Lady Bluebeard

Belle Gunness
Gunness with her children, c. 1908
Born	Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth November 11, 1859 Selbu, Norway
Died	April 28, 1908(1908-04-28) (aged 48) (unverified) La Porte, Indiana, United States
Other names	Hell's Belle, the Black Widow, Lady Bluebeard
Motive	Life insurance money
Details
Victims	25–40
Span of killings	1900–1908
Country	United States
State(s)	Illinois, Indiana
Date apprehended	Never caught

Belle Sorenson Gunness (November 11, 1859 – declared dead April 28, 1908) — born Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth — was a Norwegian-American serial killer. Standing six feet tall (183 cm) and weighing over 200 pounds (91 kg), she was a physically strong woman. She killed most of her suitors and boyfriends, and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. She may also have killed both of her husbands and all of their children. Her apparent motives involved collecting life insurance, cash and other valuables, and eliminating witnesses. Reports estimate that she killed between 25 and 40 people.

Gunness' origins are a matter of some debate. Most of her biographers state that she was born on November 11, 1859, near the lake of Selbu, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway, and christened Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth. Her parents were Paul Pedersen Størseth (a stonemason) and Berit Olsdatter. She was the youngest of their eight children. They lived at Størsetgjerdet, a very small cotter's farm in Innbygda, 60 km southeast of Trondheim, the largest city in central Norway (Trøndelag).

An Irish TV documentary by Anne Berit Vestby aired on September 4, 2006, tells a common, but unverified, story about Gunness' early life. The story holds that, in 1877, Gunness attended a country dance while pregnant. There she was attacked by a man who kicked her in the abdomen, causing her to miscarry the child. The man, who came from a rich family, was never prosecuted by the Norwegian authorities. According to people who knew her, her personality changed markedly. The man who attacked her died shortly afterwards. His cause of death was said to be stomach cancer.

Having grown up in poverty, Gunness took service the next year on a large, wealthy farm and served there for three years in order to pay for a trip to emigrate across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Following the example of a sister, Nellie Larson, who had earlier emigrated to the United States, Gunness moved to America in 1881 and adopted a more American-style name. Initially, she worked as a servant.

In 1884, Gunness married Mads Ditlev Anton Sorenson in Chicago, Illinois, where, two years later, they opened a confectionery store. The business was not successful; within a year the shop mysteriously burned down. They collected insurance, which paid for another home.