Jana Bommersbach

Uncovering the (Strange) Truth

by Danielle D'Adamo

Meeting Jana Bommersbach, with her vibrant spirit and perpetual cheeriness, one would never guess that she spends a good part of her time peering into the dark and seedy side of life in Arizona. But for Bommersbach, writing about addiction, murder, fraud and sex scandals is not just away to offer up sensational stories Valley readers can't get enough of; it's a vehicle for raising awareness on social injustices that rank at the top of her "we have to change this" list.

True, blowing the lid off scandalous stories focused on characters of notoriety such as Winnie Ruth Judd, Carol Herriman and Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Jana Bommersbach has inched her way to the Best Sellers list more than once. A powerhouse Arizona journalist, Bommersbach is also armed with an intimidating inventory of accolades including Media Person of the Year, Arizona Journalist of the Year, Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award, and a Rocky Mountain Emmy. She has excelled as a reporter, editor, author, columnist, broadcaster and speaker.

When it comes to reporting, for Bommersbach, no public figure is out of reach and no tale is too repugnant. For over three decades, her straightforward and gutsy commentaries have opened our eyes to the wonderfully weird, scandalous and downright gruesome tales that could only happen in Arizona. And we can't help but ask for more.

WELCOME TO ARIZONA

Bommersbach's road to journalistic fame began in her hometown of Fargo, N.D., where she dreamed of the East Coast and being a reporter for The Washington Post. Instead, The Arizona Republic offered Bommersbach her first job after graduate school. "I had no interest in Arizona whatsoever," she admits. "I thought I would be out here for a year at the most because-who the hell wants to move to Arizona? I looked on the AAA map and the symbol for Arizona was a coiled rattlesnake. How wonderful is that?"

But skepticism soon turned to intrigue when Bommersbach found that Arizona was a quirky, somewhat out-of-touch place that was rife with peculiar stories. "People were living in another century here during the 1970s," Bommersbach says. "The women's rights movement hadn't even touched this state, and I realized that there was a lot of work to be done!"

As she warmed up to the quaint ambiance and other more appealing aspects of the desert, Bommersbach eventually became interested in Western history and saw a great potential in writing about some of the more fascinating local tales. After leaving The Arizona Republic and finding a home with The New Times, her first book debuted in 1993. The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and Bommersbach also received Arizona's only literary prize for the book.

A GRISLY TALE

The infamous case of Phoenix secretary Winnie Ruth Judd, who had allegedly butchered two of her women friends and stuffed their bodies into a trunk, was a nationwide fascination in the 1930s and certainly too compelling for Bommersbach to pass up. She became even more intrigued when, digging through the archives, she found thousands of letters written to the state of Arizona claiming that Judd was not guilty and should be retried.

"It was one of the greatest stories of Arizona, so how can a person not be interested?" says Bommersbach. "It's such a juicy story-the stuff of sex, drugs and rock and roll."

Bommersbach is known for her thoroughness, including the mass of research documents she collects for each story. The Judd case was certainly no exception, and her diligence paid off in a big way. From her research, she was able to reconstruct the murder case based on police reports of the time, and the story got even juicier.

"When we were done, I had proven that she was obviously not guilty and she couldn't possibly have chopped up those women," Bommersbach says. "It was a writer's dream."

Making it to the top five in nonfiction, the book was hailed across the nation and launched a new avenue for her career. Bommersbach became a columnist for Phoenix Magazine where she's taken on Arizona's most provocative topics for the past 15 years. As a result, she has twice been named the nation's best columnist for a city magazine in addition to becoming a local icon.

BONES IN THE DESERT

Valley residents may not have heard the term "elder abuse," but they have certainly heard of Loretta Bowersock and her horrific story. In 2004, the murder of the 69-year-old mother of Arizona's "domestic diva," Terri Bowersock of Terri's Consign & Design, stunned local residents. Loretta's disappearance, the suicide of her boyfriend, Taw Benderly, the later discovery of Loretta's decomposed body and the lingering mystery surrounding her death captivated Bommersbach like no other story.

"I was with my family for Christmas in North Dakota," Bommersbach recalls, "and I heard a familiar voice on the TV. It was Terri saying that her mother was missing in the desert. I almost levitated off the couch." Bommersbach knew the family casually and that Terri was very close with her mother. "I'm extremely close with my own mother, so it was an instant electric shock," she says. "Anyone who loves their mother has to know what she would be going through."

Spending hours listening to Terri tell her story, Bommersbach would hear a disturbing tale unfold. Family members related how Loretta had been exploited for years by boyfriend Taw Benderly. Deviously working his way into all aspects of her life, he manipulated and defrauded, including creating a rift between Loretta and Terri. Alienated from family, Loretta hadn't shared with anyone the abuse that was occurring in the home she shared with Benderly. Sadly, just before Christmas in 2004, she mysteriously vanished. Only after an agonizing, 13-month search was Terri able to bury her mother's remains.

In June 2005, Bommersbach published her first story on the Loretta Bowersock case, "Where is my Mother's Body?" The investigation finally came to a close in January 2006 when Loretta's body was discovered in a remote desert area near Casa Grande. Bommersbach wrote a follow-up story, "He Buried my Mother Next to a Blue Motel," and soon afterward, a publishing house in New York asked if she would extend the story and write a book. Bommersbach accepted the task.

Bones in the Desert: The True Story of a Mother's Murder and a Daughter's Search was released in October 2008, debuting at No. 33 on the top 100 nonfiction paperbacks and continuing to climb.

While the book continues to do well across the U.S., Bommersbach hopes readers are becoming more aware of the problem of elder abuse. "That beautiful face on the cover is the face of domestic violence," she says. Domestic violence has long been a leading platform for Bommersbach, and her commitment to education and prevention has made a significant impact in Arizona. "Loretta was a victim of a classic case of elder abuse, and I want people to understand that this really happens," she says. "People have to become aware and do something."

BEHIND THE PAGES

Bommersbach continues to expose critical issues in Arizona through her column. When she's not at her computer or sifting through hundreds of "Jana's documents," you will likely find her obsessing over the golf channel-not because she's a golfer, but because she finds it utterly soothing.

"It's true, I've become obsessed with golf," she admits. "It's my viewing pleasure-aside from CNN and MSNBC, of course. So whenever I become frustrated or just saturated with too much political nonsense, I'll just go to the golf channel."

Bommersbach also loves to garden, cook and dabble in stained glass work. And like any good bookworm, she reads nonstop. "During the year, I mainly read things I have to for my job," she says. "So in the summer, I read for fun. One summer, I read all biographies. Last summer, I read everything from John Irving to Dominic Dunne."

With so much of her time spent focusing on social injustice and the macabre side of life, Bommersbach says her energetic and optimistic attitude comes from a strong family of women. "I was told from the time I was a little child that I could do whatever I wanted," she says. "No one ever told me I couldn't do something because I was a girl."

A passionate feminist, Bommersbach says the most significant moment of her life occurred in graduate school. She was offered a grant to study the women's movement from suffrage to the 1970s. In a quiet library in Michigan where she was doing research, she found herself face to face one day with Alice Paul, the last living suffragist.

"I was having trouble breathing because I was in the presence of this amazing woman," she says. "As I started to ask her questions, she cut me off, looked me directly in the eye and asked, 'What have you done for women?' I was 24 years old and I hadn't done a damn thing. She told me to go do something. It was a marching order that I took to heart."

Danielle D'Adamo is Managing Editor of Phoenix Woman.