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Fischbach had arranged everything. The hotel rooms, the invitations, and the liquor (even though this was during the Prohibition era). They had a suite and two adjoining rooms in the St. Francis Hotel. Not surprisingly, there were a number of uninvited guests—most notably Maude Delmont and Virginia Rappe. Rappe was an aspiring actress, model, and party girl while Delmont was a known blackmailer and purported madam. Arbuckle didn’t care for their presence because he worried they might bring negative attention to the party.
==== Arbuckle’s Version What did Fatty Arbuckle say happened the night of Events: ==the Murder? ==Arbuckle claimed he had a few drinks with Rappe, after which he claimed she became hysterical. According to Arbuckle, Rappe complained she couldn’t breathe and began to tear off her clothes. Arbuckle claims he was never alone with her, and that he had witnesses who could attest to that. He also said they could confirm she was unwell since they saw her vomiting in the bathroom. According to Arbuckle, he and the other partygoers thought she simply had too much to drink, so they left her in a room alone to recover. When partygoers later checked on Rappe, they recognized she was still unwell and called on the hotel staff to get her out of there, but she was not taken to a hospital immediately. Rappe was eventually taken to a hospital, and she died from peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder.<ref>Gary F. Fine, "Scandal, Social Conditions, and the Creation of Public Attention," p. 300 and Johnson, "Fatty Arbuckle Trials (1921-1922)," p. 242-243.</ref>
==== Delmont’s Version of Events: ====
