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Event
Poisoned! … Murder in Downers Grove
October
10,
2026
10:00 am — 12:00 pm
Lincoln Center
935 Maple Avenue, Downers Grove
Join us for a lurid tale with a connection to Downers Grove’s past…
A gripping tale of murder, sorcery, and criminal justice in turn-of-the-century Chicago, “Poisoned” is the fascinating true story (1907) of a mysterious Bohemian fortune teller charged with murdering a half-dozen people by slowly poisoning them with arsenic. In this presentation, the author Steve Shukis will discuss events that followed Herman Billik’s conviction: last-second reprieves; legal battles carried all the way to the Supreme Court; frenzied mass demonstrations; corpses secretly exhumed in the middle of the night; and the revelation that key witnesses lied under oath. These events started with a family-run dairy in a Bohemian neighborhood in Chicago and eventually continued to a dairy farm in Downers Grove, Lombard, and the DuPage coroner’s office in Wheaton. The case affected political campaigns, involved a Chicago Mayor, and featured an eventual showdown in the race for Governor of Illinois between two of the story’s central figures. Indeed, if it were not true, no one would ever believe it.
Steve Shukis is a sixth-generation Chicagoan and has been an amateur genealogist for more than thirty years. His book Poisoned tells the fascinating story of Herman Billik, a mysterious Bohemian fortune teller accused of slowly poisoning Martin and Rose Vrzal, and their four children in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in the early 1900s.
Get Tickets
Tickets go on sale soon!
Members' Cost:
Free!
Non-Members:
$5.00
Important note:
For ticketed events, you can pay for tickets using your personal credit card. When checking out in Yapsody, simply select the “Credit Card” option [immediately below the “PayPal” option].
This event is presented by:
The Downers Grove Historical Society
info@downersgrovehistory.org
(630) 481-6164
Become a DG Historical Society member now and receive early notice of select Society events and exclusive discounts at local merchants!
Location:
Other Upcoming Society Events:
Jun
06
Come See Us at the Downtown Market!
Jun
16
Preserving the History of Your Home
Oct
10
Poisoned! ... Murder in Downers Grove
Oct
24
2026 Living Cemetery
Community Events:
Want more upcoming event info?
Join us for a lurid tale with a connection to Downers Grove’s past…
A gripping tale of murder, sorcery, and criminal justice in turn-of-the-century Chicago, “Poisoned” is the fascinating true story (1907) of a mysterious Bohemian fortune teller charged with murdering a half-dozen people by slowly poisoning them with arsenic. In this presentation, the author Steve Shukis will discuss events that followed Herman Billik’s conviction: last-second reprieves; legal battles carried all the way to the Supreme Court; frenzied mass demonstrations; corpses secretly exhumed in the middle of the night; and the revelation that key witnesses lied under oath. These events started with a family-run dairy in a Bohemian neighborhood in Chicago and eventually continued to a dairy farm in Downers Grove, Lombard, and the DuPage coroner’s office in Wheaton. The case affected political campaigns, involved a Chicago Mayor, and featured an eventual showdown in the race for Governor of Illinois between two of the story’s central figures. Indeed, if it were not true, no one would ever believe it.
Steve Shukis is a sixth-generation Chicagoan and has been an amateur genealogist for more than thirty years. His book Poisoned tells the fascinating story of Herman Billik, a mysterious Bohemian fortune teller accused of slowly poisoning Martin and Rose Vrzal, and their four children in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in the early 1900s.
Get Tickets
Tickets go on sale soon!