The Trunk Murderess by Jana Bommersbach

Author:Jana Bommersbach [Jana Bommersbach]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
ISBN: 978-1-61595-266-3
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2011-04-21T16:00:00+00:00

Dan Kleinman, it turns out, was wearing several hats when he joined the Judd jury. And none of them was white.

Twice his actions inside and outside the jury room would be labeled “juror misconduct” by Ruth Judd’s attorneys. Twice they would ask for a new trial because of him. Twice their appeals would be denied.

Long before the Judd jurors made their stunning revelations of his “make her talk” scheme, Kleinman had already been challenged as an unfair juror and had faced the possibility of going to jail.

His actions were first spotlighted shortly after the trial ended, when Herman Lewkowitz was alerted that Kleinman had been anything but impartial. Three people came forward to say that even before he was sworn in as a juror, he had been urging the death penalty for Winnie Ruth Judd.

Armed with their sworn statements, Lewkowitz charged that Kleinman lied to the court when he testified during jury selection that he had an open mind and would decide the case based on the evidence. Lewkowitz charged Kleinman with being “wholly unqualified and unfit to sit as a juror.”

To prove his point, the defense attorney brought forth a Phoenix man named A. E. Parmer, who said he’d had a conversation with Kleinman in the Walgreen drugstore in downtown Phoenix in mid-January of 1932, just days before jury selection began. Parmer quoted Kleinman as saying, “This Judd woman is guilty as hell and if I ever get on that jury, I will hang the bitch.”

Kleinman was overheard a second time making a similar comment, according to B. H. Ward, one of the potential jurors who was not chosen for the trial. Ward testified he was in the courtroom hallway when he heard Kleinman tell a group of men, “This Judd woman is not crazy and should be hung.”

Even a longtime friend of Kleinman’s came forward—reluctantly, it was noted to the court—to say that in two separate private conversations, Kleinman “admitted that he probably had said, previously to his being selected as a Judd juror, that Mrs. Judd was guilty and should hang.” J. L. Rodgers disclosed in a notarized affidavit that he had kept quiet about his knowledge because, “I thought Dan would do something for Mrs. Judd when the right time arrived, as he said he would. Since he hasn’t, I honestly feel it is my duty to tell it now.”

Dan Kleinman was not called to the stand to answer these allegations, even though he faced the possibility of jail time if he was found guilty. Instead, the court was presented with his sworn affidavit contending all the charges were “wholly false and untrue.” Another statement came from Kleinman’s daughter-in-law, who said she had never heard him utter a conclusion about the case.

Kleinman’s main defender was a Tempe man named A. N. Smith—a man introduced to the court simply as an old friend who claimed he was present when Kleinman and Parmer talked at the drugstore. Smith declared he had never heard any statement about “hanging the bitch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.