In nineteen thirty one, two women were found murdered and stuffed into a series of travel trunks. Their remains were discovered as blood leaked from the trunks in a Los Angeles train station. The person responsible a twenty six year old woman named Winnie Ruth Judd, who claimed it was all self defense, but as investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a tangle mess of love affairs, jealousy, political connections, and a possible accomplice who simply walked away scott free.
This is the.
Story of Winnie Ruth Judd, aka the Trunk Murderous.
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim.
A true crime podcasting material for a mature audience.
Listener discretion is advised.
This might be a part one. I haven't decided yet.
You're going to see how it goes.
That's exactly what I'm doing, because this is a big case. I've got it all done. But it's a matter of how well this goes today, Okay, how much we get through, how long it takes us, discussions we might have, whatever. There's a plethora of reasons that this may or may not be Part one, So if you're curious. If this is going to be a two parter, part one will be in the title. If part one isn't in the title, then we just we we do the whole thing today.
Then we rallied through away.
Yes, yeah, this is an interesting case. I am surprised I haven't heard of this one before, because it's a pretty big one.
Well, yeah, I don't think I have either. It sounds like I don't know. It's gonna keep us on our toes.
I think, oh, definitely. And honestly, Okay, I was thinking of this the other day. When we say we haven't heard of this case before, I really think we probably have heard many of these cases. It's just we haven't dove into it and really learned about it.
I guess.
Yeah, we've probably come across it, heard article or read articles or clippings or whatever, but then we forget about them. They blend into other stories, and then a couple of years later we come across it again and it's yeah, that's that's my fear.
You have, like no recollection. I can't even recollection recollection of it.
Yeah, that's my theory at least.
Yeah, I mean we kind of like eat sleep and breed true crime often, and I know I don't retain even like someone will bring up an episode we did a week and I'm like, oh my god, what was it. I'm like trying to figure out in my head and remember, right.
Well, we've done so many and it's always on to the next one, Right well.
I think it's a coping mechanism too, to just kind of like do it and then like put it out of your head. Because if you had all the shit in your head that we have talked about and you be, you know, it would might not be good for your mental health.
I would probably be in a padded cell right now. I honestly think I would. Well yeah, but do you know what I think is actually the craziest thing of all this. What's that is when someone goes and supports us on Patreon because they are so amazing.
I knew that that I could see your like wheels just turning and how you're gonna transition this. I like it.
Well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that we have amazing people who sign up on Patreon, people like Jessica Burrows and heather's Anini for example. They're incredible because they signed up on Patreon this week and shout out to you guys. Thank you, You're amazing.
Shout out to you too. That's awesome.
I can't believe you're just like giving me shit for my transition.
Give you shit. But I could just see it. I was like, it's coming, it's coming.
Well, you got to make a fun situation out of it. You're gonna transition somehow, right, totally okay, Well, especially if we're going to be going into a dark story like this one.
Yeah, I'm glad that I made myself a nice, warm, hot chocolate to listen to this good call.
I will tell you this is a bit of a deep dive. So try not to ask too many questions about like what like going ahead, because I'll probably be answering those.
It's going to be covered.
Yeah, so save those questions from near the end, if at all.
Possible, me not ask questions.
You can ask questions, just try to hold back on maybe have discussions on things rather than questions, how's that okay? Because I don't want to be like I'll be answering that. I'll be answering that constantly. Yeah, okay, fair enough, all right, So let's start. Winnie Ruth McKinnell was born on January twenty ninth, nineteen oh five, in the small town of Oxford, Indiana. She was the daughter of a Methodist minister, H. J. McKinnell,
and her mother, Carrie, was deeply involved in the church. Ruth, along with her brother Burton, was raised in a strict religious household. Not much as documented about their very early years, but the picture painted later is one of a young woman who took things to heart, especially when it came to being hurt. There's a story, for example, from her teenage years that really stands out, and it's not exactly a good one. At sixteen, Ruth was dumped by a boyfriend.
She was heartbroken and humiliated over it, and she didn't just cry. She staged her own kidnapping and falsely accused her now ex boyfriend of kidnapping and is sexually assaulting her.
Who.
Yeah, he was arrested and things got serious before the truth eventually came out.
Oh boy.
