Rundle’s statements to police key factor

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, May 20, 2003 | 9:44 a.m.

Statements William Rundle made to police shortly after his arrest could be the determining factor in the outcome of his murder trial.

Prosecutors claim Rundle's statements prove that he planned the killing of his wife, Shirley, 63, and carried it out by bludgeoning her to death with a baseball bat.

But defense attorneys claim Rundle's words show he committed the slaying in the heat of passion and fled the scene in a state of panic.

It will be up to jurors to reach their own conclusions. They heard the remainder of Rundle's taped interviews with Metro Police homicide detectives on Monday.

In his statement, Rundle, 56, told detectives he killed Shirley during a heated argument after Shirley hit him in the arm with a champagne bottle.

He said he left her body on the side of a highway about 30 miles northwest of Susanville, Calif., where he knew it would be easily found.

"It was a definite spur of the moment thing," Rundle said. "There was no malice or anything."

Rundle initially told detectives he hit Shirley once, but later recanted and admitted to hitting her several times.

Jurors last week heard the beginning of the statement, in which Rundle said Shirley killed his 82-year-old mother, Willa Rundle, by upping her dosage of morphine.

He said Shirley had disposed of the body, which was never found.

Rundle said he didn't call police when Shirley hit him because she had threatened to tell authorities that it was his idea to kill his mother.

"It was kind of a blackmail," he said.

But prosecutors claim Rundle's actions while a fugitive were those of a cold-hearted killer.

Rundle told detectives that while in Seattle, he attended five Seattle Mariners games and bought $400 season tickets to the Seattle Seahawks.

Rundle also visited national tourist sites such as Mount Rushmore and the nation's capital, he said. Police arrested him in Florida.

"In 16 years I never spent one dime on myself," he said. "Everything was for my family."

Rundle said he threw his and Shirley's wedding bands out on the highway and pawned some of Shirley's other jewelry at a Seattle pawnshop.

"I threw those two away together," he said. "I was so angry at what had finally happened and how it happened."

Rundle is charged with a single murder count and two robbery counts. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.