Misplaced Pages

#489510

122-656: Judd was tried for LeRoi's murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death . However, the sentence was later repealed after she was found mentally incompetent , and she was committed to the Arizona State Asylum for the Insane (later renamed the Arizona State Hospital). Over the next three decades, Judd escaped from the asylum six times; after her final escape during the 1960s, she remained at large for over six years and worked under an assumed name for

244-471: A global moratorium on executions , with support for eventual abolition. Execution of criminals and dissidents has been used by nearly all societies since the beginning of civilisations on Earth. Until the nineteenth century, without developed prison systems, there was frequently no workable alternative to ensure deterrence and incapacitation of criminals. In pre-modern times the executions themselves often involved torture with painful methods, such as

366-560: A basic right in its Poljica Statute of 1440. Sir Thomas More 's Utopia , published in 1516, debated the benefits of the death penalty in dialogue form, coming to no firm conclusion. More was himself executed for treason in 1535. More recent opposition to the death penalty stemmed from the book of the Italian Cesare Beccaria Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (" On Crimes and Punishments "), published in 1764. In this book, Beccaria aimed to demonstrate not only

488-530: A cherry tree in an orchard. In 1820, there were 160, including crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft or stealing cattle. The severity of the so-called Bloody Code was often tempered by juries who refused to convict, or judges, in the case of petty theft, who arbitrarily set the value stolen at below the statutory level for a capital crime. In Nazi Germany , there were three types of capital punishment; hanging, decapitation, and death by shooting. Also, modern military organisations employed capital punishment as

610-497: A coffin while desecrating a tomb. Decapitation was the method of execution prescribed for more serious crimes such as treason and sedition. Despite the great discomfort involved, most of the Tang Chinese preferred strangulation to decapitation, as a result of the traditional Tang Chinese belief that the body is a gift from the parents and that it is, therefore, disrespectful to one's ancestors to die without returning one's body to

732-411: A couple of months in 1931, but differences developed between the women and Judd soon returned to her own apartment, located a short distance away from the rented bungalow shared by LeRoi and Samuelson. At the time of the murders, Judd was 26 years old, LeRoi 27, and Samuelson 24. According to police, on the night of October 16, 1931, LeRoi and Samuelson were murdered by Judd after an alleged fight among

854-470: A fair trial. According to Bommersbach, due to Phoenix's small population in 1931 (just over 48,000 people), members of the Phoenix police knew Halloran well, and were aware of his associates, friends, and girlfriends. Some police officers also knew the victims. Some even believed that Judd hadn't killed anyone, even in self-defense, but was only covering up for Halloran and possibly others. Halloran's release

976-439: A feature-length film about the case, entitled Murderess: The Winnie Ruth Judd Story , was released. It was written and directed by Los Angeles filmmaker Scott Coblio, and featured an all- marionette cast. Since its debut, the film has played annually at Phoenix's Trunk Space theater on October 16, the date of the original crime. While there are a number of fictitious films and books in existence which model themselves loosely upon

1098-590: A few actively retain it; less than half of countries in Africa retain it; and the majority of countries in Asia retain it, for example, China , Japan and India . Abolition was often adopted due to political change, as when countries shifted from authoritarianism to democracy, or when it became an entry condition for the EU. The United States is a notable exception: some states have had bans on capital punishment for decades,

1220-439: A form of deterrence as opposed to retribution, can be traced back to Cesare Beccaria , whose influential treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764) was the first detailed analysis of capital punishment to demand the abolition of the death penalty. In England, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the founder of modern utilitarianism, called for the abolition of the death penalty. Beccaria, and later Charles Dickens and Karl Marx noted

1342-703: A friend had given her. She ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area , where she became a live-in maid for a wealthy family living in a mansion overlooking the bay, using the name "Marian Kane". After six years, her identity in California was eventually discovered and she was taken back to Arizona on August 18, 1969. Judd hired famed San Francisco defense attorney Melvin Belli , who in turn hired Larry Debus to handle her case. Governor Jack Williams of Arizona agreed to sign for Judd's release as long as

SECTION 10

#1732787289490

1464-407: A means of maintaining military discipline. In the past, cowardice , absence without leave, desertion , insubordination , shirking under enemy fire and disobeying orders were often crimes punishable by death (see decimation and running the gauntlet ). One method of execution, since firearms came into common use, has also been firing squad, although some countries use execution with a single shot to

1586-418: A means of protection of the latter vis-à-vis criminals. In the last several centuries, with the emergence of modern nation states , justice came to be increasingly associated with the concept of natural and legal rights . The period saw an increase in standing police forces and permanent penitential institutions. Rational choice theory , a utilitarian approach to criminology which justifies punishment as

1708-417: A more unified system of justice which formalized the relation between the different "social classes" rather than "tribes". The earliest and most famous example is Code of Hammurabi which set the different punishment and compensation, according to the different class or group of victims and perpetrators. The Torah/Old Testament lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, practicing magic, violation of

