Voting Station

Winnie Ruth Judd

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Murderer (Alleged)

The Resume

    (January 29, 1905-October 23, 1998)
    Born in Darlington, Indiana
    Birth name was Winnie Ruth McKinnell
    Accused of killing her former roommates, Agnes LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson (October 16, 1931)
    Convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death (1933)
    Death sentence overturned when she was ruled to be insane
    Sent to Arizona State Mental Hospital
    Released on parole (1971)
    Known as the Trunk Murderess

Why she might be annoying:

    She was having an extra-marital affair with married businessman Jack Halloran.
    According to prosecutors, she killed LeRoi and Samuelson in their sleep out of jealousy over their relationships with Halloran.
    After the murders, she left Phoenix for Los Angeles, with two trunks containing the bodies (one dismembered) of the two victims.
    During her sanity hearing, she laughed hysterically, clapped her hands and threatened to throw herself out of the window.
    She escaped from the Arizona State Hospital seven times.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She looked like actress Norma Shearer.
    She miscarried twice.
    Several reporters suggested that if her attorneys had chosen self-defense rather than insanity as a grounds of defense, she might have been acquitted.
    Dr. Grace Homman, who examined her after her arrest, found 147 fresh welts and cuts and wrote, 'Mrs. Judd put up a tremendous fight for her life.'
    Decades later, Pheonix reporter Jana Bommersbach found evidence suggesting that Jack Halloran was responsible for at least one of the deaths and convinced Judd to take the rap by promising to use his influence to ensure she would not go to jail.
    She was popular with staff and fellow patients at Arizona State Mental Hospital, where she worked as a cook and hairdresser.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 40 Votes: 47.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 65 Votes: 67.69% Annoying