IN IN - "Lady Bluebeard" Belle Gunness - 100 year mystery

[gaia227]

I have never heard of this woman. Very interesting. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to hear she faked her death. Obviously finding a look alike, killing her and beheading her wouldn't be a big deal to this woman nor would killing two of her own children. How did the authorities explain the body being decapitated and full of strychine? Not to mention the fact she bought kerosene and made out a will the day before - come on! Could it be any more obvious what she was up to? Hopefully the forensics will come up with something and we will know for sure if the body was her or not.
This woman is the definition of a sociopath.

 

[MaryLiz]

I first became aware of her through the Crime Library story a couple years ago. After reading that, I believed she faked her own death. Any person who can kill so "comfortably", especially children, is certainly capable of masterminding her own disappearance. I always believed she was Esther Carlson, who they said looked like Belle. As it says in the Tribune article and the Crime Library story, she died in 1931 in Los Angeles while awaiting trial in the poisoning death of a wealthy man. It also said that some La Porte, Indiana residents traveled to LA and thought that Esther Carlson was really Belle. I will be very surprised if DNA shows that the body is Belle Gunness.

 

[Pharlap]

It's a fascinating case, which I got from the Chicago Tribune cold cases.
Back then(even up to the 1955) it was the wild, wild west.
I can't imagine anyone finding out who did what, when and where.
They had nothing but word of mouth, gut instinct and substandard tactics on viewing cases.
Where is Sherlock homes when you need him....

 

[CyberLaw]

Belle was a devious women, she amassed a "fortune" and then faked her death and left with the money.

250K in 1908, OMG, if anyone cares to do a bit of calculation to see what that would be in 2008 value probably a lot of money. Belle did not kill all of those people to NOT enjoy her "ill gotten" gains somewhere really nice.

But who knows if the "lookalike" was actually Belle......

 

[golfmom]

But who knows if the "lookalike" was actually Belle......

Well, since their working on DNA testing ... maybe we'll know. :woohoo:

They said that if the body that they exhumed was not Belle, the next step is to start testing on the "lookalike".

 

[Pharlap]

bump......

 

[close_enough]

Belle was a devious women, she amassed a "fortune" and then faked her death and left with the money.

250K in 1908, OMG, if anyone cares to do a bit of calculation to see what that would be in 2008 value probably a lot of money. Belle did not kill all of those people to NOT enjoy her "ill gotten" gains somewhere really nice.
But who knows if the "lookalike" was actually Belle......

i agree, CL.....i'm glad i noticed this thread...saw a show on TV about Belle Gunness not too long ago....maybe the biography channel???....anyway, glad to see this thread here...

 

[SieSie]

Sounds very interesting, but I'm too tired right now to start reading the CrimeLibrary link. I bookmarked it and will check it out over the weekend. Thanks for the links, everyone!! G'night.

 

[AmandaBrown23]

I cant wait to see how this comes out, I bet you its not her.

 

[golfmom]

Big update: Children's bodies exhumed after 100 years.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-gunness-exhume-14-may14,0,5717939.story

 

[AmandaBrown23]

It sure is taking a long time to figure it out, I wanna know Im so curious.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

I hope they get all the answers they are looking for and are able to solve this case. Reading the story of Belle at crime library made me believe she was quite guilty. I just can't imagine in that era that a woman would be a killer- it's just hard to grasp.

 

[Karole28]

This lady says:

My great grandmother Eldora Hudson was Belle’s neighbor, and she saw Belle after the fire. I just love how every story or book written makes it sound like she died in the fire. There were eye witnesses that saw Belle after the fire, and some LaPorte residents identified her years later in California. I know a lot more than most of the stories written because of stories that were passed down through my family. My great grandmother had a funny feeling about her, and with right cause!!! There were a lot of things she wouldn’t even talk about because they were so horrendous! (any questions email me at healinghandstherapy@juno.com)



Click

 

[Parmenides]

I just can't imagine in that era that a woman would be a killer- it's just hard to grasp.

Your prejudices are showing.

I would say women are equally as criminal as men, but they just tend to get away with it more. Partly it's precisely because of this prejudice, but also men's crimes tend to be more visible, women's are more sneaky. Men's crimes are driven by anger and/or thrill-seeking. Women's crimes are driven by greed and spite.