1830-500: A nurse named Ann Miller, whom she interviewed for her book. Miller said that, while she was working at the Arizona State Hospital in 1936, Judd had confided to her that a Dr. Brown had come to see her while she was in prison and told her he was going to confess everything. Later, after Miller told a Phoenix attorney of Judd's story, he stated, "I'm sure she told you that. Dr. Brown came up to my office and wanted to tell

1952-484: A religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material (for example, cattle, slaves, land) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or blood money or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of

2074-427: A result, tens of thousands of women were prosecuted for witchcraft and executed through the witch trials of the early modern period (between the 15th and 18th centuries). The death penalty also targeted sexual offences such as sodomy . In the early history of Islam (7th–11th centuries), there is a number of "purported (but mutually inconsistent) reports" ( athar ) regarding the punishments of sodomy ordered by some of

2196-557: A significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam. Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would sell them as slaves to Muslim households where they were forced to convert to Islam . Many Christian martyrs were executed under

2318-587: A six-year moratorium on executions after the Peshawar school massacre during which 132 students and 9 members of staff of the Army Public School and Degree College Peshawar were killed by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorists, a group distinct from the Afghan Taliban , who condemned the attack. Since then, Pakistan has executed over 400 convicts. In 2017, two major countries, Turkey and

2440-457: A sovereign collectivity, identifies itself with positive or the law in force of the city. In fact, it finds its guarantee in the death penalty which threatens all those who do not respect it." Plato saw the death penalty as a means of purification, because crimes are a "defilement". Thus, in the Laws , he considered necessary the execution of the animal or the destruction of the object which caused

2562-862: A status beyond one's control, or without employing any significant due process procedures. Judicial murder is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment. For example, the executions following the show trials in the Soviet Union during the Great Purge of 1936–1938 were an instrument of political repression. The top 3 countries by the number of executions are China , Iran and Saudi Arabia . As of 2021, 56 countries retain capital punishment , 111 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes, seven have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in practice. Although

SECTION 20

#1732787289490

2684-477: A thousand cuts, was used from the close of the Tang dynasty (around 900) to its abolition in 1905. When a minister of the fifth grade or above received a death sentence the emperor might grant him a special dispensation allowing him to commit suicide in lieu of execution. Even when this privilege was not granted, the law required that the condemned minister be provided with food and ale by his keepers and transported to

2806-487: A trend toward abolishing capital punishment. Capital punishment has been completely abolished by 108 countries, a further seven have done so for all offences except under special circumstances and 26 more have abolished it in practice because they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice against carrying out executions. In the United States between 1972 and 1976

2928-422: A trunk and other luggage two days after the murders. Halloran did not take the stand in his own defense. His attorney told the court that Judd's story was nothing more "than the story of an insane person" and argued that since she had testified that the two women were killed in self-defense, there was, in fact, no crime committed; therefore Halloran could not be tried for anything. Halloran's attorney then asked for

3050-431: A wealthy family. She was ultimately paroled in 1971 and discharged from parole in 1983. 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. Her sentence also raised debate about capital punishment in the United States . Winnie Ruth McKinnell was born on January 29, 1905, to

3172-527: Is a shadow cast kinetic projection on permanent display at the Valley Bar in Phoenix. It features select milestones from the Judd saga. 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. This play looks at the case from the public's point of view and the exploitation of the case by the media. Radio station KOY turns

3294-495: Is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent man to death." He argued that executing an accused criminal on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof , until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice". Maimonides's concern was maintaining popular respect for law, and he saw errors of commission as much more threatening than errors of omission. While during

3416-560: Is commonly referred to as being "on death row ". Etymologically, the term capital ( lit.   ' of the head ' , derived via the Latin capitalis from caput , "head") refers to execution by beheading , but executions are carried out by many methods , including hanging , shooting , lethal injection , stoning , electrocution , and gassing . Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes , capital offences , or capital felonies , and vary depending on

3538-505: Is controversial, with many people, organisations, and religious groups holding differing views on whether it is ethically permissible. Amnesty International declares that the death penalty breaches human rights, specifically "the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , adopted by

3660-466: Is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished." In most countries that practice capital punishment, it

3782-483: Is now reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes , such as rape, fornication , adultery , incest , sodomy , and bestiality carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as Hudud , Zina , and Qisas crimes, such as apostasy (formal renunciation of the state religion ), blasphemy , moharebeh , hirabah , Fasad , Mofsed-e-filarz and witchcraft. In many countries that use

Winnie Ruth Judd - Misplaced Pages Continue

3904-401: Is responsible for ... I was convicted of murder, but I shot in self-defense . Jack Halloran removed every bit of evidence. He is responsible for me going through all this. He is guilty of anything I am guilty of. Judd testified she had gone to LeRoi and Samuelson's bungalow on an invitation to play bridge , and a fourth woman who had also been invited had already left. She testified that there

