Not long after my divorce, I talked my sister into moving to Phoenix with me and my sons that were two and three at the time. We moved into a duplex just off of Mitchell Street. Velvet was attending Cosmetology School and I had taken a job at The Big Apple, a well-known Bar-B-Q Restaurant. Raised in a country store, I knew I could always provide for my family by serving food. However, I needed someone to watch my boys during the day. I put a small ad for a baby sitter in the Phoenix Gazette. Only one person answered the ad and I hired her on the spot. Winnie was in her late 50's or early 60's. She was a very pleasant-looking woman and had a gentle spirit about her. The boys both warmed up to her right away. I was very pleased with her as a babysitter and she kept the apartment clean too.
My in-laws stopped by the apartment one afternoon while I was at work and Winnie let them in to visit and play with the boys for a bit. They lived out of town and always took the time to see us when they could. They were gone by the time I arrived home and the boys were all excited about the gifts they received.
Winnie only worked for me a short season. When she turned in her resignation, she told me she had obtained a job as a Governess with a wealthy aristocrat family there in Phoenix.
Years later, my mother-in-law revealed many more details about my babysitter. She was Winnie Ruth Judd aka The Trunk Murderous. The last time she escaped the insane asylum she managed to stay out for six and a half years. I believe she came to work for me shortly after she escaped from Arizona State Hospital in 1963-1964. Both Mickey and my father-in-law were acquainted with her. Sheriff McFadden sent Deputy Tillman (my father in law) to California several times to escort her back to the asylum. Every time he picked her up, she would be sporting new mink coats and loaded down with diamonds. She was being well cared for by someone. Many believe that a prominent businessman who she was having a relationship with at the time of the murders had her take the fall for him. Apparently, he continued to take care of her even after she was paroled and released in 1971. She passed away at the age of 93 in 1998. My father-in-law dropped by the hospital occasionally; he would stop in to visit with Winnie. She always gave him her homemade cookies to take home for his children. He never believed she was guilty of the murder in which she was accused. Mickey knew Winnie as well and did not feel like the boys were in any kind of danger, so she chose not to inform me of her background at that time. I found it odd that she waited such a long time to fill me in on the “Rest of the Story.”
I have experienced many trials in life as most of us have. My hindsight tells me that the hand of the Creator of the universe has been watching over me all along the way. I have been spared from being murdered, avoided wrecks, diverted from marrying the wrong men, saved from making bad investments and the list could go on. Makes me wonder, how does one exist without Him in their life? Think about it.
