105 “My husband says he’ll see me through”: “Mrs. Nitti Consoles Beulah,” CEA, Apr. 5, 1924.
105 “I suppose it is true that a man may drift ”: “ ‘Too Slow’ for the Wife He Fought for in the Gallows’ Shadow,” Fresno Bee, Aug. 8, 1926.
105 He had refused to talk to reporters at the inquest: “Demand Noose for ‘Prettiest’ Woman Slayer,” CDT, Apr. 5, 1924.
105 “I can’t believe it, I can’t”: “Mrs. Nitti Consoles Beulah,” CEA, Apr. 5, 1924.
106 A part of her believed Al had made her cheat: CEP, Apr. 5, 1924; “Beulah Annan Sobs Regret for Life She Took,” CDT, Apr. 6, 1924.
106 “Sun. Oct. 7: Daddy and I had an argument ”: “What Life Finally Did to ‘the Girl with the Man-Taming Eyes,’ ” Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal, May 5, 1928. The newspaper published a photostat of a page from Beulah’s diary, which ran alongside the article.
107 Two years ago, she and Al had taken a trip: CDJ, Apr. 5, 1924.
107 “I didn’t want to hurt Albert,” she said: “Annan Killing to Grand Jury,” CDJ, Apr. 7, 1924.
108 They stared at her, followed her, told stupid jokes: Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal, May 5, 1928.
108 She and Perry were just teenagers when: Spencer County (IN) Index to Marriage Records 1850-1920, Spencer County Clerk’s Office, ancestry.com.
108 A year and a half later, she gave birth: Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.
108 “There will always be temptations”: CEA, Apr. 4, 1924.
108 “If I hadn’t been working, I’d never have met”: CEP, Apr. 5, 1924.
108 Quinby had waited an hour: Ibid.
109 “Well, thinking it all over, I think”: “Mrs. Annan Sorry She Won Race for Pistol,” CDN, Apr. 5, 1924.
109 “I am just a fool,” she said: CEP, Apr. 5, 1924.
109 “I had never shot a gun but once”: “Mrs. Nitti Consoles Beulah,” CEA, Apr. 5, 1924.
110 “Will Her Red Head Vamp the Jury?”: Headline of large photograph accompanying “Woman in Salome Dance After Killing,” CDN, Apr. 4, 1924.
110 “Forty hours of questioning and cogitation”: CEP, Apr. 5, 1924.
110 “Stunned—almost to the point of desperation”: “Mrs. Nitti Consoles Beulah,” CEA, Apr. 5, 1924.
1 10-111 “A noose around that white neck w ith Venus lines”: Ibid.
111 Alone among the reporters, she wrote that: Pauly, 126; CDT, Apr. 5, 1924.
111 Men “gazed at photographs of her lovely”: Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal, May 5, 1928.
112 That first day behind bars she received a beautiful red: “Mrs. Nitti Consoles Beulah,” CEA, Apr. 5, 1924.
112 The next day, somebody sent her “a juicy steak”: “Mrs. Annan Has Lonesome Day Behind the Bars,” CDT, Apr. 7, 1924.
112 Letters began to show up at the jail, dozens of them: Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal, May 5, 1928.
112 Nash pushed the trial date back: Pauly, xviii, xxxi.
Chapter 9: Jail School
113 The Evening Post announced that April 21: “Five Women Are in Court Today on Murder Charges,” CEP, Apr. 21, 1924.
114 The Broadway star Mae West had been hired: Watts, 65.
114 “They got up from the tables”: Watts, 49.
114 She’d been relegated to a minor-league vaudeville: Watts, 65.
114 “I think in most cases where a man is shot”: “Wants Jury of ‘Worldly Men,’ ” Danville (VA) Bee, Mar. 28, 1924.
