John V. Weidemeier was arrested in St. Louis, 1925, and accused of marrying at least 48 women in a fraudulent scheme exposed during an annulment case. The busy man married women for their money and their families’ money. He would abandon them shortly thereafter.
Professional Hubby With 49 Wives Made Game Play
John V. Weidemeier, who came into public notice recently through his arrest in St. Louis with the wife of a Chicago Furrier, has been termed a “professional husband” who has been married at least 48 times, in testimony in an annulment suit brought by one of his wives.
Mrs. Esther Wexler Brooks, concert violinist who said she married Weidemeier in 1924 when he was using the name of Arthur Brooks, told Judge Lewis yesterday she was the 48th or 49th wife, she wasn’t sure which, and the judge indicated the annulment would be granted.
“I’ve been collecting information about this man,” said the pretty musician, “and I find he is known on both sides of the sea as a defrauder and professional husband.
“I have gotten in touch with nine women he has married in the last two years, always under a different name and he managed to get more or less money from each of them.”
Three months after their marriage in Des Moines, Iowa, she said her husband deserted her after defrauding her foster parents of $13,000 under pretense that he would establish them all in the movies. About $6,500 of her money went to, sighed Mrs. Brooks.
Source: Brownsville herald. (Brownsville, Tex.), 24 Dec. 1925.
