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Retired Faculty Wives/Faculty Women's Club to hear talk by 'Trunk Murderess' author


September 21, 2010

The first fall meeting of the Retired ASU Faculty Wives/Faculty Women's Club will take place at noon, Oct. 11, at the Shalimar Country Club, 2032 E. Golf Ave, Tempe. Guest speaker Jana Boomersbach will discuss her book, "The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd."

Winnie Ruth Judd, a minister's daughter, was charged in the 1930s with brutally murdering two girlfriends, 24-year-old Hedvig Samuelson and 32-year-old Agnes Anne LeRoi, and then shipping a trunk containing their dismembered bodies to Los Angeles by train, while she rode along.

Winnie Ruth was saved from hanging by being declared guilty by reason of insanity. She, then, proceeded to escape the State Hospital on a regular basis as, over the years, observers wondered more and more how the petite sweet Winnie Ruth Judd could have perpetrated such a heinous crime.

Boomersbach, who has won numerous prizes for her articles published in the Arizona Republic, the New Times, and other publications, will bring members up to date on the latest facts in the case.

Upcoming speakers and topics will be Catherine Ogrady, associate dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, who will discuss Arizona's new illegal immigration laws; the president and CEO of the Musical Instrument Museum; and ASU past-president Lattie Coor, whose topic will be "The Arizona We Want."

The Retired ASU Faculty Wives/Faculty Women's Club meets each second Monday of the month except during the summer. For more information contact Ann Patterson, (480) 967-5228.