Yeah. Even then, it was clear Ruth didn't handle rejection well and she wasn't above cross the line to get attention or revenge. At seventeen, she got married. The man she chose was a doctor, William Craig Judd, a physician nearly twenty years her senior and a veteran of World War One. He had been injured in the war and lived with chronic pain, and like many men of his time, he managed it the only way he knew how, through
substance abuse of morphine. Eventually, that pain management turned into a full blown addiction, and while William tried to keep it hidden, it had a lasting effect on their life together. Early in their marriage, the couple moved to Mexico, where doctor Judd worked as a medical physician for a mining company and later offered care in rural villages. Ruth helped with the practice and ran their household as well, but
it was far from the life that she'd imagined. They were constantly moving, never quite settled, and William couldn't hold down a job for long. On top of that, ruth health started to fail. She developed tuberculosis, a condition that she would struggle with for the rest of her life. Adding to the strain, the couple discovered they wouldn't be able to have children. Their marriage quietly began to fall apart, not with a big explosion or anything, but it was slow, painful,
and distant. William eventually moved to Los Angeles, while Ruth decided to try and make a new start somewhere else. That new start came for her in Phoenix, Arizona, in nineteen thirty. Now, back then, Phoenix was still finding its identity. The Great Depression had hit, but the city was growing fast and was in the middle of a transition. It had once been a dusty desert town, but now was
becoming a place of new beginnings. The population had doubled in nineteen twenty through the nineteen twenties sorry for and the Great Depression had thrown a wrench into the economy. So it was a little bit of an interesting situation. Phoenix still had a spark of promise. It wasn't glamorous, but it was dry, sunny, full potential, especially for people like Ruth trying to heal and trying to move on.
Ruth found work quickly, first as a governess for a wealthy family called the Layfords, a job that suited her well. She was polite, well spoken, and had the kind of religious and moral image that upper class families liked. She could hold her own in conversation, whether she was talking to children or the Layfard's high society friends. Her quiet
charm earned her trusts and open doors. Now, Phoenix might have been far from glamorous, especially compared to Los Angeles or Chicago, but Ruth was still finding her place here.
Now.
It was through that job and her proximity to the city's elites that Ruth met a man by the name of John holleran aka nicknamed Happy Jack. John was in his mid forties. He was successful, well connected, and carried himself like a man who knew how to get what he wanted. He was in the lumber industry, and he had ties to politics, and was one of those people who always seemed to be smiling and shaking hands, you know, making sure that he had people in his pocket and networking all across the board.
Right. Well, I never even had the when you were saying, like her situation and her job and stuff, Yeah, that would probably put her in a good position to meet someone. Hey, I never thought of that even, Yeah.
It definitely would. Now, as far as John goes, his nickname Happy Jack wasn't just for show. Apparently, he was quite charismatic, popular, and by all accounts, quite the ladies man.
So he's a serial killer. Just kidding, kidding, kidding, kidding, Wow, I mean that is how we lost time to start our episodes.
Uh, you're not wrong. I'll give you that.
No, you're allowed to be that without being a serial killer. Yeah, very bad joke.
Now John was married, but that didn't stop him from Florida.
Yeah.
So they weren't like, you know, going into anything right away or whatever, but he was. He was quite flirtatious and but not to say that he just drew the line at that. Now, Phoenix was still small enough that people notice things, but big enough that folks who get away with a lot, especially if they had power. John moved in wealthy circles, and rumors about his affairs weren't exactly whispered, so he was able to keep things pretty hush hush. But it didn't take long for John and
Ruth to start an affair of their own. Despite still being married to William, Ruth was pulled into John's charm and probably by the sense of stability and sophistication he represented as well. She kept in touch with her husband, still called herself missus Judd, and supported William and his emotional turmoil or whatever as he tried to get clean in Los Angeles and rehab clinic, but her heart was clearly drifting into a new direction. In Phoenix, Ruth lived
a double life. On paper, she was a dutiful wife of a doctor recovering from illness. In reality, she was now an independent young woman making her own way, spending time with cities social elites and falling deeper into a complicated relationship with a man who was far from available. Eventually, Ruth left her job as a governess and took a position as secretary at the Gunro Medical Clinic. It was
a good fit. She was organized, smart, personable, and at the clinic she met Agnes Ann Leroy, a thirty two year old X ray technician. She also met Hedvig aka Sammy Samuelson, a twenty four year old teacher who'd moved to Phoenix from Alaska after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. Now Anne and Sammy were close, so close that people often
assumed they were a couple. In fact, though it was never confirmed, what was clear was that they were inseparable, and they shared a bungalow at two nine two nine North Second Street, a modest, little cozy home owned by none other than John holleran. Now, the three women, Row and Sammy grew close. They were young, working, independent women in a time when it was still a bit unusual.
