How Many Victims Did The Serial Killer Actually Have?
The April 28, 1908, fire at Gunness' farm seems to have shut the book on the Norwegian immigrant's murder spree, inasmuch as she was never heard from again and was, initially at least, presumed dead.
Whether Gunness died in that fire remains unclear. Also unclear is how many victims Gunness had killed. At the time, forensics was in its infancy, and the bodies had been so mutilated that there was little hope of identifying them. Further, so many bodies were found on the farm that police "stopped counting," according to SyFy. Then, the farm became something of a tourist attraction, with thousands of gawkers turning up and in some cases, taking souvenirs, according to The New York Post.
For these reasons and others, it's impossible to say how many people Gunness murdered. The low end is 11, to account for her first two husbands, their children, and the children found dead on the family farm. However, The New York Post suggests that she may have killed as many as 28 people, while Mental Floss claims that she killed "at least 20." Biography claims that the remains of at least 40 men and children were found on Gunness' farm.
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