On this day, April 27, in 1928, the murder trial for housewife Ruth Snyder and her lover Judd Gray began in New York in a case that inspired crime classics “Double Indemnity” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” Snyder had persuaded Gray, a corset salesman, to help her kill her husband, Albert, a magazine art director.

On March 20, 1927, Gray stood over Albert as he slept and struck him with a weight, but the blow merely awakened the husband. After a struggle, Ruth finished Albert off by twisting a picture wire around his neck.