They through parties, socialized and some of the most powerful and well connected people and circles, and became known for entertaining guests, many of whom were married men looking for a little fun outside of their regular lives.
Oh okay, I don't know if I like where this is going.
Yeah. Now, whether these gatherings ever crossed into something transactional isn't actually confirmed, but some sources implied money occasionally changed hands. Nothing was ever proven, but the implication is there.
Okay, well, I mean it makes sense, right, yeah.
Now, At one point and in Sammy even invited Ruth to move in with them. It made sense they were all spending time together anyways. But the arrangement didn't last long. Tensions rose, mostly over minor things like cleaning space or privacy whatever. Right, typically roommate bickering.
Title. Yeah, when you.
Get friends that you know, they haven't known each other too long, that all of a sudden they're living in close quarters and realize who each other really are. That sort of thing.
The true cothers come out.
Yeah, not to say that. They were like, you know, like, I'm no longer your friend friends off situation, it was just like, fuck, this bitch is dirty and she doesn't do her dishes like you know what I mean, that sort of stuff.
Well, yeah, you don't see those things right until you're living together exactly.
Now, Ruth eventually moved into an apartment just down the street. They remain friends, but it became clear that living together it was a mistake.
Yeah.
Still, they were part of that same circle. They worked together, socialized together, and shared more than just laughter and gossip. All three women had complicated relationships with John. In fact, whether he had affairs with all of them or only some, we don't exactly know. But what's clear is that John was a common thread in their lives and maybe even a wedge separating them, getting in between them at times.
This John guy, he's uh, I don't know. Oh. At first I was like, oh, okay, he doesn't seem too bad, but yeah, I'm not a fan of him.
No, he's kind of greasy, blind me as hell. Yeah, yeah for sure. Now, at mid October nineteen thirty one, whatever harmony existed between Ruth and and Sammy. It was long gone. They were still socializing, still putting on the occasional party, but the tension was growing harder to ignore. Small arguments became regular, and beneath the surface, something else was beginning to brew. Friday, October sixteenth was supposed to
be a regular night. Ruth had made plans to host a dinner at her apartment with John and a younger woman she knew from work named Lucille Moore. Now, Lucille was from northern Arizona and John had mentioned planning a hunting trip up that way, so Ruth thought Lucille might be able to give him some tips in the area. But John, ever the social butterfly, decided they should stop by Anne in Sammy's bungalow first. There was a git together happening, and he promised that he was going to
draw been Ruth hadn't planned on going. Anne had invited her earlier, but she declined because she wanted to focus on her evening with John and Lucille. But now, awkwardly, there they were, Ruth and Lucille sitting in the car while John slipped into into mingo inside to mingle sort of thing. Anne and Sammy eventually came out to say hello. Smiles were exchange, but Ruth since something was off. Maybe it was how Anne looked at Lucille. Maybe it was
just a gut feeling. But whatever it was, Ruth felt unwelcome. It was subtle, but it hit her hard. The night went on, they left the bungalow and had dinner as planned, but something had shifted and it all came to head the next evening. On Saturday night, October seventeenth, Ruth stopped by Anne in Sammy's place. She hadn't planned to, but after John stood her up that evening, she was annoyed and restless. She knew Anne and Sammy were having a
quiet Ridge night with friends. By the time Ruth arrived, the friends had already left, but Anne and Sammy invited her in to stay the night.
Okay, here, I was thinking John was going to be there or something.
According to Ruth, what started as a quiet evening spiraled into an explosive argument, and this is where the stories start to split. In Ruth's version, Anne and Sammy confronted her about Lucille, specifically about introducing her to John. Sammy, who worked at the same clinic as Ruth had apparently seen Lucille's medical chart and accused her of having syphilis, implying Ruth had put John at risk. The confrontation quickly turned personal, and leegendly threatened to tell Ruth's husband and
father about her behavior. Ruth, in turn, said that she'd exposed Anne for breaking a piece of X ray equipment at work. Harsh words escalated into screaming, accusations and chaos.
