Winnie Ruth Judd
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Winnie Ruth Judd (1905-1998) was an American medical secretary living in Phoenix, Arizona, dubbed the "Trunk murderess" in 1931, convicted in a trial marked by sensationalized newspaper coverage and suspicious circumstances. Judd was charged and convicted of the murder of Agnes LeRoi, one of her two friends she was alleged to have murdered in mid-October 1931 in Phoenix, Arizona. The fateful fight that led to the shooting of the two women reportedly was fueled by a conflict of interest - all three woman were interested in the same man.
Judd was displayed in headlines across the country and the world as the "Tiger Woman"; "The Blonde Butcher"; "The Arizona Tigress"; "Wolf Woman"; and "The Velvet Tigress" due to her alleged ferociousness. The case quickly has become known as "The Trunk Murders", as the one intact body and the dismembered body were shipped in trunks by train from Phoenix to Los Angeles.
Contrary to popular belief, Judd was tried and convicted only of the murder of Mrs. LeRoi, whose body was not dismembered. The jury that tried Judd condemned her 8 February 1932. An appeal was unsuccessful. Judd was sentenced to be hanged 17 February 1933 and sent to Arizona State Prison. The death sentence was repealed and she was sent to Arizona State Mental Hospital 24 April 1933.
From 1933 to 1962 Judd escaped from the Arizona State Hospital seven times, often for several years at a time. She was released 21 December, 1971 and moved to Stockton, California. She died 23 October 1998 aged ninety-three.
[edit] References
- Winnie Ruth Judd: the Trunk Murders by J. Dwight Dobkins and Robert J. Hendricks Grosset & Dunlap: 1973. ISBN 0-448-02187-0
- The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd : The Truth About an American Crime Legend Revealed at Last by Jana Bommersbach. Simon & Schuster: 1992 ISBN 0-671-74007-5
