On a charge of shoplifting she was given an indeterminate sentence of
one to ten years in the penitentiary at Joliet.
Records of Joliet prison show her to have been the most unruly
prisoner ever confined in that institution. Her conduct was such that
Prison Physician Fletcher declared that she was insane and she was
sent to the asylum at Kankakee.
Twice she escaped from Kankakee, once, she says, with the aid of an
employee of the institution, whom she refuses to name. This first
escape was made within four months of her arrival at the institution;
the second after a year. On her return to that institution for
criminals her actions were such that the hospital authorities decided
that she was not insane and sent her back to Joliet prison.
On this second imprisonment "Fainting Bertha" showed what she could
do in making herself impossible even in a prison. Her cell was in
the north wing of the building, overlooking the street. She would
appear in the window with her clothing torn to ribbons, shrieking
that she was being murdered. According to prison officials, there was
no language too impossible for her glib tongue. Her furies of temper
caused her to heap unspeakable abuse upon matrons and guards alike.
Deputy Warden Sims, responsible for order and discipline, says he has
been abused by her beyond belief. Her plan was to sleep in daylight
and make the whole night hideous with her screams and cries and
unspeakable language.