Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-05-07


bodies already unearthed, Sheriff
5mutzer and Coroner Mack Will con
tinuc their search today for other al
legged victims of Mrs Bella Guinness.
who, to all indications, was one OF
the most fiendish murderesses of the
country and was recently killed with
her three children through the burn
ing Of her country home one mile
northeast Of LaDOrte.
Of the bodies so far unearthed. two
have been identified as those of An
drew HeIgelein, a wealthy bachelor
of Mansfield, S. D.. and Miss Jennie
Olson, the 11-yearO,d stepdaughter Of
Mrs. Guinness. The other three bod
les were 50 badly decomposed as to
make Identification impossible.
The discovery Of the bodies was
brought about by the appearance Of
A. X HeIgelein of Mansfield, s. d..
q brother of Andrew He,geIein, IN
Laporte in search Of the missing
man. With the information that his
brother, Andrew, had come to Laporte
10 wed Mrs. Guinness and that he had
-turned over his property to her, he
became convinced that he had been
made the victim Of foul play.
Mysterious Graves Dug.
While questioning Joseph Maxon, d
hired hand on the Guinness farm he
learned of the mysterious digging o.
holes by him, all of them beng filled
at later date by Mrs. Guinness. The
hired man lei Helgelein and officers
to the spot where the hol~s had been
dug, about $50 feet from the house,
and there after digging was uncov-
cred the body of HeIgelein The re
mains were only four feet under the
ground and were enclosed in a gun
nysack. The legs and arms had
been dismembered, but were with the
trunk.
Thirty-fve feet farther on the re
mains of three other persons were
s1ound. Lying on top of a mattress
were the skeletons of two men and
a woman. Underneath the mattress
was the body of an 11-year-old girl,
said to be Jennie Olson. All of the
bodies were taken in charge by the
coroner
Bodies of Children Found.
The bodies found in the yard beside
those of Helgelein and Jennie Olson
are those of a man and two children
apparently II years of age SO
many bones were missing in the lat
ter two that it is not known whether
they are male or female.
The discovery of the bodies led an
eeXpressman to tell of the delivery OF
five trunks to the Guinness farm dur-
ing the last six months and this fact
has caused the authorities to work
on the theory that the place was
clearing house for murderers. They
suspect that Wealthy persons, after
being lured to Chicago and killed,
were packed in these trunks and sent
TO Laporte and disposed Of
Two Husbands Murdered.
Developments yesterday also caused
the authorities to recall tn { two hus-
bands Of Mrs. Guinness died under
suspicious circumstances, both meet
ing violent deaths. First, Edward
SorensOn, who was insured for 49,
500, and second, Guinness, for $4,000
This insurance was paid over to Mrs.
Guinness by the companies
Hired Man Knew Secret.
Ray Lamphere, a former hired man
of Mrs. Guinness, who was arrested
after the womans house had been de
Stroyed by fire and the bodies o.
Mrs. Guinness and her three children
found in the ruins, was charged with
numbering the family He now will
be accused of being an accomplice of
Mrs Gum Ass in numbering the al
legged victims Of the Laporte woman,
1t is believed that Lamphere, angered
because Mrs. Guinness refused to keep
him supplied with money killed her
and her children out of revenge ana
then fired the house to cover the
crime.
Wore Victims Coat.
1t developed last night that Lam
phere had been seen wearing fur
overcoat answering the description OF
one belonging to Andrew HelgeIell
several times during February. Mrs.
Guinness also wore the coat on sew
eraI occasions and when asked con
corning it stated that it had been
given her by an admirer.
Lamphere is also said to nave en-
tered a barber shop in Laporte during
the South Dakota mans visit. with a
revolver, with which he said he could
not part as che might have use for
it before Ions" The revolver, it is
declared, was afterward identified as
belonging to Helgelein.
Would not Peach,
That Lamphere knew Helgelein had
been slain is now believed to be a
Certainty. During the time he was
prosecuted by her for trespass NJ
told the police he knew something
Mrs. Guinness wanted him to forget,
He won'7n't divu1ge, however, what
r. qeing that justice would
81 st last
sd Girls Lips by Death.
4 be .heory regarding the murder