Owner of an antiques store who became known as “The Black Widow of Las Vegas” when she was convicted of the crime. murder of her millionaire husband filed a lawsuit wrongful conviction legal action against the state of Nevada after being released by a federal judge.
Margaret Rudin, now 80, was accused of shooting real estate developer Ron Rudin in the head with a .22 caliber pistol while he slept before dumping his body in the desert in hopes of getting rich off his death.
She maintained her innocence, but was found guilty of murder on May 2, 2001 and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
So, after more than two decades behind bars at the Florence McClure Correctional Center for Women in North Las Vegas — where she spent tirelessly fighting to clear her name — U.S. District Court Judge Richard Boulware finally ruled in 22 May 2022 which his conviction should be overturned.
The judge concluded that Ms. Rudin’s initial defense attorney, the late Michael Amador, had been ineffective and compromised by conflicts of interest and the case against her was highly flawed.
After being released, she counted The Daily Mail: “You think about your children, your grandchildren and you think, I don’t want them to believe this [I’m guilty].
“So I kept fighting, made every appeal I could, hoping some wonderful lawyer would come along, take it, work on it and eventually win.”
Ron Rudin – Mrs. Rudin’s fourth husband, whom she met at church but who was later discovered to have a drinking problem – first disappeared on December 18, 1994.
His car was found in the parking lot of a Nevada strip club known as Crazy Horse Too shortly after his disappearance, and a month later his burned remains were discovered in Nelson’s Landing, near Boulder City, a popular hiking destination. in Eldorado. Mountains.
Despite consistently denying involvement in the disappearance, Rudin’s wife was indicted in 1997, at which time she ran away to Mexico and evaded authorities for two years using a series of aliases and false identities before being detained in Massachusetts in October 1999.
Now absolved of any wrongdoing and seeking restitution, Ms. Rudin’s lawyer wrote in a statement announcing the process that her late husband “had a long list of enemies from a complicated personal life, a known history of shady business dealings and ties to criminal elements.”
They also allege that the club in front of which his car was found was known to have links to organized crime.
Of the initial investigation that placed Rudin as the prime suspect, his lawyers said it was impacted by “salacious media stories and wild theories.”
“There was never any evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA or eyewitnesses, linking Margaret Rudin to Ron Rudin’s murder,” they wrote.
“However, inexperienced homicide detectives focused on Margaret Rudin from the beginning in a biased police investigation.
“Today, in her early 80s, Margaret Rudin seeks to prove, under a Nevada law amended in 2019 to address the rights of wrongfully convicted people, that she was not involved, directly or indirectly, in her husband’s death and did not commit the crime.”
Now living in Illinois, Ms. Rudin is seeking – according to her legal representatives – a certificate certifying her innocence, compensation for the ordeal she suffered, that her attorney fees and legal expenses be covered, and “all other measures that the court may consider fair and appropriate.”
