TV series to recount tale of infamous Indiana serial killer

LaPORTE, Ind. (AP) - A television series that's in the works will recount the story of a northern Indiana woman who's believed to have murdered more than two dozen people a century ago.

SERA Films has optioned Harold Schecter's bestseller "Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men" for a limited television series adaptation.

The Indianapolis Star reports actor Joseph Cross and SERA Films founder Austin Francalancia are developing and producing the series.

Francalancia, who's a Warsaw, Indiana, native, says they've identified 10 actors who could portray Belle Gunness.

The native of Norway moved to LaPorte, Indiana, in the early 1900s and used lonely hearts ads to lure wealthy men to her farm, where she robbed, poisoned and dismembered them.

Gunness' victims were discovered after a 1908 fire destroyed her LaPorte farmhouse.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com