Following the passage of the Volstead Act, most saloons and taverns became licensed as “Soft Drink Parlors” at the same fee as their Dram Shop licenses had been. Several local men had already become known as violators of the new Prohibition law. It was not unusual for the discovery of a small jug of brownish liquid to be found during a “visit” by the “Dry Cops” or a Revenue Agent at local “soft drink parlors.” Following the sad, fatal incident at the Wassonia Roadhouse in Rome in 1925, attention to prohibition violations had become openly reported.

On September 26, 1930, Jonie Yelm and Paralee McNeal, alias Lillian Guyette, who had been run out of Toledo, Detroit, and Chicago before arriving in Peoria, drew national attention to Peoria as a “wide open” city. After fleeing Sheriff’s deputies in Chillicothe in 1928, “Diamond Lil” was able to make amends with the corrupt officials who shared in the profits of criminal behavior in Peoria. Mayor Woodruff openly acknowledged at a City Council meeting he accepted “bribes” from known violators but justified his action by using “tainted money” to fund civic activities for public benefit instead of using taxpayer dollars. Chicago-style gang activity did not exist in Peoria. The City’s reputation as “wide open” was based upon gambling and prostitution; drugs were not involved. Peoria Historian Norm Kelly did a great deal of research on this topic and shows Peoria was a “liberally run town,” not any more violent than most other towns.  

At about 3:00 AM on that day, Jonie Yelm was on duty at the Oasis resort on Eaton Street as bouncer and protector of the ‘Inmates” working in the resort. The Oasis was a well-established location on the near northside of Peoria. Eaton Street was vacated when the Taft Homes project was built.

Police responded to a call of a “Man shot while trying to rob the resort.” They learned that three men arrived at the Oasis and became involved in an argument concerning a watch that was stolen from a customer by an inmate several nights before. The main intruder, Joseph Adolph Fisher Markey, a friend of the owner of the watch, had come to retrieve the watch. Markey, 31, was a well-known bartender and boot-legger in Peoria. When Jonie and Markey began to fight, Markey’s friends fled the Oasis. Markey managed to get by Yelm and was met on a stairway by Lil who argued with him before pulling a pistol and firing five shots point blank into Markey.  

During questioning by Chief of Police Halsey Merriman, Yelm claimed he killed Markey with a shotgun blast. Lil claimed her innocence during her interrogation by State Attorney Harry Pratt. NCIS and CSI buffs today would be pleased to learn police found a 32-caliber automatic in the grass below a second-floor window of the Oasis. State’s Attorney Pratt showed it to Lil during interrogation. Lil then admitted the shooting, claiming self-defense. Yelm and McNeal were charged with murder of Markey. Forensic information showed that Markey’s right arm was nearly severed by the Yelm’s shotgun blast while Markey was lying on the floor. State’s Attorney Pratt sent the 32 Automatic pistol and Lil’s blue dress to the Illinois Crime lab for comparison. It was confirmed that the gun was the murder weapon by the thread of blue fabric from Lil’s dress that was found trapped in the slide of the gun.

The trial was like a movie with Lil’s eye-popping mode of dress and quiet demeanor. She easily smiled to show her diamonds to the press core each day. Amazing points revealed during the trial was that Third Ward Alderman Candidate Adolph Benz testified that he had been instructed by Mayor Woodruff to be the “go between” with the Third Ward resorts and the city government. On the night of the murder, Lil called Benz before the police, and he arrived wearing a bathrobe. Benz also testified he had previously given his gun to Lil for her self-protection. The jury rendered a guilty of murder verdict for both Jonie Yelm and Paralee McNeal. At that time with murder convictions were generally fourteen-year prison terms. Because of the nature of the case, prohibition violations, and the flashy appearance of “Diamond Lil” the story was carried in national news syndicates.

Hollywood star Mae West, an established vaudeville performer and sex-pot, singer-actress’s career was fading fast. Paralee Lillian McNeal had arrived in Peoria by 1924-25 and had a dentist set diamonds in her teeth, calling herself Diamond Lil by 1926. West assumed the identity of “Diamond Lil” but never admitted that she had taken the name from McNeal. West played the lead role in the movie “Diamond Lil the Queen of the Bowery” in 1928. West’s acting career was rejuvenated when she toured Europe and sang her favorite song “Frankie and Johnny.”

Diamond Lili was sent to the newly opened Women’s Correctional Facility in Dwight, IL the year it opened. She passed away in 1936 and is buried in nearby Mt. Olive Cemetery. Jonie Yelm was paroled in 1936 and lived in Peoria until he died in 1942 and is buried in Chillicothe City Cemetery.