18 See Haarstad letter; Langlois, p. 2.
19 See Haarstad letter.
20 Langlois, p. 3; Emery, p. 97.
21 See Haarstad letter. Quoted in Langlois, p. 2.
22 See, for example, Sylvia Perrini, She Devils of the USA: Women Serial Killers (Goldmineguides.com, 2013), p. 58, and Ilene Ingbritson Wilson, Murder in My Family (Bloomington, IN: Trafford Publishing, 2004), p. 9.
23 Langlois, p. 3.
1 Highly detailed information on the transatlantic crossing is available on the website Norway-Heritage: Hands Across the Sea, www.norwayheritage.com.
2 Ibid.; Odd S. Lovoll, «‘For People Who Are Not in a Hurry’: The Danish Thingvalla Line and the Transportation of Scandinavian Emigrants», Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Fall 1993), pp. 48–67.
3 All legal documents from this period show her name as Bella, including her marriage license to Mads Sorenson and the 1898 lawsuit she and Mads filed against the Yukon Mining & Trading Co. (see below, Note 23). Also see the article «Mrs. Gunness Changed Name», Chicago Daily Tribune, May 17, 1908, p. 5.
4 Odd S. Lovoll, A Century of Urban Life: The Norwegians in Chicago before 1930 (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), p. 155.
5 Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie (New York: Bantam Books, 1958), pp. 17–18.
6 Chicago Examiner, May 7, 1908, p. 2.
7 Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1908, p. 1.
8 Most sources say Mads worked as a department store watchman (or detective). Others, however, describe him as a floor manager. See, for example, Indianapolis News, May 12, 1908, p. 8.
9 Marriage License of Anthon [sic] Sorenson and Bella Peterson, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago. For unexplained reasons, the certificate shows Bella’s age as twenty-nine and Mads’s age as thirty-four. For the Rev. Torgersen’s obituary, see «Cupid’s Noted Aid Dead», Chicago Daily Tribune, November 12, 1905, p. 8.
10 Langlois, p. 4.
11 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 7, 1908, p. 1.
12 Ibid.
13 Chicago Daily Journal, May 8, 1908, p. 1.
14 Langlois, p. 77.
15 Chicago Examiner, May 6, 1908, p. 2.
16 Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1908, p. 2.
17 Ibid.
18 Ann Jones, Women Who Kill (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1980), p. 137; La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 7, 1908, p. 1. Previous sources say that the Sorensons bought the Alma Street property in 1896. Records show, however, that it was purchased in September 1895. Moreover, Bella is listed as sole owner of the property. See tract book, vol. 106A, p. 196, Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Chicago, IL.
19 Caroline was born in March 1896; Myrtle on February 6, 1897; Axel in January 1898; and Lucy on Christmas Day, 1898.
20 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 6, 1908, p. 2.
21 By contrast, the US infant mortality rate in 2015 was fewer than six deaths for every one thousand live births. The causes of death for Caroline and Axel can be found in the official Records of Interments at the Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.
22 «Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company, Bill in Chancery, Filed June 3, 1898, Circuit Court of Cook County», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
23 «Bella Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company et al., Notice, Motion, and Affidavits of Hogenson, Anderson, & Rosenberg, Filed June 16, 1898, in Circuit Court, Cook County», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
24 «Bella Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company et al., Copy of Decree», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
25 Chicago Tribune, April 11, 1900, p. 1.
26 Chicago Daily Journal, May 8, 1908, p. 2; Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1908, p. 2; Record of Interments, August 1900, Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.
27 Chicago Inter Ocean, May 7, 1908, p. 3.
28 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 7, 1908, p. 1.
1 Langlois, pp. 34–36.
2 Chicago Daily News, May 9, 1908, p. 1.
3 Indianapolis News, May 9, 1908, p. 4; Sylvia Shepherd, The Mistress of Murder Hill: The Serial Killings of Belle Gunness (Bloomington, IN: 1stBooks Library, 2001), p. 17.
4 Langlois, pp. 37–40.
5 Ibid., p. 37.
6 Lillian de la Torre, The Truth About Belle Gunness (New York: Fawcett/Gold Medal Books, 1955), p. 13.
7 See Duluth News-Tribune, May 13, 1908, p. 2, and Chicago Daily Journal, May 9, 1908, p. 1.
8 «Indiana’s Murder Farm», Harper’s Weekly, Vol. LII, No. 268 (May 30, 1908), p. 23.
9 Records of Interments, August 1902, Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.
10 Albert Nicholson’s recollections were transcribed on July 28, 1951. The typescript is filed in the archives of the La Porte County Historical Society, as is the full transcript of the coroner’s inquest held on December 17, 1902, which contains the testimony of both Swan Nicholson and Jennie Gunness. See also de la Torre, pp. 41–45.
