Woman accused of husband’s murder appears in court

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:34 a.m.

Nearly three years after she was indicted by a grand jury in the murder of her wealthy husband, Margaret Rudin made her first court appearance in Las Vegas Wednesday.

The dyed-blonde Rudin, 56, quietly answered all of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's questions, pausing and smiling slightly when asked her age.

The former antique-store owner will apparently be represented by a public defender in the coming months.

Las Vegas attorney Charles Kelly, who represented Rudin along with attorney Ted Manos before the murder indictment, informed Bonaventure they were withdrawing from the case.

Deputy Public Defender Will Ewing then asked Bonaventure for one week to look over court documents to ensure the public defender's office does not have a conflict of interest in the case and can represent Rudin.

Bonaventure set Rudin's next court appearance for March 31.

Rudin, 56, is charged with killing her husband, Ron Rudin, as he lay in bed on Dec. 18, 1994. Rudin reported him missing and a month later a fisherman discovered his burned, bullet-ridden and decapitated body near Lake Mohave in southern Nevada.

Rudin was indicted in 1997 but authorities could not find her until she was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted." She was found in November living with a retired firefighter in Revere, Mass.

Rudin has denied killing her husband, whose real estate holdings were worth about $11 million. She says he was involved in fraudulent real estate deals, gun running, drug trafficking and tax evasion, and was killed by one of his business associates.

Earlier this month, a Massachusetts judge ordered her returned to Las Vegas.