"Black Widows" Get Life In Prison
Elderly Calif. Duo Sentenced For Killing 2 Homeless Men To Collect $2.8M In Insurance Payouts
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These photos released by the Los Angeles Police Department show insurance fraud suspects Helen Golay, left, and Olga Rutterschmidt, at a news conference Thursday, May 18, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/LAPD)
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These photos released by the Los Angeles Police Department show insurance fraud and murder victims Kenneth McDavid, left, and Paul Vados. (CBS/ AP)
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Olga Rutterschmidt, charged with murdering two homeless men to collect insurance payouts, listens to the partial verdicts being read on April 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. Jurors convicted 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt on Monday of first-degree murder in the 1999 death of 73-year-old Paul Vados. (AP Photo/Luis Sinco, Pool)
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Helen Golay, 77, listens as guilty verdicts are read against her in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, April 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Luis Sinco, Pool)
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Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, second from left, talks with her attorney Michael Sklar, after Helen Golay, 77, background, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a pair of homeless men in a cold blooded years-long scheme for $2.8 million in life insurance money, at the Criminal Courts building in downtown Los Angeles, July 15, 2008. Rutterschmidt moments later received the same sentence. (AP Photo/Genaro Molina)
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Play CBS Video Video Grannies Convicted Of Murder Jurors came to a partial verdict in the trial of two grannies who were convicted of collecting more than $2.8 million from the insurance proceeds of two homeless men they befriended and killed. Mark Coogan reports.
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Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley sentenced 77-year-old Helen Golay and 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt to two consecutive life terms each.
In April, the women were convicted of a scheme in which they befriended homeless men, took out insurance policies on them and then killed them in murders staged to look like hit-and-run auto accidents. Prosecutors say the women collected $2.8 million before the scheme was uncovered.
From the start, the defendants' advanced ages kept the case in the headlines, drawing comparisons to the play and film "Arsenic and Old Lace," the Los Angeles Times reported. The killings came to be known as the "Black Widow" murders.
The judge denounced the women, saying the men needed only food, water and shelter.
"They needed a helping hand. They thought they were getting this from you," Wesley said. "Instead these unfortunate men were sacrificed on your altar of greed."
The judge said that although there is no possibility of parole, a probation report had been was done on the women, in which a "probation officer indicates they have no conscience and are a serious threat to the community."
Both women were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for financial gain in the 1999 death of Paul Vados, 73, and the 2005 death of Kenneth McDavid, 50.
Both men were struck by cars in dark alleys. Police linked the cases when a detective investigating one overheard a colleague describe a similar case.
Relatives of the victims spoke briefly, saying they had lost touch with the two men and then learned they had been murdered.
"He didn't deserve that. No one does," said Stella Vados, daughter of Paul Vados.
"This is tantamount to the death penalty," said Gloria Allred, who represented Stella Vado and a relative of McDavid's. "They will die in prison. I think that's a just sentence."
They will die in prison. I think that's a just sentence.
Gloria Allred, who represented Stella Vado and a relative of McDavid'sBoth women were known for their litigious streak. Golay once sued a woman for allegedly stealing leather skirts from her, and a health club after she got hurt on an exercise machine, the Times reported. Rutterschmidt once sued Ralphs supermarket, saying stacked boxes fell on her, and often threatened to sue others.
The jury that convicted the women saw a secretly recorded videotape of the defendants in a lockup after their arrests. Rutterschmidt berated Golay, saying her actions in taking out 23 insurance policies raised a red flag when the men died.
"It's your fault," Rutterschmidt told Golay. "You can't have that many insurances. ... You were greedy. That's the problem."
The judge rejected a defense motion for a new trial which argued that the women's conversation was illegally videotaped.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Time somebody sprayed them with RAID or Black Flag.
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- Who gets the money now ???
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- Unbelieveable!!! Indymack bank failing with unruly customers being turned away at the door and the headline is about these two old burned out bitties that bump off a homeless man for money. Get with the Real News CBS please.
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- whiskeyrocker, I echo your comment...hamiltonGRAD, you ARE an idiot!
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- hamiltonGRAD
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You are an idiot. - Reply to this comment
- How do we know what economic strain these women were under ? due to the domination of men and the travesty of divorce in their lives ? Were they made to work in a male dominated society ? Before we rush to judgment, we need to understand these poor ladies, and listen to what is obviously a cry for help.
"Whye dothe thee punish so quicklee .." Shakespear Lond''s Lot, Triloius and Creside "When it is thee that doth produce said crime. - Reply to this comment
- Them some "nasty bicchhes"
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- Amazing! when a cousin died and left her estate and policy to me the insurance co requested handwriting samples and more from her employer
Posted by newster1 at 08:30 PM : Jul 15, 2008
Things that make you go hmmmm... - Reply to this comment
- Olga Rutterschmidt strongly resembles ole'' dubya a lot, especially those beady eyes and stupid grin. Wonder is someone didn''t do a bit of photo shop to her picture.
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- Just wanted to emphasize that homeless people are victims of crime far more often than perpetrate any crimes. I''m glad to see justice being served here. Whether or not these women were ever abused does not relieve them of the responsibility for what they did. They obviously knew right from wrong, but didn''t care because all they saw were $$$.
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