Winnie Ruth Judd: The Trunk Murderess
Morbid
09/12/24
•71m
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On October 20, 1931, baggage agents in Los Angeles received a tip that two trunks on the incoming Southern Pacific Railroad could contain contraband material. When the agents located the suspicious trunks, they opened them and were horrified to find within them the dismembered remains of Anne LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson, two young women who had gone missing in Arizona days earlier. Both women had been shot to death.
Railroad agents quickly traced the trunks back to twenty-six-year-old Winnie Ruth Judd, but Judd disappeared into the crowd before authorities could apprehend and question her. Two days later, Judd surrendered to the LAPD, setting off one of the decade’s most sensational murder cases and making Winnie Ruth Judd, the “Trunk Murderess,” an object of public curiosity for decades to follow. Some called her a butcher and a psychopath, yet many others found it impossible to believe that she’d acted alone or that she was anything more than an unwilling accomplice.
Winnie Ruth Judd was ultimately found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but her life was spared, and her sentence was overturned when psychiatrists determined her to be mentally incompetent and she was sent to a psychiatric institution. Judd spent thirty years in an Arizona mental institution, from which she escaped and was recaptured six times, before finally winning parole in 1971.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research and writing support!
References
Arizona Daily Star. 1932. "Testimony in Judd trial is before jurors." Arizona Daily Star, February 7: 1.
—. 1932. "Winnie Judd breaks under trial's strain." Arizona Daily Star, January 22: 1.
Associated Press. 1932. "Winnie Judd guilty, must hang for murder." Arizona Daily Star, February 9: 1.
—. 1932. "Mrs. Judd guilty of first degree murder." New York Times, February 9: 1.
—. 1939. "Mrs. Judd, slayer, escapes asylum." New York Times, October 26: 27.
Bommersbach, Jana. 1992. The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Los Angeles Evening Express. 1931. "Youth reveals sister's story." Los Angeles Evening Express, October 20: 1.
Los Angeles Times. 1931. "Doctor wants to hunt wife." Los Angeles Times, October 21: 9.
—. 1931. "Trunk murder suspect dodges great dragnet." Los Angeles Times, October 21: 1.
—. 1931. "Trunk seeker ex-employee." Los Angeles Times, October 20: 2.
New York Times. 1932. "Alienist asserts Mrs. Judd is sane." New York Times, February 4: 9.
—. 1931. "Confession letter laid to Mrs. Judd." New York Times, October 25: 3.
—. 1931. "Mrs. Judd gives up in trunk murders." New York Times, October 24: 3.
—. 1932. "Mrs. Judd to die on scaffold May 11." New York Times, February 25: 44.
—. 1971. "Winnie Ruth Judd free on parole." New York Times, November 30: 53.
Stanley, Thiers. 1931. "Fears grip Mrs. Judd." Los Angeles Times, October 31: 1.
Tucson Citizen. 1931. "Accomplice sought." Tucson Citizen, October 20: 1.
—. 1932. "Eludes guard while mother is on stand." Tucson Citizen, January 26: 1.
—. 1931. "Student tells of trip to claim bodies of victims." Tucson Citizen, October 20: 1.
United Press International. 1982. "Trunk murderer wins big court settlement ." UPI Archive, December 31.
Winnie Ruth Judd v. State of Arizona. 1932. 41 Ariz. 176 (Ariz. 1932) (Supreme Court of Arizona, 12 December 12).
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Previous Episode
The Kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle (Part 2)
September 9, 2024
•60m
In the early morning hours of December 17, 1968, two gunmen burst into the Atlanta motel room of Barbara Jane Mackle and her mother, Jane. After tying up and chloroforming Jane Mackle, the two kidnapped Barbara, forcing her into their car at gunpoint. Later that day, a family friend received a call at the Mackle home in Florida, instructing them to look in the northwest corner of the Mackle’s yard, where they would find a ransom note with details about how to ensure their daughter’s safe return.
Once the note was unearthed, the Mackle’s learned their daughter had been placed inside a box and buried in the ground in a remote location. She has enough food, water, and air to survive for a few days, but if the family doesn’t act quickly, there’s a good chance Barbara will die
The kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle was an elaborately planned, well-executed crime that quickly dominated local and national headlines, which was no small feat in a year of major social upheaval. By the 1960s, kidnapping for ransom was a familiar concept, but to be kidnapped and buried alive was a terrifying thought that shook Americans to their core and left everyone wondering, what kind of person could do such a thing?
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research and writing support!
References
Associated Press. 1968. "Kidnapped college girl found safe in box underground." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1.
—. 1968. "Mackle kidnapping suspect capturted; $480,000 recovered." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1.
—. 1968. "Kidnapped girl tells of ordeal of 83 hours entombed in box." New York Times, December 29: 44.
—. 1968. "Kidnapped girl, buried alive, is freed." New York Times, December 21: 1.
Atlanta Constitution. 1968. "80-hour burial ends in rescue." Atlanta Constitution, December 21: 1.
—. 1968. "Motel coed kidnapped here spurs nationwide alert for 2." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1.
Foreman, Laura. 1968. "Campus silent about the girl." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1.
Gary Steven Krist v. State of Georgia. 1970. 227 Ga. 85 (Ga. 1970) (Supreme Court of Georgia, December 3).
Markowitz, Arnold. 1969. "Plea of Innocent entered for Krist." Miami Herald, March 8: 1.
Miami Herald. 1969. "Krist collapses; is being force-fed." Miami Herald, April 25: 4.
—. 1969. "'Superiority' goes to jail." Miami Herald, May 28: 3.
—. 1969. "Who's villain of kidnap case?" Miami Herald, March 9: 19.
Miller, Gene. 1969. "Krist gets life in prison avter jury grants mercy." Miami Herald, May 27: 1.
—. 1969. "'Life imprisonment worse than death'." Miami Herald, May 27: 16.
Miller, Gene, and Barbara Mackle. 1971. Eighty-Three Hours till Dawn. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Murray, Frank. 1968. "Researcher and 2 sought in kidnap." Atlanta Constitution, December 20: 1.
New York Times. 1968. "Ransom pickup inadvertently foiled by Miami police." New York Times, December 20.
Raines, Howell. 1979. "Parole of a kidnapper angers Atlanta." New York Times, May 14: A14.
Sosin, Milt. 1969. "FBI hunts Ruth's 'flight pal'." Miami News, March 6: 1.
—. 1969. "Ruth: Everyone is against me." Miami News, March 7: 1.
United Press International. 1968. "Gunman and 'boy' kidnapp 20-year-old coed, Florida millionaire's daughter." New York Times, December 18: 25.
Vissar, Steve. 2006. "The strange odyssey of Gary Krist; From kidnapper to prisoner to doctor to alleged drug smuggler." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 19.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
BONUS: Friday the 13th with our Friends from 'Slayin' It with Juliet Landau'
September 13, 2024
•23m
Weirdos! It's Friday the 13th, so we figured we'd celebrate with a little bonus episode! We are thrilled to be joined by our new friends Juliet Landau, Christopher Feinstein & Frank Bonacci and talk about their new show Slayin' It with Juliet Landau. So! Stay away from Crystal Lake, Cozy up to the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, and Keep! It! Weird!
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