Background
Annan was born Beulah May Sheriff in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Mary (née Neel) and John R. Sheriff.
Annan was born Beulah May Sheriff in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Mary (née Neel) and John R. Sheriff.
Her story was the inspiration for Maurine Dallas Watkins"s play Chicago in 1926. There, Albert found work as a mechanic at a garage and Beulah eventually became a bookkeeper at Tennant"s Model Laundry. At the laundry she met Harry Kalstedt and began an affair.
On April 3, 1924, in the married couple"s bedroom, Annan shot Kalstedt in the back.
According to her initial story, they had been drinking wine Kalstedt had brought over, and got into an argument. There was a gun on the bed and both reached for it, but Beulah got it first and shot Kalstedt while he was putting on his coat and hat.
She then sat drinking cocktails and playing a foxtrot record, "Hula Lou," over and over for about four hours as she sat watching Kalstedt die. She then called her husband to say she had killed a man who had "tried to make love" to her.
Annan"s story changed over time: first, she confessed to the murder.
Later, Annan claimed she had shot Kalstedt in self-defense, fearing rape. According to one of her later versions, he told her he was leaving her, she reacted angrily and then she shot him. Prosecutors surmised that Kalstedt had threatened to leave Annan and she shot him in a jealous rage.
Her final story at the trial was that she had told Kalstedt she was pregnant, they struggled, and they both reached for the gun.
Albert Annan stood by her, pulled his money out of the bank to get her the best lawyers and stood by her throughout the trial. She filed for divorce after only three months claiming cruelty.
In the divorce settlement, Harlib paid her $5,000 (equivalent to $68,000 in current dollars). After her divorce from Harlib, Annan was involved with a fourth man, Able Marcus.
Annan died of tuberculosis at the Chicago Fresh Air Sanatorium, where she was staying under the name Beulah Stephens, in 1928, four years after her acquittal on charges of murder.
Interestingly, her grave marker notes her death as a year earlier, stating it to be March 10, 1927.