Defense tries to help credibility of state witness

Kim Smith

Thursday, April 5, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

A former Israeli intelligence officer denied Wednesday having anything to do with the death of Ronald Rudin or the disposal of his body. He also denied having an affair with prosecutors' No. 1 suspect -- Margaret Rudin.

In a reversal of the usual roles, Margaret Rudin's defense attorney, Michael Amador, spent much of Wednesday trying to establish the credibility of Yehuda Sharon, one of the state's key witnesses.

Authorities believe that Rudin, 56, shot her husband to death on Dec. 18, 1994, and Sharon took a trunk containing the body to Nelson's Landing and set it ablaze.

Ronald Rudin's skull and charred remains were found Jan. 21, 1995, by four fishermen.

Prosecutors contend Sharon used a rented van to dispose of the body. They further say he lied when he said he drove to Barstow, Calif. so he could account for the number of miles on the van and he went so far as to forge and backdate a 1996 gasoline receipt from a Barstow convenience store.

Sharon was given immunity in October 1995, but has not provided information to assist prosecutors Chris Owens and Gary Guymon in their case, the attorneys say. Nor has he admitted any wrongdoing.

Amador's first question to Sharon Wednesday was if he altered the gasoline receipt.

"No, I did not," Sharon said.

"Did you kill Ronald Rudin?" Amador asked.

"No, I did not."

"Did you help kill Ronald Rudin?" Amador asked.

"No, I did not."

"Did you help dispose of his body?"

"No, I did not."

Sharon told jurors that he drove Rudin to the Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 28, 1995, so she could catch a flight to Illinois for her husband's funeral.

Sharon said he began to be harrassed by Metro detectives, who told him that if Rudin didn't return to Las Vegas, he would be arrested for helping her "escape the scene of the crime."

Sharon said he offered to give the detectives Rudin's number in Illinois, but they didn't want it.

Then on Feb. 4, 1995, he became alarmed when he read a newspaper article that stated the detectives didn't know where Rudin was and that she had left without her husband's remains.

Sharon said he decided to help Rudin all he could with her financial matters, because police seemed to think the both of them had something to do with Ronald Rudin's death.

"Margaret and I were in the same boat, so helping myself naturally helped her," Sharon said.

Sharon told Amador he first received Ronald Rudin's will and trust documents in late February 1995.

However, under further questioning from Guymon, Sharon admitted he once told grand jurors he got the information Dec. 21, 1994 -- three days after Ronald Rudin, 64, was last seen and a month before his remains were found.

Sharon also acknowledged that he testified at prior hearings that he drove the van to Victorville, Calif. -- not Barstow.

Sharon took the stand again this morning after District Judge Joseph Bonaventure denied a mistrial motion brought by the defense attorneys.

Defense attorney Tom Pitaro said prosecutors are not allowed to call witnesses to the stand for the sole reason of casting doubt on their testimony. He further said the prosecutors violated the law by not telling the defense team they were suspicious of the gasoline receipt.

Owens told Bonaventure they had hoped Sharon would tell the truth and were forced to impeach him when he lied to them about the trip to California.

Bonaventure denied the mistrial motion, but told the prosecutors they could not put witnesses on the stand who would verify that the receipt has been altered.

The prosecutors, who suspect Rudin killed her husband to inherit a share of his $11 million estate, are expected to wrap up their case Friday or Monday.