The Girls of Murder City (49 page)

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.