4026-427: Is subject to seizure if in the opinion of the belligerent nation that seizes them, the supplies are destined for the armed forces of the enemy rather than for civilian use and consumption. In former agreements among nations, certain other commodities, including soap, paper, clocks, agricultural machinery and jewelry , have been classified as non-contraband, but the distinctions have proved meaningless in practice. Under

4148-635: The Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad (most notably al-Mu'tadid ), were often cruel in their punishments. In early modern England, the Buggery Act 1533 stipulated hanging as punishment for " buggery ". James Pratt and John Smith were the last two Englishmen to be executed for sodomy in 1835. In 1636 the laws of Puritan governed Plymouth Colony included a sentence of death for sodomy and buggery. The Massachusetts Bay Colony followed in 1641. Throughout

4270-527: The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Partly as a response to such excesses, civil rights organisations started to place increasing emphasis on the concept of human rights and an abolition of the death penalty. By continent, all European countries but one have abolished capital punishment; many Oceanian countries have abolished it; most countries in the Americas have abolished its use, while

4392-559: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to report the suspicious trunks. After picking the locks of each trunk, the police discovered the bodies. Meanwhile, Burton had dropped his sister off somewhere in Los Angeles, where she proceeded to disappear. Judd hid out for several days until she surrendered to police in a funeral home the following Friday, October 23, 1931. The murder became headline news across

4514-960: The Philippines , saw their executives making moves to reinstate the death penalty. In the same year, passage of the law in the Philippines failed to obtain the Senate's approval. On 29 December 2021, after a 20-year moratorium, the Kazakhstan government enacted the 'On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Abolition of the Death Penalty' signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as part of series of Omnibus reformations of

4636-626: 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 Chainsaw Massacre , respectively – wrote a fictionalized account of the Judd story in 1975 in a screenplay titled Bleeding Hearts . The project, however, never came to fruition. In 2007,

4758-749: The Sabbath , blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence suggests that actual executions were exceedingly rare, if they occurred at all. A further example comes from Ancient Greece , where the Athenian legal system replacing customary oral law was first written down by Draco in about 621 BC: the death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes, though Solon later repealed Draco's code and published new laws, retaining capital punishment only for intentional homicide, and only with victim's family permission. The word draconian derives from Draco's laws. The Romans also used

4880-486: The Tang dynasty (618–907) when the death penalty was abolished. This was in the year 747, enacted by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (r. 712–756). When abolishing the death penalty, Xuanzong ordered his officials to refer to the nearest regulation by analogy when sentencing those found guilty of crimes for which the prescribed punishment was execution. Thus, depending on the severity of the crime a punishment of severe scourging with

5002-714: The United Nations in 1948. In the European Union (EU), Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment. The Council of Europe , which has 46 member states, has worked to end the death penalty and no execution has taken place in its current member states since 1997. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, throughout the years from 2007 to 2020, eight non-binding resolutions calling for

Winnie Ruth Judd - Misplaced Pages Continue

5124-488: The breaking wheel , keelhauling , sawing , hanging, drawing and quartering , burning at the stake , crucifixion , flaying , slow slicing , boiling alive , impalement , mazzatello , blowing from a gun , schwedentrunk , and scaphism . Other methods which appear only in legend include the blood eagle and brazen bull . The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that

5246-410: The death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide , is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence , and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution . A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and

5368-521: The early caliphs . Abu Bakr , the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate , apparently recommended toppling a wall on the culprit, or else burning him alive , while Ali ibn Abi Talib is said to have ordered death by stoning for one sodomite and had another thrown head-first from the top of the highest building in the town; according to Ibn Abbas , the latter punishment must be followed by stoning. Other medieval Muslim leaders, such as

5490-611: The 19th century, U.S. states repealed death sentences from their sodomy laws, with South Carolina being the last to do so in 1873. Historians recognise that during the Early Middle Ages , the Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries suffered religious discrimination , religious persecution , religious violence , and martyrdom multiple times at

5612-400: The Arizona State Asylum for the Insane (later renamed the Arizona State Hospital) in Phoenix, the state's only mental institution. Judd escaped from the institution six times between 1933 and 1963, in one instance walking all the way to Yuma , along the old Southern Pacific railroad tracks. Judd escaped for the final time on October 8, 1963, using a key to the front door of the hospital that

5734-410: The Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of the Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity , and blasphemy towards Muslim beliefs . Despite the wide use of the death penalty, calls for reform were not unknown. The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar Moses Maimonides wrote: "It

5856-403: The Judd case differ in their interpretation of the letter. While some believe it is a true confession, it has also been interpreted as an attempt by Judd to bolster her insanity defense , clear Halloran, or even incriminate Halloran by admitting to a crime to which he could then be named an accessory – a strategy not possible if Judd contended that she had killed in self-defense. J. Dwight Dobkins,

5978-429: The Judd's story, to date, Murderess remains the only feature-length film to tell it in a non-fiction framework. The Trunk Murders were featured in a 2009 episode of the true crime television series Deadly Women entitled " Hearts of Darkness " (Season 3, Episode 6). The 2009 novel Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott is based on the Judd case. The 2015 art installation "Tiger Lady", by Darren Clark and Gary Patch,

6100-527: The Kazak legal system 'Listening State' initiative. In 724 AD in Japan, the death penalty was banned during the reign of Emperor Shōmu but the abolition only lasted a few years. In 818, Emperor Saga abolished the death penalty under the influence of Shinto and it lasted until 1156. In China, the death penalty was banned by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in 747 , replacing it with exile or scourging . However,

6222-552: The Middle Ages the expiatory aspect of the death penalty was taken into account, this is no longer the case under the Lumières . These define the place of man within society no longer according to a divine rule, but as a contract established at birth between the citizen and the society, it is the social contract . From that moment on, capital punishment should be seen as useful to society through its dissuasive effect, but also as

SECTION 50

#1732787289490

6344-732: The North for their schools by the American Missionary Association , and thousands of freedmen enlisted from such camps in the United States Colored Troops to fight with the Union against the Confederacy. Numerous treaties defining contraband have been concluded among nations. In time of war, the nations involved have invariably violated the agreements, formulating their own definitions as

6466-530: The Reverend H.J. McKinnell, a Methodist minister, and his wife, Carrie, in Oxford , Indiana . 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. The marriage

6588-560: The West Coast. Anderson tagged the trunks to be held until they could be opened for inspection. He asked Judd for the key, but she stated she didn't have it with her. 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. Judd departed with her brother, leaving her trunks behind. At around 4:30 pm that afternoon, Anderson called

6710-653: The ban only lasted 12 years. Following his conversion to Christianity in 988, Vladimir the Great abolished the death penalty in Kievan Rus' , along with torture and mutilation; corporal punishment was also seldom used. In England, a public statement of opposition was included in The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards , written in 1395. In the post-classical Republic of Poljica , life was ensured as

6832-476: The carrying trade. By 1916, the list of conditional contraband included practically all waterborne cargo. Thereafter, for the duration of World War I , nearly all cargo in transit to an enemy nation was treated as contraband of war by the intercepting belligerent, regardless of the nature of the cargo. A similar policy was inaugurated by the belligerent powers early in World War II . Under international law,

6954-467: The charges against his client to be dismissed. On January 25, 1933, the judge freed Halloran, saying that the state's case was inconsistent, and that trying him would be "an idle gesture". Although officially exonerated, Halloran eventually fell out of favor in Phoenix, losing his business associates and social status. He died in Tucson in 1939. After her death sentence was overturned, Judd was committed to

7076-444: The citizens of neutral nations are entitled to trade, at their own risk, with any or all powers engaged in war. No duty to restrain contraband trade is imposed on the neutral governments, but no neutral government has the right to interfere on behalf of citizens whose property is seized by one belligerent if it is in transit to another. The penalty traditionally imposed by belligerents on neutral carriers engaged in commercial traffic with

7198-432: The co-author of the first book written about the Judd case (J. Dwight Dobkins and Robert J. Hendricks, Winnie Ruth Judd: The Trunk Murders ( Grosset & Dunlap , 1973)), dismissed the letter as "just another of her many confessions, the one attempt to have Halloran named as an accomplice." In 1934 radio producer-director William Robson created a dramatic rendering of the crime for an episode of Calling all Cars entitled

7320-504: The conditions of modern warfare, in which armed conflict has largely become a struggle involving the total populations of the contending powers, virtually all commodities are classified by belligerents as absolute contraband. During the American Civil War , Confederate -owned slaves who sought refuge in Union military camps or who lived in territories that fell under Union control were declared "contraband of war". The policy

7442-563: The control of the enemy and may be susceptible for use in armed conflict. Traditionally, contraband is classified into two categories, absolute contraband and conditional contraband. The former category includes arms, munitions, and various materials, such as chemicals and certain types of machinery that may be used directly to wage war or be converted into instruments of war. Conditional contraband, formerly known as occasional contraband, consists of such materials as provisions and livestock feed. Cargo of that kind, presumably innocent in character,

SECTION 60

#1732787289490

7564-408: The country, with the press calling Judd the "Tiger Woman" and the "Blonde Butcher". Eventually, the case came to be known in the media as the "Trunk Murders", and Judd as the "Trunk Murderess". 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

7686-475: The crime because the social system was based on tribes and clans, not individuals. Blood feuds could be regulated at meetings, such as the Norsemen things . Systems deriving from blood feuds may survive alongside more advanced legal systems or be given recognition by courts (for example, trial by combat or blood money). One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the duel . In certain parts of

