1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: People have been making wine in the San Julian region 7 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: of France for centuries. The wine harvested from their grapes 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: is their pride and joy. But like any product that 9 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: depends on a plant in order to survive, the wine 10 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: production there is vulnerable to crop failure. The year was 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: fifteen forty five. That season, the vineyards were utterly ravaged 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: by insects, devastating the winemakers of the region. So what 13 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: did they do? Well? If it was you or I, 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: the most we could do is start from scratch and 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: hope that things turned out better next season. But remember 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: this was France in the early Renaissance. For all the 17 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: advancements in art and culture, it was still a very 18 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: spiritually driven society, and there was recourse for the average 19 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: person who felt that they had been wronged by an animal. 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: They could take that animal to ecclesiastical court, and so 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: that year the people of San Julyllen decided to do 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: just that to a species of weavil that they blamed 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: for the destruction of their vineyards. They hired Pierre Ducal 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: to be their legal representative, and he filed a complaint 25 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: with the court. It named the weevil species ringkites oroctus 26 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: as the culprits and demanded punishment for the offending insect. 27 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: The state appointed a legal team to defend the weavils 28 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: and the trial was set. Predictably, the weavil trial did 29 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: not last long. After hearing the opening statements of both sides, 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,559 Speaker 1: the chair of the court, Frescois Bonivart, made a ruling. 31 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: He declined to pass sentence on the weevils, saying that 32 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: the creatures acted according to their nature and according to 33 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: the laws of God. Therefore, it was the prosecution who 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: needed to reflect on their own worthiness in the eyes 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: of God. The weevils represented, in the court's view, divine 36 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: punishment on the people of Sant july En. Bonavard said 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: that the citizens of San Julien needed to demonstrate that 38 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,119 Speaker 1: they were a good Christian community. They had to collectively 39 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: repent of all their sins, pay their tithes to the church, 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: and march in solemn procession around the vineyards. The list 41 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: of pious activities was extensive, with the mandate that at 42 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: least two people from every Son Julienne household participates in 43 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: order for the repentance to be true. Not long after, 44 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: representatives from Saint Julienne submitted a report to the local 45 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: curate saying that they had done everything the court had 46 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: asked and the weevils subsequently were no longer a problem. 47 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: It was maybe inconvenient for the people, but their problem 48 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: was over for forty one year years at least in 49 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: fifteen eighty seven, a new generation of weavils would return 50 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: and cause trouble for the people again. On April thirteenth 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: of that year, representatives of San Julien requested legal assistance 52 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: for dealing with another wave of their weavil driven blight. 53 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: In their petition, they referenced the earlier decision of the 54 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: Ecclesiastical Cords, saying that the weavils had an i quote, 55 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: resumed their pegradations and are doing incalculable injury, and as such, 56 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: they asked the Prince Bishop to appoint new legal representatives 57 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: for the weavils since their original legal defendants were deceased, 58 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: they wanted to try the case again, the same crime, 59 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: just different culprits. This time, the state complied, and the Weavils, 60 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: for the second time, now went to trial for destroying 61 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: the vineyards of San Julien. As you'd imagine, the defense 62 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: maintained the argument from fifteen forty six, saying that the 63 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: weavils were created by God and thus had a right 64 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: to feed on the grasses of the earth. The prosecution, 65 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: on the other hand, argued that orrding to the Bible, 66 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: animals are subservient to man, to which the defense rebudded 67 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: that man certainly has a right to command the animals, 68 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: but not to prosecute them. The trial finally ended not 69 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: with a punishment for the weavils or another round of 70 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: piety for the people of San Julienne, but with a 71 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: compromise of sorts. The mayor offered the weavils a patch 72 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: of land to live on where they could feast to 73 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: their hearts content. The legal team for the Weavils agreed 74 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: to this, but before the agreement was finalized, one of 75 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: the weavil's advocates pointed out that he couldn't sign the 76 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: agreement after seeing the land. It was barren and unwelcoming. 77 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: Experts were dispatched to examine the land on behalf of 78 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: the Weavils, and that's where the story ends as far 79 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: as we know. You see, the final two pages of 80 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: the court documentation no longer exist because, in an ironic twist, 81 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: it seems that at some point in the past few 82 00:04:52,839 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: hundred years, those pages were eaten by bugs. Bell was 83 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: a hard woman, born of hard times. She grew up 84 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: working on a farm in Norway before emigrating to the 85 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: US in eighteen eighty one she was only twenty one 86 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: years old. She worked other hard jobs in the Chicago 87 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: area until she met and married another Norwegian immigrant, Mads Sorensen, 88 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty four, and it was around this time 89 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: that Bell was awoken to the wonders of insurance. It 90 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: struck her as odd that you could pay for something 91 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: that you would hope you would never need, whether it 92 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: was home fire or health insurance. She planned to get 93 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: her money's worth out of it. Bell and Mad's Chicago 94 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: home mysteriously burned down, and they received an insurance payout. Next, 95 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: they purchased a small business, which, wouldn't you know it 96 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: also burned down, and then they used that insurance money 97 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: to buy a new, larger home. It was at this 98 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: point that Bell's insurance schemes took a turn for the macabre. 