115 Maurine Watkins, witnessing this response to Beulah: “Chicago” (letter to drama editor), NYW, Jan. 16, 1927.
115 Five people—three generations of the family: “Montana Boy On Stand Tells of Killing ‘Cop,’ ” CEP, Apr. 24, 1924.
115 Photographers surrounded Beulah, Belva, and Sabella: “Jail Beauties Face Court in Easter Garb,” CEA, Apr. 21, 1924; uncategorized notes, Ione Quinby Papers, Western Springs Historical Society.
115 she was now seeking bail: “Mrs. Nitti May Be Free on Bond,” CEP, Apr. 28, 1924. Bail for Sabella was set at $12,500.
116 “Beulah has been told she’s beautiful”: “Least Stylish of Court Ladies Only Happy One,” CDT, Apr. 22, 1924.
116 The person most responsible for Sabella Nitti’s makeover: Helen Cirese’s decision to open her own practice because no law firm would hire her comes from an author interview with Cirese’s niece, Helen Del Messier Hachem, Oct. 23, 2008.
117 Tall and slender, she wore a white blouse: “Slayer Gets Stay of Execution”: Undated CDT photo and caption, Series I: Personal Papers: Folder 9, Helen Cirese Papers, University of Illinois at Chicago Special Collections.
117 Chicago’s police chief declared that when women: Lesy, 156.
117 The next day, when the police told her: “Uproar in Nitti Murder Trial,” CDJ, July 7, 1923.
117 The father of children ranging in age: Overview of Nitti case comes from case 15740 (1923), Supreme Court of Illinois, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.
118 The next day, when an interpreter informed her: “Mrs. Nitti’s Tragedy Melts Hearts of Women in Jail,” CDT, July 12, 1923.
118 “For the first time in the history of Illinois”: “To Hang Illinois Woman,” LAT, July 10, 1923.
118 The wife of one of the jurors soon announced: “Murderess Tries Suicide,” LAT, July 12, 1923.
118 After weeks of being ignored by her fellow inmates: “Informally: Jail Can Really Do a Lot for a Woman,” CDT, July 3, 1927.
118 The Los Angeles Times dramatically undercounted: Adler, “ ‘I Loved Joe, but I Had to Shoot Him’: Homicide by Women in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago,” 883-84.
119 “Me choke,” she told anyone: Pauly, 156; “Murderess Row Loses Class as Belva Is Freed,” CDT, June 7, 1924.
119 “This takes from eight to fourteen minutes”: MacAdams, 18.
120 Judge Joseph B. David postponed the execution: “See Hope for Nitti New Trial,” CDJ, Aug. 4, 1923; “5 Lawyers Make New Attempt to Save Mrs. Nitti,” CDT, Aug. 5, 1923.
120 They insisted that Sabella, whose court request: Hope Sheldon, untitled biographical essay on Helen Mathilde Cirese (RES.3/17/99 Wd. Ct. 2800), Women Building Chicago 1790-1990, Special Collections, University of Illinois at Chicago.
120 “Nice face—swell clothes—shoot man”: CDT, July 12, 1923.
121 “Her cheap, faded blouse hikes up”: “Dialect Jargon Makes ’Em Dizzy at Nitti Trial,” CDT, July 7, 1923.
121 A group of them wrote a letter to the Tribune: CDT, July 12, 1923.
121 “A jury isn’t blind, and a pretty woman’s never”: “Beulah Annan Awaits Stork, Murder Trial,” CDT, May 9, 1924.
121 “If Mrs. Sabella Nitti-Crudelle ever gets out of prison”: “Nitti-Crudelli Benefited by Prison Period,” Davenport (IA) Democrat and Leader, Mar. 21, 1924.
122 “We simply reconditioned her”: “Beauty Aids Saved Woman’s Life,” Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Sept. 6, 1940.
122 “When she came to the county jail, she appeared”: Davenport (IA) Democrat and Leader, Mar. 21, 1924.
123 The fear of miscegenation was so great: “White Wife Is Freed as Killer of Negro Mate,” CDT, July 17, 1924.
123 One Virginia newspaper, commenting on: “A Woman Jury to Try Women Slayers Urged,” Danville (VA) Bee, June 12, 1924.
123 “Women make good law students”: Stewart, Stewart on Trial Strategy, 573.
