State wraps up its murder case

Kim Smith

Wednesday, April 11, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

The state Tuesday ended its case against Margaret Rudin with the testimony of a Metro homicide detective, who told jurors about a variety of items seized following her arrest.

The defense is expected to begin presenting its case Monday, giving the jurors a much-needed break from the slow-moving murder trial.

Detective James Vaccaro testified that after Rudin was arrested in Revere, Mass., police obtained items from the apartment she was sharing with a retired firefighter and from seven boxes provided to them by a friend of Rudin.

Among the items admitted into evidence Tuesday were wigs of different colors, various pieces of false identification, a set of Ronald Rudin's keys, a police equipment supply catalog and a book on how to obtain citizenship in another country.

Also found were two certificates announcing that S. Leigh Brown had been ordained a minister with the right to perform marriages. Brown is one of the names Rudin is alleged to have used while running from police.

Vaccaro also testified that he found a letter from a private investigation firm written just one month before Ronald Rudin disappeared.

The letter, addressed to Margaret Rudin, indicated that a detective had observed Ronald Rudin entering a vacant home with another woman and that they spent 30 minutes alone inside the house.

Rudin, 56, is suspected of shooting her husband to death in his bed on Dec. 18, 1994. Prosecutors told jurors they believe Rudin killed her husband to get her share of his fortune and because she was angry about an affair with an IRS agent -- the woman observed going into the home with him.

After the trial ended for the day, defense attorney John Momot attempted to get the seized evidence thrown out. He argued that police had not followed proper procedure when conducting their searches.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure denied the request, saying defense attorney Michael Amador should have filed the motions months ago.

Under cross-examination Vaccaro admitted to defense attorney Tom Pitaro that although he originally told jurors he spent a week checking out a lead, he actually only spent a few hours.

Vaccaro insisted the lead -- that three witnesses had seen Ronald Rudin at a seedy motel on the night he disappeared -- was a bad one.

Pitaro also showed Vaccaro an internal police memo regarding a threat Ronald Rudin had reportedly received two months before he disappeared. Vaccaro said he didn't investigate the threat because he had never seen the memo.