennie had gone off to school; her body was later discovered buried on the La Porte farm grounds.
Over the next few years, Belle Gunness began posting advertisements in Norwegian American newspapers where she professed to be a widow…
Works Cited:
Gibson, Dirk Cameron (2010). "Belle Gunness." Serial Killing for Profit: Multiple Murder for Money. Greenwood: Santa Barbara, CA. 35-51
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