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While looking through old newspapers to find stories about family members, I was frequently distracted by interesting items that prompted me to detour from my original purpose. Some of those detours led me far astray.
She broke the bank. Cassie Chadwick was a woman of many names. but one goal — to get rich by fleecing the gullible, and she succeeded, though some of her claims were outrageous.
The Galapagos Empress. Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bousquet — one of several versions of her name — arrived on the island of Floreana in 1932 and declared herself the ruler.

Real life Richard Kimble. Eleanor Jarman, known to police as “The Blonde Tigress,” managed to escape prison and remain a fugitive for the rest of her life.
No wonder she sang the blues. Singer Libby Holman's life was more unbelievable than a daytime soap opera, and through it all she just kept plugging along.
The Dollar Princess. Nancy Leeds went from stenographer to wife of a Cleveland millionaire, and when she became a rich widow, royalty came calling with marriage proposals.
She was guilty. There are still people who believe Ruth Judd couldn't have been responsible for 1931's grisly "trunk murders," but common sense says she must have been.
Safari in Missouri. A wrong-headed man ironically named Denver Wright bought two circus lionesses in 1932 for the purpose of having them hunted to death on a Mississippi River island.
Zion City's Wacky Wizard. Wilbur Glenn Voliva was a virtual dictator in a tiny Illinois town until his craziness finally caught up to him. Among his beliefs: the world was flat.
Petticoat Ponzi. Mrs. Mildred Boniface (aka Amelia Everts Carr) was, like Cassie Chadwick (above), a con woman whose long career strains credibility. She truly believed you should never give a sucker an even break.
What a swell guy. William Earl Dodge Stokes Sr., better known as W. E. D. Stokes, waged a long campaign against his second wife, Helen, in what may have been the dirtiest divorce case of them all.
Mother-in-law from hell. Dr. Alice Wynekoop was a well-respected Chicago physician who seemingly wouldn't hurt a fly. But she would murder the daughter-in-law who wasn't good enough for her spoiled son.
 
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