Julia Lyons portrayed herself as a busy home-care nurse in Chicago during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, but she was actually a fraud boss.

A century before the Covid-19 crisis, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was a "killing machine", killing more than 675,000 Americans and 50 million people around the world.

Julia Lyons, 23, seized the opportunity.

At the end of 1918, the Chicago Tribune described Lyons as "a woman with diamonds and furs, a hand full of precious stones. With a bright smile on her pink lips and white porcelain teeth, she easily

"While the flu patients grabbed for life, Julia put on her nurse uniforms and 'plundered' their homes," the Chicago Tribune wrote.

Sometimes she associates with an accomplice who is a drug dealer.

Lyons doesn't care about the life or death of a patient.

When an elderly man doubted her expertise, Lyons deftly persuaded.

When the police arrived, the man was horrified to learn that this beautiful, always smiling nurse was a sophisticated fraud.

That night, Lyons disappeared, stole a watch, money and some other things.

The police tracked down Lyons through a friend named Eva Jacobs, also a crook.

"How long have you known this girl?", A detective asked Charlie.

"10 days!"

The next day, at the police station, Lyons faced the widow of an old patient.

The next day, police officer John Hickey volunteered to take Lyons from the county jail to court.

"Oh, she can't escape," Hickey said.

Instead of taking Lyons to court by patrol car, Hickey took her into a normal car.

Hickey takes Lyons back to prison.

Hickey then changed the story, saying that Lyons wanted to go to the bank to withdraw money.

After escaping, Lyons quickly "horses get used to the old way".

In addition to previous allegations, Lyons faces new charges of violating monogamy.

"I met him while sitting in a restaurant in the south," Julia said.

In April 1919, Julia appeared in court.

The jury did not believe those words.