124 She had, after all, said she’d killed: “This Thing and That Thing of the Theater,” CDT, Oct. 16, 1927.
124 The inmate the American had derided as a “bent old woman”: CEA, Apr. 21, 1924.
125 “A horrible looking creature she was”: CDT, July 3, 1927.
125 “They study every effect, turn, and change”: CDT, June 7, 1924.
125 “Colorful clothes would mark her as a brazen hussy ”: “ ‘Chair Too Good for Them,’ Says ‘Gentle Sex’ Which Is Ready to Save State’s Time,” New York Telegram, Apr. 20, 1927.
125 The women, “all
man-killers,” wrote one: “1924: Jail Cabaret,” In “Our Pages: 100, 75 and 50 Years Ago,” NYT, May 24, 1999.
125 Belva offered fashion tips and gave: CDT, July 3, 1927.
126 “Love-Foiled Girl Seeks Man’s Life”: CEP, Apr. 24, 1924.
126 Only an hour after the unfortunate caretaker fell: Quinby, 216.
126 The story was an instant sensation: Ibid.
Chapter 10: The Love-Foiled Girl & Chapter 11: It’s Terrible, but It’s Better
The best single source of information on Wanda Stopa’s background, her relationships, her time in New York, her final days, and her funeral is the chapter on Stopa in Ione Quinby’s excellent nonfiction book about women murderers, Murder for Love, pages 199-229. The daily news coverage of Stopa also was remarkably detailed and comprehensive. In chapters 10 and 11, material was used from the following newspaper articles: “Love-Foiled Girl Seeks Man’s Life; Kills Caretaker,” CEP, Apr. 24, 1924; “Wanda Was Known as Wild Little Woman by Federal Office Associates,” CEA, Apr. 24, 1924; “Smith About 40 and of Iron-Gray-Haired Type Women Call Interesting,” CEA, Apr. 24, 1924; “Brother Tells How She Came to Live in Studios While Home Was Closed,” CEA, Apr. 24, 1924; “Girl Lawyer Shoots at Wife of ‘Friend,’ Kills Old Man,” CEA, Apr. 24, 1924; “Seize Chauffeur Who Drove Wanda to Slaying Scene,” CEP, Apr. 25, 1924; “Love-Mad Pleading of Wanda Stopa in Her Letters,” CEA, Apr. 25, 1924; “Seek Girl Slayer in Vain,” CDT, Apr. 25, 1924; “Wed, Then I Met My True Love, Says Wanda,” CEA, Apr. 25, 1924; “Dope Changed Wanda, Is Cry of Saddened Mother,” CEA, Apr. 25, 1924; “Wanda Stopa Found—Dead,” CDT, Apr. 26, 1924; “Wanda’s Family Marked for Death; Husband Sought,” CEP, Apr. 26, 1924; “Knew She’d Do It—Smith; I Love Kenley—Wife,” CEA, Apr. 26, 1924; “Woman Murderer Suicide in Detroit,” NYT, Apr. 26, 1924; “Says Glascow Was Evil Influence,” NYT, Apr. 27, 1924; “ ‘Mother’ Is Last Spectacle of Wanda Dream,” CDT, Apr. 27, 1924; “Wanda’s Funeral Tomorrow; Crowd Passes by Coffin,” CEP, Apr. 28, 1924; “False Colors of Bohemia Lead to Nowhere—Wanda Stopa Learns Too Late,” CEA, Apr. 28, 1924; “No Friends on Hand to Meet Body of Wanda,” CDT, Apr. 28, 1924; “Finale Soon to Girl’s Tragedy,” LAT, Apr. 28, 1924; “Police Break Up Morbid Mob at Stopa Home,” CDT, Apr. 29, 1924; “Battle Crowds at Wanda Rites,” CEA, Apr. 29, 1924; “Morbid Thousands Assemble at Funeral of Wanda Stopa,” CDT, Apr. 30, 1924; “Wandering Wanda,” CDT, Jan. 12, 1947.
