Trudy was murdered on a snowy December 14, 1997 with a car bomb, made of about 3 lb of plastic explosives—powered by ten 20-volt magnesium batteries—that was planted under the front seat and remotely detonated by a cell phone, while she was on an errand to get cough medicine for Adrian's brother, Ambrose. Ambrose blames himself for Trudy's death, and his guilt led to a 7-year rift between the brothers. While having a temporary relapse (in "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing"), Adrian mentions that Trudy lived for 20 minutes after the bomb went off. Her last words to a paramedic were "bread and butter", a message to Adrian meaning that she would never leave him, as this was something she always told her husband when they had to temporarily let go of each other for some reason or another.