Judd allegedly committed the murders to win over the affections of Jack Halloran, a prominent Phoenix businessman.

Judd's murder investigation and trial were marked by sensationalized newspaper coverage and suspicious circumstances suggesting that at least one other person might have been involved in the crimes.

At age 17, she married Dr. William C. Judd, a World War I veteran more than twenty years her senior, and moved to Mexico with him.

William was reportedly a morphine addict as a result of war injuries and had difficulty keeping a job, forcing the couple to move frequently and live on an uncertain income.

Judd, called by her middle name of "Ruth", moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she worked as governess to a wealthy family.

According to police, on the night of October 16, 1931, LeRoi and Samuelson were murdered by Judd after an alleged fight among the three women over Halloran's affections.

[3] The prosecution at Judd's murder trial would suggest that quarrels over men and the relationship between LeRoi and Samuelson broke up the friendship of the three women, and that jealousy was the motive for the killings.

[3] Two days after the murders, on Sunday, October 18, 1931, Judd, with her left hand bandaged from a gunshot wound, boarded the overnight Golden State Limited passenger train from Phoenix's Union Station to Los Angeles, California, along with the trunks and luggage containing the bodies.

En route to Los Angeles Central Station, Judd's trunks came under suspicion from baggage handler H. J. Mapes due to their foul odor, as well as the fluids escaping from them.

Mapes alerted the district baggage agent in Los Angeles, Arthur V. Anderson, that the trunks may have contained contraband deer meat.

Burton McKinnell, Judd's brother and a junior at the University of Southern California, picked her up from the train station unaware of the murders or the bodies.

At around 4:30 pm that afternoon, Anderson called the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to report the suspicious trunks.

On the evening of Monday, October 19, 1931, Phoenix police first entered the bungalow where LeRoi and Samuelson had resided; neighbors and reporters were also allowed in and destroyed the original integrity of the crime scene.

During the trial, Judd's defense protested, stating, "By the advertisements in the newspapers, the entire population of Maricopa County visited that place.

In testimony that lasted almost three days, an emotional Judd told her story, saying I am going to be hanged for something Jack Halloran is responsible for ...

She testified that there was an argument about Judd's introduction of Halloran to another woman, and that she killed LeRoi and Samuelson in self-defense after they physically attacked her.

[13] Under cross-examination, Judd admitted repacking Samuelson's dismembered body in a trunk and other luggage two days after the murders.

[15] Although officially exonerated, Halloran eventually fell out of favor in Phoenix, losing his business associates and social status.

Bommersbach also suggested that a second gun might have been involved, based on early newspaper reports that LeRoi was shot with a larger caliber bullet.

Addressing the possibility that a person who possessed surgical skills dissected Samuelson's body, Bommersbach wrote about a nurse named Ann Miller, whom she interviewed for her book.

Mrs. Judd's story included the declaration that a physician, who has since committed suicide, was summoned to the murder bungalow to aid in the disposal of the bodies.'"

Bommersbach also asked former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack D. H. Hays to review the trial and appeals process.

In the letter, which Judd called her "first and only confession," she stated that she alone planned and carried out the murder of LeRoi, with whom she was allegedly competing for Halloran's affections.

According to a New Times article by Robert Pela, Richardson suppressed the letter because it contradicted the substance of an appeal he had just filed in her case.

"[22] In 1934 radio producer-director William Robson created a dramatic rendering of the crime for an episode of Calling all Cars entitled the Ruth Judd Case, which was introduced by then LAPD chief James E. Davis.

The 32 minute program aired on the Don Lee network on September 9 and was sponsored by the Rio Grande oil company.

Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel – director and writer of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, respectively – wrote a fictionalized account of the Judd story in 1975 in a screenplay titled Bleeding Hearts.

[23] Since its debut, the film has played annually at Phoenix's Trunk Space theater on October 16, the date of the original crime.

The 2015 art installation "Tiger Lady", by Darren Clark and Gary Patch, is a shadow cast kinetic projection on permanent display at the Valley Bar in Phoenix.

In February 2024 a stage play by Cathy Dresbach and Ben Tyler titled, The Truth About Winnie Ruth Judd was produced by The Phoenix Theatre Company.