129 Visitors to the city described it as “a dense”: Pierce, 277, 409.
129 They spoke of its aggressive nature: Pierce, 411.
129 Chicagoans called the problem the “smoke horror”: Wendt, 462.
129 Chicago had become too cultured and prosperous: Pierce, 481.
139 The Smiths had a history of giving shelter: Mellow, 137.
139 Hemingway claimed that Doodles, whom he found: Ibid.
144 Epilepsy, the Tribune wrote: CDT, Apr. 26, 1924.
149 The problem wasn’t so much public attitudes toward crime: “Pistol Fire Lights Up ‘Chicago’; or, Telling It to the Maurine,” NYW, Jan. 16, 1927.
150 The small group of mourners did their best to concentrate: Quinby, 227; Ross, 544.
Chapter 12: What Fooled Everybody
153 Thomas Nash, a former alderman: “Who’s Who in New City Council,” CDT, Apr. 2, 1913; “Litsinger Reads Nash Record in Freeing Killers,” CDT, Oct. 30, 1928.
153 On May 7, a jury convicted Elizabeth Unkafer: “Woman Given Life in Jail as Murderess,” CDT, May 8, 1924.
153 Lizzie was a loon; she’d said she committed: “This Thing and That Thing of the Theater,” Oct. 16, 1927.
153 Before “Moonshine Mary,” Kitty Malm was sent: “Beulah Annan Awaits Stork, Murder Trial,” CDT, May 9, 1924; Pauly, 134-35.
155 The “forbidden cabinet,” the one that: “Mrs. Gaertner’s Powder Puff Is Seen Victory Aid,” CEP, June 4, 1924. Reporter Ione Quinby labeled it the forbidden cabinet.
155 “Belva has her powder puff again”: Ibid.
155 Maurine, knowing full well that everyone was talking: “Beulah Annan Sobs Regret for Life She Took,” CDT, Apr. 6, 1924.
155 On May 8, the day after Unkafer’s conviction: CDT, May 9, 1924.
156 “Mrs. Beulah Annan, young and beautiful slayer”: “Beulah Sorry World Knows About Stork,” CEA, May 9, 1924.
156 The day after she disclosed the pregnancy: “Beulah Wants No Delay of Murder Trial,” CDT, May 10, 1924.
156 The pregnancy revelation surprised Maurine: Pauly, xviii.
157 “What counts with a jury when a woman”: Pauly, 133-35; CDT, May 9, 1924.
157 The official line from William Scott Stewart: Ibid.
158 The story became so big that twenty-four-year-old: Mellow, 278.
158 “Pity the female Polak lawyer couldn’t shoot”: Baker, 130.
158 The Palos Park shooting and its circumstances: Mellow, 278.
158 “I love it. I love it. I love it”: Ibid.
158 “What fooled everybody when I told them”: “Beulah Annan Credits Babe with Melting Jury’s Heart,” Atlanta Constitution, May 26, 1924.
159 “Albert probably won’t want me back”: CDT, Apr. 6, 1924.
159 A rumor floated around the city’s newsrooms: “Spurns Husband Who Saved Her from Gallows,” Washington Post, July 13, 1924.
159 The boxing champion Jack Dempsey: Kahn, 110.
Chapter 13: A Modest Little Housewife
160 Reporters took up most of the first handful of rows: “Pick 12 Jurors in Annan Trial,” CDJ, May 22, 1924.
160 Al leaned forward in his seat, twisting his cap: Ibid.
160 She did not meet his eyes: “Beauty Faces Murder Trial,” LAT, May 23, 1924.
160 “The courtroom was full of appreciative smiles”: “Blonde Beauty Acquitted After Killing Lover,” Syracuse Herald, Mar. 1, 1925.
160 “Slightly pale from her recent illness but blossoming”: CDJ, May 22, 1924.
161 The “boarding-school girl” look: Dunlop, 153-56.
161 The Post alluded to a metaphor by Alexander Pope: “Beulah on Stand Fails to Keep Out Her Confession,” CEP, May 23, 1924.
