Summary: The Peculiar Vanishing Of Belle Gunness

The Peculiar Vanishing of Belle Gunness Belle Gunness’ evil journey was not exactly over, as she managed to attempt to frame her hired hand before escaping seamlessly. Manipulative, conniving, and evil - these are all adjectives to describe Belle Gunness and explain her perfectly executed disappearance (SC9). Belle Gunness’ farm hand, Ray Lamphere had quickly fallen in love with her (BE 5). This deep attraction to her caused him to grow wildly jealous of the men that Belle Gunness brought to the farm, which angered Gunness. After firing Ray Lamphere, Gunness went to the local authorities and claimed that Lamphere was insane and a threat to the townspeople (Rubin). Lamphere faced a trial in which he was ruled entirely sane, however, several

He bolted out of his bed on the second floor and began to yell the names of Belle Gunness and her children, but there was no response. Maxson’s immediate reaction was to leap out of the window and seek help, however, when he returned with assistance, it was too late (Thompson). Naturally, as police arrived, they searched the scene of the fire and located the bodies of 3 children - all of which were confirmed to be the bodies of Belle Gunness’ kin. The authorities also found the body of a woman, however, the body was headless and did not match Belle Gunness’ build. The body of the woman they retrieved was short and petite, while Gunness was rather tall and large (Homer). The authorities questioned Lamphere immediately, however, he denied any knowledge about the fire. Ray Lamphere told the police that this body did not belong to Belle Gunness, but rather a Chicago woman who Gunness murdered. He was believed to be innocent until a local eyewitness confirmed that they saw Lamphere leaving the Gunness farm during the early morning of the fire (Thompson). He was promptly arrested and accused of arson and several counts of murder