The Final Truth and Legacy

The oldest murder story ever told isn't about a thief or soldier It's about two brothers. A simple farmer named Cane and his brother, Abel. When Caine saw Abel receiving a favor, he believed he deserved Jealousy took root And the first crime in human history wasn't committed by a stranger. It was an act of intimate, personal betrayal In nineteen thirty one, Ruth Judge shared an inseparable sisterhood with her best friends. Anne and Sammy. They worked together, lived together, and tried to outrun the same hard times together But When Ruth's desperate love for a man named Happy Jack Threatened by Anne Sisterhood And according to one later confession She waited outside their window letting jealousy Guide her hand towards a devastating Betrayal of her own I'm Harveyan This Killer stories There were two Americas in nineteen twenty three The one, banning alcohol and the one, finding increasingly creative ways to ignore that. The twenties were just starting to roar, Young women were stepping into jobs, independence, and the kind of trouble your mother absolutely warned you about Winnie Ruth McKinnell was eighteen and looking forward to really living As the daughter of a minister, she'd grown up in a strict household. She was willing to work hard and it didn't hurt that everybody thought she was beautiful There were so many possibilities and then one day, destiny seemed to present itself Winnie, or Ruth, her preferred name, was at work when she glanced up over mounds of paperwork and locked eyes with doror William Judge Sure, he was twenty three years older than her, but He was a good man and they loved each other When they got married the next year, Ruth went on her first train ride and her first cross country trip She even got to travel to Mexico where William found work Her marriage began as one big adventure. It wouldn't always be that way Eight years later, Ruth is living in Phoenix It's nineteen thirty one two years into the Great Depression and America has traded its speak easasies for soup lines To make matters worse and less fun Prohibition is still in effect. and Ruth is all alone. And that's not to say Phoenix isn't nice because it's become a hotspot for tourism, especially for the rich crowd looking to play golf all year round And Ruth is still married to William, but They hardly see each other. When they do, the marriage is well As Ruth puts it ressed. She still has love for her husband, but There are a lot of things putting a strain on the marriage. the fact that she stays in Arizona while he moves around looking for work, or that he can't seem to hold down a job, or that he has a morphine addiction Mm Yeah, red flags anybody. But despite all this, Ruth puts on a happy face and she tells people Times are tough Everybody's struggling to make ends meet And it makes sense for her to stay in Phoenix The dry desert air is good. Tuberculosis It's worth mentioning that tuberculosis was a disease that caused chronic cough and fatigue. but during this time, people learned to manage the symptoms and could live a relatively normal lives. Plus, she never has difficulty finding work Early on, Ruth lands a gig as a domestic worker for a wealthy family And That's how she meets Jack Hallornd Jack's kind of a big deal in Phoenix. okay? He's a real homegrown success story He's rich, well connected, handsome, and well liked I mean, you don't earn a name like happppy Jack if you're a loser. Okay? am I right? He also has a wife and three kids, but That doesn't stop him or Ruth carrying on a secret affair For Ruth, Jack is the antidote for her loneliness and he offers her things she didn't even know she was missing passassion and fun See falls madly in love H does not And in some ways, he leads her on. He's the kind of guy who makes everybody he talks to feel like the most important person in the world, even when they're not. But Ruth isn't naive. She knows Jack sees lots of other women, according to some accounts, she even sets him up with girls on occasion And Ruth doesn't want to break things off with her own husband either. She just likes her spot as Jack's favorite mistress. whichich begins to fall apart once she meets her new best friends In february nineteen thirty one, Ruth is working at a health clinic when in walks a brand new coworker. Anne Leoy. She's a few years older than Ruth, vibacious with personality to boot. And she's interesting. She just moved here all the way from Alaska. Okay girl, like are you friends with the polar bears? and like nggets, like what's your story? Anne's impressive too. As a trained X rate technician, she's probably the highest paid woman at their job. clicks with Anne and her best friend and roommate Her name is Hedvig, Sammy Samuelson And she met Anne back in Alaska Like Ruth, Sammy has tuberculosis, so when Sammy got really ill and decided to move to Phoenix, and followed along The three of them become inseparable. Ruth and Anne work together six days a week and Sundays for the girls. They always get together, cook dinner, and listen to old time radio programs, which aren't old timeing for them because they're ner because that's when they lived. They also love to throw parties for their girlfriends, but especially for wealthy men Doctors from work, businessmen, country clubbers Play boys. which includes Be Jack Because hey, if you can find good booze during prohibition, you're pretty much always invited. Now, many a wise woman has said Blay is gonna play So Happy Jack flirts his way through every party, and usually he'll wind up with Ruth at the end of the night, but Not always It seems like Ruth tries not to let this get to her, but Th then he gets a little too comfortable B off her besties. In the summer of nineteen thirty one, Ruth An andne Sammy fall on hard times and contracts tuberculosis too and has to travel home to rest. At the same time, Sammy's illness flares up. She usually relies on Annt to help her get by, but she's