Rudin attorney advertises for tips

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

The defense attorney for a Las Vegas woman accused of killing her millionaire husband six years ago said he is having success with a somewhat unusual investigative tool.

Michael Amador, who represents Margaret Rudin, said he began two weeks ago running an ad in City Life, a free alternative tabloid available from news racks around town. The advertisement lists five associates of Ronald Rudin and asks anyone who knows them to come forward.

Rudin, 56, is accused of shooting Ronald Rudin, 64, to death on Dec. 18, 1994, decapitating him and burning his remains in the Lake Mead National Recreational Area.

She is scheduled to go on trial Feb. 26.

Although he wouldn't be specific, Amador said he has received helpful tips from the ad, which urges people to call or e-mail him if they know Sharron Cooper, Sharon Melton, Harold Boscutti, Eugene DeFlorentis or Ronald Danner.

"I have followed all of the leads available to me through the traditional investigative techniques and I'm looking for any additional witnesses or information that can assist Margaret Rudin," Amador said.

Prosecutors think Rudin killed her husband because she believed he was being unfaithful and because she feared she would lose a large chunk of his $10 million estate if he divorced her.

Rudin has steadfastly maintained that her husband, a real estate developer, had plenty of enemies because of some shady business dealings.

One of Rudin's prosecutors, Gary Guymon, said he was aware of the ad and understands Amador's motivation.

"He wants to thoroughly flush out every allegation and have all the witnesses," Guymon said.

Many local defense attorneys said that although such ads are traditionally used by personal injury attorneys searching for car accident witnesses, they've never seen them in a murder trial.

John Momot, who represented Sandy Murphy during the high-profile Ted Binion murder trial, said the ad may be helpful because the case is so old.

"There may be people in the community who observed something who aren't on the witness list," Momot said. "You might be surprised by what may come out. It could give you a starting point to dig deeper."

Special Public Defender Phil Kohn agreed and noted that the approach isn't all that different from Secret Witness, which the police often use to break cases.

Sometimes, Kohn said, people don't realize they have important information until their memories are prodded. Other times, they may not know who to share the information with.

Defense attorney Tom Pitaro said that the Rudin case is unusual in that there are many twists and turns in it.

"I think what he's (Amador) doing is a good idea," Pitaro said. "What he's trying to do is see if there's anything out there that's not known so far."

Defense attorneys have an obligation to pursue every avenue they can, said District Judge Michael Cherry.

"There is never a time frame when you should stop investigating," Cherry said.

The next hearing in the Rudin case is set for Thursday.