Rudin spy material described

Kim Smith

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 2:02 a.m.

The former manager of a Las Vegas Spy Factory store testified this morning that Margaret Rudin purchased between $1,200 and $1,500 worth of electronic listening devices about three years before her husband was killed.

Rick Aker said Rudin visited his Paradise Road store between three and six times during 1991 to purchase the devices and stock up on the special batteries the receiver required.

The wireless transmitter Rudin purchased plugged into a wall outlet and allowed her to overhear phone conversations via the battery-operated receiver, Aker said. She also purchased a tape recorder to tape those conversations.

Prosecutors Chris Owens and Gary Guymon allege that Rudin and an accomplice shot Ronald Rudin, 64, in the head on Dec. 18, 1994, as he slept. They contend he was then decapitated, placed into a steamer trunk, taken to Nelson's Landing and set ablaze.

The motive, they have said, was an $11 million estate and revenge for an extra-marital affair she learned about while listening in on her husband's phone conversations.

Four fishermen found charred remains, a skull and a bracelet belonging to Ronald Rudin about a month later.

Rudin's defense attorney, Michael Amador, contends that business associates who helped the real estate developer in dirty land deals are responsible for his death.

Amador told jurors during opening arguments Friday that Ronald Rudin did not die in his bedroom, nor were his remains burned at Nelson's Landing, 45 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Amador has hinted, however, that Rudin's fully intact skull was purposely left at Nelson's Landing in an effort to broadcast his death.

Forensic pathologist Robert Jordan testified Monday that dental records confirmed that the skull was Ronald Rudin's, but could not confirm the remains were his.

The doctor also said that an autopsy revealed that Ronald Rudin was shot four times. Three of the shots were in the back of his head on the left and the fourth struck his left jaw, traveled through his head and exited the right side of the head.

Three .22-caliber bullets and two fragments were recovered from the skull, but no efforts were made to obtain DNA evidence from the little tissue that was left, Jordan said.

At the time, Jordan said, he didn't know there was trace evidence from a potential crime scene that police wanted to compare. He also had already identified Ronald Rudin through dental records.

Amador attempted to cast doubt on whose remains were found through his cross-examination of Jordan.

Under questioning from Amador, Jordan said that judging from the little charring on the skull, he doesn't believe the skull was in the fire for very long. He also admitted there is no evidence linking the remains with the skull aside from their proximity to each other.

Jordan said he has rarely seen remains so throughly incinerated except in cases in which the body was cremated or burned in a vehicle fire.

Jurors also learned Monday that Ronald Rudin was warned just months before he was killed that his wife often wished him dead.

Bruce Honabach, an antique dealer who met Rudin in the spring of 1994, said she constantly complained about her husband's stinginess.

Honabach said he lost count of how many times Rudin said she wished her husband was dead. He grew so concerned that he arranged a meeting with Ronald Rudin in August or September of 1994.

But when he spoke to Ronald Rudin, Rudin's reaction surprised him, Honabach said.

"He was not in the least surprised," Honabach said.

Honabach also told jurors that he sold Rudin a royal blue steamer trunk with a pattern inside of blue squares and flowers.

After looking at the charred remains of a trunk found near Ronald Rudin's skull, Honabach said the same pattern appeared to be on at least two pieces of the remains.

Honabach told defense attorney Thomas Pitaro he was aware of the $25,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of Ronald Rudin's murderer. He also said he had discussed Rudin with Sharon Melton, one of Rudin's detractors and Ronald Rudin's bookkeeper.

Honabach conceded that he and Margaret Rudin had a disagreement over some refurbished antique chairs that led to a payment dispute. Rudin became nasty during the dispute, he said.

Honabach alleged that Rudin assured him that she knew people who could "take care of him" and that he would "disappear."

"You didn't though, did you?" Pitaro asked.

"I didn't what?" Honabach asked.

"Disappear," Pitaro answered, ending his cross-examination.

The trial, which began Friday, is expected to last four to six weeks.