Former SCI President kills wife in Zambia

[Wheels]

This is older news with Larry Rudolph's conviction this past summer, but Dateline had a two hour program on this a couple weeks ago. We recorded the program and just watched it this weekend. The program supplied quite a bit of information I was unaware of. If you have a chance to watch the program and are interested in the subject matter it is worth the time.

Some of our Zambian members may even know more than Dateline.

Millionaire dentist found guilty of shooting wife dead on African safari

The dentist was heard shouting “I killed my f**king wife for you!” during an argument with his mistress years after the murder.

nypost.com

'Dateline' profiles murder in Africa of Bianca Rudolph by former Westmoreland dentist

Nov. 30—"Dateline" on NBC will cover a murder in Africa with connections to Westmoreland County during Friday's episode. The long-running investigative series will focus on the 2016 death of Bianca Rudolph while on safari in Zambia with husband Larry Rudolph, who founded and once operated...

news.yahoo.com

 

[dobber]

Listened to this on the dateline podcast with the wife this weekend on a drive

 

[flatwater bill]

Dang dentists.........seem to have a lot of trouble on safari...........FWB

 

[Hogpatrol]

Sixty seven years old and still chasing it. Good grief.

 

[R.M.C.]

Sixty seven years old and still chasing it. Good grief.

That's exactly what I was thinking hahaha

 

[uplander01]

Proof that just because you have money,.....doesn't make you smart.

 

[Deleted member 40394]

Obviously he wasn’t smart but he is guilty in the court of law. But innocent people are proved guilty all the time. Who heard him say he killed his wife? The only way to know if the shotgun blast was from 2-3 ft away is if they tested that exact gun. I’d like to know if they did test that shotgun. Hard to believe the gun wasn’t cleared before it was brought in doors.

 

[Wheels]

Obviously he wasn’t smart but he is guilty in the court of law. But innocent people are proved guilty all the time. Who heard him say he killed his wife? Bartender in Arizona during Rudolph argument/discussion with girlfriend. There was an affair going on between Rudolph and girlfriend prior to the hunt. Girlfriend worked for Rudolph and evidently gave Rudolph an ultimatum of her or his wife prior to the hunt, per other employee. The only way to know if the shotgun blast was from 2-3 ft away is if they tested that exact gun. I’d like to know if they did test that shotgun. Don't think they tested exact gun. Investigation was a few years later and it sounds like hunter disposed of the gun some way. Gun looked like an A5. They had photos of her chest so they knew diameter of pellet pattern. This is thanks to an individual at the American embassy who went to the morgue and took photos. Zambian authorities didn't have photos that I am aware of. Hard to believe the gun wasn’t cleared before it was brought in doors. According to tracker or game scout, they saw Bianca cleaning the shotgun the night before so gun was probably unloaded. Wife was evidently not just a travel companion but an extremely competent hunter from what multiple people interviewed said. The gamescout acted like all her shots were one shot kills. The shot took place the morning they were leaving Zambia. Rudolph told camp staff and police he was in the shower when gun went off. A tracker was at the cabin in a few seconds, maybe 15 and Rudolph was dressed and not wet when he went into the cabin. Dateline can certainly edit to create a narrative but this was a pretty convincing show.

Answers in red above.

 

[geoff rath]

Tragic; someone thinking with their d**k ?

 

[Wheels]

Listened to this on the dateline podcast with the wife this weekend on a drive

Will she go with you on your next safari now.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Proof that just because you have money,.....doesn't make you smart.

What's that Elon Musk quote? "You can have a college degree and still be an idiot". After the last election, that seems to be the norm.

 

[BourbonTrail]

I don’t understand how you can be convicted of murder in Denver for something that happened in Zambia. Why wasn’t he extradited to Zambia and tried there? I don’t doubt that he’s guilty, but the US doesn’t have jurisdiction in Zambia unless there’s something that I missed.

 

[R.M.C.]

I don’t understand how you can be convicted of murder in Denver for something that happened in Zambia. Why wasn’t he extradited to Zambia and tried there? I don’t doubt that he’s guilty, but the US doesn’t have jurisdiction in Zambia unless there’s something that I missed.

That part puzzles me too. He didn't kill her in the US.

 

[TKessel]

I don’t understand how you can be convicted of murder in Denver for something that happened in Zambia. Why wasn’t he extradited to Zambia and tried there? I don’t doubt that he’s guilty, but the US doesn’t have jurisdiction in Zambia unless there’s something that I missed.

I think insurance fraud is why it was tried in the US, not sure how the murder was tried here.

