LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two homeless men befriended by a pair of elderly woman needed only food, water and shelter, a judge said. Instead, said Superior Court Judge David Wesley, they were killed because of the women’s greed.
For that, Wesley on Tuesday handed down two life terms each without the possibility of parole, to Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75.
The women were convicted of a scheme in which they befriended homeless men, took out policies, and then killed them in murders staged to look like hit-and-run auto accidents.
Prosecutors say the women collected $2.8 million before the scheme was uncovered.
The judge said the two men they killed “needed a helping hand. They thought they were getting this from you,” Wesley said. “Instead these unfortunate men were sacrificed on your altar of greed.”
The gray-haired women, who once favored fashionable clothing, wore orange jail uniforms to court. Golay’s lawyer, Roger Jon Diamond, asked for a new trial on grounds that a conversation they had after their arrest was illegally videotaped. The judge rejected the motion.
Both women were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for financial gain in the 1999 death of Paul Vados, 73, and in the 2005 death of Kenneth McDavid, 50.
Relatives of the victims spoke briefly, telling of their sadness at having lost touch with the two men and then finding out they had been murdered.
“I want to know why my father’s life had to end like this,” said Stella Vados, daughter of Paul Vados. “He didn’t deserve that. No one does.”
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Stella Vados and Sandra Salman, the sister of McDavid, said she hoped the case turned a spotlight on the homeless and “the fact that they are an extremely vulnerable population whom we all have a duty to assist and protect.”
She said given the women’s ages, “This is tantamount to the death penalty. They will die in prison. I think that’s a just sentence.”
State and Nation
2 elderly women get life for insurance killings
- State and Nation
-
-
Police officer charged in arson seeks lower bond
A Birmingham police officer charged with arson is asking a judge to lower his bond.
-
ACLU lawsuit to challenge Ill. gay marriage ban
More than two dozen gay and lesbian couples in Illinois plan to file lawsuits Wednesday arguing that it's unconstitutional for the state to deny them the right to marry, a move advocates hope will lead to legalized same-sex marriage in Illinois.
-
FBI: Bones in Opelika from malnourished child
The FBI has determined that skeletal remains found in Opelika were from a malnourished little girl.
-
A rare gain for the Dow on hopes for China growth
Facebook plunged 10 percent to $28.84, shaving $25 billion off from the company's market value in its first seven days of trading.
- Man falls to death from crane in Dallas standoff
-
Searchers recover body of man who drowned in lake
Search crews have recovered the body of an Illinois man who jumped into an Alabama lake and never resurfaced.
-
Dog found skinned, barely alive in Chilton County
Delana Dunnaway of Montevallo said her dog was found barely alive and had to be euthanized.
-
Man in crane at Texas college says he's armed
Police say the man climbed the 150-foot crane late Monday morning.
-
Obama to honor fallen troops on Memorial Day
The president was to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, and then commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
-
Dragon arrives at space station in historic first
Astronauts Donald Pettit and Andre Kuipers used the space station's robot arm to snare the Dragon after a few hours of extra maneuvering.
- More State and Nation Headlines
-
Police officer charged in arson seeks lower bond


