Jana Bommersbach was an award-winning investigative reporter for the Phoenix New Times, a regular columnist for Phoenix Magazine and she wrote the authoritative story of one of Arizona’s crime legends in the book "The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd."
She died this week after a long illness. Bommersbach was 78.
In 2005, she was inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, and she was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame in 2020.
In 2014, she spoke with KJZZ’s The Show about her novel “Cattle Kate,” the only woman ever lynched as a cattle rustler.
“That is the theme of my life. I can’t stand injustice. So women who are messed over because they’re women, and who are maligned and whose lives are stolen from them because they’re at the mercy of vicious forces, that really attracts me," said Bommersbach.
She was the author of several books, including both fiction and non-fiction, as well a children's book. She talked with KJZZ in 2016 about her children's book, "A Squirrel’s Story."
Bommersbach died Wednesday while in hospice care in her home state of North Dakota.
A memorial in Phoenix will be set for a later date.
