Ruth Ann Steinhagen Trial: 1949

Surgeons at the Illinois Masonic Hospital operated on Waitkus to remove clotted blood from his collapsed lung. The next day, they said his recovery was "little short of miraculous." The bullet had passed under his heart and lodged in his back near the spine. Waitkus was able to talk with reporters. He said when he saw the rifle, he thought it was some kind of practical joke. He expected fellow ball players to suddenly appear and tell him they had put the girl up to the scene.

The doctors said he would soon be out of the hospital. They were too optimistic. They had to perform a second operation on his lung. Then the bullet still in his body started an infection and had to be removed in a third operation. Every couple of days the doctors announced that the Phillies star would soon be home. But he stayed inside. He was to attend the Steinhagen arraignment and then go home. He came to court in a wheelchair. Then he went back to the hospital.

On June 30, Ruth Ann Steinhagen was arraigned for assault with intent to commit murder. Judge Matthew P. Hartigan set bail at $50,000. A grand jury indicted Steinhagen. A criminal court adjudged her insane. And Judge James J. McDermott committed her to the state hospital. It all happened in three hours. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Steinhagen of Chicago, asked that she be "sent to an institution without delay."