Chicago 50 - No. 6 -Belva Gaertner (Velma Kelly)
- Lauryn Johnson
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Belva Gaertner was a 40-year-old 3-time divorcee when she fatally shot her lover, Walter Law, a married man with a toddler at home, in the front seat of a sedan. When taken in to custody she claimed to have been too drunk to know whether or not she had killed the man. Her exact words were, "I don't know. I was drunk."
"For three months, automobile salesman Walter Law, and Belva spent their nights together visiting Chicago nightclubs and drinking illegal liquor. Their last rendezvous ended in murder. Two police officers would discover Law's body slumped over the steering wheel of Belva's Nash sedan, a gift from her ex-husband, in front of her South Side apartment. He was found near a bottle of gin with a gunshot wound to the head —delivered by Belva's pistol, also a gift from her ex-husband. Of that night Belva said, '(G)in and guns - either one is bad enough, but together they get you into a
dickens of a mess, don't they.'
"At 1 a.m. March 12, 1924, two policemen were walking on Forrestville Avenue when they observed a woman entering a Nash sedan in which a man was seated. Shortly thereafter, they heard three gunshots. Hurrying toward the car, the officers discovered the woman was gone but the man, later identified as Walter Law, was dead. Police used the vehicle's license plate to track the woman to her nearby apartment, where she paced the floor while wearing a bathrobe—her blood-drenched karakul coat, green velvet dress and silver slippers lay piled on the floor. She denied knowing anything about Law's death.
Belva told the police: "We were sitting there talking. Mr. Law said something about holdup men and said he was afraid of them. I don't know what happened next. I remember that I saw blood on his face. I was frightened. He didn't say anything and I didn't hear any shots. I just got out of the car and ran away."
Belva poses inside the Cook County Jail
"Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Watkins covered Belva's trial [...] describing the accused murderess as 'a perfect lady' as she patiently watched four men selected to determine her fate:
"Class'— that was Belva. For she lived up to her reputation as 'the most stylish' of Murderess' Row: a blue twill suit bound with black braid, and white lacy frill down the front; patent leather slippers with shimmering French heels, chiffon gun metal hose. And a hat—ah, that hat! Helmet-shaped with a silver buckle and cockade of ribbon, with one streamer tied jauntily—coquettishly-bewitching! under her "chin."
Belva's trial began June 4, 1924, Watkins reported in the Chicago Tribune that she was, 'Calm and poised- her slim, French-heeled shoes beat the floor, twitched nervously and crossed al re-crossed themselves. Her sultry eyes never lost their dreaminess as policemen described the dead body slumped over the wheel of the Nash sedan-the matted hair around the wound, the blood that dripped in pools-and her revolver and 'fifth' of gin lying on the floor. Her sensuous mouth kept its soft curves as they told of finding her in her apartment.'
On June 5, 1924, the Chicago Tribune continued its fashion log:
'Belva wore a new dress--cafe au lait, braided in black, with bell shaped sleeves and deep cuffs--that clung in soft folds to her body. And the cloche hat of a deeper brown matched her eyes and the mink 'choker' softened the lines of her throat. Only her hands with their rosily tinted nails showed her age--and nervousness, as she played with her gloves and fure while the state attempted early in the day again to prove she was 'not too drunk to remember'.'
The verdict? Not guilty.
"Several of her fellow inmates lamented her departure from Murderess Row. The Tribune wrote, "The place ain't the same without her, they mourn for she was the best dancer, the best card player among them. She also was a source of income for a few, paying them to wash and iron her clothes."
--He Had It Coming: Four Murerous Women and the Reporter Who Immortalized Their Stories by Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather