Wealthy dentist convicted of killing wife on African safari expected to be sentenced to life, today

Today is the day that a wealthy dentist, Lawrence ‘Larry’ Rudolph, 68, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering his wife, Bianca Rudolph, while the two were on an African Safari in Zambia back in 2016. His motives were insurance money scams plus having an affair with another woman.  Prosecutors said that the convicted murderer’s sentencing will cap off, “a lifetime spent seeking domination and control over others through wealth and power,” according to a quote from The Associated Press.

Prosecutors say Rudolph, who owned a Pittsburgh-area dental franchise, shot his wife of 34 years in the heart with a shotgun on her last morning in Zambia, and then put the gun in its soft case to make it look like she had accidentally shot herself while packing. ~ ABC News

In addition to being found guilty of murdering his wife following his 14-day trial, Rudolph was also found guilty of defrauding multiple life insurance companies. The same jury found 64-year-old Lori Milliron (Rudoph’s lover,) guilty of being an accessory after the fact to the murder, obstruction of justice, and two counts of perjury before the grand jury.

At his trial, the prosecution proved that Rudolph murdered his wife in Zambia on October 11, 2016, in such a way that he could falsely claim the death was the result of an accident. He had devised that scheme to defraud and obtain a total of $4,877,744.93 from nine life insurance policies with seven different life insurance companies, one located in Colorado.

He tried to represent that Bianca died as the result of the accidental discharge of a firearm when, in fact, she had been murdered. She had been shot once in the heart with a 12-gauge shotgun.  ~ U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado

Evidence also proved that on January 5, 2022, Lori Milliron provided false and misleading testimony to a grand jury sitting in the District of Colorado regarding cash payments made to her by Lawrence Rudolph, and the nature of her relationship with Rudolph. She testified before the grand jury the reason for the cash payments was because he was generous; it was actually because she was his girlfriend.

When asked about what Rudolph told her when he relayed to her he was under FBI investigation, she told the grand jury that Rudolph said he was irritated by the investigation because he was “probably innocent;” actually, Rudolph had blurted out to her in the Spring of 2020 that, “I killed my f—— wife for you!” Prosecutors used those exact words in their opening statements to the jury at the dentist’s murder trial as it was getting underway in July 2022.

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(Cover Photo, Biana and Larry Rudolph, Image credit: Twitter)

(Additional sources: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, NBC News)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram