Belle Gunness was born Brynhild Paulsdatter Strseth on November 11, 1859 in Selbu, Norway.

Minneapolis Tidende ("Minneapolis Times") began publication in January 1895, after absorbing two local Norwegian-language weekly papers - Budstikken ("The Messenger") and Fædrelandet og Emigranten ("Fatherland and Emigrant") to become a weekly edition of Minneapolis Daglig Tidende ("Minneapolis Daily Times").

While staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Belle worked as a domestic servant until she married Mads Sorenson from Drammen, Norway, in 1884. The following week, while Peter was out of the house, his infant daughter died of unknown causes in Belle's care.

The couple's home in Chicago eventually burned down, and with the insurance payout, they bought a candy store. When the candy store also caught fire, they used the insurance money to purchase a new home in Austin, Illinois.

In April 1902, Belle married Peter Gunness, a widower with two young daughters. Tragically, his youngest daughter died within a week of their marriage.

Just eight months later, Peter himself met a suspicious end. One story that Belle told authorities was that Peter was reaching for his slippers near the kitchen stove when he accidentally overturned a pot of boiling brine. In his panic, she claimed, he knocked a heavy sausage grinder off a high shelf, which fatally struck him in the head. Despite the odd details, her story was accepted as an unfortunate accident.

Belle really loved her meat cleaver. Peter Gunness actually met his end when meat cleaver mysteriously "fell" from a shelf and struck him on the head, killing him instantly. This was another lie that Belle tearfully recounted the authorities and the coroner's jury, explaining how the cleaver had tragically fallen and hit her "poor husband's head." With no evidence to suggest otherwise, her story was accepted as fact.

Only one person appeared to be catching on to Gunness's ways: her foster daughter Jennie Olsen. "My mama killed my papa," Olsen reportedly confided to her schoolmates. "She hit him with a meat cleaver and he died. Don't tell anyone."

When a victim arrived, Gunness would greet him warmly, charming him with her hospitality. She’d serve a large, hearty meal, and once the man was settled, she’d lace his coffee with a drug. As the stupor set in, she wasted no time—grabbing her cleaver and splitting his head open with brutal precision. On other nights, she preferred a quieter approach. She’d wait until her suitor was asleep, then creep into the bedroom by candlelight, chloroform in hand, smothering him in silence while he slept.

Shortly after Peter’s death, Belle began placing ads in three Norwegian-language newspapers across the Midwest. Known for her strength—legend had it she could lift 100-pound hogs in each arm—this hog-butchering farm woman was on the hunt for a wealthy Norwegian man to help manage her farm and invest some cash. According to her mailman, Belle penned eight to ten letters a day and grew irritable on the rare occasions when none arrived.

Her ad read:

"Personal—Comely widow, owner of a large farm in one of the finest districts in La Porte County, Indiana, seeks acquaintance with a gentleman of similar means, with the intention of joining fortunes. No replies by letter considered unless the sender is willing to follow up with a personal visit."

When her husband died , it was revealed that he had taken out two life insurance policies, which conveniently overlapped on the day of his death. Belle collected payouts from both—the one that was expiring and the one that had just taken effect—netting her a total of $5,000.

In the spring of 1908, Belle killed and decapitated an unidentified woman she had been seen with one of her interests in town shortly before the fire. She then planted the body in the cellar, along with those of her three children. Arsenic and strychnine were found in the stomachs of the woman, two of the children.

When the floors of Belle Gunness' house collapsed after the fire, four bodies were found in the cellar, including a headless, badly burned woman. Authorities initially thought it might be Gunness, but her missing head made identification impossible, and it was never found. Her children’s bodies were also discovered nearby.

Locals quickly doubted the body was Belle’s. Neighbors and friends, including C. Christofferson and Mrs. May Olander, claimed the woman was too small. Doctors measured the remains, concluding the woman was around 5'3" and 150 pounds—much smaller than the 5'8", 200-pound Gunness. To further complicate matters, Dr. J. Meyers found the woman had died of strychnine poisoning, leaving her true identity a mystery.

The number 1 (ace) means new beginnings, with the heart signifying love - which is exactly what Belle wanted her suiters to believe: that they were entering into a new true love. However, this card is also frequently used by magicians in their constant quest to fool their audience.

Just a week after praising her as a heroic mother, reporters began dubbing Gunness the "Indiana Ogress" or the "Female Bluebeard," even drawing comparisons to Lady Macbeth. They described her farm as a "horror farm" and a "death garden," details that drew crowds of curious onlookers to La Porte. On one weekend alone, an estimated 20,000 people flocked to the site, eager to witness the grisly spectacle of body parts being unearthed from the soil. Enterprising vendors seized the moment, selling ice cream, popcorn, cake, and even a morbid concoction humorously dubbed "Gunness Stew."

Belle Gunness, or Hell’s Belle, has been called the “most degenerate female serial killer in history.” But more often that not, she is referred to as a black widow:

"The Norwegian Black Widow"

"The Black Widow of the Midwest"

"The Black Widow of the Heartland""

She had allegedly accumulated more than $250,000 through her murder schemes over the years (over $8 million today).