11 Fort Wayne Daily News, December 1, 1902, pp. 1 and 2, and December 4, 1902, p. 1. Also see La Porte Argus-Bulletin, December 16, 1902, p. 1, and December 17, 1902, p. 1.
12 Bowell’s postmortem report is contained in the transcript of the coroner’s inquest, December 17, 1902, filed in the archives of the La Porte County Historical Society.
13 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, December 19, 1902, p. 1.
14 Langlois, p. 108.
15 de la Torre, p. 45.
16 Ibid.
17 Coroner’s inquest, archives of the La Porte County Historical Society.
18 de la Torre, p. 45.
1 Langlois, pp. 56–57.
2 Duluth News-Tribune, May 13, 1908, p. 2.
3 Langlois, pp. 45–48.
4 Ibid., pp. 49–50.
5 Langlois, p. 58.
6 Ibid., pp. 60, 61–62, and 66–67. See also Stuart Holbrook, Murder Out Yonder: An Informal Study of Certain Classic Crimes in Back-Country America (New York: Macmillan, 1941), p. 127.
7 Shepherd, p. 69.
8 Decatur Herald, May 23, 1908, p. 1.
9 Paula K. Hinton, «‘Come Prepared to Stay Forever’: The Tale of a Murderess in Turn-of-the-Century America», diss. (Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 2001), p. 41.
10 Ibid.
11 «Coroner’s Inquisition, Unidentified Person, Gunness Farm, Henry Gurholt? Deposition of Witness Martin Gurholt, Exhibit ‘B’», on file in the archives of the La Porte Historical Society Museum.
12 «Coroner’s Inquisition, Deposition of Witnesses, Exhibit ‘C,’ Chris Christofferson, May 26, 1908», on file in the archives of the La Porte Historical Society Museum.
1 A facsimile of one of these ads is on display in the Belle Gunness exhibit at the La Porte County Historical Society.
2 La Porte Weekly Herald, May 14, 1908, p. 8; Shepherd, p. 64; Hinton, p. 34.
3 Hinton, p. 46.
4 Richmond Times Dispatch, June 10, 1908, p. 1.
5 Hinton, p. 46; de la Torre, p. 55.
6 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 8, 1908, p. 1.
7 Grand Forks Evening Times, May 15, 1908, p. 3. Moe’s last name is sometimes reported as «Moo».
8 de la Torre, p. 16; New York Tribune, May 10, 1908, p. 1; Shepherd, p. 53.
9 Otago Daily Times, November 30, 1908, p. 5; Hinton, p. 31; La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 11, 1908, p. 1.
10 Shepherd, p. 52.
11 La Porte Weekly Herald, May 14, 1908, p. 8; Langlois, pp. 77–78; Shepherd, pp. 51–52; Anon., The Mrs. Gunness Mystery! (Chicago: Thompson & Thomas, 1908), pp. 66–67.
1 de la Torre, p. 17.
2 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 11, 1908, p. 1; de la Torre, p. 18.
3 New York Sun, May 10, 1908, p. 2; La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 14, 1908.
4 de la Torre, p. 18; Anon., The Mrs. Gunness Mystery! pp. 84–85; Troy Taylor, «Come Prepared to Stay Forever»: The Madness of Belle Gunness. Hell Hath No Fury, Book 5 (Decatur, IL: Whitechapel Press, 2013).
5 de la Torre, p. 19.
6 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 18, 1908, p. 1.
7 Marion Daily Mirror, May 19, 1908, p. 2; Washington Herald, May 10, 1908, p. 3.
1 All contemporary newspaper articles on the case, as well as virtually all succeeding accounts, spell the name «Helgelein». However, on the Find-a-Grave website, there is a photograph of Andrew’s gravestone in which his last name is spelled «Helgelien». There is a note on the site stating: «The name Helgelien as spelled on the gravestone is confirmed by family members to be correct. An alternate spelling (e. g., Helgelein) seen elsewhere is not correct».
2 Asle Helgelien, Andrew’s brother, said that he had found eighty letters from Belle among his brother’s belongings. During Ray Lamphere’s trial, however, newspapers reported that the prosecution was in possession of seventy-five letters from Belle to Andrew. See La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 18, 1908, p. 1, and November 19, 1908, p. 3.
3 Ted Hartzell, «Belle Gunness’ Poison Pen», American History, Vol. 43, No. 2 (June 2008), p. 50.
4 Chicago Evening American, November 18, 1908, p. 3.
5 Indianapolis Star, May 7, 1908, p. 3; Chicago Daily Journal, May 8, 1908, p. 1. Some accounts say that Helgelien robbed and torched the post office not in Red Wing but in Norway, Minnesota.
6 My thanks to Katherine Ramsland for providing me with typed transcripts of Belle’s surviving letters to Helgelien.