Murphy attorney Momot joins Rudin’s defense

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 29, 2001 | 11:37 a.m.

Over the objections of prosecutors, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure this morning appointed another participant in the Ted Binion case to Margaret Rudin's defense team.

John Momot joined Tom Pitaro and Michael Amador at the defense table this morning at no cost to the state.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens objected to Momot coming into the case, arguing that it is both unnecessary and unseemly.

Not only has Momot has been providing a legal analysis of the Rudin case on a local news station, but Momot once represented Rudin, and his name appears on several exhibits, Owens said. As a result, credibility might become an issue for the jury, he argued.

Bonaventure overruled Owens' objection, saying that he was encouraged to see that an attorney of Momot's stature is willing to take the case at no cost to the state.

The preparedness of the defense team and the speed at which the trial has been progressing have been issues since the trial's start, and Momot can assist in both those areas, Bonaventure said.

Momot, Pitaro and private investigator Michael Wysocki, who is also on the Rudin case, worked together to defend Sandy Murphy last year when she was on trial for the murder of gaming figure Ted Binion.

Ironically, another of Rudin's private investigators, Tom Dillard, was also involved in the Binion case -- but on the other side.

Murphy and her lover, Rick Tabish, are currently serving life sentences for Binion's murder.

Momot's involvement comes just as prosecutors are beginning to wrap up their case.

Owens and Chief Deputy District Attorneys Gary Guymon believe Rudin killed her husband, Ronald Rudin, in December 1994 so she could get her share of his multimillion-dollar estate. His decapitated body, which was burned, was found by fishermen near Lake Mohave.

Rudin, 56, was a suspect from the start, but when manual laborer Augustine Lovato came forward on Jan. 25, 1995, to say he saw blood in Ronald Rudin's bedroom, she became the focus of the investigation.

Metro Police intelligence Officer Michael Givens testified Wednesday he and half a dozen other officers tailed Rudin two days after Lovato came forward and while other detectives conducted a search warrant on her home and antique store.

Givens testified that Rudin knew the police were conducting a search of her home, because she slowly drove past the house and kept on going. He said she drove a couple of miles, then parked her car at a convenience store.

Over the next 80 minutes, Givens said, Rudin made several calls from her cell phone and a pay phone. She also made three trips to a trash bin and deposited items from her trunk into it.

Daniel Ford, a senior crime scene analyst, told jurors that found inside the trash bin were two sealed bottles of lamp oil, a torn-up newspaper and torn-up day planner pages.

Amador objected to the lamp oil being admitted into evidence, arguing that it has no relevance since tests show Ronald Rudin was set ablaze with gasoline.

However, Bonaventure overruled Amador's objection when Owens argued he believes Rudin didn't know her accomplice or accomplices had opted to use gasoline instead of the lamp oil. Owens said Rudin was obviously trying to get rid of any evidence that could tie her to the murder scene.

When the newspaper was taped together, an article was found with the headline "Fishing and hiking programs on tap for Lake Mead," Ford said. Handwritten on the calendar pages were several references to such things as power of attorney, trust, assets, TWA tickets and bank accounts.

Lake Mohave is in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Several hours after Rudin made her trip to the trash bin, witnesses testified, she was seen driving toward California with Yehuda Sharon. The next day, they said, Sharon dropped Rudin off at Los Angeles International Airport, where she took a flight to Illinois for her husband's funeral.

Prosecutors have said they suspect Sharon was Rudin's lover and he may have helped her dispose of Ronald Rudin's body. Although Sharon was granted immunity in 1995 and once offered to "crack open" the case for a fee, he told grand jurors in 1997 he knows nothing about Ronald Rudin's death.

Sharon has also filed several lawsuits for defamation against Metro and such television shows as "Hard Copy" and "America's Most Wanted."