Belle but Lethal

I share something in common with the notorious Norwegian-born Belle Gunnes: La Porte, Indiana, my town of birth.

Unlike Belle, however, I am neither lofty of height, nor a Shebug-let alone a lethal one!

This killer Shebug immigrated to the Midwest in search of wealthier prey. Belle collected a handsome insurance sum after her first husband’s demise. Re-married on April Fool’s Day, she received another  chunk of money from disgruntled insurers. Unlike husband number one, who supposedly died of convulsions, victim number two got hit in the head when a coffee grinder fell off the shelf. Or was it a meat grinder?

This hardcore businesswoman wasted no tears. Or time. She cast her net further afar to Norway placing newspaper ads that read,  ‘Widow, with mortgaged farm, seeks marriage. Triflers need not apply’.

Many a cash-rich suitor knocked on the bloodthirsty Shebug's door only to mysteriously disappear before daybreak. 

Killer Belle lured in one last meal ticket up the aisle, Andrew Helgelein. However, her newest brother-in-law, Asa, smelled a rat and took it upon himself to look into his brother’s welfare.

Sadly, all standing before him upon arrival, were the smoldering remains of the charred farmhouse and its inhabitants.

Asa’s request for an immediate examination would uncover not only his brother’s remains, and family members, but also those of forty other men seduced and financially bled by the Black Widow of Indiana.

But what about Belle?

According to her hired hand, who was eventually charged with arson, Shebug Belle emptied her bank account, set fire to her home, then skipped town very well-padded, indeed.