A wealthy dentist who was found guilty of killing his wife after an African safari in Zambia has been sentenced to life imprisonment. He will be subject to penalties worth over $15 million, which is said to have capped a lifetime spent seeking dominance and control through wealth and power, according to prosecutors.
Bianca Rudolph’s husband, Larry Rudrudolph, was found guilty of mail fraud last year when he sold insurance policies worth almost $5 million.
Throughout the case, Larry Rudolph has maintained that his wife’s death in 2016 in the southern African nation was accidental. His lawyers intend to appeal the conviction.
Larry Rudolph and Bianca along with Facebook.
During their trip to Zambia, Rudolph, who owned a dental franchise in the Pittsburgh area, shot his wife of 34 years with he gun in her heart and then placed the weapon in its soft case to make it look as though the wife had accidentally shot herself. Prosecutors claim that this was done because they were hunting game during the trip.
In the bathroom, Rudolph heard a gunshot and found his wife bleeding and dead on the bedroom floor, as reported in “48 Hours.”
Despite the evidence, prosecutors contended that it was not possible to prove otherwise as the shot that injured her heart was fired from a distance of 2 to 3.5 feet.
They also assert that the location, which was roughly 80 miles away from the nearest police station, was the perfect setting to try and escape responsibility for their actions, where he quickly set up his wife’s cremation and threatened law enforcement officials investigating her death.
They claim that the objective was to enjoy a luxurious retirement with his longtime girlfriend, Lori Milliron, using insurance funds. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison in June for being an accessory. Her appeal has been rejected by them.
Instagram/Lori Milliron is the social media presence of Larry Rudolph and Lori Millis.
Prosecutors argued in their sentencing filing that the murder was the culmination of years of seeking to wield wealth and authority over others.
Julian and AnaBianca Rudolph, the couple’s adult children, have refrained from discussing the death publicly, despite AnaBibelli’ad testifying against Milliron during her sentencing. They are fighting for some of the financial penalties that the government wants their father to pay, calling on the court to treat them as victims of insurance fraud. In a court filing, they claim to have caused substantial financial harm and are entitled to reparations.
According to court documents, investigators in Zambia and insurers determined that Bianca Rudolph’s death was accident-related, and insurance companies, including those based in Colorado, were responsible for paying out her life insurance.
After almost five years of her death, Rudolph was arrested by the FBI after agents traveled around the world to gather evidence and interview witnesses.
During an argument at a steakhouse in Phoenix, where Milliron moved to be with Rudolph after Bianca’s death, the bartender claimed to have heard Rudell say “I killed my f—g wife for you!” but Brian Lovelace testified that music was playing and not the actual words were said. He later confessed that he actually said “Now they’re saying I killed your affable wife!” after hearing news about the FBI being investigating him.
The prosecutors assert that his wealth was built on fraud. They allege that he shot off his thumb during a previous trip to Zambia to collect millions in disability insurance money, and also claimed that deceitful practices with dental patients resulted in the need for root canals due to the absence of fillings or drilling holes in their teeth while they were asleep.
The government’s fine is twice the amount that Rudolph received for his life insurance policies and insurance for the jewelry he was wearing when a woman was killed. Although officials in Zambia claimed to have given the items to him, Rudolf has stated that they were not charged and never proved his claim.
Rudolph is being ordered by prosecutors to pay $4.9 million in restitution to insurance companies, forfeit $4.8 million from bank accounts, and forfeit real estate in Arizona and Pennsylvania, as well as two luxury cars, an Aston Martin DB-11 and a Bentley Bentayga.
Rudolph’s attorneys assert that the penalties for both properties and cars are worth millions of dollars, and that he cannot afford to pay them now because a declining dental practice, debt, or two adult children have taken over his finances.
His lawyers stated that the fine would only serve to punish and bankrupt the Rudolph children, not him personally.
Rudolph’s value was estimated by the government to be $15 million in a pre-sentencing report that has not been released to the public, but he is now considered less than $10 million by prosecutors.
Rudolph is expected to retain millions of dollars after paying restitution, the fine, and having his property confiscated, according to prosecutors. Prior to the trial, Rudolf claimed to be worth $27 million and claimed that he did not require the life insurance money accumulated after his wife’s death to prove his innocence.
“The prosecution asserted that the adult children are not being punished and do not have any right to unjust enrichment from their father’s criminal scheme.”
The FBI’s criminal complaint reveals that a friend of Bianca was suspicious when they learned she had been cremated, as the cremation process was believed to have gone against Biană’S strict Catholic beliefs.
According to the FBI complaint, Bianca’s friend disclosed that Rudolph had been involved in an extramarital relationship and had a history of verbal abuse, including arguments over money.
The attorneys for Rudolph assert that Bianca’s will explicitly ordered the cremation and that she was aware of her husband’ alleged affair, which would not have been used as a basis for his murder.
The FBI agent was informed by a friend that Lorry would not divorce her because of his financial concerns and she would never divorce him due to her Catholic faith.
Mary Fulginiti, a former federal prosecutor and CBS News consultant, claims that “her revelation gave Lawrence Rudolph the perfect opportunity to open up swat table” about his wife’s desire to be killed.