WEBVTT 00:00:07.645 --> 00:00:10.415 This poor man suffered a pretty gruesome death. 00:00:11.483 --> 00:00:13.518 His remains fit in a little bag. 00:00:14.586 --> 00:00:17.522 A number of people affiliated with organized crime 00:00:17.589 --> 00:00:19.057 might have been involved. 00:00:19.090 --> 00:00:22.160 There was just something wrong with that picture. 00:00:23.228 --> 00:00:25.663 This case became driven by the forensic evidence. 00:00:26.731 --> 00:00:28.633 There were bits of brain matter 00:00:28.700 --> 00:00:30.301 left on the ceiling. 00:00:30.368 --> 00:00:32.637 I looked at the bullets and considered that maybe 00:00:32.704 --> 00:00:34.739 they had been used in a silencer. 00:00:35.373 --> 00:00:37.008 Many murder cases are simple, 00:00:37.108 --> 00:00:38.676 but this case was very different. 00:00:39.677 --> 00:00:41.913 He wasn't the nicest person in the world, 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:44.582 but he didn't deserve to get murdered like that. 00:01:28.526 --> 00:01:33.431 I spent 33 years as a officer of the Metropolitan Police Department. 00:01:33.498 --> 00:01:35.934 My last 12 years were as a homicide investigator. 00:01:37.335 --> 00:01:39.270 I got into law enforcement 00:01:39.270 --> 00:01:41.206 because my father was a police officer. 00:01:41.272 --> 00:01:43.975 I remember him coming home with his uniform on, 00:01:44.042 --> 00:01:45.977 and his brass buttons shining, 00:01:46.044 --> 00:01:47.979 and he's got a gun on his side, 00:01:48.046 --> 00:01:49.747 and he puts bad guys in jail... 00:01:50.815 --> 00:01:53.084 And I thought, man, that's what I wanna do. 00:01:53.151 --> 00:01:56.087 As an investigator, I'm often asked, 00:01:56.154 --> 00:01:57.889 "What does a murderer look like?" 00:01:57.956 --> 00:02:00.391 And I tell people, "Look in the mirror." 00:02:02.794 --> 00:02:06.464 When my partner Jimmy and I were assigned to this case, 00:02:06.531 --> 00:02:09.968 it was the first big major high-profile investigation 00:02:09.968 --> 00:02:13.404 that we had received in Homicide... 00:02:16.307 --> 00:02:18.209 Detective Ramos. 00:02:18.309 --> 00:02:20.311 Guns and drugs and *** 00:02:20.378 --> 00:02:21.846 and everything that 00:02:21.946 --> 00:02:24.782 people really wanna sink their teeth into, 00:02:24.849 --> 00:02:26.651 like some Hollywood movie. 00:02:28.353 --> 00:02:30.288 This case had it all. 00:02:36.861 --> 00:02:38.296 We received a call. 00:02:38.363 --> 00:02:40.465 Some fishermen were out at the lake 00:02:40.498 --> 00:02:42.467 and they found something that scared 'em. 00:02:44.802 --> 00:02:48.239 It was a very typical desert scene outside of Las Vegas... 00:02:50.508 --> 00:02:53.211 and there was this charred area 00:02:53.244 --> 00:02:55.313 where someone had built a campfire, 00:02:55.380 --> 00:02:56.714 was what it appeared. 00:02:56.781 --> 00:03:01.219 There were the outlines and the remains of an hump-backed trunk, 00:03:01.252 --> 00:03:02.720 an antique type trunk. 00:03:02.787 --> 00:03:05.623 And then as we looked closer 00:03:05.690 --> 00:03:08.359 into this pit of burnt debris, 00:03:08.426 --> 00:03:11.362 we also saw small human remains... 00:03:13.431 --> 00:03:15.166 Bones, foot bones, 00:03:15.266 --> 00:03:16.868 finger bones... 00:03:16.901 --> 00:03:18.436 And 15 feet away was 00:03:18.503 --> 00:03:20.438 a perfectly intact human skull. 00:03:21.673 --> 00:03:24.609 And in fact we could see bullet holes on the skull. 00:03:27.011 --> 00:03:29.914 Next to the skull was a gold bracelet 00:03:30.014 --> 00:03:31.616 that was encrusted in diamonds, 00:03:31.683 --> 00:03:34.285 and in those diamonds it spelled out the name "Ron": 00:03:34.385 --> 00:03:36.287 R-O-N. 00:03:36.387 --> 00:03:39.657 Ron Rudin was a mysterious missing persons case. 00:03:41.392 --> 00:03:42.827 Four weeks earlier, 00:03:42.894 --> 00:03:44.562 this well-known man had just vanished. 00:03:45.663 --> 00:03:49.267 One of his wives had given him a gold bracelet, 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:52.270 and his name was spelled out in diamonds. 00:03:53.304 --> 00:03:55.373 We said, "Look, here's the bracelet. 00:03:55.440 --> 00:03:57.075 It's gotta be Ron Rudin's skull." 00:03:57.141 --> 00:03:59.510 Someone did as much as they could 00:03:59.577 --> 00:04:01.145 to conceal the remains, 00:04:01.179 --> 00:04:03.214 but the skull didn't burn 00:04:03.281 --> 00:04:05.216 all the way to disintegration. 00:04:06.451 --> 00:04:08.219 A forensic anthropologist 00:04:08.286 --> 00:04:10.722 was able to look at the back of the skull 00:04:10.788 --> 00:04:12.890 where the vertebrae came in contact with the skull, 00:04:12.957 --> 00:04:14.659 and he said, "I think I see 00:04:14.726 --> 00:04:16.961 some knife marks on these vertebrate." 00:04:17.061 --> 00:04:19.030 It's possible that the head 00:04:19.097 --> 00:04:21.466 had been removed from the body itself 00:04:21.532 --> 00:04:23.601 prior to the fire starting. 00:04:25.203 --> 00:04:28.039 Decapitation occurs usually with 00:04:28.106 --> 00:04:30.241 some type of sharp instrument. 00:04:30.341 --> 00:04:33.044 The vertebrae are interlocked, 00:04:33.111 --> 00:04:35.613 and so there's really no way to 00:04:35.713 --> 00:04:37.815 take someone's head off of their body 00:04:37.882 --> 00:04:39.817 without chipping the bone. 00:04:39.884 --> 00:04:41.986 And that would let us know 00:04:42.053 --> 00:04:45.156 that it wasn't the fire that decapitated an individual, 00:04:45.223 --> 00:04:46.791 but a tool was used. 00:04:48.226 --> 00:04:51.863 The skull had rolled away because it had been separated from the body. 00:04:51.929 --> 00:04:53.564 Somebody cut the poor man's head off 00:04:53.631 --> 00:04:55.500 and stuffed it in the trunk with him 00:04:55.566 --> 00:04:57.135 before they set it on fire. 00:04:59.504 --> 00:05:02.840 The body was completely charred. 00:05:02.907 --> 00:05:05.543 The hump-back trunk had been charred as well, 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:08.780 leaving the clasps and some of the metal brackets behind. 00:05:09.847 --> 00:05:12.116 But there was a couple pieces of wood 00:05:12.183 --> 00:05:13.518 that survived the fire that 00:05:13.584 --> 00:05:16.020 gave us an indication of what color the trunk was. 00:05:17.121 --> 00:05:19.223 We knew that it was blue on the outside 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:21.025 and it had wallpaper on the inside. 00:05:21.125 --> 00:05:22.527 But there was still enough left 00:05:22.593 --> 00:05:24.529 where we could lay out the metal straps 00:05:24.595 --> 00:05:26.998 and we could get the overall dimensions of the trunk. 00:05:28.032 --> 00:05:31.102 This trunk had to be used to dispose of the body. 00:05:34.005 --> 00:05:37.608 The remains were taken to the Medical Examiner's office. 00:05:37.675 --> 00:05:39.744 During the examination of the skull, 00:05:39.811 --> 00:05:41.412 the Medical Examiner told us 00:05:41.479 --> 00:05:43.014 that there were five bullet holes, 00:05:43.047 --> 00:05:45.817 indicating that he had been shot five times. 00:05:45.883 --> 00:05:48.119 And in fact I believe there were 00:05:48.186 --> 00:05:50.621 three bullet fragments that were still intact. 00:05:50.688 --> 00:05:53.124 We knew that it was a small caliber weapon, 00:05:53.191 --> 00:05:54.659 which was very fortunate, 00:05:54.692 --> 00:05:56.327 because that was physical evidence 00:05:56.394 --> 00:05:58.162 of what was used to kill him. 00:06:00.698 --> 00:06:03.501 The only identifying item of evidence that was there 00:06:03.568 --> 00:06:05.336 was a gold bracelet. 00:06:05.403 --> 00:06:07.071 But the bracelet itself being there 00:06:07.171 --> 00:06:10.007 wasn't scientific proof that those remains belonged to Ron Rudin, 00:06:10.074 --> 00:06:11.943 so we had to get some scientific proof. 00:06:13.077 --> 00:06:14.712 We had dental records 00:06:14.812 --> 00:06:16.714 and his teeth were still in place. 00:06:16.814 --> 00:06:19.417 Had it not been for that, 00:06:19.450 --> 00:06:21.953 I don't think we ever would've been able to 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:23.688 scientifically identify those remains. 00:06:29.427 --> 00:06:31.529 Fire has the ability 00:06:31.596 --> 00:06:33.898 to cover up a lotta crimes, 00:06:33.965 --> 00:06:36.901 but what it can't do is burn teeth. 00:06:38.469 --> 00:06:42.607 Teeth require 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit or more to burn. 00:06:43.674 --> 00:06:45.376 Our teeth are pretty much 00:06:45.443 --> 00:06:47.378 protected from high temperatures. 00:06:49.447 --> 00:06:52.984 Each one of us have a unique set of teeth 00:06:53.050 --> 00:06:56.687 and a unique way our teeth have been restored. 00:06:56.754 --> 00:07:01.092 Those records that one gets when they go to the dentist 00:07:01.125 --> 00:07:03.694 gives us a really good tool 00:07:03.761 --> 00:07:05.496 in the identification of individuals. 00:07:06.597 --> 00:07:08.866 The Medical Examiner was able to say, 00:07:08.933 --> 00:07:11.068 "Yeah, this is what's left of Ron Rudin, 00:07:11.135 --> 00:07:13.771 and now you have a murder case." 00:07:15.206 --> 00:07:17.475 We had to speak with the man's wife, 00:07:17.508 --> 00:07:19.110 his next of kin, 00:07:19.143 --> 00:07:21.946 the one who had to make the missing person's report. 00:07:22.013 --> 00:07:23.948 I called her up and I said, 00:07:24.015 --> 00:07:25.650 "Margaret, there's been of development." 00:07:25.716 --> 00:07:27.852 And she said, 00:07:27.919 --> 00:07:29.887 "Oh, he's been found, hasn't he?" 00:07:38.329 --> 00:07:40.598 We started to establish 00:07:40.665 --> 00:07:42.233 what we call a victimology... 00:07:44.435 --> 00:07:46.037 You try and find out 00:07:46.070 --> 00:07:49.006 everything you can about your victim... 00:07:49.073 --> 00:07:52.176 Who he visited every day, what his habits were, 00:07:52.243 --> 00:07:54.946 what he would do before work, after work... 00:07:56.013 --> 00:07:59.116 We learned so many things about the private Ron Rudin 00:07:59.183 --> 00:08:00.818 versus the public Ron Rudin. 00:08:02.386 --> 00:08:04.055 In public he was well-known, 00:08:04.121 --> 00:08:06.023 well-respected in the business community, 00:08:06.090 --> 00:08:08.693 a real estate developer who had millions... 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:12.029 A workaholic like no one can describe. 00:08:13.097 --> 00:08:15.166 But he had a dark side. 00:08:19.737 --> 00:08:21.172 He was a playboy, 00:08:21.205 --> 00:08:24.041 and he was unfaithful to every wife that he had. 00:08:24.108 --> 00:08:27.044 Ron would frequent topless bars, 00:08:27.111 --> 00:08:29.213 gentleman's clubs. 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:31.949 We had to listen to different stories about Ron, 00:08:31.949 --> 00:08:33.551 and his background, 00:08:33.584 --> 00:08:35.386 and the people that he associated with, 00:08:35.453 --> 00:08:37.488 and the activities that he was involved in. 00:08:37.555 --> 00:08:38.723 Ron was a colorful character, 00:08:38.789 --> 00:08:40.391 and so there were some allegations 00:08:40.391 --> 00:08:43.027 that he had been involved with gun dealers, 00:08:43.094 --> 00:08:44.862 and some unsavoury gun dealers. 00:08:44.962 --> 00:08:47.298 He had a very large gun collection, 00:08:47.365 --> 00:08:48.766 and there was the belief that 00:08:48.833 --> 00:08:50.568 he always carried a gun in his boot. 00:08:51.602 --> 00:08:53.437 He also had a lot of enemies 00:08:53.504 --> 00:08:56.173 because of the way he conducted his real estate business. 00:08:57.241 --> 00:09:00.811 If you bought a home from Ron Rudin, 00:09:00.878 --> 00:09:02.513 he would finance it himself. 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:05.216 But if you were one day late on your payment, 00:09:05.249 --> 00:09:07.718 he would foreclose, and boom, you were out. 00:09:07.785 --> 00:09:09.887 And he made a lot of enemies that way. 00:09:11.455 --> 00:09:14.392 Ron Rudin suffered a pretty gruesome death, 00:09:14.458 --> 00:09:16.727 and some people say that was poetic justice 00:09:16.794 --> 00:09:19.463 for a man who lived a terrible lifestyle... 00:09:19.530 --> 00:09:22.133 A deceptive man, a very untrustworthy man. 00:09:22.199 --> 00:09:24.635 But he didn't deserve to get murdered like that. 00:09:31.175 --> 00:09:33.377 We started looking into 00:09:33.377 --> 00:09:35.580 what the circumstances were of his disappearance. 00:09:38.649 --> 00:09:42.186 His black Cadillac was found not far from 00:09:42.253 --> 00:09:45.656 the Crazy Horse topless bar. 00:09:45.756 --> 00:09:48.359 'Course the first thought was that somehow 00:09:48.426 --> 00:09:51.529 he had been apprehended there at the Crazy Horse. 00:09:51.562 --> 00:09:53.531 The club was Mob-associated, 00:09:53.564 --> 00:09:55.032 and owned by the Mob. 00:09:55.099 --> 00:09:57.868 So there was a connection there for someone to say, 00:09:57.935 --> 00:10:00.371 "Well, the Mob killed him and there's proof of it." 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:04.241 Back in the 50's and 60's, 00:10:04.308 --> 00:10:07.645 the Mob had a pretty big influence here in Las Vegas. 00:10:07.712 --> 00:10:11.515 They had quite a bit of ownership in a lot of the hotels. 00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:13.985 They skimmed a lot of money, 00:10:14.051 --> 00:10:18.155 and along with them running the hotels in Las Vegas came 00:10:18.189 --> 00:10:20.791 all the crime that was associated with the mob... 00:10:20.825 --> 00:10:22.426 drug dealers, 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:24.295 drug users, gamblers, 00:10:24.362 --> 00:10:25.930 *** and all. 00:10:27.531 --> 00:10:29.967 It's called "Sin City" for a reason. 00:10:31.035 --> 00:10:33.471 One of the things about 00:10:33.537 --> 00:10:35.640 the car being found at the topless club was, um, 00:10:35.706 --> 00:10:38.209 that the car had been parked 00:10:38.209 --> 00:10:40.745 in the back alley of the club, 00:10:40.811 --> 00:10:42.747 where most patrons don't go. 00:10:43.814 --> 00:10:45.683 It's where the employees go, the dancers go, 00:10:45.750 --> 00:10:47.585 and that's where they park to get into 00:10:47.685 --> 00:10:49.086 the back door of the club. 00:10:49.153 --> 00:10:50.421 One of the bartenders 00:10:50.488 --> 00:10:53.424 was a former detective with our department. 00:10:54.492 --> 00:10:58.295 He had been convicted of going over to the dark side, 00:10:58.362 --> 00:11:00.031 joining the Mob, 00:11:00.097 --> 00:11:03.501 and was part of their criminal activity in Las Vegas... 00:11:03.567 --> 00:11:07.238 A former police detective seduced by the Mob. 00:11:07.304 --> 00:11:08.406 However, 00:11:08.472 --> 00:11:10.341 one of the things that we 00:11:10.374 --> 00:11:12.810 determined quickly was that there was no Mob association 00:11:12.877 --> 00:11:15.513 between Ron Rudin and his activities. 00:11:17.615 --> 00:11:22.019 He wasn't involved in any competing business with the Mob, 00:11:22.086 --> 00:11:25.189 and if the Mob would've had anything to do with his disappearance, 00:11:25.256 --> 00:11:26.791 they're not gonna put 00:11:26.791 --> 00:11:28.626 a key piece of evidence in one of their clubs. 00:11:28.726 --> 00:11:30.294 That's silly to think that. 00:11:31.896 --> 00:11:34.432 Somebody wanted us to believe the Mob had 00:11:34.498 --> 00:11:36.000 something to do with his disappearance 00:11:36.067 --> 00:11:39.503 because his car's in the parking lot of a Mob-owned topless club. 00:11:41.238 --> 00:11:43.641 It was a poor attempt to throw us off. 00:11:45.076 --> 00:11:47.778 There was a lotta leads, a lot of lookin' around. 00:11:47.845 --> 00:11:49.914 Had he been at the Crazy Horse that night? 00:11:50.014 --> 00:11:52.116 Had he not? What was his car doing there? 00:11:52.183 --> 00:11:54.919 There was an effort made to try to associate 00:11:55.019 --> 00:11:57.655 the vehicle with the crime scene and so forth. 00:11:58.723 --> 00:12:00.991 So we looked at soil and samples 00:12:01.058 --> 00:12:04.295 taken from the crime scene where the body had burned, 00:12:04.395 --> 00:12:06.831 looking for something to link that 00:12:06.897 --> 00:12:09.834 with debris from the floorboards of the car. 00:12:09.900 --> 00:12:11.635 Despite all my efforts, 00:12:11.669 --> 00:12:14.205 it just sorta went nowhere. 00:12:14.271 --> 00:12:16.040 Inside the car 00:12:16.107 --> 00:12:18.109 were little specks of blood... 00:12:19.176 --> 00:12:21.779 But this blood was in such small amounts 00:12:21.846 --> 00:12:23.948 it had no scientific value for us. 00:12:24.014 --> 00:12:26.584 All we could say is that it was human blood, 00:12:26.684 --> 00:12:27.885 but we couldn't type it, 00:12:27.952 --> 00:12:29.820 we couldn't get a DNA profile from it. 00:12:31.489 --> 00:12:35.192 The car didn't help us find out what happened to Ron Rudin. 00:12:36.260 --> 00:12:38.796 We gotta find out all the other who, 00:12:38.796 --> 00:12:41.365 what, when, where, and why questions. 00:12:41.432 --> 00:12:43.200 So we started talking to 00:12:43.267 --> 00:12:44.702 the people who reported him missing. 00:12:44.769 --> 00:12:46.203 And that's we found out that 00:12:46.270 --> 00:12:48.706 his wife Margaret refused to report him missing 00:12:48.773 --> 00:12:50.341 for several days. 00:12:51.175 --> 00:12:53.177 She was telling all her family, 00:12:53.244 --> 00:12:55.679 "He's just gone somewhere. He does this all the time." 00:12:56.714 --> 00:12:58.883 Ninety-nine percent of murder investigations, 00:12:58.949 --> 00:13:01.352 the person that you have to focus on first 00:13:01.452 --> 00:13:03.788 is the one who is closest to the victim... 00:13:03.854 --> 00:13:07.925 A spouse, live-in boyfriend, girlfriend, somethin' like that. 00:13:08.926 --> 00:13:11.028 We wanted to move past Margaret 00:13:11.028 --> 00:13:12.830 if she had nothing to do with it. 00:13:21.005 --> 00:13:24.175 Margaret Rudin was a very attractive woman. 00:13:24.241 --> 00:13:25.643 Always very gracious, 00:13:25.743 --> 00:13:27.745 very gentle and kind 00:13:27.812 --> 00:13:29.847 in the way she presented herself. 00:13:31.081 --> 00:13:33.651 Margaret's hobby was collecting antiques, 00:13:33.751 --> 00:13:35.719 and she'd opened an antiques store 00:13:35.753 --> 00:13:38.722 in Ron's strip mall that he owned attached to his home. 00:13:40.758 --> 00:13:42.393 They were an attractive couple. 00:13:42.459 --> 00:13:44.595 He was an attractive man, she was an attractive female, 00:13:44.628 --> 00:13:47.731 and people tend to take notice of attractive people in that regards. 00:13:47.765 --> 00:13:50.601 Two socialites getting together 00:13:50.668 --> 00:13:50.901 and both being very connected here in town. 00:13:50.901 --> 00:13:51.569 and both being very connected here in town. 00:13:52.636 --> 00:13:54.471 We called up and said, "Margaret, 00:13:54.505 --> 00:13:56.640 can we come and speak to you right now?" 00:13:56.707 --> 00:13:58.275 And she says, "Sure, c'mon up." 00:13:59.710 --> 00:14:01.145 So we go to the house, 00:14:01.212 --> 00:14:02.813 and I said, "Well, Margaret", 00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:05.816 "we need to sit down and we need to go over 00:14:05.883 --> 00:14:09.220 "everything you can remember "about the last time you spoke to him... 00:14:09.253 --> 00:14:11.388 "What happened, what did you guys talk about, 00:14:11.455 --> 00:14:13.023 where were you..." 00:14:13.057 --> 00:14:14.491 And she says, "Okay, yeah, 00:14:14.525 --> 00:14:16.227 but I'm just so upset right now." 00:14:16.260 --> 00:14:19.163 "Can you give me a minute?" And we said, "Yeah, of course." 00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:22.166 And she goes over to the desk that had been left open, 00:14:22.266 --> 00:14:24.134 and she starts going through all these papers. 00:14:24.168 --> 00:14:27.037 And I said, "Margaret, is there anything we can help you with?" 00:14:27.104 --> 00:14:29.640 She goes, "No, I'm just looking for his insurance policy." 00:14:31.375 --> 00:14:33.510 And I thought, okay, 00:14:33.544 --> 00:14:35.512 well what about, "What happened to my husband? 00:14:35.546 --> 00:14:38.182 How did he die? Where did you find him?" 00:14:38.249 --> 00:14:40.517 Your husband's been murdered! 00:14:40.551 --> 00:14:42.653 We need to talk about what happened. 00:14:45.723 --> 00:14:47.358 I'm watching her, 00:14:47.424 --> 00:14:50.694 and I said again, "We need to talk and refresh your memory. 00:14:50.761 --> 00:14:53.097 The last time you saw him, what were you doing?" 00:14:54.164 --> 00:14:56.267 And she starts going like this. 00:14:56.300 --> 00:14:59.770 She's digging her first knuckle into her eye... 00:15:01.839 --> 00:15:03.574 To myself I'm thinking, 00:15:03.641 --> 00:15:06.210 "What're you doing? You're gonna hurt yourself." 