Rudin jurors hear DNA expert testify

Kim Smith

Monday, April 2, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

Jurors in the Margaret Rudin trial returned this morning to hear more about the blood evidence prosecutors hope will convince them to convict her of murder in the death of her husband six years ago.

Molecular biologist Richard Ballmann took the stand to explain DNA and the DNA testing conducted in the Rudin case.

He was expected to testify that blood found in Ronald Rudin's bedroom following his death is the victim's.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys Chris Owens and Gary Guymon maintain Rudin, 56, shot her husband, Ronald, 64, to death in order to get her share of his estate, estimated to be worth between $8 million and $11 million.

Witnesses have testified that even before anyone knew Ronald Rudin was dead, Margaret Rudin had his bed hauled off to an alley and the bedroom converted into an office.

The bedroom carpeting that reportedly had dried blood on it has disappeared.

However, the bed was found and the prosecutors hope it will be one of the key pieces of evidence that convict Rudin.

Blood stains were found on the bed in the area Ronald Rudin was known to sleep on. Prosecutors believe it also proves Ronald Rudin was shot while lying on his right side. His skull had multiple bullet holes on the left.

Rudin's attorneys, however, say there is no evidence Ronald Rudin was murdered in his bedroom. The blood on the bed, they say, could have been left over a number of years as a result of his nosebleeds.

The defense attorneys further claim that the blood found on the walls and ceiling of Ronald Rudin's bedroom was the result of the 1978 suicide of his third wife.

Michael Amador, Rudin's lead attorney, told jurors that Ronald Rudin was killed at the behest of his trustees, who then successfully kept Rudin from getting the vast majority of her inheritance during a civil trial.