Winnie Ruth Judd the Murderer Did Winnie Ruth Judd really murder her friends and roommates in self-defense, or was it just a backup story to make people believe that she did not do it on purpose? Winnie Ruth Judd was not the cold blooded killer that people thought she was. She had perhaps one of the world 's most questionable cases of all times. Since Winnie Ruth Judd did not confess to the murder of her two best friends, the murder was unclear until a confession letter was found, leading to the revealing of what really happened. The story of what really happened leading up to the tragic murder is still unclear. Most believe that Judd killed her roommates in self-defense. Judd claimed in her murder trial that it was self-defense that caused
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In 2002, a handwritten nineteen page confession letter was found. The letter that was recently discovered was written to Ruth 's attorney, Howard G. Richardson (Pela). This history changing letter was written in Judd’s very own hand writing in April 1933, from Florence Prison’s death row. The confession letter has already changed the minds of attorneys that had defended her and historians that have studied her story. The letter that was found not long ago had been donated anonymously to the Arizona State Archives (Pela). Surprisingly, there was no published news of this shocking find; none of Judd’s historians went to the public with such an important piece of the Winnie Ruth …show more content…
The letter also gives new theories about what happened after the killing was completed. While most believed she killed them in self-defense and also had help packing the pieces of body parts up, the confession letter tells yet another option about the truth of that night. Mrs. Judd tells in the beginning, “sneaking into the girls’ bungalow and shooting one of them while she slept, then fighting with the other over the gun before killing her, too” (Pela). According to police reports, newspaper articles, and the confession letter, on the night of October 16, 1931, Winnie Ruth Judd was shot in the hand while wrestling the gun away from Sammy who was one of the two friends killed. She then shot both Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson in self-defense and then butchered Sammy. Judd then had an idea that would soon lead to her discovery. She shoved Agnes into a large trunk. Hedvig Samuelson’s body was too heavy and would not fit in a suitcase. Her body was dissected and placed into multiple suitcases. In order to make it not noticeable, Judd put articles of clothing on top of their bodies. Soon after the task was completed she headed for Los Angeles with the packaged bodies. However, after the trunks began to leak blood all over the Los Angeles train station, Judd took off. She hid out for a week before
In 2002, a handwritten nineteen page confession letter was found. The letter that was recently discovered was written to Ruth 's attorney, Howard G. Richardson (Pela). This history changing letter was written in Judd’s very own hand writing in April 1933, from Florence Prison’s death row. The confession letter has already changed the minds of attorneys that had defended her and historians that have studied her story. The letter that was found not long ago had been donated anonymously to the Arizona State Archives (Pela). Surprisingly, there was no published news of this shocking find; none of Judd’s historians went to the public with such an important piece of the Winnie Ruth …show more content…
The letter also gives new theories about what happened after the killing was completed. While most believed she killed them in self-defense and also had help packing the pieces of body parts up, the confession letter tells yet another option about the truth of that night. Mrs. Judd tells in the beginning, “sneaking into the girls’ bungalow and shooting one of them while she slept, then fighting with the other over the gun before killing her, too” (Pela). According to police reports, newspaper articles, and the confession letter, on the night of October 16, 1931, Winnie Ruth Judd was shot in the hand while wrestling the gun away from Sammy who was one of the two friends killed. She then shot both Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson in self-defense and then butchered Sammy. Judd then had an idea that would soon lead to her discovery. She shoved Agnes into a large trunk. Hedvig Samuelson’s body was too heavy and would not fit in a suitcase. Her body was dissected and placed into multiple suitcases. In order to make it not noticeable, Judd put articles of clothing on top of their bodies. Soon after the task was completed she headed for Los Angeles with the packaged bodies. However, after the trunks began to leak blood all over the Los Angeles train station, Judd took off. She hid out for a week before