Detective admits limits of probe

Kim Smith

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Despite being told that Ronald Rudin was involved in shady land deals, detectives investigating his death did not check to see if the alleged deals had anything to do with his murder.

"I've heard of that, but I've never gotten any concrete information about that," Metro Police homicide Detective Phil Ramos said of the rumored land deals.

Ramos told defense attorney Tom Pitaro this morning that even if Ronald Rudin was involved in fraudulent land transactions, the likely victim would have been the Internal Revenue Service -- an entity not likely to retaliate by murdering someone.

This morning was the second day Ramos has taken the stand in the Margaret Rudin murder trial.

Ramos took the stand Monday to tell jurors how the investigation into the death of Ronald Rudin, 64, led straight to the real estate developer's wife.

Prosecutors hope to prove that Margaret Rudin shot Ronald Rudin to death as he slept on Dec. 18, 1994. They believe that Rudin, with the help of at least one other person, then decapitated Ronald Rudin, placed his remains in a trunk and set it ablaze near Lake Mohave.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys Chris Owens and Gary Guymon allege that Rudin wanted to get her share of her husband's multimillion-dollar estate and exact revenge for an affair he was having with an IRS agent.

Pitaro and fellow defense attorney Michael Amador contend Ronald Rudin's trustees, Sharron Cooper and Harold Boscutti, had him killed.

Both of the trustees were also beneficiaries, and after Ronald Rudin turned up dead, they took Margaret Rudin to court and beat her out of the vast majority of her inheritance.

Ramos acknowledged this morning that he didn't verify Cooper's alibi for the evening and morning hours of Dec. 18 and Dec. 19, 1994. Nor, he said, did he and his partner check to see how much Cooper and Boscutti would inherit in the event of Ronald Rudin's death.

Ramos told jurors Monday that he and his partner, James Vaccaro, were assigned to the case in early January 1995. Although Ronald Rudin was still considered a missing person at the time, Ramos said authorities had come to believe that he was most likely dead.

Between the time they were assigned the case and Ronald Rudin's remains were found, Ramos said they tracked down possible leads to his whereabouts. They also tried to find a connection between Ronald Rudin and the Crazy Horse Too nightclub, where his Cadillac was found.

Ramos said that when he received confirmation that the remains were those of Ronald Rudin, he called Margaret Rudin to arrange an appointment so he could break the news to her in person.

Although her husband had been missing for more than a month, Rudin did not sound eager to hear what Ramos had to say, the detective said.

"She said 'I'm kind of busy right now, can't this wait?'" Ramos said.

Ramos said he convinced Rudin to meet with him and Vaccaro, and he told her the news.

"She looked at me and said 'Oh, my goodness,' and she started rubbing her eye," Ramos said.

Although Rudin was tearless, Ramos said, she asked to be excused for a few moments so she could compose herself. She then made a phone call and asked if her nephew, who lived in her guest house, could join them.

A short time later, Rudin asked if she could answer their questions later, because she was too upset to answer them then, Ramos said. When her sister, Barbara, showed up and they began rifling through a desk, he and Vaccaro left.

Two days later manual laborer Augustine Lovato reported finding blood on a portrait and a crusty substance on Ronald Rudin's bedroom carpet, Ramos said.

At that point he and Vaccaro obtained search warrants and wiretaps for Rudin's home and antique store, Ramos said. They also began following her movements.

Under cross-examination from Pitaro, Ramos said the police received reports from three people who claim they saw Ronald Rudin being forcibly removed from a room at a low-rent motel on Dec. 18.

Ramos insisted he and Vaccaro followed all of the leads they could after receiving the reports, but acknowledged the motel room was not dusted for prints.

Ramos also said that no formal statements were taken from the employees of the Crazy Horse Too, despite the fact that Ronald Rudin's car was found there.

In addition, Ramos acknowledged he and Vaccaro helped the trustees' attorneys and private investigators in their legal battle with Rudin in 1996. He and Vaccaro both went so far as to compare notes on their interviews with the investigators. They also provided them grand jury witness lists.