A Pennsylvania dentist and big-game hunter is accused of killing his spouse of 34 years whereas on a looking journey in Zambia in 2016 in a scheme to gather hundreds of thousands of dollars in life insurance coverage cash.
Large-game hunter Lawrence Rudolph, 67, allegedly shot and killed his spouse Bianca Finizio Rudolph on a visit to Zambia in 2016, then claimed almost $5 million in insurance coverage advantages, in response to a federal felony criticism obtained by CBS 2.
Rudolph, who based and operates the Three Rivers Dental in Pittsburgh, allegedly rushed to have his spouse’s stays cremated in Africa simply days after her loss of life, officers stated.
He has now been charged with overseas homicide and mail fraud, officers stated.
In response to federal investigators, Rudolph made life insurance coverage claims by means of seven totally different life insurance coverage corporations for a $4.8 million payout for his spouse’s loss of life, which was dominated as unintended by Zambian legislation enforcement officers.
On Oct. 11, 2016 at 5:30 a.m. native time, Bianca was shot within the chest with a shotgun.
Rudolph instructed Zambian police that he was within the toilet of their cabin and Bianca within the bed room space when he heard a gunshot. The dentist claimed he got here out of the toilet and located his spouse mendacity on the bottom and bleeding from her chest. He instructed police he believed that the shotgun had been left loaded from a hunt the day prior and it had discharged as she tried to pack it in its case.
Knowledgeable looking information on scene allegedly “recalled seeing the shotgun and an expanded shotshell on the bottom. The shotgun was inside a partially zipped gun case.”
Rudolph and his spouse – each apparently achieved big-game hunters – had incessantly traveled to Africa for looking excursions. On this specific journey, Bianca’s aim was to kill a leopard. She by no means obtained her leopard, however killed “quite a few different animals.” Rudolph was on the journey, however didn’t hunt.
Officers stated later that afternoon at round 4:30 p.m., Rudolph phoned the US Embassy to debate his spouse’s funeral choices, and his want to have her physique cremated whereas her physique was held in a neighborhood funeral residence. He spoke with the consular chief, who after their chat “instructed the FBI he had a nasty feeling concerning the state of affairs, which he thought was shifting too rapidly.” The chief traveled with two others from the embassy to the funeral to take pictures of Bianca’s physique to protect proof.
The consular chief, a 20 yr veteran in US Marines, described the wound as “straight on the center” and stated the wound was not attributable to a “tight group of pellets.” He discovered no gasoline burns typical to a contact wound, and estimated that Bianca had been shot from 6.5 to eight toes away.
Rudolph referred to as the consular chief and was “furious” that he had photographed his spouse’s lifeless physique. They met on the funeral residence and mentioned notifying relations, officers stated. Rudolph allegedly instructed him that needed to personally inform his household concerning the loss of life, saying the kids have been from a distinct marriage and weren't Bianca’s. At one level, Rudolph recommended that Bianca might have dedicated suicide, in response to the allegations in opposition to him.
Bianca had filed her first life insurance coverage coverage in 1987, in response to investigators, and up to date the coverage in 2016, when she died.
4 of the seven corporations employed a non-public investigation agency to look into Bianca’s loss of life. All the insurance coverage insurance policies decided that Rudolph ought to obtain his cost from the coverage.
After her loss of life, a “pal” contacted the FBI in Pretoria, South Africa and stated she needed the FBI to analyze additional. The pal stated that she “suspected foul play” as a result of Rudolph “had been concerned in prior extramarital affairs and had been having an affair on the time of Bianca’s loss of life.” She allegedly stated Rudolph was “verbally abusive” and the 2 had fought over cash.
The pal stated that Rudolph’s children didn’t discover out about Bianca’s loss of life till per week after she died, and different family and friends didn’t know till the funeral. She allegedly stated she believed Bianca, a “strict Catholic”, wouldn't have needed to be cremated, regardless of Rudolph’s claims that's what she had at all times deliberate.
The acquaintance instructed federal investigators: “Larry isn't going to divorce her as a result of he doesn’t wish to lose his cash, and she or he’s by no means going to divorce him due to her Catholicism.” Different acquaintances corroborated suspicions of an affair.
One other pal, the ex-wife of a pro-hunting information who was current on the time of Bianca’s loss of life and who’d identified Bianca since 2010, stated the gun might have been custom-made and repeatedly jammed. She additionally raised considerations over the selection of cremation and Bianca’s non secular beliefs, the report stated.
Investigators interviewed a former worker at Three Rivers Dental who’d labored there from February 2015 to February 2016, when she stated Rudolph’s “girlfriend” was the supervisor. The ex-employee stated the alleged girlfriend had instructed her she had been in a relationship with Rudolph for 15-20 years. The mistress allegedly instructed the worker that she had given him “an ultimatum of 1 yr to promote his dental workplaces and go away Bianca.”
Investigators stated that by January 2017, Rudolph was residing with the girlfriend. Information confirmed the couple traveled collectively to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico in 2010, twice in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, July 2016, and in 2017 proper after Bianca’s loss of life.
Monetary information confirmed that on Oct. 23, 2016 — the day of Bianca’s funeral — Rudolph bought a airplane ticket for the girlfriend to journey to his residence in Arizona, in response to the affidavit. The acquisition was canceled later that day. Nonetheless, three days later he bought one other ticket to fly a distinct lady to Las Vegas on Oct. 26, investigators claimed.
Throughout the FBI’s investigation, the Zambia consular chief’s photographs of the physique have been reviewed by the Colorado Medical Examiner, who stated in an announcement: “For my part, it might be bodily unattainable to unintentionally hearth this shotgun in its carrying case and produce the doorway defect famous on the physique of Ms. Rudolph.
Rudolph’s legal professional filed motions on Tuesday to get him out of a Colorado detention middle to Arizona, the place he owns a house. His attorneys have allegedly argued that he and Bianca signed a prenuptial settlement, and he wouldn't have misplaced a lot in a divorce. They’ve additional stated that he has no monetary motive to kill her, along with his dental practices valued at $8 million, in response to experiences.
“That is an outrageous prosecution in opposition to Dr. Larry Rudolph, a person who liked his spouse of 34 years and didn't kill her,” Lawrence’s legal professional, David Oscar Markus, stated in an announcement obtained by Individuals. “Again in 2016, his spouse had a horrible accident throughout a looking journey in Zambia. The investigators on the scene concluded it was an accident. A number of insurance coverage corporations additionally investigated and agreed.”
“Now, greater than 5 years later, the federal government is searching for to fabricate a case in opposition to this well-respected and law-abiding dentist. Dr. Rudolph seems to be ahead to his trial, the place he'll show his innocence.”
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