“Letters of the Lovelorn” murderer Belle Gunness is credited with the murders of at least 14 people, with speculation that the body count could be more than double what’s been recorded.
The Northwest Indiana killer of her potential suitors, a “black widow” of sorts, kept many sinister secrets hidden at her farm outside LaPorte from 1884 to 1908. Her signature “bait” was using correspondence, with promises of courtship, to wealthy men who lived afar to lure them to her farm. Her preferred method to hasten a quick demise was by using poison in the food and drink she served.
What remains of her LaPorte farm property along McClung Road has become a destination for curiosity seekers during the past century, a distinction not prized by the current owner.
LaPorte County Historical Society President Bruce Johnson is hosting a fascinating “on the road” presentation and lecture at noon Thursday, Sept. 25, titled “Hell’s Belle” at Calumet College, 2400 New York Ave. in Whiting. The lecture will be on the second floor in the Bernard Gallery.
“Once she located her ideal victims, she fed them, drugged them, killed and dismembered them,” Johnson said.
“Miss Gunness first wooed her men with chatty letters after contacting them through newspaper matrimonial advertisements.”
The LaPorte County Historical Society Museum has an extensive exhibit, which Johnson has assisted with throughout the years and updated with his research. Thursday’s lecture has an interesting twist, including how the community of Whiting also folded into the extensive newspaper coverage of “the LaPorte Murder Farm.” Johnson isn’t revealing the twist until his presentation.
The most common question about Gunness, according to Johnson, is still repeatedly asked: What is the truth about the murderer’s final mysterious fate?
According to Johnson: “Around 4 a.m. on April 28, 1908, at 4:00 a.m., Belle’s latest farmhand Joe Maxson woke up to discover smoke and fire engulfing the Gunness farmhouse. He claimed to try to wake Belle and her three children in the home, but then opted to go to town to get the fire department. By the time the fire was extinguished in the afternoon, the charred bodies found in the basement were those of three children next to a woman’s body, missing her head, leading to speculation Belle staged the fire and planted another victim’s body, allowing herself to flee to another city.”
More murderer moments
Next month, actress and lecturer Leslie Goddard returns to Theatre at the Center at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road in Munster, for eight performances to step into the high-button shoes of Belle Gunness’ East Coast hatchet-wielding equivalent: suspected killer Lizzie Borden.
“The Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden” is onstage Oct. 29 through Sunday, Nov. 2, for one week and includes a themed dinner theater option. Goddard returns to the TATC stage after her hit one-woman plays based on the lives of Julia Child (2023), Amelia Earhart (2024) and Titanic survivor Violet Jessop (2025). As Borden, Goddard in guise as Lizzie takes audiences step-by-step into the timeline of how she was tried and acquitted for the brutal hatchet murders of her father and stepmother at the turn of the century. Borden, characterized as a curious sort, despised her stepmother and publicly complained of her mortician father’s frugality, despite his considerable wealth. During her 1892 trial, the testimony of the family’s maid, Borden’s friend and her own contradictory statements created suspicion and led to her indictment. Tickets are $40 by calling 219-836-3255 or www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.
Just like Lizzie
From Oct. 10 to 26, Chicago Street Theatre, 154 West Chicago St. in Valparaiso, presents “LIZZIE,” a punk-style musical based on the legendary myth of the case and trial of Lizzie Borden. Written and conceived by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt, it’s billed as “a blistering rock score and a cast of four powerful female characters — Lizzie, her sister Emma, their maid Bridget, and neighbor Alice, in a musical offering a visceral, feminist take on the legend, portraying the events as a gothic horror and a riot girl rebellion.” Tickets are $25-$27 at www.chicagostreet.org or call 219-464-1636.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected].