She graduated from St. Agnes School in 1939 and attended Barnard College in New York City on a scholarship, also studying journalism at Columbia University.

Widely considered one of the most perceptive people in the group, her strong mind and independent nature helped bulldoze the Beats toward a new sensibility.

[7] Paul Adams divorced Vollmer upon returning from military service, reportedly appalled by her drug use and group of friends.

The match was initially set up and encouraged by Ginsberg, who much admired Burroughs's intellect and considered Vollmer his female counterpart.

In 1946, Vollmer was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in New York City due to psychotic episodes as a result of excessive amphetamine use.

While living in New Orleans, Burroughs was arrested for heroin possession, during which time police searched Vollmer's home, unearthing letters from Ginsberg discussing a possible shipment of marijuana.

The resulting criminal charges were grave; if convicted, Burroughs would have served time in Louisiana's infamous Angola State Prison.

"[8] Ted Morgan describes her in Literary Outlaw as a woman suffering from serious drug and alcohol addictions which had aged her noticeably.

[3][18][20] Burroughs gave different accounts of the shooting, denying his original William Tell story after intervention by his attorney, Bernabé Jurado.

"[21] Burroughs' brother Mortimer arrived from St. Louis to help him, providing thousands of dollars for legal costs to Jurado.

[23] For a year, Burroughs reported every Monday morning to the jail in Mexico City while Jurado worked to resolve the case.

[24] Burroughs decided to follow Jurado's example and fled back to the United States, where he was fortunate that Louisiana had not issued a warrant for his arrest on the previous narcotics charge.

Ginsberg and Carr defended Burroughs and believed that Vollmer might have encouraged the William Tell incident, stating she had seemed suicidal when they visited her in 1951.

[25] Chase believed that Vollmer "had wanted to die", but that Burroughs' story was "a sham, a put-up thing to release Bill, to let him commit the ultimate crime.

"[12] In a 1954 letter to Ginsberg, Burroughs wrote about his fears that he had subconsciously wanted to kill Vollmer: "May yet attempt a story or some account of Joan's death.

"[24] In the introduction to Queer, Burroughs describes how Vollmer's death exposed him to the risk of possession by a malevolent entity he called "the Ugly Spirit".