Lasse & Anita - Person Sheet
Lasse & Anita - Person Sheet
NamePeter Gunness
Birth15 Jan 1872, Sandsvær, Buskerud, Norway
Death16 Dec 1902, La Porte, LaPorte County, Indiana, United States
FatherSimen Kjelsen Gunness (1832-1876)
Spouses
1nn
ChildrenSwanhild (ca1897-)
 Jenni (Died as Infant) (ca1901-1902)
Birth11 Nov 1859, Størsetgjerdet, Selbu, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
OccupationNorwegian-American serial killer
Alias/AKABelle Gunness, Hell's Belle, the Black Widow, Lady Bluebeard, Størseth
FatherPål Pedersen Størseth (1808-1890)
Marriage1902
Notes for Peter Gunness
Fra Kongsberg.

Ft1875
http://digitalarkivet.arkivverket.no/ft/person/pf01052127002093

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26462609

Peter was the second husband of mass murderer Belle Gunness. She is believed to have murdered her first husband, and Peter was probaply killes by her as well.
Belle used some of her first husbands insurance money to buy a hog farm in La Porte, Indiana, and began looking for another husband. On April 1, 1902, she married Peter Gunness, a local butcher and recent widower. A week after the wedding, Peter's infant child died while left alone in Belle's care. This resulted in yet another insurance payout.

Eight months later, Peter died. The circumstances were suspicious to say the least. Belle told police that a meat grinder had fallen from a high shelf and landed on Peter's head.

The coroner didn't believe it and ruled it a homicide.

A witness claimed to have heard Belle's foster child Jennie, now 14, tell a classmate that her mother killed her father with a meat cleaver. A grand jury questioned them. Jennie denied her incriminating statement. Belle denied killing her husband. The jury found Belle innocent. Belle collected the $3,000 insurance payout.

Kilde, GENI:
https://www.geni.com/people/Peter-Peder-Gunness/6000000021662614233?through=6000000010140315276
Last Modified 16 May 2024Created 6 Apr 2025 using Reunion for Macintosh
© A. S. Johannessen & L. Haegland.