Winnie Ruth Judd - Subsequent Investigations

Subsequent Investigations

Subsequent unofficial investigations, most notably by investigative journalist Jana Bommersbach, revealed many people close to the investigation believed Judd was guilty only of killing in self-defense—what Judd had maintained all along—not of first-degree murder. After Bommersbach had initially written about her investigation of the Judd case as a series of articles in the Phoenix New Times, she then published a book about Judd, The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd. For the book, Bommersbach extensively interviewed Judd herself. During the course of Bommerbach's investigations, the police and prosecution were found to have been biased against Judd in a number of ways. According to the book, due to Phoenix's small population in 1931, members of the Phoenix police knew Jack Halloran well, who he associated with, and who his friends—and girlfriends—were. Some police also knew the victims. Some even believe Judd hadn't killed anyone, even in self-defense, but was only covering up for the misdeeds of Jack Halloran, and possibly other people. Many believe Judd wasn't capable of dismembering Sammy Samuelson's body, of being "The Blonde Butcher," as the mainstream press had labeled her, or of being able to lift the bodies. There are indications that someone with surgical skills had performed the dismembering, a skill Judd hadn't possessed. According to autopsy photos, the body was not "butchered," but cleanly dissected in several places. Jack Halloran being let go was considered by many a miscarriage of justice; his exoneration a political cover-up. His gray Packard had been spotted at the crime scene the night of the murders, and again there the next day. At the very least, he should have been tried as an accomplice. Although officially exonerated by the law, Halloran eventually fell out of favor with the local Phoenix population, losing his valuable business associates and social status.

Bommersbach also introduces the possibility that a second gun may have been involved because of early newspaper reports that LeRoi was shot with a larger caliber bullet. The October 20, 1931 edition of The Arizona Republic stated, "Two different calibre revolvers were used, autopsy surgeons said." On the same date, The Los Angeles Times reported, "The killer is believed to have used a .25 calibre automatic to murder Miss Samuelson, but a larger calibre weapon was used to kill Mrs. LeRoi." No police reports, however, say anything about a second gun and no written autopsy reports could be located. Eventually, the unfounded reports of a "second gun" ceased.

Addressing the possibility that a person who possessed surgical skills dissected Samuelson's body, Bommersbach writes about a nurse she interviewed for her book named Ann Miller who said that while she was working at the Arizona State Mental Hospital in 1936 and had become friends with Ruth Judd, Judd had confided in her that a Dr. Brown had come to see her while she was in prison and told her he was going to confess everything. Later, after Miller told a Phoenix attorney of Judd's story, he stated, "I'm sure she told you that. Dr. Brown came up to my office and wanted to tell the whole story. He made an appointment for the next week, but he died the day before the appointment." Dr. Brown died in June 1932 of heart disease at the age of forty-four. According to Bommersbach, some speculate he might have been contemplating suicide. Bommersbach writes, "As the New York Mirror reported the day Halloran's indictment was announced,

'A second man would probably have been indicted, according to widespread rumor, if death had not intervened. Mrs. Judd's story included the declaration that a physician, who has since committed suicide, was summoned to the murder bungalow to aid in the disposal of the bodies.' "

The first feature-length film about the Judd case was 2007's "Murderess" (written and directed by Scott Coblio and featuring an all-marionette cast) which debuted at Rochester New York's Little Theater in October of that year and has played annually ever since at The Trunk Space in Phoenix, Arizona, always on October 16, the date of the fateful shooting. The 2005 British film "Keeping Mum" is also loosely based on the story. The main character, played by Maggie Smith, is a murderess who has escaped from prison and is working as a nanny and housekeeper. Her dismembered victims were found in two bloody steamer trunks as she was traveling by train, though her victims are not female friends as in the true story. "Keeping Mum" also stars Rowan Atikinson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Patrick Swayze.