7808-471: The crime committed. It inspired Western criminal law until the 17th century, a time when the first reflections on the abolition of the death penalty appeared. The Twelve Tables , the body of laws handed down from archaic Rome, prescribe the death penalty for a variety of crimes including libel, arson and theft. During the Late Republic , there was consensus among the public and legislators to reduce

7930-587: The crime scene. The following day, the bungalow's landlord placed newspaper ads in The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Evening Gazette offering tours of the three-room bungalow for ten cents per person, attracting hundreds of curiosity seekers. During the trial, Judd's defense protested, stating, "By the advertisements in the newspapers, the entire population of Maricopa County visited that place." The police maintained that Judd's victims were shot while asleep in their beds. The mattresses from

8052-429: The death of a man by accident. For the murderers, he considered that the act of homicide is not natural and is not fully consented by the criminal. Homicide is thus a disease of the soul , which must be reeducated as much as possible, and, as a last resort, sentence to death if no rehabilitation is possible. According to Aristotle , for whom free will is proper to man, a person is responsible for their actions. If there

8174-453: The death penalty , drug trafficking and often drug possession is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption and financial crimes are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion , insubordination , and mutiny . Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in

8296-448: The death penalty for a wide range of offences. Protagoras (whose thought is reported by Plato ) criticised the principle of revenge, because once the damage is done it cannot be cancelled by any action. So, if the death penalty is to be imposed by society, it is only to protect the latter against the criminal or for a dissuasive purpose. "The only right that Protagoras knows is therefore human right, which, established and sanctioned by

8418-577: The death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishments for wrongdoing generally included blood money compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning , banishment and execution. In tribal societies, compensation and shunning were often considered enough as a form of justice. The response to crimes committed by neighbouring tribes, clans or communities included a formal apology, compensation, blood feuds, and tribal warfare . A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails, or an arbitration system

8540-753: The death penalty was abolished in 1867. The last execution in Brazil was 1876; from then on all the condemnations were commuted by the Emperor Pedro II until its abolition for civil offences and military offences in peacetime in 1891. The penalty for crimes committed in peacetime was then reinstated and abolished again twice (1938–1953 and 1969–1978), but on those occasions it was restricted to acts of terrorism or subversion considered "internal warfare" and all sentences were commuted and not carried out. Many countries have abolished capital punishment either in law or in practice. Since World War II , there has been

8662-536: The death penalty was declared unconstitutional based on the Furman v. Georgia case, but the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia case once again permitted the death penalty under certain circumstances. Further limitations were placed on the death penalty in Atkins v. Virginia (2002; death penalty unconstitutional for people with an intellectual disability ) and Roper v. Simmons (2005; death penalty unconstitutional if defendant

8784-459: The death penalty. In abolitionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders, though few countries have brought it back after abolishing it. However, a spike in serious, violent crimes, such as murders or terrorist attacks, has prompted some countries to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty. One notable example is Pakistan which in December 2014 lifted

8906-544: 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. Hays believed that the trial testimony didn't reveal nearly enough evidence of premeditation on Judd's part, leading him to conclude that if not for Kleinman, Judd would have been convicted of no worse than second-degree murder. He also believed Speakman should have given

9028-529: The development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalised form of punishment for even minor offences. In early modern Europe, a mass panic regarding witchcraft swept across Europe and later the European colonies in North America . During this period, there were widespread claims that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organised threat to Christendom . As

9150-470: The double slaying was never addressed in court because Judd was tried only for the murder of LeRoi, whose body was not dismembered; she was never tried for the murder of Samuelson. The state argued that Judd acted with premeditation ; that the relations between the three women had deteriorated over some weeks; and that they had argued over the affections of Halloran, all of which culminated in the murders. The prosecution maintained that Judd had herself inflicted

9272-409: The earliest being Michigan , where it was abolished in 1846, while other states still actively use it today. The death penalty in the United States remains a contentious issue which is hotly debated . In retentionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived when a miscarriage of justice has occurred though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish

9394-435: The execution ground in a cart rather than having to walk there. Nearly all executions under the Tang dynasty took place in public as a warning to the population. The heads of the executed were displayed on poles or spears. When local authorities decapitated a convicted criminal, the head was boxed and sent to the capital as proof of identity and that the execution had taken place. In medieval and early modern Europe, before

9516-473: The eyes of the legislator—termed contraband in se —and forbidden. Derivative contraband consists of goods that may normally be owned, but are liable to be seized because they were used in committing an unlawful act and hence begot illegally, e.g. smuggling goods; stolen goods – knowingly participating in their trade is an offense in itself, called fencing . In international law , contraband means goods that are ultimately destined for territory under

