Families hold memorial for Belle Gunness murder victims

by Tristan Henry (thenry@wsbt.com)

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The family members of Belle Gunness' victims held a memorial service and dedicated headstones for their loved ones

The family members of Belle Gunness' victims held a memorial service and dedicated headstones for their loved ones on Saturday, April 26, 2008. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Apr 26, 2008 at 2:14 PM EST

Story Updated: Apr 29, 2008 at 3:29 PM EST

LAPORTE — Monday is the 100-year anniversary of the fire that led to the discovery of a female serial killer in LaPorte. Saturday the victims' family members held a memorial service to dedicate headstones in two cemeteries.

Belle Gunness killed men for their money and buried them in the backyard of her LaPorte home.

"I guess it would be my great, great, great uncle was supposedly the last victim," said Tiger Helgelien.

His name was Andrew Helgelien and his grave sat unmarked in Patton Cemetery for almost a century.

"My grandmother was Bell Helgelien so with Bell Gunness and Bell Helgelien a lot of people thought Grandma Helgelien was a murderess so it's been very hush hush until the last 40 or 50 years," said Jerry Helgelien.

Saturday everyone was talking about their connection to Belle Gunness.

The victims' families gathered at the LaPorte County Historical Society then made a processional to the cemetery.

The Gunness 100th Anniversary Committee raised $2,000 to buy headstones for Helgelien, her 16-year-old foster daughter Jennie Olson, and Belle's unnamed victims.

"I wanted to buy a gravestone for her burial place but I had just come out of bankruptcy so I couldn't do so, and I'm just eternally indebted to Bruce Johnson and the historical society for arranging all this and getting a beautiful headstone for her," said John Olson, Jennie's nephew.

The final resting place is now marked forever, but the mystery surrounding Belle Gunness lives on.

Many suspect Belle Gunness did not die in the fire at her home in 1908.

The body was exhumed recently and the families are waiting on DNA analysis to determine if Gunness died that day or got away with murder.

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