I really enjoyed doing this research assignment on Belva Gaertner. I had no idea who Belva Gaertner was or what type of murder she had committed. After going to Wikipedia I quickly found out that she was acquitted of murder in 1924 and she was the inspiration for the fictional character Velma Kelly/Velma Wall in the play Chicago. The creator of Chicago, Maurine Dallas Watkins; reported on the 1924 murder trial for The Chicago Tribune. The Belva-inspired Velma has reappeared in the 2002 movie musical, “Chicago”, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ironically I have also wanted to see that movie now, I think I have to.

When it came to evaluating the facts on the murder, the trial and acquittal on Wikipedia and on The Chicago Homicide Database I found some similarities and a few slight differences. Obviously The Chicago Homicide Database provided in-depth information about the murder provided by primary sources; such as:

• The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office- which provided historical archives, with very comprehensive information about each record
• The Cook County Clerk’s Office- also maintained historical archives with the cases listed by name of defendant.

On Wikipedia, the information provided very little about

the murder, trial and acquittal and focused more on pop culture surrounding Belva Gaertner as a person and a fictional character. Regarding the murder and trial about four sentences are written about it.The sources used and sited on Wikipedia were secondary sources consisting of newspaper articles from The Chicago Daily Tribune.

An example of how information on Wikipedia was almost gossip or hear say was when it describes (defendant) Belva’s relation to (victim) Walter as a scorned “lover”. The Database is more scientific about the relation of the two by describing it as “relationship unknown”.  I assume that she truly was a scorned lover and that is why the murder happened however, it seems like more gossip and hear say to me. Plus you know what they say about assuming it makes an ass out of you and me!