1. Belva Eleanora Gaertner was an American woman who was acquitted of murder in a 1924 trial.
16 Facts About Belva Gaertner
1. 2.
Belva Gaertner inspired the character of Velma in the 1926 play Chicago created by Maurine Dallas Watkins; Watkins reported on the trial for the Chicago Tribune.
3.
Belva Gaertner was a three-time divorced cabaret singer who used the professional name Belle Brown.
4.
Five months later, William Gaertner successfully sued to have the marriage annulled, claiming that Belva's divorce from Overbeck had not been finalized.
5.
On March 11,1924, Belva Gaertner allegedly shot and killed her lover Walter Law, a married man with one child.
6.
Belva Gaertner, found later at her apartment with blood-soaked clothes on the floor, confessed that she was drunk and was driving with Law, but couldn't remember what happened.
7.
Belva Gaertner was arrested for the murder of Law in Chicago on March 12,1924, and admitted to drinking with Law at various bars and jazz houses, saying she carried a gun for fear of robbers.
8.
One of Law's co-workers testified that Law had confided that Belva Gaertner was a possessive lover who had threatened him with a knife when he tried to leave her, and Law believed she would kill him one day.
9.
Belva Gaertner's defense was that Law might have killed himself with the gun.
10.
In 1926, Belva Gaertner filed for divorce again, claiming she was abusive and an alcoholic.
11.
Belva Gaertner was convicted of drunk driving in November 1926.
12.
Belva Gaertner died of natural causes on May 14,1965, at the age of 80.
13.
Watkins used Belva Gaertner's story as part of the inspiration for her play Chicago; Roxie Hart, the lead character in Chicago, is a former entertainer who blames her crime on jazz, liquor and guns.
14.
Belva Gaertner attended the 1927 opening of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.
15.
The 1975 musical and its 2002 film adaptation relied on some of Belva Gaertner's story to flesh out the character of Velma Kelly, who in Watkins's original play was a minor character.
16.
Belva Gaertner's case was covered on an episode of Deadly Women on Investigation Discovery in 2021.