Wow, holy shit.
Then Ruth claimed Sammy grabbed a gun. Okay in her statement, Ruth's said she lunged for the weapon and the two began struggling. A shot then went off, hitting Ruth in the left hand. In a panic, she grabbed a bread knife from the kitchen and slashed Sammy's shoulder. The fight continued. Another shot hit Sammy in the chest and entered the room holding an ironing board and struck Ruth. While yelling
at Sammy to shoot, Ruth fired again. She said she didn't remember how many times, only that Ann collapsed and Ruth passed out shortly after.
Okay, that really did escalate.
Hey, yeah, that's one version of what happened.
Okay.
Now, police would later claim a very different scenario. According to investigators, both Anne and Sammy were shot while laying in bed, suggesting the attack came while they were asleep. There was also no sign of forced entry or a struggle in the kitchen, at least, no one nothing that matched Ruth's chaotic story. What we do know for certain is this, by the time the sun rose on Sunday, October eighteenth, and Leroy and Sammy Samuelson were dead, Ruth
was injured and in shock and went home. That night. She returned to the bungalow, this time, according to her, with John Holleran with her. Sorry, I kind of like left that weird. I was like, I should say, like more, But then I just like, no, I'm going to stop there, And in my head I just had this internal argument of what I was going to do next. So, yeah, she returned with John.
Just killed two individuals, and now she's went back to her place with John.
No, she killed two individuals and she's returning back to the scene of the crime with John.
Oh shit, Okay, yeah, wow with John. Okay, John's getting involved a little bit more. This guy just makes his rounds.
Does he ever?
Now.
In her story, Ruth said that she was prepared to call her husband for help, but John talked her out of it. He said he'd handle things, so Ruth claimed. John picked up Sammy's body, carried it into Anne's bedroom. He wiped down surfaces, started cleaning the scene. He even called a doctor Brown, a contact of his, to patch up Ruth's injured hand. When the doctor didn't answer, Ruth bandaged it herself because she had been shot in the hand.
Remember from the tustle, Yeah, I do remember that now.
John Legley went into the garage and found a large black trunk, then telling Ruth to go home, he said that he'd deal with the mess.
She said.
He promised to dispose of the bodies and make sure nothing traced back to her. But when she returned the next day, the story changed. The house was clean, the bodies were still there, and now the plan John told her.
Was this.
Quote, You're taking the trunks to Los Angeles. So by the morning of Sunday, October eighteenth, nineteen thirty one, Juth, sorry Ruth Judd, was a woman with a bandaged hand, a suitcase full of dis memberments, and a plan that was falling apart in real time because she followed through with what she claimed was John's new plan to take these bodies to LA by the train. The logic, if you can call it, that was that the desert was
too risky. Highway patrol officers were on high alert and dumping bodies out there might get them.
Both caught, but traveling with them is a better idea on.
A packed train, yes, apparently.
Okay, Well, I also have to say, like John must have a real thing with this Ruth chick, because for him to because if he had a thing with these other two, but he's like so easily able to cover this up for her and stuff, right and help. I feel like there was really something going on between like John and Ruth that was bigger, because why the fuck would he care to help her? Really?
True? That's a good point. Actually, that's a good point and a good point to hang on to through this story.
In fact.
Okay, hold on to that perspective because that kind of makes some sense. Okay, So John allegedly instructed Ruth to take the bodies out of state, of course, right. He even promised someone would be waiting for her at the LA train station to handle the luggage once she arrived.
Ruth complied with what he said. She called a delivery company, Lightning Delivery, to help move the trunk from Anne and Sammy's bungalow to her apartment, but when the delivery men showed up, they found the trunk too too heavy, far too heavy to carry. One weighed around two hundred and twenty five pounds and the other was over one hundred pounds. Ruth quickened her feet, told them that the trunks were
filled with her husband's medical books. Somehow she convinced them to help move everything anyways.
Okay, well, yeah, I like those trunks from back in the day are were heavy. Oh yeah, Like it's amazing because we have two of them, I think because we just like collecting like vintagey type things, yeap, And it's unbelievable that that's how people traveled and shit like it's just now we have like these suitcases on wheels and we shouldn't complain really at all.
