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Author: Harold Schechter
Publisher: Little A
ISBN: 9781477808948
Category : LaPorte (Ind.)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"The shocking true story of one of the twentieth century's most prolific female serial killers."--Book jacket.

Author: Lillian de la Torre
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504044576
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Edgar Award Finalist: The true story of the female Norwegian immigrant who led a secret life as a serial killer in the early twentieth-century Midwest. On the morning of April 27, 1908, the farmhand on a lonely property outside La Porte, Indiana, woke to the smell of smoke. He tried to rouse the lady of the house, the towering Belle Poulsdatter Sorenson Gunness, and he called the names of her three children—but they didn’t answer, and the farmhand barely escaped alive. The house burned to the foundation, and in the rubble, firemen found the corpses of Belle, her two daughters, and her son. The discovery raised two chilling questions: Who started the fire, and who cut off Belle’s head? As investigators searched the property, they uncovered something astonishing: The remains of a dozen or more men and children who had been murdered with poison or cleaver were buried beneath the hog pen. It turned out Belle Gunness was one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. And when the investigation revealed that the body found in the fire might not have been hers, the people of La Porte were forced to confront the terrifying realization that Belle might have gotten out alive. Nominated for an Edgar Award for best factual crime story, The Truth about Belle Gunness is based on extensive interviews with witnesses and residents of La Porte who knew Belle and her family. Perfect for fans of In Cold Blood or The Devil in the White City, it is a “magnificent [and] brilliantly written” exploration of a highly unusual murderer (The New York Times).

Author: Jane Simon Ammeson
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 1684351618
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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How does a Norwegian farm girl become an infamous American serial killer, responsible for upward of 40 murders? Born in rural Norway in 1859, "Belle" Storset Sorenson Gunness was constantly dealt bad hands in life—so she decided to take life into her own hands. In America's Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness, Jane Simon Ammeson traces Gunness's path from a poor teenager rejected by a wealthy lover; to a new wife in Chicago, desperate to escape the poverty of her childhood and impatient for a child to love; to an ambitious, widowed landowner in La Porte, Indiana. Ammeson's careful research reveals how the young immigrant slowly turned into one of America's most dangerous serial killers, allegedly murdering husbands, lovers, and children, and, for a price, disposing of inconvenient corpses for others. Ammeson brings this shocking story to life, detailing the suspicious neighbors who were cowed into silence by Belle's intimidating personality, the culture of orphanages trafficking children and matrimonial agencies, the carnival atmosphere that exploded around the pile of bones found on Gunness's farm, and the sensational reporting that filled newspapers for months. Perfect for true crime fans fascinated by the creation of a sociopathic serial killer, America's Femme Fatale will leave you entertained and looking over your shoulder.

Author: Camilla Bruce
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593102576
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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“Riveting! Camilla, high-five! Amazing work!”—Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered An audacious novel of feminine rage about one of the most prolific female serial killers in American history--and the men who drove her to it. They whisper about her in Chicago. Men come to her with their hopes, their dreams--their fortunes. But no one sees them leave. No one sees them at all after they come to call on the Widow of La Porte. The good people of Indiana may have their suspicions, but if those fools knew what she'd given up, what was taken from her, how she'd suffered, surely they'd understand. Belle Gunness learned a long time ago that a woman has to make her own way in this world. That's all it is. A bloody means to an end. A glorious enterprise meant to raise her from the bleak, colorless drudgery of her childhood to the life she deserves. After all, vermin always survive.

Author: Janet L. Langlois
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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The Guinness Book of World Records has in twelve editions listed Belle Gunness under the category "Most Prolific Murderers." She earned the epithet the Lady Bluebeard because she is believed to have killed as many as twenty spouses. She settled on a farm on the outskirts of LaPorte, Indiana, in 1901. Over the next seven years it is believed that she killed a husband, children, and an indeterminate number of would-be suitors who answered her matrimonial advertisements. Through symbolic analysis of the folk art about the murderess—anecdotes, personal-experience stories, legends, ballads, and plays and skits—Langlois discovers an integrated symbol system through which the community comes to various and contradictory conclusions about the deviant woman, deviancy in general, and social changes.