out of the picture. Ruth steps up to care for her When Anne recuperates and moves back to Phoenix, she gets another nasty surprise herer job, which her boss promised would be waiting for her has been given up to someone else and so angry, she actually threatens to sabotage the X ray machine. Ruth talks her out of it. She could very well hurt a patient doing that. Instead Ruth convinces the doctor to bring Anne back on board Now, the trio seems tighter than ever and they decide Ruth should just move in I mean, they're always together anyway, so they might as well save money on rent. Why not make life a big girl's night Once they're living together though, Ruth gets a front row seat to a real shit show. Because now she sees just how much time her boyfriend Jack is really spending with her best friends. It's a lot more than she realized. And they're even closer then she knew The women have disagreements over regular roommate things like housekeeping, but according to Ruth, Anne takes it out on her by using Jack to push Ruth's buttons. She openly flirts with Jack, and once he leaves, she laughs about how she only likes him for his money To Ruth, Anne is talking about the man she's in love with. The only man she's slept with since marrying William, she can understand some random girl flirting with Jack, but her own friend. Ruth's got just three words for Anne B pray A couple of months later, Ruth moves out of Anne and Sammy's place Distance seems to do their friendship Good And pretty soon, they're back to throw in parties again. In fact, they're even talking about buying a house together, girlies. Come on But they never get around to it. One Friday night, while at the office, Anne invites Ruth over to playay Bridge. Ruth says she'll try, but she has a lot of work to catch up on It's a white lie She does have work, but it doesn't take her long to wrap things up before she heads home. The real reason she didn't want to go is because happppy Jack plans to come over. Ruth sits quietly waiting for him until nine PM at which point She's like, If he thinks he can just come on over when he damn well pleases, he won't find me here, and she hops on a trolley A couple of minutes later, Ruth arrives at Anne and Sammy's apartment. In just a few short hours, two of the women dead and the other be onn the run This episode is brought to you by Chime Chime is doing banking a bit differently It's fee free banking designed for you no monthly fees, no overdraft traps, and thousands of fee free ATMs. Plus, there's a bunch of benefits like earning five percent cash back on your Chime card in a chosen category. Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. Head to chime d. com slash killers. It only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a Fintech, not a bank. Banking services for Chime are provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges, state annual percentage yield and cash back for Chime Prime only. No minimum balance required. For more information on APY rates, My pay, SpotMe and travel perks go to chime d. com slash disclosures On Acorn TV, there's a killer on the loose. Boke Shields leads an all star cast in the hit original mystery series. You're killing me. I solved mysteries for a living. I think I'm good to go. H been one of your books, Not in real life every killer at the say. You're someone who can Vouch f your whereareabouts at the time he gets in. What are you the alibi police? That's literally Exactly who I am You're killing me. All episodes now streaming on accorn TV Hey parents How do you make smarter choices for your kids college today That's where Sally can help. With Sally, you can find scholarships, funding options, tools, and guidance all in one place And if you need a loan, Sally has options for different families and different situations College is only worth it if you do it right So don't just help your kid go Help them go smarter Sally d. com slash go parents Today nobody knows for sure what happened in Phoenix on the night of october sixteenth, nineteen thirty one What we do know is that Ruth shows up at Anne and Sammy's apartment between nine thirty and ten o'clock that night. and before the sun comes up the next day Anne and Sammy are both shot in the hat by Ruth Judd She comes back later that day to move the bodies. She packs them both into two steamer trunks, the kind you'd pack to go on a long trip back in the day And then she offers to pay her landlord and his son a dollar fifty c to help her bring the trunks to the train station She's heading to Los Angeles When Ruth and her helpers arrive at the station, they can barely lift the trunks They have no clue they're helping a killer dispose of the evidence She even stiffs them on the dollar fifty. As it turns out, the trunks are so heavy, she needs that cash to pay an extra fee A few people noticed Ruth waiting on the platform not just because she could be mistaken for a movie star. O, but because she's acting suspicious as hell She gets there hours early. When she talks, her voice has a nototiceable tremble By the time her train finally arrives and the baggage handlers start to load the two trunks, they've started to smell As Ruth and her luggage speed towards Los Angeles overnight, the trunks get worse. Now they giveave off that unmistakable stench of death and one of them appars to be leaking. Now you may be thinking, why doesn't somebody stop her right then and there or call the cops? Well, the thing is, the baggage handlers are suspicious something dead is in those trunks. But apparently, they've been having this problem a lot lately Only, not with murder victims Dear I guess people would try to transport expensive deer meat with them on trains that this happened so often that the employees knew to look for it. and when they smelled that smell. They assumed It was Venison The next morning, Ruth's train gets into LA. She's expecting to meet up with her little brother, Burton He's studying