Rudin attorney charges link between police, civil attorneys

Kim Smith

Monday, Dec. 18, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The attorney for a woman accused of killing her millionaire husband six years ago will put a Metro Police homicide detective on the stand Tuesday as part of his battle to get the charges against Margaret Rudin dismissed.

Michael Amador intends to question Detective James Vaccaro about the relationship that existed between Metro detectives and civil attorneys involved in the case of Margaret Rudin and her slain husband, Ron.

Amador said he believes the attorneys and detectives conspired against Rudin and that the murder charge against her should be dismissed because of their "outrageous conduct."

Prosecutors Chris Owens and Gary Guymon deny any wrongdoing on the part of the state and believe Amador is on a "fishing expedition."

Police believe Rudin and an unknown accomplice shot Ron Rudin, 64, to death in December 1994, decapitated him, stuffed him in a trunk and set the trunk on fire in a remote area of the Lake Mead National Recreational Area.

Rudin's remains were found in January 1995 by fishermen.

One year later, while detectives were still investigating the slaying, Rudin and the trustees of her husband's estate were in court fighting over who should be awarded the estate, estimated at between $5 million and $10 million.

Shortly before Rudin was expected to take the stand, however, the trial ended in a settlement that netted her $600,000 -- far less than the 60 percent Ron Rudin had left her.

Despite the fact that grand jury witnesses are sworn to secrecy, Amador alleges that information presented to a grand jury in March 1995 was given to the civil attorneys for use in the 1996 trial.

Detectives hoped the civil attorneys would force Rudin on the stand, therefore increasing their chances of obtaining information that could lead to an indictment.

The civil attorneys gave information to police that they obtained because of broader rules of evidence in civil, as opposed to criminal, cases.

Former Deputy District Attorney Ulrich Smith testified Friday that he and other prosecutors had no intentions of seeking an indictment against Rudin in 1995, although she and her alleged lover were their prime suspects.

Instead, Smith said, they hoped a handful of reticent witnesses would feel compelled to divulge information. They further hoped the witnesses would also violate the secrecy oath they had taken and provide police, who were listening through wiretaps, incriminating evidence against Margaret Rudin.

Smith denied providing the civil attorneys any information but agreed that many of the exhibits used during the trial were the same as those presented to the grand jury.

Smith said he discussed the civil case and the possibility of Rudin testifying at the trial with the detectives, but he doesn't know if they provided the civil attorneys any information.

However, Smith said, "If the detectives elicited help from the civil attorneys to find out who killed Ronald Rudin, I can't fault them for that."

Rudin's trial is now scheduled for March 5, having been pushed back Friday by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure at Amador's request. She had been scheduled to go to trial Jan. 29.