The Phoenix area has a number of notorious murders. Here are some of the most shocking cases
Note: This story was originally published Oct. 8, 2014.
It was sensational then. And it is still sensational: the Phoenix trunk murders.
People still take tours of sites related to the grisly murders. Writings on the killings have proliferated.
The case had it all: sex, violence, infidelity, jealousy. Winnie Ruth Judd, a young medical secretary, was convicted of killing her two roommates, chopping up limbs and stuffing them into steamer trunks.
The three were said to have been fighting over a man. Some historians believe Judd couldn't have committed the murders on her own, and some argue she was innocent.
The public was riveted.
"These were the times of Pretty Boy Floyd and the Dillinger gang and Baby Face Nelson and Al Capone," said Marshall Trimble, the official state historian. "In a way, it was kind of a diversion for people. They enjoyed these things like going to the movies. You could forget about your own troubles."
The case continues to mystify. A recent letter that surfaced at the Arizona Historical Society, posted online to the Arizona Memory Project, documents her confession to her attorney, according to the site.
She wrote from a Florence prison and told her attorney that her friend, Anne, had driven her crazy by taunting her about her fling with the man she also dated. The letter contends that she spent an entire night waiting with a gun and a knife to kill the friend, and Judd wound up killing both roommates.
She then spent two hours putting Anne's body in a trunk, left for work and returned to do the same with the second victim, Sammy. But she was too heavy, so she used knives from the kitchen to cut her up and stuff the remains in the trunk, according to the letter.
Metro Phoenix has made national headlines for a slew of gory tales. Here is a look at some of the Valley's most notorious historical murders.
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Murdered: James Gibson
When: 1917
Where: East Valley along the Apache Trail
The story: A man named Starr Daley approached Gibson and his wife, Florence, during a pit stop on their travels. He shot Gibson in the back, raped Florence and forced her to drive him into Mesa the next day. He admitted the crime to law enforcement. Residents rushed the police car that was taking Daley to jail, dragged him out and hanged him.
The killing is significant because it prompted the state to reinstate the death penalty, which had been outlawed years earlier.
Murdered: Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig 'Sammy' Samuelson
When: 1931
Where: Central Phoenix
The story: One of Arizona's most famous murder investigations opened when officials found trunks in Los Angeles stuffed with hacked-up body parts. They belonged to Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson, and their roommate, Winnie Ruth Judd, was the prime suspect.
She was convicted of killing them in their home amid a fight over a man, and stuffing their remains into steamer trunks that she shipped with her on a train to California.
She was sentenced to death, but was later committed to the Arizona State Asylum in 1933. She escaped seven times over several decades and was paroled in 1971. She died in 1998.
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Murdered: Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop
When: 1962
Where: A dirt trail off Scottsdale Road
The story: William Macumber spent half his life in prison for a double murder he insisted he never committed, only to be freed after 37 years when evidence that led to his conviction came into question. The final details of the murders remain a mystery to many.
Police found the couple dead in the desert off Scottsdale Road on a May morning in 1962. Their bodies lay a few feet from their car. They had bullet wounds in their heads.
The couple had just announced plans to get married. They were 20 years old.
The night of the murders, they celebrated a family birthday, drove to some model homes near Dreamy Draw, bought a milkshake and drove down a dirt track east of Scottsdale Road.
Police arrested Macumber years after the couple's murder, following testimony from his wife that he told her he killed them.
Murdered: Four women and a 3-year-old girl
When: 1966
Where: Rose-Mar College in Mesa
The story: On a Saturday morning, 18-year-old Robert Benjamin Smith walked into the beauty school and forced women and a child to lie in a circle on the salon floor. He shot them one by one.
The Mesa High School senior said he did it to make a name for himself.
He was sentenced to life in prison.
The case gained national attention, particularly when a 1967 issue of "Good Housekeeping" cited Smith and other mass murderers as evidence for the need for tougher gun laws.
Murdered: Ernesto Miranda
When: 1976
Where: La Amapola Bar, a former dive at Second and Jackson streets. The joint was known as "Deuce" and advertised itself by a small neon sign that read: "Dancing."
The story: Miranda, whose case led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on Miranda rights, was stabbed to death over a $2 poker bet at the bar, according to Associated Press articles at the time.
His killer was never convicted.
Miranda's 1963 conviction for kidnapping and raping a woman was thrown out because the officer did not read him his rights before he confessed. The Supreme Court case that followed established the law requiring those rights to be read.
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Murdered: Don Bolles
When: 1976
Where: Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix
The story: The Arizona Republic investigative reporter went to the hotel to meet a source who promised information on some state politicians' connection to the mob. He waited in the lobby, but the source never showed. When he returned to his car and keyed the ignition, a bomb blew up his vehicle. He died in the hospital after 11 days.
That triggered a flood of journalists from the Investigative Reporters and Editors association to surge into Arizona to investigate the facts leading to Bolles' death.
