Who is the "Trunk Murderess"

Over the past weekend, I was in Arizona visiting family. My brother found a guided haunted tour by Spirit of Arizona Tours (I highly recommend! Our guide was AMAZING and very educational) on Saturday October 17th, 2020 I was taken for a horrifying ride of a lifetime. The photo above may look like just an ordinary house sitting on an ordinary street… but as we all know the saying “You can’t see what happens behind closed doors…” and that saying is practically a statement when it comes to Winnie Ruth Judd.

Before we embark on what Winnie Ruth Judd did, let me tell you a little bit about who she was. Winnie Ruth McKinnell was born January 29th, 1905 to a Methodist Reverend and his wife in Oxford Indiana. At the age of 17 she was married to a Dr. William C. Judd. William was said to have addictions to drugs he had easy access to, due to serving in World War I, and could hardly ever keep a job. This caused the couple to move around excessively and made it hard to have steady income. If that wasn’t stressful enough, Mrs. Judd also had poor health as well as couldn’t bear children; causing even more strain on an already fragile relationship. In 1930 the couple was separated, Winnie went to Phoenix Arizona to work as a governess for a wealthy family.

While working for the family, Judd was introduced to a business man, named John J. Halloran, or “Happy Jack”. Halloran was 44, and known as a “playboy”. He and Judd took a liking to each other and eventually started a whirlwind affair. Now Halloran wasn’t the only friend Judd met. She also befriended two women, Agnes Ann Leroi and Hedvig Samuelson. Judd met Leroi when both women worked for Grunow Medical Clinic, Samuelson was Leroi’s roommate and soon the women became friends. Judd even moved in with the two women after a couple of months of knowing them but moved out and back to her apartment only after a few months.

You may be wondering why Judd only lasted a few months with her new found friends. Remember Halloran? The playboy, who Judd was involved with? Well he didn’t have eyes only for her. He also was involved with… you guessed it, both Leroi and Samuelson. Though it wasn’t an issue at first, eventually Judd couldn’t handle the other women getting attention from Halloran and decided to part ways. Parting ways however, didn’t help. Judd became obsessed with Halloran, and wanted him only to herself.

On October 16th, 1931 Judd went to the bungalow Leroi and Samuelson rented to speak to the women and make it clear Halloran was her man and to stay away. It’s pretty safe to assume the conversation didn’t go well, and that the women where not willing to leave Halloran alone because that was the night Judd shot both women with a .25 caliber handgun. Let’s not forget however that Mrs. Judd was sick, and was with lack of strength. So, what do you do when you now have two bodies on your hands and need to somehow dispose of them? You make a call.

No one knows who helped Mrs. Judd, not even to this day. She took the fall for the entire thing. But someone did and together she and her accomplice dismembered the bodies and put them in suitcases. Two days later, Judd was waiting at Phoenix Union Station to to flee to California and the last time the bodies where in Arizona. While in route to her destination the baggage handler became suspicious of her luggage when rotting meat and a substance started leaking from the luggage. Judd arrived in California where her brother picked her up from the station, and she left with him. Leaving her luggage behind.

California Police department was called about the luggage and after picking the locks discovered the dismembered bodies of Leroi and Samuelson. The case, became the hottest topic of the times! Nothing like this had ever happened in Phoenix Arizona, and soon the people knew Judd as “the trunk murderess” in the case of the “trunk murders”.

As for Winnie Ruth Judd? She disappeared. After hiding out for days she eventually turned herself in on October 26th 1931. On January 19th 1932 Judd stood trial. She was found guilty of first-degree murder for Leroi’s death, but was never convicted for Samuelson. She was given the death penalty and to be hung on February 17th 1933. However, complications arose from the original trial and ten days later after a hearing the death penalty was lifted due to mental incompetence and Judd was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Judd was imprisoned at the Arizona State Asylum for the insane. Throughout her sentence she escaped six times. On December 22nd 1971 she was paroled and released. In 1983 she was issued absolute discharge; she was no longer on parole. She died on October 23rd, 1998 in Stockton California.

The house where the murders took place is still standing in Phoenix Arizona. The house even still holds the original tub that the bodies where dismembered in (you can take the guided tour through Spirit of Arizona Tours and see it for yourself!). Though Winnie Ruth Judd was able to be released and was able to enjoy the last few years of her life in the outside world, and though we may never know what actually happened that night on October 16th, 1931; one this is for sure, Winnie Ruth Judd will always be remembered as the “trunk murderess” and all for a man, known as a playboy, John W. Halloran.