Mrs. Romadka “Queen” of the Band: headline picture from the “Chicago Examiner”July 25, 1911.
The Vampire Queen of Chicago
Evelyn Romadka’s behavior in prison determined the length of her sentence. Clearly, she was a model prisoner because, after just over three years in custody, Evelyn was paroled on January 5 1,910. She was released into the custody of Major M Messlein of the Volunteers of America and initially placed in a Chicago’s women’s refuge. However, local criminals began to make overtures to her, so Major Messlein found her a place as the companion and nurse of a wealthy gentleman. On January 4, 1911, Evelyn Romadka passed her probation. She left for Chicago for her sister’s home, before moving onto Canada.
Or so it was thought. However, Evelyn had not moved to Canada. Nor was her life of crime over. Instead, she remained in Chicago where she reemerged as the leader of a group of “Vampire women” who maintained themselves in “luxurious style” by duping, drugging and robbing unsuspecting gentlemen. The gang hit the headlines in July 1911 when a Kansas City millionaire, Edmund C Gaitlin became their victim. Gaitlin had met and became enamored with a ‘demure and handsome” young brunette who he met outside a hotel. The pair began talking and were quickly joined by a friend of the young lady and a Mr. Sweeney.
The group decided to go on a “Slumming Party”; a tour around Chicago’s less salubrious districts. However, when Mr. Sweeney complained he had no companion, the young brunette introduced him to another friend of hers, a Mrs. Graves. So the party of set off. Sweeney was abandoned at some point in the evening (probably because the ladies had worked out he was not worth robbing.) However, Gaitlin was another matter, and at some point in the evening, the gang laced his drink with sleeping powder.
When he regained consciousness the next day, Gaitlin discovered he had been relieved of $800 worth of jewelry and $100 cash. He immediately reported his robbery to the police. Over the course of that weekend, the police arrested thirteen girls who all admitted the mysterious Mrs. Graves was their leader. But the police already had their suspicions about the real identity of the vampire’s “Queen.” When they showed Gaitlin and some of the Vampire’s other victims a photograph of Evelyn from the police mug shot book, all the men agreed she was Mrs. Graves.
However, while the police had the vampire girls, they never caught their leader. For this time, Evelyn Romadka evaded arrest. It seems that she had checked out of her hotel, the Auditorium on that Friday evening and disappeared. Perhaps she had taken her ill-gotten gains and decided to make that new life in Canada after all. Either way, she was never heard of in Chicago, or anywhere else in the USA again.
Where Do we get this stuff? Here are our sources:
Vintage Detective Story: Mrs. Evelyn Romadka’s Scandalous Downfall, 1907, Historical Crime Detective
“Mrs. Evelyn Romadka Taken to Penitentiary” San Francisco Call, Vol 102, No 175 November 22, 1907, from Californian Digital Newspaper Collection.
“Prison for Mrs. Romadka,” New York Times, November 16, 1907