 

[wesheltonj]

18 U.S.C. § 1119 as to murder. As to the Insurance fraud, that’s a more difficult case, as the benefits have been paid and the killer was not the beneficiary.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Obviously he wasn’t smart but he is guilty in the court of law. But innocent people are proved guilty all the time. Who heard him say he killed his wife? The only way to know if the shotgun blast was from 2-3 ft away is if they tested that exact gun. I’d like to know if they did test that shotgun. Hard to believe the gun wasn’t cleared before it was brought in doors.

"But innocent people are proved guilty all the time." In the US? You have got to be joking. Even a confession without additional evidence won't do it. In order to get any conviction, prosecutors will take a guilty plea to a much lesser crime, then they have to find evidence of that crime.
Before I retired, I spent 22 years working in the prison system working with thousands of both male and female offenders. Many of them bragged about how much they had gotten away with. One that was in prison for attempted murder said that that was not the first guy he had shot, his mistake was not making sure he was dead. Later, he would tell me that when he got out he was going to find me and kill.me along with any family in the house. I moved to a different prison before he released, but knew if I ever saw him again I might have to shoot him. He did get out, but he didn't get around to finding me before he used a butcher knife to slash a woman to death.
Out of those thousands of felons, only one swore that she was completely innocent. As it turns out, she was. She got a new trial and got her conviction reversed.
Do mistakes ever happen? Of course, but it's rare. The system is set up to release many more guilty people than to convict one innocent one, and that's how it should be.

 

[mdwest]

The murder of a US citizen outside of the US by another US Citizen is a federal crime..as long as Zambia didn’t already prosecute him for murder, he can be tried in US federal court for murder…

9-141.000. Foreign Murder of United States Nationals (18 U.S.C. § 1119)

www.justice.gov

 

[BourbonTrail]

18 U.S.C. § 1119 as to murder. As to the Insurance fraud, that’s a more difficult case, as the benefits have been paid and the killer was not the beneficiary.

The murder of a US citizen outside of the US by another US Citizen is a federal crime..as long as Zambia didn’t already prosecute him for murder, he can be tried in US federal court for murder…

9-141.000. Foreign Murder of United States Nationals (18 U.S.C. § 1119)

www.justice.gov

Thanks fellas for the insight, I learn something new everyday.

 

[wesheltonj]

"But innocent people are proved guilty all the time." In the US? You have got to be joking. Even a confession without additional evidence won't do it. In order to get any conviction, prosecutors will take a guilty plea to a much lesser crime, then they have to find evidence of that crime.
Before I retired, I spent 22 years working in the prison system working with thousands of both male and female offenders. Many of them bragged about how much they had gotten away with. One that was in prison for attempted murder said that that was not the first guy he had shot, his mistake was not making sure he was dead. Later, he would tell me that when he got out he was going to find me and kill.me along with any family in the house. I moved to a different prison before he released, but knew if I ever saw him again I might have to shoot him. He did get out, but he didn't get around to finding me before he used a butcher knife to slash a woman to death.
Out of those thousands of felons, only one swore that she was completely innocent. As it turns out, she was. She got a new trial and got her conviction reversed.
Do mistakes ever happen? Of course, but it's rare. The system is set up to release many more guilty people than to convict one innocent one, and that's how it should be.

The system is set up to favor plaintiffs, in a criminal cases that’s the state, which is why the burden is so high. And yes, innocent folks go the pen all the time. Just ask Micheal Morton, who the DA and later a judge sent to life in prison and is now free and the judge is no more. The majority of defendants cannot afford a good defense and take what ever the best deal they can get. The vast majority are guilty, and the state bargains the case down in order to avoid a trial as the state has a full plate along with the court. If everything went to trial, it would be many years before anything went to trial unless your in a very small county.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

The system is set up to favor plaintiffs, in a criminal cases that’s the state, which is why the burden is so high. And yes, innocent folks go the pen all the time. Just ask Micheal Morton, who the DA and later a judge sent to life in prison and is now free and the judge is no more. The majority of defendants cannot afford a good defense and take what ever the best deal they can get. The vast majority are guilty, and the state bargains the case down in order to avoid a trial as the state has a full plate along with the court. If everything went to trial, it would be many years before anything went to trial unless your in a very small county.

I said that mistakes do happen. It is however very rare. All the time? Not even close. This is something that I know a lot about. 22 years of personal experience will do that.
I did know some nice people that screwed up and if it had been up to me I would have sent them home, but were they Innocent? No, they were not. Usually, as in the case you mentioned, those who are wrongfully convicted have those convictions overturned.
There is virtually no chance that a bartender overhearing someone telling at his girlfriend that he killed his wife because of her would have any charges filed, much less a conviction, without a lot of other evidence against him.