On this day, Sept. 11, 1921
Silent-film star Fatty Arbuckle was arrested for the rape and murder of an aspiring actress.
Arbuckle, who was at the height of his fame for his work in vaudeville and in the Keystone Cops comedies, was later acquitted by a jury, but the scandal put an end to his career.
Arbuckle hosted a party at a San Francisco hotel where Virginia Rappe became ill. She died several days later from peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder. Maude Delmont, another party guest, claimed Arbuckle had raped Rappe and injured her bladder.
The ambitious San Francisco district attorney was determined to prosecute Arbuckle, even though Delmont turned out to be a questionable witness with a criminal record.
After two mistrials, the jury in a third trial found him not guilty and even issued him an apology. His career never fully recovered and he struggled with alcoholism. Arbuckle died at age 46 in 1933.