Phoenix contractor Max Dunlap was convicted of ordering men to kill Bolles. He died in prison in 2009.
Murdered: Bob Crane
When: 1978
Where: Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale
The story: Crane, former star of "Hogan's Heroes," a TV comedy set during World War II, was in the Valley to perform in a play. Someone beat him to death in his apartment, possibly with a camera tripod, and wound an electrical cord around his throat. Police suspected that a friend, John Carpenter, had killed him, but they didn't have the DNA evidence.
Crane's death gained national attention not only because of his role as an actor, but because police found that he had filmed and photographed pornography.
Murdered: Russell Dempsey and Cecil Newkirk
When: May 24, 1977
Where: Interstate 17 north of Phoenix
The story: Two Purolator guards, Russell Dempsey and Cecil Newkirk, left Phoenix in an armored van. At the Bumblebee Road exit on Interstate 17, they were stopped by the Polands, who were disguised as highway patrolmen. Michael and Patrick Poland took the guards captive and removed close to $300,000 in cash.
On May 25, 1977, the Polands put the guards into canvas bags, took them across Lake Mead, and dumped them into the water. The bodies surfaced three weeks later. The Polands were later convicted and executed.
Murdered: Roberta Moormann
When: Jan. 13, 1984
Where: Blue Mist Hotel
The story: Robert Moormann, 35, was serving time at the Arizona State Prison in Florence for a kidnapping conviction in Coconino County. In January 1984, Moormann was given a 72-hour furlough from the prison to visit his adoptive mother, Roberta Moormann.
Moormann met Roberta at the Blue Mist Hotel in Florence on Jan. 13, 1984, and ended up smothering her in her hotel room. Moormann then dismembered her body and wrapped her remains in plastic garbage bags to dispose of them.
Moormann disposed of the bags at several store's dumpsters, including a local restaurant where he asked if he could dispose of animal remains in their dumpster on the morning of Jan. 14, 1984.
Restaurant owner George Johnson recognized Moormann from when he worked as a guard at the Arizona State Prison. Suspicious of Moormann's request, Johnson called the police, who later arrested Moormann in the same motel room where he'd murdered his mother.
Police soon found Roberta's head and other remains wrapped in plastic bags in garbage cans beside the hotel. Other wrapped remains were discovered in trash cans at a cafe next to the hotel and at a drive-in restaurant a few blocks away.
Moormann was found guilty of first-degree murder on April 4, 1985, and given the death penalty on May 7, 1985. Judge Richard Yoylston of Pima County Superior Court said the crime was "heinous and cruel."
Murdered: Christy Ann Fornoff
When: May 9, 1984
Where: Tempe
The story: Fornoff disappeared on the evening of May 9, 1984, while collecting money on her newspaper-delivery route at a Tempe apartment complex. Within hours, police were combing the complex with canine units as Fornoff's parents and neighbors knocked on doors.
Two days later, Don Beaty, the complex's maintenance man, was seen standing over Fornoff's body, which had been wrapped in a sheet and laid next to a garbage bin.
Beaty was arrested May 22, 1984, and charged with murder and sexual assault. He was executed on May 25, 2011, by lethal injection.
Murdered: Larry Pritchard
When: Feb. 23, 1987
Where: Apache Lake
The story: Larry Pritchard was camping near Apache Lake in 1987, and he was invited to have dinner and drinks with another camper, Robert Comer and his girlfriend. Comer shot and killed Pritchard. He and his girlfriend then went to another campsite where they hogtied a camper to a car fender and raped another camper.
Comer was executed on May 22, 2007.
Murdered: Temple employees, monks, a nun and her nephew
When: Aug. 10, 1991
Where: Wat Promkunaram Buddhist Temple in Waddell
The story: Nine people were found shot in the back of the head at the Buddhist temple near Luke Air Force Base.
Johnathan Doody and Allessandro "Alex" Garcia were arrested in connection with the murders. Garcia would plead guilty to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to 271 years in prison. Doody was convicted of murder and sentenced to 281 years in prison.
Because of the forced confession, Doody's conviction was overturned in 2008 and again in 2011 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He went back on trial in August 2013, but that resulted in a mistrial. In a subsequent trial, Doody was found guilty of nine counts of first-degree murder, nine counts of armed robbery and one count each of burglary and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sent back to prison.
Murdered: Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso
When: 1990s
Where: Phoenix canals
The story: Two young women, Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso, were last seen along canals in Phoenix before they went missing. Days later their bodies were found dumped in the canals, mutilated and barely identifiable.
Bernas was a junior at Arcadia High School. She had gone for a bike ride near her home. Brosso, 22, had also gone for a bike ride and hadn't returned to her apartment.
The case had been a mystery for years. Police arrested Bryan Patrick Miller in January 2015 and he was convicted in 2023.