99 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: We mentioned that there are more than one type of insurance. Well, 100 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: now Bell wanted to see what kind of money she 101 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: could get off of life insurance. She and Mads took 102 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: in four foster children and purchased policies on all of them. 103 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: Within a few years, two of them had died from 104 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: and I quote colitis. That's essentially colon inflammation caused by 105 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: things like bacteria or food allergies or you know, poison. 106 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: Mads must have been at least somewhat of an accomplice 107 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: in these schemes. If he was, he should have considered 108 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: that Bell's greed new no bounds, because next she took 109 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: out a policy on him. The truly remarkable aspect of 110 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: this next scheme was that Bell decided her initial plan 111 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: was thinking too small. After taking out one policy on Mads, 112 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: she decided the limits weren't high enough. She took out 113 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: a second, higher policy, and she wasn't content for one 114 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: policy to end and the other to begin. No, she 115 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: waited until the one day that the two policies briefly overlapped, 116 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: and then well Mads mysteriously passed away. Bell next married 117 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: a man named Peter, who, surprise surprise, she also took 118 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: out a life insurance policy on. He had two young 119 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: daughters from a previous marriage. One of them died just 120 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: a week after he and Belle married, and he only 121 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: lasted a few months himself Beyond that. She claimed that 122 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: Peter died after a meat grinder fell and hit him 123 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: on the head. But the thing about meat grinders is 124 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: while they tend to be secured to a counter at 125 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: waste level, so how one happened to wind up falling 126 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: on Peter's head is a mystery. Bell used all of 127 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: this insurance money to buy herself a farm, and this 128 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: would be the final most horrific stop on her murder spree. 129 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: For this next phase of her plan, she actually put 130 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: an ad in multiple newspapers across the Midwest asking for 131 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: a husband to come live with her on the farm. 132 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: Through this process, she attracted a man from South Dakota 133 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: named Andrew Helgalin. Andrew traveled from his home in South 134 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: Dakota to Illinois to be with Belle. But this time 135 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: she didn't even wait for marriage before trying to get 136 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: money out of him. She convinced him to withdraw a 137 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: large amount from his savings at a local bank and 138 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,239 Speaker 1: give the cash to her. And Andrew, well, he doesn't 139 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: seem to have been the wisest man of all time. 140 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: He did exactly as she said, and he went missing 141 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: the next day. But this time Bell might have bit 142 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: off more than she could chew is Hee. Andrew had 143 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: a brother who soon came looking for him. He was 144 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: smart enough to check with the bank, who confirmed that 145 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: Andrew had been there recently with Bell and withdrawn a 146 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: large amount of money. Belle knew that her murder spree 147 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: might finally be at an end. On April twenty eighth 148 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: of nineteen oh eight, the workers on Bell's farm awoke 149 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 1: to find the main house on fire. The house burned 150 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: to the ground before the fire department could arrive. Once 151 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: they did arrive, though, they found more than they ever 152 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,959 Speaker 1: could have bargained for. Beneath the ruins in the house's basement, 153 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,719 Speaker 1: they found the bodies of three children, as well as 154 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: a woman's decapitated corpse, they wondered if this perhaps was Bell. Later, 155 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: Andrew's brother arrived and helped the police identify Andrew's body 156 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: buried elsewhere on the property, and more bodies were uncovered elsewhere. Ultimately, 157 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: historians believe that Belle's final body count to be somewhere 158 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 1: between twenty to forty people. It's hard to know for sure, 159 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: given the nature of her crimes though. Oh and the 160 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: body of that headless woman they found in the basement, well, 161 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: it was exhumed in two thousand and seven, and the 162 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,839 Speaker 1: testing showed that the body was probably someone other than Belle, 163 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: which means that she likely killed someone and cut their 164 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: head off an attempt to make the authorities think that 165 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: she had died in the fire and somehow lost her 166 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: head in the process. Belle then set fire to her 167 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: own house and fled out into the night, leaving historians 168 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: very curious as to where she might have traveled next. Nowadays, 169 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: Bell Ganess is known as the most prolific female serial 170 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: killer in American history, and she's also the most successful, 171 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: having made the modern day equivalent of about a million 172 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: dollars off of those crimes. Whether or not she ever 173 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: got to spend it, though, is one mystery that will 174 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: probably never saw. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 175 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 176 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 177 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 178 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 179 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 180 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 181 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 182 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: stay curious.