9638-744: The family that had previously employed her, later lived in Stockton, California , and then went back to Phoenix a few years before her death where she died on October 23, 1998, at the age of 93, sixty-seven years to the day from her surrender to the LAPD in 1931. Investigative journalist Jana Bommersbach re-examined Judd's case for a series of articles in the Phoenix New Times and a later book, The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd ( Simon & Schuster , 1992). As part of her investigation, Bommersbach interviewed Judd herself. Bommersbach concluded that

9760-583: The fortunes of war indicated. The Declaration of London , drafted at the London Naval Conference of 1908–1909 and made partly effective by most of the European maritime nations at the outbreak of World War I, established comprehensive classifications of absolute and conditional contraband. As the war developed, the lists of articles in each category were constantly revised by the various belligerents despite protests by neutral powers engaged in

9882-412: The gallows had he been on the jury. They lodged two appeals on this basis, arguing that Kleinman's behavior amounted to juror misconduct . However, neither of these appeals were successful. Judd's death sentence was overturned after a ten-day hearing found her mentally incompetent . Judd was then sent to Arizona State Asylum for the Insane on April 24, 1933. When it was discovered during the course of

10004-522: The grave intact. Some further forms of capital punishment were practiced in the Tang dynasty, of which the first two that follow at least were extralegal. The first of these was scourging to death with the thick rod which was common throughout the Tang dynasty especially in cases of gross corruption. The second was truncation, in which the convicted person was cut in two at the waist with a fodder knife and then left to bleed to death. A further form of execution called Ling Chi ( slow slicing ), or death by/of

10126-611: The gunshot wound to her left hand to try to bolster her claim of self-defense . Judd's defense contended that she was innocent because she was insane, but did not introduce the self-defense argument for the record. Judd did not take the stand in her own defense. The jury found Judd guilty of the first-degree murder of LeRoi on February 8. An appeal was unsuccessful. Judd was sentenced by Judge Speakman to be hanged February 17, 1933, and sent to Arizona State Prison in Florence, Arizona . This came despite sworn affidavits from four of

10248-487: The hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. As People of the Book , Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to dhimmi status (along with Jews , Samaritans , Gnostics , Mandeans , and Zoroastrians), which was inferior to the status of Muslims. Christians and other religious minorities thus faced religious discrimination and religious persecution in that they were banned from proselytising (for Christians, it

10370-454: The head or neck. Various authoritarian states employed the death penalty as a potent means of political oppression . Anti-Soviet author Robert Conquest claimed that more than one million Soviet citizens were executed during the Great Purge of 1936 to 1938, almost all by a bullet to the back of the head. Mao Zedong publicly stated that "800,000" people had been executed in China during

10492-433: The head, torso, and lower legs into a black shipping trunk, placing the upper legs in a beige valise and hatbox. LeRoi's body was stuffed intact into a second black shipping trunk. 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

10614-477: The incidence of capital punishment. This opinion led to voluntary exile being prescribed in place of the death penalty, whereby a convict could either choose to leave in exile or face execution. A historic debate, followed by a vote, took place in the Roman Senate to decide the fate of Catiline 's allies when he attempted to seize power in December, 63 BC. Cicero, then Roman consul , argued in support of

10736-410: The incidence of increased violent criminality at the times and places of executions. Official recognition of this phenomenon led to executions being carried out inside prisons, away from public view. In England in the 18th century, when there was no police force, Parliament drastically increased the number of capital offences to more than 200. These were mainly property offences, for example cutting down

10858-478: The injustice, but even the futility from the point of view of social welfare , of torture and the death penalty. Influenced by the book, Grand Duke Leopold II of Habsburg, the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , abolished the death penalty in the then-independent Grand Duchy of Tuscany , the first abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked executions (the last

10980-620: The island was independent) was the first legislative assembly in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1824. Tahiti commuted the death penalty to banishment. In the United States, Michigan was the first state to ban the death penalty, on 18 May 1846. The short-lived revolutionary Roman Republic banned capital punishment in 1849. Venezuela followed suit and abolished the death penalty in 1863 and San Marino did so in 1865. The last execution in San Marino had taken place in 1468. In Portugal, after legislative proposals in 1852 and 1863,

11102-711: The jurisdiction, but commonly include serious crimes against a person, such as murder , assassination , mass murder , child murder , aggravated rape , terrorism , aircraft hijacking , war crimes , crimes against humanity , and genocide , along with crimes against the state such as attempting to overthrow government , treason , espionage , sedition , and piracy . Also, in some cases, acts of recidivism , aggravated robbery, and kidnapping , in addition to drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession, are capital crimes or enhancements. However, states have also imposed punitive executions, for an expansive range of conduct, for political or religious beliefs and practices, for