No, And honestly, like our the stuff we travel with too, Like we travel lighter because because I mean technology is a little bit better, we have like better things for traveling. Like say, if someone back then is going to take a curling iron, it's much heavier and bigger. Than today's. But also back then, if you're traveling, you're probably traveling for longer because it's not like a quick flight to
Mexico and then back a week later. It was like you're traveling and you're going to go live in Mexico for six months. Situation.
Yeah, I don't think would. They wouldn't have had curling irons back then. Oh yeah, there's curling irons seriously, like okay, yeah, curlers or whatever.
No, they'd be like a literal, like solid like iron bar, a little curler or whatever. They like, heat it up with like a candle flame and like it it works, just like a curling iron. Oh shit, that's why it's called a curling iron. I guess because it was made of iron.
Huh wow. That would have take forever too.
Yeah. Now, that night, alone in her apartment, Ruth opened the trunks. According to her later statements, it was only then that she realized Sammy's body had been dismembered. Anne was still intact, but Sammy had been cut into multiple pieces. Ruth claimed that she had nothing to do with the dismemberment, that when she left the bodies with John, they were whole. Now Sammy's torso, limbs, and head were divided between various suitcases a hat box. It was, in Ruth's words, horrifying a mess.
Yeah.
Still, she repacked everything, stealed her nerves, and prepared for the trip. The next morning, on October nineteenth, Ruth called her landlord and asked for a ride to Phoenix Union Station. He brought his son along to help with the massive, suspiciously heavy luggage. Again, Ruth told them that the bags
contained medical material and they didn't ask any questions. At the station, the baggage clerk flagged her trunk as excess weight, and Ruth had to pay an extra fee four dollars and forty eight cents, which was a significant amount of money at the time, but she paid it. Then she boarded the Golden State Limited, an overnight train headed for
Los Angeles. Somewhere in the bustle of the passengers, all the chaos in whatever was going on in the train, Ruth sat quietly with two murdered victims packed beneath her feet. She wasn't invisible, though the train's baggage handler, HJ. Mapps, noticed something was off. The smell coming from Ruth's trunks was overwhelming, and dark fluid had begun to seep from the corners. He guessed it was probably raw deer meat inside, not uncommon at the time for hunters smuggling venison across
state lines. Still, it was suspicious enough that when the train traveled to La Maps notified district baggage agent Arthur Anderson. And Anderson took one look, one sniff, and he too, knew something was wrong. Meanwhile, Ruth had made her into the city, expecting someone to meet her at the station, just like John had promised her right However, no one showed up. With no plan or no backup, Ruth took a trolley to her brother, Burton mckinnel's dorm at the
University of California. She told him she needed help retrieving her luggage, that it was urgent. Burton was unaware of what was really going on and agreed to drive her back now. When they arrived, the district baggage agent Arthur Anderson was there waiting for them.
Mm hm.
He questioned Ruth about the smell and the leaking fluid. She claimed not to smell anything. Burton laughed and said how could she not notice? The stench was unmistakable. Anderson demanded that Ruth open the trunks.
Oh shit.
She fumbled with her purse, hands shaking, and then she said that she didn't have the keys, her husband had them. That's when things unraveled. Ruth grabbed Burton's arms and practically dragged him into the car. As they drove off, Burton, half joking, half nervous, asked what was really in those trunks. Her response, it was justified. I had no choice.
Oh man, yeah, He's like, what the hell did I just get myself involved in.
At the next red light, Ruth opened the car door and took off, vanishing into the crowd.
Oh okay.
Back at the station, Anderson waited a while longer before calling the La Police Department. By the time the officers arrived, they were greeted by a stench so foul it was already drawing attention from other passengers. With Ruth gone, police picked the locks to the trunks, and inside they found clothing soaked in blood, and beneath it dismembered body parts of the two women stuffed inside. The larger trunk contained Anne's full body, the smaller one held Sammy cut into
pieces in other luggage, abandoned the women's washroom. They found her remains, the remains of more body parts, along with a twenty five caliber Cult automatic, a box of Winchester cartridges, and a surgeon's instrument bag. The autopsies told their own version of the events. Anne Leroy had been shot once in the head, Sammy Samuelson had four bullet wounds, one in the shoulder, one in the chest, one in the temple,
and a wound to her hand. One thing was clear, though, from all of this, this wasn't deer meat.
