Oct. 16 marks the 95th anniversary of the day Winnie Ruth Judd killed two of her friends, Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson, in their Phoenix home. Judd later traveled to California by train with trunks carrying their bodies.
She was dubbed the “Trunk Murderess” and people followed the story across the globe. Laurie Notaro, a writer who was raised in Phoenix, has done extensive research on the case and authored a book about Judd.
“KOY was able to be broadcast all over the world,” Notaro said, referring to the historic Phoenix radio station. “So people in France knew about this. People in Peru knew about Winnie Ruth Judd.”
Notaro is hosting a bus tour on Oct. 17 that stops at the Phoenix home where the crime happened. She’s continued to research the case since publishing her book in 2024. Notaro said new evidence points more conclusively to a local doctor acting as an accomplice by dismembering one of the bodies…