Author: Richard Lindberg
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 150175713X
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Lindberg, an accomplished local historian and true crime writer, presents a fascinating story of two contemporaneous serial killers, both weaving marriage and murder in and around Chicago during the 1890s and 1900s. Johann Hoch was a debonair bigamist and wife killer who boasted of having perfected a "scientific technique" to romance and seduction. Belle Gunness was a nesting "Black Widow" whose sprawling farm in Northwest Indiana was a fatal lure for lonely bachelors seeking the comforts of middle-age security by answering matrimonial advertisements placed by Gunness. Notorious in his own day, Hoch had faded into the dark background of Chicago crime history. But, in Heartland Serial Killers, Lindberg brings back vividly the horrors of one of Chicago's first celebrity criminals and uncovers new evidence of a close connection between Hoch and H.H. Holmes, the "Devil in the White City." Unlike Hoch, Belle Gunness, likely the most prolific and infamous female serial killer of the twentiethe century, has remained fascinating to the public. Here, Lindberg presents the most comprehensive and compelling study of the Gunness case to date, including new information regarding ongoing DNA testing of remains found at the site of Gunness' farm in LaPorte, Indiana, which may serve to resolve once and for all the mystery surrounding Gunness' death. Told in alternating chapters and rapidly paced, this book is true crime at its best—gripping, pulpy, and full of sharp historical tidbits. True crime fans, history buffs, and those interested in local lore will delight in this chilling tale of two ruthless killers.

Author: John Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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I am glad he is dead! Terrible people deserve terrible endings! - Belle Gunness On April 28, 1908 an arson at a farmhouse in the small farming community of La Porte, Indiana exposed a series of murders so horrendous that it became the center of international attention. Belle Gunness, a Norwegian immigrant, used her farmhouse as the base of operations for a lonely hearts scheme that claimed the lives of at least thirteen victims and perhaps dozens more. No one was safe from her including her own family. Using a combination of murder, insurance fraud, and other schemes, Gunness was able to amass a small fortune while at the same time, making her one of the most prolific female serial killers in history. Join us in examining her life and crimes while remembering the victims of her deeds. At the same time, learn a little something about the history of a slew of comic strips, cartoon characters, creators, publishers, and studios that the people from the story are modeled after. This easy to read, yet highly engaging story, heavily researched by artist and historian, John Enrique Thompson, helps to set the record straight on these historic crimes as well as educate and entertain. The Comely Widow: The Crimes of Serial Killer Belle Gunness is a graphic narrative true crime book that is sure to enthrall you and the comic or true crime fanatic in your life. 7" x 10", 326 pages

Author: Lindsay Garrett
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781523836147
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Belle Sorenson Gunness was Norwegian-American serial killer who stood six feet tall and weighed more than 200 pounds. She ended up killing most of her boyfriends and suitors. Horrifically, she also murdered two of her daughters. This is the biography of a ruthless woman whose abominable deeds earned her nicknames such as Lady Bluebeard, Hell's Belle and the Mistress of Murder Farm. She has gone down in history as one of the most prolific serial killers of America.

Author: Rebecca Reisner
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633888290
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Perhaps no other television show captures our innate fascination with crime and criminals better than the original Forensic Files. Including murders, insurance fraud, hit-and-runs, and kidnappings, all cases featured on the show are solved in large part with the help of forensic science like DNA evidence. In Forensic Files Now: Inside 40 Unforgettable Cases, author Rebecca Reisner shares her own gripping retellings — adapted from her popular blog, ForensicFilesNow.com — of 40 favorite cases profiled on the show along with fascinating updates and personal interviews with those directly involved. Featuring classic cases like the Tennessee brothers who terrorized locals for years until the feds rode into town, the Texas lovebirds who robbed a grave in an insurance fraud plot that made international headlines, the Ivy League-educated physician who attempted a fresh start by burying his wife in the basement, and some cases so captivating that they have sparked spinoff miniseries or documentaries of their own, this book will enthrall readers with its vivid recaps and detailed updates. Also featuring an in-depth interview with Forensic Files creator Paul Dowling and a profile on the show’s beloved narrator, Peter Thomas, Forensic Files Now is a must-read for diehard Forensic Files fans and a welcome find for true crime readers looking for more riveting and well-told stories.

Author: Adam Selzer
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 151071345X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
From Chicago historian Adam Selzer, expert on all of the Windy City’s quirks and oddities, comes a compelling heavily researched anthology of the stories behind its most fascinating unsolved mysteries. To create this unique volume, Selzer has collected forty unsolved mysteries from the 1800s to modern day. He has poured through all newspaper, magazine, and book references to them, and consulted expert historians. Topics covered include who really started the great Chicago fire, who was the first “automobile murderer,” and even if there was actually a vampire slaying at Rose Hill cemetery. The result is both a colorful read to get lost in, a window to a world of curiosity and wonder, as well as a volume that separates fact from fiction—true crime from urban legend. Complementing the gripping stories Selzer presents are original images of the crime and its suspects as developed by its original investigators. Readers will marvel at how each character and crime were presented, and happily journey with Selzer as he presents all facts and theories presented at the time of the “crime” and uses modern hindsight to assemble the pieces.