You don't say yeah, I do say nothing.
By the evening of October nineteenth, nineteen thirty one, word of the gruesome discovery at the LA train station had spread like wildfire. This wasn't a simple murder case. It was shocking, cinematic and downright and bizarre. Newspapers ran with it immediately, and within twenty four hours, headlines across the country were blaring with the name Winnie Ruth jud Ah.
She would have been better off just to deal with this situation.
Herself, probably so. As I mentioned, Ruth had now disappeared into Los Angeles after slipping away from her brother. She was alone in the city. She didn't know the city very well, and she was bleeding from her hand that had bullet wound in it, And she was carrying all this guilt, or, depending on which version of the story you believe, the burden of the two dead women. But for four days she stayed hidden. Where exactly she went during that time remains unclear, but what we do know
is how it ended. On October twenty third, Ruth was found hiding in a funeral home. How or why she chose that place is still debated. Some say she was seeking comfort near the dead, Others say she was simply desperate and thought it would be the last place anyone would look. According to some reports, she was hungry, tired, and emotionally spent. What finally convinced her to come out of hiding was an emotional plea from her husband, doctor William Judd, who was still living in Los Angeles at
the time. Despite their separation, he had stood by her, and it was his influence that reportedly encouraged her to actually surrender. But her capture was just the beginning. The press had already dubbed her the trunk Murderous, also the Blonde Butcher, and even the Tiger woman. These weren't just catchy headlines, they were designed to sell papers. This was a time when sensationalism ruled journalism, and Ruth's case had
everything editors wanted. Yeah, there was scandal, betrayal, female rage, a bloody mystery package inside a leaking trunk on a train. Within hours of her arrest, reporters and photographers descended on Phoenix where the murders had taken place.
People would just like eat that story up.
They did. Phoenix basically basically turned into like a crime scene attraction at that point. It was like a true crime like fa ground because people were flocking so hard to see and get like a piece of this story. So when police returned to the small bungalow at two nine two nine North Second Street, they made what can only be described as a terrible mistake. They let journalists and curious neighbors into the house at the same time.
No, yeah why.
The result, of course, the crime scene was compromised beyond recognition. Evidence was trampled, blood was smeared, and worst of all, the landlord sees the opportunity to make a quick buck. He placed a newspaper ad offering people the chance to tour the murder house for ten cents per person.
Oh wow, that's an entrepreneur and a half.
Right, Hundreds lined up to see the quote whole house of horrors. According to Ruth's defense lawyer, most of the county came through that house.
Wow.
Whatever physical clues may have helped paint a clear picture of what happened was absolutely destroyed by the public and their curiosity.
That's so bizarre that I don't know just hearing that, right, like that would just never be able to happen nowadays. I mean, crime scenes get destroyed, mind you, But I mean like where you can charge your feed for like to walk through this fucking house. I mean, I guess actually does kind of happen.
Yeah, you can go stay at like an accepuse.
But I'm imagining that crime scene probably like hadn't even really been cleaned up or anything.
Yeah, that's a little bit great. So, And honestly, I'm not going to name any names or anything in this because yeah, but there was a situation a few years ago where there was an explosion on a pipeline north of our city, and there was an individual who owned property near that explosion, and they were offering tours through horse trails over to the explosion site. They were trying to Oh shit, they got shut down pretty quick, but they tried to. They tried to literally do the exact same thing.
So maybe it's maybe things haven't changed as much as I'm thinking.
I think the times have changed. I just don't think people have.
Yeah, it makes any sense. I mean it's a I guess, slightly more civilized and like the things that you can go and stay at and see now, right, because the crime scenes are cleaned up and stuff, and it's just like the story you have now exactly.
It's it's after the fact. It's I'm standing in like in the very same spot. It's honestly very similar. It's just a matter of like, oh, there's the blood splatter. It's yeah, here's where the blood splatter was. It's the same but not the same. Yeah, it's the same but different.
Interesting.
Now, in the midst of the media circus, police finally got a full confession, or at least a version of one, from Ruth. She admitted to killing Anne and Sammy, but insisted it wasn't premeditated. According to her statement, the murders happened during a heated argument in the early hours of October seventeenth. The fight, she said, started over accusations that Ruth had introduced John to another woman who might have had syphilis, a detail and Sammy had supposedly learned from
work right. Ruth claimed, Sammy pulled a gun on her first, and in the struggle, Ruth was shot in the hand. Then she grabbed the bread knife stabbed Sammy in the shoulder, and as a fight escalated, more shots were fired. One hit Sammy in the chest, another struck and when she came after Ruth with an ironing board, Ruth said she fired blindly and then blacked out. When she came to, both of her friends were dead.