162 What any decent defense attorney in Chicago wanted: “Choose Morons on Jury, Advice of Playwright,” New York Telegram, Apr. 19, 1927.
162 So far they’d never lost a case: McConnell, 62.
162 They’d had such success that they were about to: ISA: O’Brien, 35-36.
162 He had a propensity for going on: Case B-121999 (O’Brien, William and Zoe, 1925), Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
162 A journalist labeled the always well-dressed Stewart: McConnell, 62.
162 “There is an atmosphere around every law office”: Stewart, Stewart on Trial Strategy, 576-78.
163 They were each making at least $20,000: CDT, July 11, 1925.
163 Stewart liked to say that: William Scott Stewart, Stewart on Trial Strategy, 7.
163 “When your client claims to be”: Ibid., 439.
163 “In Chicago,” Stewart pointed out: Ibid., 283.
163 He would represent thirteen female murder: ISA: O’Brien, 34.
163 He planned to argue that Beulah was a “virtuous working girl”: “Judge Admits All of Beulah’s Killing Stories,” CDT, May 24, 1924; Pauly, 142.
164 “Too damned many women gettin’ away with murder”: CDT, May 23, 1924.
164 The men accepted by the defense, Maurine wrote: Ibid.
164 The jury selection moved along slowly: CDJ, May 22, 1924.
164 She “leaned wearily on one white hand”: CDT, May 23, 1924.
164 “Would the fact that the defendant and the deceased”: CDT, May 23, 1924; CDJ, May 22, 1924.
165 Three days earlier, federal agents had raided: Higdon, 29.
165 In a follow-up raid, this one at the Stock Yards Inn: “Rifles Close Beer Parlor,” CDJ, May 24, 1924.
165 Worse yet, as jury selection for Beulah’s trial: Higdon, 44.
165 The Tribune immedi
ately offered $5,000: Higdon, 50.
165 They would prove, the prosecutors told the newly impaneled jury: CDT, May 23, 1924.
166 That the defense “favored bachelors”: “Beulah, the Beautiful Killer!” CDT, Dec. 30, 1951.
166 “We are not relying on the beauty of this woman”: CEP, May 23, 1924.
166 Right off, Beulah was called to the stand: “Judge Puts Proof Up to Defense,” CEA, May 23, 1924.
166 Before the trial could get under way, Judge Lindsay: CEP, May 23, 1924.
166 Patricia Dougherty, writing as Princess Pat: CEA, May 23, 1924.
166 “We’re not trying a case of adultery”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
167 Responding to a question from Stewart, Beulah said: CEA, May 23, 1924.
167 “Who was the first person to arrive”: CEP, May 23, 1924.
1 67-68 “The luck,” the Evening Post w rote, “seemed to be goi ng”: CEP, May 23, 1924.
168 “Her statements are entirely too vague”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
168 “I believe the statements are competent and admissible”: CEA, May 23, 1924.
168 Woods’s conversation with Beulah in her kitchen: “Beulah, on Stand, Tells Wine Killing,” CDJ, May 24, 1924; Stewart, Stewart on Trial Strategy, 92.
168 Stewart viewed it as a victory: Stewart, Stewart on Trial Strategy, 92.
168 He also believed that if he and O’Brien played it right: Ibid.
169 “It is true that a jazz record was being played”: CEA, May 23, 1924.
169 “Kalstedt forced his way into her apartment”: CEA, May 23, 1924.
169 Maurine noted that “Tears slowly came to Beulah’s”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
169 “At three in the afternoon,” O’Brien continued: CEA, May 23, 1924.
169 “She foolishly took a drink”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
170 “Fascinated, the jury followed him down the path”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
170 “He put on a jazz record and made advances”: CEA, May 23, 1924.
171 “Both reached for the gun,” he said: Ibid.
171 “However, she tried to get it”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
171 “He was in the St. Cloud reformatory”: CDT, May 24, 1924.
The Girls of Murder City Page 33
