Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1908 — VERITABLE SHEDEVIL [ARTICLE]

VERITABLE SHEDEVIL

Indiana Woman Believed to Have Kept Clearing House for Murderers. SHE HERSELF WAS THE CHIEF Body of a South Dakota Mau Dug Up on Her Farm. Alio an Eleven-Year-Old Girl and Three Other Persona Hired *• Man is Believed an Accomplice.

With five bodies already unearthed Sheriff Smutzer and Coroner Mack, of La Porte, Ind., are continuing their search for other alleged victims of Mrs. Belle Gunness, who, to all indications, was one of the most fiendish murderess of the century, and who was recently killed with her three children through the burning of her country home one mile northeast of LaPorte. Of the bodies so far unearthed two have been Identified. They are those of Andrew Helgeleln, • wealthy bachelor of Mansfield, S. 0., and Miss Jennie Olson, eleven-year-41d stepdaughter of Mrs. Gunness. The other three bodies are so badly decomposed as to make identification Impossible. Hired Man Had Dug Holes. I The discovery of the bodies was brought about by the appearance of A. J. Helgelein, of Aberdeen, 8. D., brother of Andrew Helgelein. In LaTorte In search for the missing man. With Information that bls brother Andrew had come to LaPorte to wed Mrs. Gunness, and that he had turned over bis property to her, he became convinced that he had been made the victim of foul play. While questioning Joseph Maxson, a hired hand on the Gunness farm, he learned of the mysterious digging of holes by him, all of them being filled at a later date by Mrs. Gunness. He led Helgelein and the officers to the spot where the holes had been dug, about 150 feet from the bouse and there, after digging a few minutes, was uncovered the body of Helgelein.

Helgelein's Body Dismembered. 1 The remains were only four feet under ground and were enclosed in a Kinny sack. The legs and arms had ien dismembered, but were with the trunk. About thirty-five feet further on from the remains the four other persons were found. Lying on top of a mattress were the skeleton of two men and a woman. Underneath the mattress was the body of an eleven-year-old girl, said to be Jennie Olson. All the bodies wore taken In charge by the coroner, and are now locked in a t»ox on the farm. The discovery of the bodies led expressmen to tell of th? delivery of five trunks to the Gunness farm during the last six months, and this fact has caused the authorities to work on the theory that ttie place was a clearing house for murderers. They suspect that wealthy persons, after being lured to Chicago and killed, were packed in these trunks and sent to Lal’orte and disposed of. Did She Kill Her Husband* ? The developments of the day also caused the authorities to recall that the two husbands of Mrs.Gunness died under suspicious circumstances, l>oth meeting violent deaths. The firs;, E.l •ward Sorenson, was insured for $:?,- 600, and the second, Gunness. for $3.600. This insurance was paid over to Mrs. Gunness by the companies. Kay Lamphere. tin* ex-hired man of Mrs. Gunness, who was arrested after thO woman’s house had been destroyed by fire and the bodies of Mrs. Gunness and her three children had been found in the ruins, was charged with murdering the family.

Relieve He Killed Family. He now will be accused of being an accomplice of Mrs. Gunness in the murdering of the alleged victims of the LaPorte woman. It Is believed that Lampbere. angered l»ecause Mrs. Gun ness refused to keep him supplied with money, killed her and the children out of revenge, and then fired the house to«cover the crime; It has developed that Lampbere had been seen wearing a fur overcoat, answering the description of one belonging to Andrew Helge'eln. several times during the month of February. Mrs. Gunness also wore the coat on several occasions, nnd when asked concerning it stated that it had been given to her by an admirer. Early Wednesday morning the digging in the yard was resumed and another body was soon discovered, bringing the total up to six. Four Moro Bodie* Found. A possible solution of the mystery, which has been deepened by four additional bodiesbelng found in the barn yard, has developed. Evidence that the nine dismembered corpses unearthed so far had been shipped to this dty, probably from Chicago, came to light, the testimony of draymen who bad carted trunks and boxes to the Guineas home bearing this out. In addition the local authorities received Information that two trunks consigned to “Mn. Belle Gunness, LaPorte, Ind.” ware being held in an express office

tn the larger city and the assistance of the Chicago police in unraveling the puzzle was sought at once. Two Bodies Are Identified. Two of the nine mutilated bodies have been identified with considerable certainty. Antone Olson, of Chicago, viewed the remains supposed to be those of Jennie Olson, the slxteen-year-old fosterdaughter of Mrs. Guineas, and pronounced them those of his daughter. A sister of the dead girl, Mrs. Leo Olander, also of Chicago, accompanied the father, and added her testimony regarding her sister's characteristics. Probable Motive for Crime. A motive for the wholesale murderi has not been fully established. The cir cumstances surrounding the disappear ances of Helgeleln and Ole B. Bud.* berg, of lola, Wls., are, however, startlingly enough similar to give a clew as to the object of the person or per sons who committed the crimes. Helgelein had secured $3,000 through the First National bank here shortly before he was lost track of. Budsberg negotiated the sale of a mortgage through the LaPorte Savings bank, which yielded him SI,OOO. He drew this money April 6, 1907. No record of hlsfu rther appearance in the flesh has been found.