JMHO. :crazy:

 

[Boyz_Mum]

Your prejudices are showing.

I would say women are equally as criminal as men, but they just tend to get away with it more. Partly it's precisely because of this prejudice, but also men's crimes tend to be more visible, women's are more sneaky. Men's crimes are driven by anger and/or thrill-seeking. Women's crimes are driven by greed and spite.

JMHO. :crazy:

You're right... I guess I just want to believe that 'back then' women weren't like that. Today? I'd believe it in a minute. I think men are just as likely to kill for greed as women are though?

 

[pixies]

You're right... I guess I just want to believe that 'back then' women weren't like that. Today? I'd believe it in a minute. I think men are just as likely to kill for greed as women are though?

I don't think you are prejudice at all. Back then no one wanted to believe a "godly" woman could commit such a horrible crime. How many women got away with murder because of the men thinking women were not capable of such horror? Almost all the criminal history we read about is all about bad guys and a few really really bad women (such as Belle and the "sisters" who murdered all those people in London for the money)

 

[txsvicki]

I'm reading a library book right now about women who've committed crimes down through history. There's many who lived in the U.S. and England who murdered husbands mostly, children, employers, etc. There's also stories of many women who seem to have been wrongly accused or had snapped because of a very abusive husband. Most were burned at the stake or hanged and then burned.

 

[Karole28]

I don't think you are prejudice at all. Back then no one wanted to believe a "godly" woman could commit such a horrible crime. How many women got away with murder because of the men thinking women were not capable of such horror? Almost all the criminal history we read about is all about bad guys and a few really really bad women (such as Belle and the "sisters" who murdered all those people in London for the money)

She actually did get away with one by crying through the court hearing.

<sniff>

 

[golfmom]

I think she staged her death: http://www.abajournal.com/news/lawyer_sleuth_may_solve_100_year_old_forensic_murder_mystery/

A number of people, including the Gunness relation who gave permission for the body to be exhumed, believe it isn't. Although Gunness made out her will and bought five gallons of kerosene just before an April 28, 1908 home fire in which four charred bodies initially believed to be her own and those of her three children were found, it now appears that she may have staged her death. Instead of dying in the fire, many now believe, she moved to California and died there as she was awaiting trial in a poisoning case, the newspaper explains.

 

[golfmom]

http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=3192&TM=82955.11

Each discovery only begs more questions, but as a team of anthropologists from the University of Indianapolis labors to solve a 100-year-old murder mystery, the time for Belle Gunness to reveal herself has arrived.

Following the excavation of Gunness' unmarked grave in Forest Home Cemetery in November, Andrea Simmons and other researchers from the university returned to Forest Park last week looking for her children. Gunness, one of the Midwest's most notorious serial killers, is believed to have set fire to her La Porte, Ind., home killing herself and her three young children a century ago as public suspicion mounted that Gunness might have been a murderer.
.......
The thrust of Simmons' research is to determine whether Gunness is actually buried in Forest Park, but it's possible that handfuls of unanswered questions surrounding the murderess' exploits will be resolved.

"We don't believe Belle Gunness ever gave birth to her own kids," Simmons said. "If we ever find Belle that's one question I'd like to answer."

An estranged relative of the female serial killer is believed to have said Gunness was unable to have children of her own, according to Simmons. The children she raised - and murdered at the farm - would have either been adopted or belonged to the many suitors lured by Gunness through a series of personal ads placed in area newspapers. Genetic information from the skeletons could reveal whether Gunness was capable of passing along the family bloodline.
........
The effort to identify Gunness is in something of a holding pattern as Simmons waits to hear back from police crime labs in Indiana that are attempting to extract genetic material from dried saliva that Gunness may have licked and compare that to DNA samples from the skeletons. Should that prove unsuccessful, the materials will likely be sent to Texas where a more sophisticated lab has expressed an interest in the case.

Simmons said she expects to spend the next six months poring over the children's remains before they are returned to Forest Park. If the adult skeleton is identified as Gunness, it too will be returned. However, should the remains be identified as someone other than Gunness, Simmons said she has received permission from the murderess' next of kin to retain possession for research purposes.