at USC and Ruth sent him a last second, desperate letter before leaving Phoenix. She only said she needed his help But he's not at the station yet While she waits, she leaves her carry on luggage in a bathroom She wants to just grab the trunks, pick up her carry on bags, and go somewhere while Burton and her husband, William figure out what to do next. But when Burton finally shows up Ruth's plan starts to go south baggage agents start questioning her about the leaking trunks. By now, it's obvious to everybody that blood is seeping out of the corners. Again, the agents think they've caught her with a dead deer. so while they coily ask, Hm, do you guys smell anything strange, Ruth plays dumb She's like, no I don' about anything Burton most certainly does. and his eyes Go whyide. He knows his sister isn't a hunter She wouldn't be hauling Steer around which means that it's not a matter of what is inside the trunks It's a matter When the agents refuse to release the trunks until Ruth opens them, she knows she's caught. She makes up a lie about needing to get the keys from her husband and promise she'll be right back She never returns That's when the agents get a bad feeling and call the police The detective responds while he's on his way home for the day He figures it'll be one last quick stop before he clocks out He takes one look the state of the two trunks And he knows There is no deer inside Picking the locks, the detective slowly raises the lid on the largest trunk and finds and L Roy inside Curled up on her side It's awful a nightmare site, but it's nothing comppared to what's in the second When that lid is pried open, they find Sammy's head so and one leg She's been dismembered The rest of her body is missing until Ler that night When someone finds Ruth's carry on luggage, still hidden inside a bathroom The suitcase she had carried with her contained The rest of Sammy's body It seems safe to assume that Ruth N imagined she'd get caught so early on Here's how I know. Inside, along with the bodies The trunks are chalk full of evidence photos fles and even a diploma belonging to the victims Detectives are able to ID them right away Ruth hadn't stopped there She'd also included the bullets that struck Anne and Sammy and a long knife presumably the one she used to dismember her friend Police also have a record of who bought train tickets. so It's not hard to zero in on Ruth Chudd But by then She's vanished Even her family doesn't know where she is A week later tired, dirty, and hungry Ruth is done running On Friday october twenty third, she turns herself in The first words out of her mouth are I had to shoot her Pandora jewelry brings the sparkle to your summer, now with even better prices. Enjoy up to fifty percent off se styles, from personalized pieces to must have favorites made for the summer Timeless designs that shine with you through every moment, whereerever the summer takes you. Sop in store or online. now through july sixth. 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Check responssees setup required compatibility and availability varies eighteen plus It's nineteen thirty one and goddess Counts aren't the only big trend. sensationalized journalism is also very much in fashion. There are some reputable sources out there, but for many newspapers, the motto is, hey Whatever sells a copy. So it's no surprise that the Winnie Ruth Jud story dominates headlines They brand her as the Trunk murdereress and the blonde butcher They run with salacious rumors about what went on at her house parties and they portray all three women as quote Party girls A nineteen thirties euphemism for sex workers. Through an attorney, Ruth gives a statement to the bloodthirsty press. She claims she only shot her friends in self defense They argue she went to the kitchen and Sammy came at her with the gun. She pulled the trigger first and shot Ruth in the hand, and Ruth does have a wound to match her story The bullet is still lodged in there a week later and it's got a new friend Gang Green But her story raises more questions, like if she shot her friends in self defense Why does she mutilate the bodies Why try to smuggle them to another state to get rid of them? Those actions reek of something and it ain't innocence So detectives think there has to be more going on canan't find any evidence in the kitchen So either Ruth did a really good job wiping down the crime scene or Her story isn't true They realize something's missing from the apartment bedroom Both of the mattresses are gone Part of the carpet has been cut out Turns out it was also stowed away in one of the trunks and It was covered in blood So If she lied about where the shooting took place Could she also be lying about really happened? Because a self defense story sounds more plausible in a kitchen bedroom with mattresses that are now missing, it seems more likely that this was a premeditated murder that Ruth attacked her friends while they were sitting or lying down, maybe even as sleep The courourt of public opinion is ready to convict Ruth, but now to decide Something surprising happens at her trial in nineteen thirty two. Her defense team never argues self defense They don't even bring Ruth up on the stand to testify. Instead, they argue she's innocent by reason of insanity From the jury's point of view, it seemed like Ruth knew right from wrong. Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried so hard to cover up the crime after the fact And The prosecution lays out a strong case that she'd planned the murder So Ruth is found guilty. and sentenced to death Later that year, while on deeath row, Ruth is asked to give her version of events for the record The story she tells is this On the night of the murders, Ruth was invited to sleep over at her friend's apartment. as they were all sitting around and gossiping and started an argument Previous night, she saw Ruth with Jack and another woman they knew from the clinic where they weren't As Ruth tells it, This woman loved hunting Jack love hunting, so they all went out together one night and Ruth introduced them. That was a problem for Anne. Not because she was jealous, but because she knew this woman was being treated at their clinic For're syphilis This was before penicillin, so it's still a dangerous STD I have to assume that Anne assumed Jack would uh You know with this woman Ruth insisted, no They were just going to be hunting buddies But now, the cards were being laid out on the table Anan allegedly threatened to tell Ruth's husband, William E a fair And Ruth wasn't going to sit there and take it, She promised to tell Anne's boss about her plan to sabotage his X ray machine harm his patients and land him in trouble. Ruth even vows to tell everyone that Anne and Sammy are in a relationship whichich wasn't actually true to her knowledge, but The stigma surrounding all of these things in the nineteen thirties, sexuality, affairs, diseases was enough to ruin everybody's livelihoods And according to Ruth, That's when she stood up and removed herself from the fight She went to the kitchen Sammy came after her And she killed them in self defense All of that, Ruth sticks to the self defense claim And she would until her dying day Eventually, Ruth's husband helped move her off death row and onto a psychiatric hospital She would famously escape from seven times Once in nineteen sixty two, she actually lived freely under an assumed name for seven years She was paroled in nineteen seventy one and live to be ninety three years old There are questions about this case that people still wrestle with to this day such as who helped Ruth get the bodies in the trunks No official suspects were ever named as recomicices Even so a lot of experts on the case were convinced she could not have moved Anne and Samy on her own See, Ruth was five foot five, Anne and Sammy were larger than her. and Ruth wasn't exactly a weightlifter. She'd had tuberculosis most of her life But somehow Ruth managed to move Anne into that steamer trunk And when Sammy wouldn't fit, she used a knife to dismember her. cuts were so precise that investigators thought done. by a medical expert William But he wasn't even in Arizona the night of the murders. So in most people's mind, that just left Be Jack sometimes Ruth was all too willing to suggest he'd conspired with her. She implicated Jack when she was on death row. claimed that after the murders, she took Jack over to the crime scene. thenen she said it was his idea to move the bodies from the kitchen into the bedroom It was his idea to put them in the trunks. Now at trial, the prosecution actually tried to prove that Ruth could have done all of this alone that she wouldn't need the help of oh, for example, a secret boyfriend. but it does bear mentioning that the DA was a close personal friend Good old Jack Halloran Jack did help. Wh wouldn't he just drive the bodies out to the desert himself? O get his powerful buddies to cover everything up? Not everyone's convinced he helped her at all and the most compelling evidence that Ruth D act alone comes from two confessions. written. by Ruth The first was found in a department store toilet Yeah, so back when Ruth was hiding out in Los Angeles, she went to a department store where she used to work. She even slept in the furniture department section. Then she hid in a bathroom and wrote a confession letter to her husband. She told William that Jack had nothing to do with the crime Th then she decided not to send this letter. Instead, she flushed it down the commode The toilet. whichich is how a very confused plumber found it days later Dy can' catch a break. The second confession was even more surprising because it was lost for decades. It sururfaced in the Arizona State Archives in twenty fourteen after hiding out for who knows how long in a box of papers They belong to one of Ruth's old lawyers. This confession was dated april sixth. nineteen thirty three. And it tells a totally differentiffere story Ruth said she'd been in turmoil for days before the murders. She blamed Anne for always using Jack to taunt her Ruth could forget her troubles during the day when she kept busy, but at night couldn't sleep All she could think about was Anne kissing Jack and laughing at her face. So that night, she took a knife and gun and waited outside Anne and Sammy's apartment She stood outside their bedroom window, listening to them talk That's when Anne said she was going to tell Jack that Ruth tried to give him syphilis For hours, Ruth waited outside. She listened as they turned in for the night, and finally Ruth crept inside. shot and in the head while she slept She claims she never wanted to hurt Sammy When she heard the gunshots, Sammy came running in and she took the gun away from Ruth. Ruth couldn't remember clearly when the gun went off, but when it did, she knew Sammy 've been shot in the head And Ruth added this She handled all the cleanup. on her own She tried for years to get this letter back, worrying it would hurt her chances of being parooled. Experts on the case take that to mean this confession is the most truthful The book of Genesis tells us the first murder wasasn't about greed or war. It was about two people. who loved each other once And a moment When jealousy eclipsed everything else Ruth Judd's story echoes those same shadows Two friends she once calls sisters One night of anger, she claimed she couldn't control. and a lifetime spent rewriting the truth Hoping one version. any version might absolve her The tragedy of Kane and Ael is that Only one witness survived Only one voice remained to explain the unforgivable the story We're left with here too Thanks for tuning in to Killer Stories is Spotify podcasts. New episodes releasase on Mondays. If you like today's story and want to learn more, we drop some of our favorite sources in the episode description Until next time Time hard to Stacy about it