There were so many bones that it became clear this unholy business had stretched on for many years, perhaps back to the odd death of Belle's first husband, Mads Sorenson. She had married him shortly after she moved to America from her home in Norway around 1883. In 1900, Sorenson dropped dead. Poison was the attending physician's first thought, but Belle shrieked piteously at the idea of an autopsy and he quickly dropped the subject.