11224-418: The jurors claiming they only voted to recommend death after one of their fellow jurors, former Mesa mayor Dan Kleinman, persuaded them that it was the best way to get Judd to give up any accomplices in the murder. They urged Speakman to commute the sentence to life imprisonment . Judd's attorneys uncovered evidence that Kleinman had already made up his mind that he would vote to convict Judd and send her to

11346-577: The jury the option of finding that Judd acted in self-defense, citing "evidence presented at the trial to support self-defense." According to Hays, even if the defense doesn't argue self-defense, "there's an obligation on the judge's part" to leave that option open to the jury when evidence of self-defense is presented. Even without this to consider, Hays believed that Judd should have gotten a new trial because of Kleinman's behavior, which he believed amounted to juror misconduct and jury tampering . However, Bommersbach's conclusions and her objectivity in view of

11468-401: The killing of conspirators without judgment by decision of the Senate ( Senatus consultum ultimum ) and was supported by the majority of senators; among the minority voices opposed to the execution, the most notable was Julius Caesar . The custom was different for foreigners who did not hold rights as Roman citizens , and especially for slaves, who were transferrable property. Crucifixion

11590-463: The majority of countries have abolished capital punishment, over half of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, including India, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and DR Congo. As of 2023, only 2 out of 38 OECD member countries (the United States and Japan ) allow capital punishment. Capital punishment

11712-402: The meeting was kept "hush, hush". However, in the following days, Belli called a press conference calling for Judd's immediate release, forcing Debus to fire Belli. Judd was paroled and released on December 22, 1971, after two years of legal wrangling. In 1983, the state of Arizona issued her an "absolute discharge," meaning she was no longer a parolee. Judd returned to California to work for

11834-476: The personal relationship she formed with Judd, have been questioned by others who have studied the case. The 2014 discovery of a so-called "confession letter", written in April 1933 in Judd's own hand to her attorney H.G. Richardson, raised new questions about her case. 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

11956-409: The police and prosecution were biased against Judd, and uncovered evidence that suggested she was innocent. She also faulted the press for its coverage of the trial. Noting that crime reporters of the day covered high-profile trials in a way that would be considered "supermarket sleaze" today, she argued that the press helped create such an atmosphere of prejudice that Judd could not have possibly gotten

12078-495: The substance of an appeal he had just filed in her case. After Richardson's death, Judd wrote to his widow repeatedly asking for return of the letter, for fear it would jeopardize hearings on her sanity and potential release from Arizona State Hospital, but Richardson's widow refused. In 2002, a few years after Judd's death, the letter was anonymously donated to the Arizona state archives. Those who have studied or been involved in

12200-600: The then emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, abolished in his immediate lands in 1787 capital punishment, which though only lasted until 1795, after both had died and Leopolds son Francis abolished it in his immediate lands. In Tuscany it was reintroduced in 1790 after Leopolds departure becoming emperor. Only after 1831 capital punishment was again at times stopped, though it took until 2007 to abolish capital punishment in Italy completely. The Kingdom of Tahiti (when

12322-470: The thick rod or of exile to the remote Lingnan region might take the place of capital punishment. However, the death penalty was restored only 12 years later in 759 in response to the An Lushan Rebellion . At this time in the Tang dynasty only the emperor had the authority to sentence criminals to execution. Under Xuanzong capital punishment was relatively infrequent, with only 24 executions in

12444-482: The three women over Halloran's affections. 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. The two victims were killed with a .25 caliber handgun in their bungalow, located at 2929 (now 2947) N. 2nd Street. According to prosecutors, Judd and an accomplice then dismembered Samuelson's body and put

12566-515: The trial into a radio drama, spearheaded by then radio announcer, Jack Williams . The radio program became an early manifestation of what would later become, "True Crime Podcasts." thetruthaboutwinnieruthjudd.com The 2024 book by Laurie Notaro entitled "The Murderess" tells the story of Judd's crimes. It is considered a work of fiction, but it is based on these events. Sentenced to death Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction Capital punishment , also known as

12688-518: The trial that Halloran and Judd had been involved in an illicit affair, Halloran came under suspicion of complicity in the killings. He was indicted by a grand jury as an accomplice to murder on December 30, 1932, following new testimony from Judd. A preliminary hearing on the charge against Halloran was held in mid-January 1933, with Judd appearing as the star witness. In testimony that lasted almost three days, an emotional Judd told her story, saying I am going to be hanged for something Jack Halloran

12810-432: 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. In those days, deer meat was frequently smuggled aboard trains running to

12932-504: The two beds were missing the night the police entered. One mattress was later found with no blood stains on it miles away in a vacant lot; the other remained missing. No explanation was ever offered as to why one was found so far away, nor what became of the other mattress. Judd's trial began on January 19, 1932, at the Maricopa County Courthouse , with Judge Howard C. Speakman presiding. The dismemberment aspect of

