Laurie Notaro, the former Phoenix resident and New York Times bestselling humorist, is making three stops around the Valley this month, mixing one of Arizona's most notorious murder cases with her latest collection of essays on aging. The author will appear in Tempe and Phoenix on October 10, 17 and 18, bringing both her 2024 true-crime novel about convicted killer Winnie Ruth Judd and her newly released book, I've Got a New Complaint, to the city where she got her start.
A 1930s Murder Case Gets a Fresh Local Look
Notaro's true-crime novel, The Murderess, dramatizes the case of Winnie Ruth Judd, who was accused in 1932 of shooting two girlfriends and placing their bodies in a suitcase, according to Phoenix New Times. The killings trace back to October 16, 1931, when clinic X-ray technician Agnes Anne LeRoi and LeRoi's roommate Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson were fatally shot in Phoenix, after which Judd packed their bodies into trunks and shipped them by train to Los Angeles, per the Arizona Memory Project. The case, often remembered as the “Trunk Murders,” became a nationwide media sensation at the time.
Notaro will speak at an Arizona Historical Society lecture at the Arizona Heritage Center in Tempe on Saturday, part of a book talk and film screening event running from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., the Phoenix New Times' report notes. She is scheduled to speak at 3:45 p.m., and admission costs $10. Notaro has said she believes Judd was guilty, telling the outlet the physical evidence matched Judd's confession letter rather than the self-defense claim she made in court, where Judd was ultimately convicted of LeRoi's murder.
A Confession Letter in the Case
Judd's case included a confession letter, according to Alchetron. Following her conviction, Judd was found mentally incompetent and committed to the Arizona State Asylum for the Insane, where she spent 30 years, got out six times and was caught, then succeeded on a seventh effort before being pardoned by Governor Jack Williams, according to the Arizona Historical Society. Alchetron says Judd lived in California under an assumed identity during her final escape.
On October 17, Notaro will lead a Winnie Ruth Judd murder-sites tour through Phoenix running from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., visiting historical locations connected to the case, including the house and the train station tied to the crime, Phoenix New Times reports. The bus departure location and ticket prices for that tour had not been confirmed at the time of the article.
From Arizona Republic Columns to a New Essay Collection
Notaro moved to Arizona from New York in 1973 at age 8 and has since spent two decades living in Oregon, but she has said Phoenix remains the only place she goes for book events. Her roots in Valley journalism run deep: she studied at Arizona State University, where she wrote for The State Press around 1990, before working for ten years as a humor columnist at the Arizona Republic under a weekly deadline, a career path also detailed by Wikipedia. She also wrote for Phoenix New Times. Random House picked up Notaro's The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club in October 2001 and published it on July 2, 2002, launching it onto the bestseller list, and she has since been named a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
On October 18, Notaro will hold a reading and signing for I've Got a New Complaint at Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, with doors opening at 11:30 a.m. and the event starting at noon; admission is free. The essay collection finds Notaro grappling with turning 60, and she has said she expects to turn 61 in about three weeks; she plans to claim early Social Security once she becomes eligible in about a year.
A Career Pivot Fuels New Material
Notaro was laid off from three jobs. She is working on a forthcoming novel about women who lose their jobs.
Notaro has said she continues to mine her own life for material, including an episode in which her husband's surgeon asked for procedure volunteers and she stepped up. She has said she doesn't go out and do stupid things just to make material; unusual things generally happen to her. She has also spent years researching the Judd case for The Murderess.
