The girls of Murder City : fame, lust, and the beautiful killers who inspired Chicago

304 Pages·2010·1.83 MB·English

by  Douglas Perry

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication

Part I - A MAD ECSTASY
Chapter 1 - A Grand Object Lesson
Chapter 2 - The Variable Feminine Mechanism
Chapter 3 - One-Gun Duel
Chapter 4 - Hang Me? That’s a Joke
Chapter 5 - No Sweetheart in the World Is Worth Killing
Chapter 6 - The Kind of Gal Who Never Could Be True
Chapter 7 - A Modern Salome
Chapter 8 - Her Mind Works Vagrantly
Chapter 9 - Jail School

Part II - THE GIRLS OF MURDER CITY
Chapter 10 - The Love-Foiled Girl
Chapter 11 - It’s Terrible, but It’s Better
Chapter 12 - What Fooled Everybody
Chapter 13 - A Modest Little Housewife
Chapter 14 - Anne, You Have Killed Me
Chapter 15 - Beautiful—but Not Dumb!
Chapter 16 - The Tides of Hell
Chapter 17 - Hatproof, Sexproof, and Damp
Chapter 18 - A Grand and Gorgeous Show
Chapter 19 - Entirely Too Vile
Chapter 20 - The Most Monotonous City on Earth

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index

VIKING
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First published in 2010 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Copyright © Douglas Perry, 2010 All rights reserved
PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Insert pages 2 (top left), 3 (top left), 6 (top left), 8 (top): Author’s collection. • Page 2 (top right): Courtesy
of Transylvania University • Pages 2 (bottom), 8 (bottom): Chicago Tribune file photo. All rights reserved.
Used with permission. • Page 4 (top left): Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for
the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations • Page 4 (top right): Courtesy of Ron Dixon •
Page 4 (bottom): Courtesy of Wendy Teresi • Page 5 (bottom): Copyright 2009 The Fresno Bee. Reprinted
with permission. All rights reserved. • Page 6 (top right): Helen Cirese Papers, 1915-1974, University of
Illinois at Chicago Library, Special Collections • Page 7 (top): Courtesy of Western Springs Historical
Society, Western Springs, Illinois. • Page 7 (bottom): Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum
(Credits for other photographs appear adjacent to the respective images).

Map: U.S. Geological Survey

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Perry, Douglas, 1968—
The girls of Murder City : fame, lust, and the beautiful killers who inspired Chicago / Douglas Perry.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-1-101-19031-9
1. Women murderers—Illinois—Chicago—History—Case studies. 2. Murder—Illinois—Chicago—History
—Case studies. I. Title.
HV6517.P475 2010
364.152’309227731—dc22 2010003980

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FOR DEBORAH
Characters
MAURINE WATKINS, aspiring playwright—“blonde, comely and chic: a
pleasant way to be.”
BELVA GAERTNER, double divorcée—“Cook County’s most stylish
murderess.”
WALTER LAW, Belva’s boyfriend—“a man who couldn’t say no.”
WILLIAM GAERTNER, Belva’s millionaire ex-husband—“the most patient
soul since Job.”
BEULAH ANNAN, “the prettiest woman ever charged with murder in
Chicago.”
HARRY KALSTEDT, Beulah’s boyfriend—“the other man.”
AL ANNAN, “Beulah’s meal-ticket husband.”
W. W. O’BRIEN and WILLIAM SCOTT STEWART, Beulah’s attorneys
—“best in the city, next to Erbstein.”
GENEVIEVE FORBES, reporter on the DaiLy Tribune.
IONE QUINBY, “The Evening Post’s little bob-haired reporter.”
SONIA LEE, sob sister on the American.
HELEN CIRESE, girl attorney—“headmistress of ‘Jail School.’ ”
WANDA STOPA, the bohemian—“Little Poland’s love-foiled girl gunner.”
ADDITIONAL PLAYERS: Judge, Jury, Bailiffs, Jail Matrons, Police,
Reporters, Editors, Attorneys, Court Fans.

CHICAGO: SPRING AND SUMMER, 1924