13054-589: The whole story. He made an appointment for the next week, but he died the day before the appointment." Brown died in June 1932 of heart disease at the age of 44. According to Bommersbach, some speculate he might have been contemplating suicide , writing, "As the New York Mirror reported the day Halloran's indictment was announced: 'A second man would probably have been indicted, according to widespread rumor, if death had not intervened. Mrs. Judd's story included

13176-430: The world, nations in the form of ancient republics, monarchies or tribal oligarchies emerged. These nations were often united by common linguistic, religious or family ties. Moreover, expansion of these nations often occurred by conquest of neighbouring tribes or nations. Consequently, various classes of royalty, nobility, various commoners and slaves emerged. Accordingly, the systems of tribal arbitration were submerged into

13298-423: The year 730 and 58 executions in the year 736. The two most common forms of execution in the Tang dynasty were strangulation and decapitation, which were the prescribed methods of execution for 144 and 89 offences respectively. Strangulation was the prescribed sentence for lodging an accusation against one's parents or grandparents with a magistrate, scheming to kidnap a person and sell them into slavery and opening

13420-413: Was a crime, a judge must define the penalty allowing the crime to be annulled by compensating it. This is how pecuniary compensation appeared for criminals the least recalcitrant and whose rehabilitation is deemed possible. However, for others, he argued, the death penalty is necessary. This philosophy aims on the one hand to protect society and on the other hand to compensate to cancel the consequences of

13542-519: Was a form of punishment first employed by the Romans against slaves who rebelled , and throughout the Republican era was reserved for slaves , bandits , and traitors . Intended to be a punishment, a humiliation, and a deterrent, the condemned could take up to a few days to die. Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and to be eaten by animals. There was a time in

13664-643: Was abolished for all offences in 1998. Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, first entering into force in 2003, prohibits the death penalty in all circumstances for those states that are party to it, including the United Kingdom from 2004. Contraband Contraband (from Medieval French contrebande "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in

13786-700: Was active in the city's political and social circles. Although married, Halloran was a known playboy and philanderer . Judd and Halloran became friendly and eventually had an extramarital affair . After a few months, Judd began working as a secretary at the Grunow Medical Clinic in Phoenix. There, she met Anne Alexandra LeRoi (birthname Agnes Anne), an X-ray technician, and her roommate, Sarah Hedvig Samuelson, who had moved together from Alaska after Samuelson contracted tuberculosis . The two women were also friendly with Halloran. Judd became friends with LeRoi and Samuelson, and even moved in with them for

13908-429: Was allegedly competing for Halloran's affections. She further stated that she had not planned to kill Samuelson, but did so after Samuelson, alerted by the gunshot that killed LeRoi, walked in on the murder scene and began fighting with Judd. Judd wrote that she also acted alone in handling and transporting the bodies. According to a New Times article by Robert Pela, Richardson suppressed the letter because it contradicted

14030-478: 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. According to Judd, she met up with Halloran shortly after the killings and returned with him to the bungalow. After seeing the bodies, he went out to the garage, returned with a "great, heavy trunk" and told her not to tell anyone. Under cross-examination , Judd admitted repacking Samuelson's dismembered body in

14152-406: Was considered by some to be a miscarriage of justice , and his exoneration a political cover-up. His gray Packard had been spotted at the crime scene the night of the murders and again the next day, suggesting that he might have been an accomplice. According to Bommersbach, there were indications that Judd was not capable of dismembering Samuelson's body – a task that, according to autopsy photos,

14274-654: Was first articulated by General Benjamin F. Butler in 1861, in what came to be known as the " Fort Monroe Doctrine ," established in Hampton, Virginia . By war's end, the Union had set up 100 contraband camps in the South, and the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony (1863–1867) was developed to be a self-sustaining colony. Many adult freedmen worked for wages for the Army at such camps, teachers were recruited from

14396-567: Was forbidden to evangelise or spread Christianity ) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death, they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs. Under sharia , Non-Muslims were obligated to pay jizya and kharaj taxes, together with periodic heavy ransom levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed

14518-415: Was further strained by Winnie Ruth Judd's health problems and inability to bear children. By 1930, the couple were mostly living separately, although they remained in constant communication. Judd, called by her middle name of "Ruth", moved to Phoenix , Arizona , where she worked as governess to a wealthy family. During this time, she met John J. "Happy Jack" Halloran, a 44-year-old Phoenix businessman who

14640-424: Was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. In 2000, Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating Cities for Life Day . Leopolds brother Joseph ,

14762-410: Was performed with surgical skills that Judd did not possess – and that Judd was not even physically capable of lifting the bodies. 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

14884-441: Was under age 18 at the time the crime was committed). In the United States, 23 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. ban capital punishment. In the United Kingdom, it was abolished for murder (leaving only treason, piracy with violence , arson in royal dockyards and a number of wartime military offences as capital crimes) for a five-year experiment in 1965 and permanently in 1969, the last execution having taken place in 1964. It

#489510