Wow.
From there, her story followed a path we now know. Well. John came to help. He moved the bodies, he fetched the trunks, He told her to stay quiet, and when it came time to actually take the bodies to La, he vanished, leaving her to clean up the mess because hey, someone was supposed to be there waiting for her, all this sort of stuff. Nope, none of that.
Yeah, So honest like left her exactly.
It honestly sounds almost like a setup.
Well, yeah, he went about making this situation way worse because also, why the fuck was he cutting up the body and stuff. That's the kind of sketch when you think about that, and then just okay, go do this, take this away and then just done.
Yeah, like what the now? Even as she confessed to murder, Ruth painted herself as a woman who you was used and discarded by a powerful man. Winnie's sorry, Winnie Ruth Judds, which is her full name. Her trial began on January nineteenth, nineteen thirty two, just three months after the murder. The courtroom in Maricopa County was packed, spectators lined up outside, newsman jolted for seats, and the country held its breath.
But this wasn't just the dramatic trial of two victims. No, Ruth was only being tried for the murder of Ann Lee Roy, not Sammy Samuelson, and not for dismemberment. Okay, it seems strange, considering Sammy's remains were found in bits and pieces packed into multiple suitcases. But Anne's body had been found intact, and that alone made her case easier for prosecution to pin down. Prosecutors wanted a conviction, and they figured they had the best shot if they focused solely on Anne.
Huh. Okay, I guess that kind of makes sense.
Kind of yeah, I mean, especially when you look at the fact that, like, okay, the crime scene was destroyed. To evidence that you have is minimal, they're lacking it.
Yeah.
Now, her defense team didn't argue self defense. Instead, they went with insanity.
Okay, I've seen that happen before many a times.
This was a strategic move. Ruth's behavior, her shifting story, her emotional breakdowns, and the bizarre train ride made the claim quite believable and fact Her attorney said that she was mentally unwell at the time of the killings and that she had no control over her actions. To back this up, they pointed to her gunshot wound, her exhausted, fragile appearance, and her history of illness. Ruth didn't testify. She sat silently, looking small and pale, in the defendant's seat,
letting the case play out around her. The prosecution had a much more straightforward version. Ruth, they said, was a woman driven by jealousy. They claimed she was furious over John Halleran's involvement with Anne and Sammy, possibly even romantically. According to them, Ruth felt threatened, isolated, and vengeful, and so she planned the murders, executed them while Sammy and Anne were sleeping, and even shot herself in the hand
to stage the appearance of a struggle. They told the jury that she was a cold blooded killer and that the murderers weren't impulsive, they were premeditated. But there were problems with their story as well, and this theory. The officers on the scene said the mattress was missing when they arrived at the bungalow. One was later found dumped in a field with no bloodstains at all. The other was never recovered. This weakened the claim that the women
were shot in their beds. Still, the jury took two hours to reach their verdict. Ruth Judd was found guilty of first degree murder and the judge sentenced her to death by hanging.
Oh right, shit, kind of forgot about like the penalties you can get back then, I guess.
Yep Oooh. Now, later members of the jury revealed something shocking. They had all recommended life in prison, not death, so the judge overturned their recommendation and went straight to the death penalty.
Okay, yep.
Meanwhile, there was whispers about John Holleran, and they were getting louder. Ruth had pointed to him again and again in her statements, saying he helped her with the bodies, told her to stay quiet, and ultimately abandoned her. And finally the pressure became too much. John Happy Jack Holleran
finally found himself in court. It was nineteen thirty three, a year after Ruth's conviction, and the State of Arizona had officially charged him as an accomplice to murder, and John Holleran finally was inside that courtroom.
Okay, because I was kind of like, why the hell is this guy just getting away with all the shit? Scoff free.
