July 6, 1932

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Joel Byers

On July 6, 1932, Chicago Cubs baseball player, Billy Jurges, learned what happens when you dated crazy. His ex-girlfriend, Violet Valli, a singer/showgirl talked her way into his room at the Hotel Carlos in Chicago. Jurges had already broken up with her and she wasn’t happy. She fired three shots from her .25-caliber pistol and hit Jurges twice, once in the hand and once in the ribs. The third shot hit her in the arm and broke her wrist. The Cub’s team physician heard the shots from the hotel lobby and rushed into the room, where he found both Jurges and Valli wounded. He declared that neither were seriously injured, but Valli was arrested anyway. Police determined that it was an attempted murder-suicide and would have pressed charges, but Jurges declined to testify, so Valli went free. Jurges missed three weeks healing, but said it was worth it knowing that now Violet Valli would stop stalking him. Ms. Valli did have some positive outcomes from the attempted murder. On the advice of her preacher, she continued to pursue her show-biz career and was billed as Violet “What I Did for Love” Valli, the Most Talked About Girl in Chicago. She received a 22-week contract to sing and dance in clubs throughout Chicago, being very popular with the White Sox fans.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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