The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1908-05-08
DUG UP FIVE BODIES
6rewsOms Murders Unearthed at
La Porte, Ind.
ONLY TWO BODIES IDENTIFIES

~iSdilNS f1O1St " WIZ wv 80
covered After Woman, Who Con.
Quoted the Place, and Her Three
Children We're Burned to Death.
La Porte. Ind. May G.-One of the
most grewsome murder mysteries ever
unearthed in this section of the coun'
try came to light when the bodies Of
ave persons, all Of them murdered.
were found In the yard Of the home
Of Mrs Bella Guinness. who. with
three Of her children. was burned TO
death on the night of April 2S.
So far only two of the bodies have
been identified These are Andrew
Helgelein. who came 20 this city from
Mansfield. 5. d., for the purpose Of
marrying Mrs. Guinness. whose &C.
quaintance he had made through
matrimonial bureau The other is that
Il Jennie Olson Guinness a Chicago
girl. who had been adopted by Mrs.
Guinness. She disappeared in Septem
ber. 1906. and It was said she had gone
10 Los Angeles 10 attend school The
other bodies were those OF man ana
# TWO children apparently twelve
wears Of age So many bones were
missing IN the latter two that il is not
known whether they are male OF te
male
The body Of Helgelein was dismem
bored and the arms, legs, trunk and
head were buried in different parts OF
The yard
II is believed by the authorities that
Guy Lamphere who has been under
arrest since the burning Of the Gun
ness home. on the charge of murder
ine Mrs. Guinness and her family, com
mitted the Helgelein crime. Lamp
here is a carpenter. and the manner
in which the body OF Helgelein was
dismembered leads TO the belief that
it was done by somebody familiar with
The use of a saw.
There have been rumOrs that Jennie
Olson Guinness had knowledge Of the
manner in which the first husband OF
Mrs Guinness came 10 his death In
Chicago. Little Is known. however, on
his subject.
II is known that Helgelein had loan
ed $500 10 Mrs. Guinness and that he
had another $500 in his possession
lust prior 10 his death. II is consider
ed probable that he was killed by Mrs.
Guinness or by Lamphere or by both
Of them. in order to procure the cash
he had and TO avoid the necessity Of
repaying the loan he had made.
Lamphere. against whom a strong
case Of circumstantial evidence ex'
lists IN connection with the burning Of
Guinness home and the death of Mrs
Guinness and her three children, de
nies an knowledge Of the bodies found
He has said however, on other occa'
sions that Mrs. Guinness was anxious
to send him to an insane asylum be
cause Of his knowledge of her career
1t was current gossip. however, that
Lamphere was insanely Jealous Of Mrs
Guinness and of Helgelcin. and it IS
we'll known that the woman stood
greatly in fear of him, and had askeo
for police protection.
Lamphere. when told of the discov
cry. said MY God. five bodies. What
wouldn't that woman do. ! always
thought something was wrong out
there. Several people came ont to
that farm who never were seen &c
go away. One was a man, big. with
black hair and mustache Mrs. Guinness
told me he was Jennie OlsOn's sweet
heart He was around there about two
years ago. Then one day a man and
woman drove up with a baby They
went away without IT. Now. that's all
know about II. but ! guess there must
have been others. amt sure just
when that big man was there"
The search by which the bodies were
found was instigated by John Helge
lein. the brother OF Andrew. who has
always believed that his brother was
murdered He noticed some recently
upturned earth in the yard. and sug
gested to Sheriff Shutter that an ex
cavation be made to see If his broth
ers body could not be found II was
dug mp after a brief search.
While questioning Joseph MaVson.
a hired hand on the Guinness farm.
John Helgelein learned OF the mysteri.
Gus diggings of holes by him. all OF
them being filed at a later date by
Mrs Guinness. The remains we're only
four feet under ground. and were en-
closed in a gunnysack
The discovery Of thc bodies led ex-
pressmen to tell Of the delivery Of five
trunks to the Guinness farm during the
last six months, and this fact has caus-
ed the authorities TO work on the the
ory that the place was a clearing house
for murderers. They suspect that
wealthy persons. after being lured to
Chicago and killed. were packed in
these trunks and sent 10 La Porte. and
disposed of.
These developments also caused the
authorities 10 recall that the two hus-
bands Of Mrs Guinness died under Sis
picions circumstances. both meeting
violent deaths. The first. Max Soren-
son. was insured for $500 and the
second. Guinness, for sS5OO. This In
surance was paid over TO Mrs. Gun
ness by the companies.
Dug Up 6aby's Body With Spade.
Haddonfield. ~ j.. May Ga col