Ruth said repeatedly that he was at the bungalow after the murders, that he helped move the bodies and even provided the trunks to that was used to hide the remains. She claimed he convinced her not to go to police, He promised to take care of everything, then vanish the second everything went wrong. This trial, however, would go very
different than Ruth's trial. This time, Ruth did testify. In fact, she spent three days on the stand describing how John had come up to the house, I saw what happened, helped orchestrate the cover up. She told the courts. He moved Sammy's bodies to end bodies. Sammy's body there, we go to Anne's bedroom, brought in the trunk, and instructed Ruth to keep quiet when her hand was bleeding from the gunshot wound. It was John who promised a doctor
would come, but never did. She claimed that this whole plan to take the bodies to la was his idea. He told her that one of his quote contacts would meet her there at this contact never showed that plan, she said, was just his way of pushing her and the problem out of Phoenix and out of his life. Quote, I'm going to be hanged for something John Holleran is responsible for. He is guilty of anything I am guilty of. Not really but okay, well maybe not murder, but still a lot to a lot of things.
Yeah, for sure.
It was an emotional and damning testimony. John's attorney had a different approach. John didn't take the stand. His attorney argued that Ruth's version of events was not credible, describing her testimony as quote the story of an insane person, and it didn't help that Ruth had changed her account multiple times, first saying she acted alone, then pointing to John, and even later offering yet another version of the stories
in a written confession which we will get to. The defense argued that even if Ruth's defense claimed it was true, no crime was committed for John to be an accompliced to and if it wasn't true, then she had murdered the women in cold blood, and then she was alone in the responsibility. The prosecution had little hard evidence tying John to the crime, no fingerprints, no photographs, witnesses, nothing, So after just a short deliberation, the jury returned with
their verdict. John Holleran was found not guilty.
You're kidding me. He walked free, of course he fucking did. Yeah, what the actual shit, I'm going to stop it there. Oh my gosh. Okay, I can't even imagine. There is much more to go on here. But also, how the fuck did he get not guilty? I mean, maybe I don't.
Know what the fuck's going on, but well, okay, I'm going to read a couple more paragraphs here. I just scrolled down a little bit and I see a better spot from you.
Wow, you're just like playing with us here.
Definitely, definitely, so John may have avoided prison, but the court and sorry, but the court and public opinion wasn't forgiving. John's reputation in Phoenix. Once rock solid, you know, he was quite the socialite sort of thing, it was shattered. His social standings plummeted. Business partners distanced themselves, political allies they went silent. Even though he was acquitted, many believed
that he got away with something right. After all, his car had been seen parked at the bungalow the night of the murders. Okay, and I was something that came up in the court.
I imagine he probably also lost his family and stuff in all this situation.
Most likely he was close with all these three women. His name came up constantly in testimonies and rumors. So his personal life is connections, is business. All that sort of stuff was shattered. He moved to Tuscan not long after and lived a quieter, more private life. In nineteen thirty nine, just eight years after the murder, John Hollerand died, taking whatever secrets he had with him to the grave. And Ruth well, her story is not over yet, not by a long shot. And that's where we'll stop.
WHOA, Okay, you know now, I'm just kind of like, gosh, should just make all of this shit up. But okay, interesting, Yeah, I guess I have to wait.
You definitely have to wait, and trust me, it's worth it. But there are a lot of loose ends that are left untied with this case. I will say that what we talked about in the courtroom, that what they came up with, that is the convict for this case. That Ruth was guilty and John was not. That is what came out of this. But there is some more theories.
There's some more evidence that came to light. There's some more things that happened, and yeah, we'll talk all about that in the next episode in part two.
Gosh, okay, I can't wait. Interesting. This is a real interesting one.
It definitely is. So if you guys want to stick around for that, Part two will be out on Friday. You want to check out more of our social links, Hey, we have a full description Facebook, Instagram. All that good stuff is down there. You can check it out. We've been lighting it up on Instagram lately. In fact, we even had a post that's almost a million views.
Now I think Holy shit, really.
I think, so what was it at.
That's crazy that it got that high. I didn't realize.
Yeah, and it was just a little post on ironically, a story that we claim is controversial, and of course people are being a little bit controversial in the comments. We had to turn those comments off. Okay, we're at three quarters of a million views on it now.
Okay, wow, I feel like last time I looked, it was three hundred, so that's crazy.
Yeah, it's been quite an interesting time. But yeah, if you want to check out our socials all in the description of this podcast, there you go, There you go. Good Spiel, Good Spiel.
Until Friday, Stay Wicked,