Murdered: Yarmila Falater
When: 1997
Where: Phoenix
The story: Scott Falater, a quiet churchgoing electrical engineer, stabbed his wife 44 times, then held her head underwater in their backyard pool. He never denied this. But he said he was sleepwalking at the time and couldn't be held responsible for Yarmila's death.
At trial, he said he was devastated about her death. "Personally, it's something that's going to haunt me forever," Falater testified.
He told jurors that Yarmila was his high school sweetheart, that the two vowed to be together through eternity.
"There was no way I could do that, not intentionally," Falater said, sometimes breaking down in tears. "I loved her. I don't know what I would do without her."
But the prosecutor painted a different picture, of a marriage troubled by Scott's desire for more children and Yarmila's disaffection to the family's Mormon faith. Prosecutor Juan Martinez also noted that Yarmila was found without her wedding ring on and that Falater was aware enough to recognize and calm his dog.
The jury agreed and found the 43-year-old guilty of killing his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Murdered: Ira Pomerantz
When: January 2000
Where: Phoenix
The story: The torso of 60-year-old Ira Pomerantz was found in a garbage bin in January 2000 shortly after Pomerantz was fatally shot.
His wife, Valerie Pape, originally was charged with first-degree murder, but she pleaded guilty in 2002 to second-degree murder under a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Police found a receipt in her purse showing she'd purchased a saw at a hardware store weeks before the killing.
After her arrest in January 2000, news reports detailed Pape's strained marriage, big debts, and her relationship with another man.
Pape will be deported to her native France now that she has completed her 16-year prison sentence for killing her husband.
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Murdered: Tammy Lovell, Jacob Lovell, Cassandra Lovell, Steven Duffy and Shane Duffy
When: Feb. 21, 2006
Where: Mesa
The story: On Feb. 21, 2006, William Craig Miller killed five people in an attempt to cover up his involvement in an arson-for-hire case.
Steven Duffy and his girlfriend, Tammy Lovell, were set to testify against Miller and had helped Scottsdale police in the arson investigation. Duffy had helped Miller burn his home in Scottsdale.
Miller shot Duffy and Lovell execution-style before killing Lovell's children, Jacob and Cassandra, and Duffy's younger brother, Shane.
Miller was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to death.
Murdered: Travis Alexander
When: June 2008
Where: Alexander's Mesa home
The story: Travis Alexander, 30, was found dead in the bathroom of his Mesa home in June 2008. He had been shot in the head, stabbed nearly 30 times, and his throat was cut from ear to ear. His body sat there for five days before it was discovered by friends.
The friends told police that Alexander had a stalker named Jodi Arias. Then police found Alexander's camera in the washing machine of the townhouse and were able to recover photographs: Alexander and Arias in various sexual poses. Arias was arrested a month later at her grandparents' home in northern California and charged with first-degree murder. Her trial, which began in January 2013, was televised and quickly became a social media spectacle. Arias was convicted of the murder and later sentenced to life in prison.
Murdered: Mary, Brittney and Bobby Fisher
When: April 10, 2001
Where: The Fisher family home in Scottsdale
The story: Robert William Fisher's wife, Mary, 38, and their two children Brittney, 13, and Bobby, 10, were murdered inside their Scottsdale home on April 10, 2001. Police suspect Fisher then blew up their Scottsdale home in an attempt to cover up the murders.
Ten days later, Mary’s vehicle was located in the mountains near Payson. Inside the vehicle the family dog Blue was found along with an Oakland Raiders hat. Robert Fisher was recorded wearing the hat by security cameras in his last confirmed sighting.
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Murdered: Lisa Mederos, Amber Mederos, Lilly Mederos and Jim Hiott
When: May 2, 2012
Where: Lisa Mederos' Gilbert home
The story: On a May afternoon in 2012, a shooting rampage at a home in a sedate Gilbert neighborhood left four adults and a toddler dead.
Avowed White supremacist J.T. Ready had killed his girlfriend and members of her family before taking his own life.
Police reports would later indicate that Ready and Lisa had been arguing the night of May 1, then again the next day about noon. Ready accused Lisa of breaking something he owned.
Amber was planning to pick up her sister, Brittany, for lunch at Joe's BBQ in downtown Gilbert. Amber arrived with her daughter Lilly and fiance Jim.
Then the gunshots started.
Police believe Ready shot either Amber and Lilly first near the front door. Lisa called police. Investigators concluded she was still on the phone when she edged around a corner and came into Ready's view. He shot her, too. Jim was talking on his phone outside the house. Police believe he may have walked toward the front door after hearing the gunshots, but turned to run when he saw Ready emerge, armed. Ready fired three times. The third bullet hit Jim in the back of the head. Ready then raised the handgun to his own head, just above his right ear, and fired.
The whole shooting took perhaps less than a minute.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shocking murders in the Phoenix area that have become historic