00:15:06.277 --> 00:15:08.512 Are you okay, ma'am? 00:15:08.579 --> 00:15:10.014 And it occurred to me 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.715 she was trying to make herself cry. 00:15:11.782 --> 00:15:13.117 She was trying to 00:15:13.183 --> 00:15:15.886 injure her eye so that tears would come out. 00:15:15.953 --> 00:15:19.056 Is there a friend nearby that we can call? 00:15:19.123 --> 00:15:20.524 No.. 00:15:20.591 --> 00:15:23.160 She said, "I'm just too upset to 00:15:23.227 --> 00:15:25.496 talk anymore. Can you come back another time?" 00:15:25.562 --> 00:15:27.231 We said, "Sure, of course, we understand." 00:15:27.298 --> 00:15:29.400 So Jimmy and I looked at each other. 00:15:29.466 --> 00:15:31.101 Y'know, we kinda shook our heads. 00:15:31.168 --> 00:15:34.104 The reaction was just not what we had expected. 00:15:34.171 --> 00:15:36.340 I'd never seen a reaction like that 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:39.743 in the 300-plus murders that I've investigated. 00:15:39.810 --> 00:15:41.745 She wasn't crying. She wasn't upset. 00:15:41.812 --> 00:15:43.747 She was just like... 00:15:43.814 --> 00:15:45.616 we're having an everyday conversation. 00:15:46.717 --> 00:15:49.086 In the meantime, y'know, in the back of our minds, 00:15:49.153 --> 00:15:52.656 we're saying this lady had something to do with her husband's disappearance. 00:15:54.992 --> 00:15:56.427 We get to the office, 00:15:56.493 --> 00:15:59.430 and Jimmy and I are just looking at each other and saying, 00:15:59.496 --> 00:16:01.598 "What in the world is this woman up to?" 00:16:03.267 --> 00:16:05.369 And then as we walked in the door, 00:16:05.469 --> 00:16:06.804 Jimmy's phone 00:16:06.870 --> 00:16:08.205 is ringing on his desk. 00:16:08.272 --> 00:16:09.873 "Hello, Detective Vaccaro." 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:11.508 It was an attorney, 00:16:11.542 --> 00:16:13.644 and he said, "I've been retained by Margaret Rudin. 00:16:13.711 --> 00:16:16.880 If you wanna talk to her, you have to talk to me first." 00:16:17.948 --> 00:16:20.784 We didn't even get a chance to get back to the office 00:16:20.851 --> 00:16:23.120 before she lawyered up, as we call it. 00:16:23.187 --> 00:16:25.122 So we thought, "Okay, here we go. 00:16:25.189 --> 00:16:26.757 The game's on." 00:16:28.993 --> 00:16:32.262 We could not focus on anybody else until we 00:16:32.296 --> 00:16:34.264 eliminated her as a suspect. 00:16:34.298 --> 00:16:37.568 We thought, have we covered every base? 00:16:37.634 --> 00:16:39.503 Is there any possibility that there was 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:42.373 someone other than Margaret responsible for Ron's murder? 00:16:43.941 --> 00:16:47.277 Every single lead that came in, we followed up on it. 00:16:47.311 --> 00:16:48.679 Every single one. 00:16:48.746 --> 00:16:51.682 We didn't discard any lead that we had. 00:16:52.883 --> 00:16:55.753 One of the theories that Margaret had, uh, 00:16:55.819 --> 00:16:58.055 proposed was that Ron 00:16:58.155 --> 00:17:00.691 had been abducted by Colombian drug lords. 00:17:01.792 --> 00:17:04.561 Vegas was a hub for gang activity, 00:17:04.628 --> 00:17:06.797 and Las Vegas did play a role 00:17:06.864 --> 00:17:08.899 in the distribution of cocaine 00:17:08.966 --> 00:17:11.068 that was coming in from South America. 00:17:11.135 --> 00:17:13.637 Margaret would say, "Well, he's been running guns 00:17:13.704 --> 00:17:16.273 to Colombian drug lords for years." 00:17:16.340 --> 00:17:19.710 He was licensed by the government to sell firearms. 00:17:19.777 --> 00:17:22.079 He had an amazing collection of guns. 00:17:22.146 --> 00:17:23.914 He converted his walk-in closet 00:17:23.981 --> 00:17:25.716 into a huge gun safe. 00:17:25.816 --> 00:17:27.251 There had to be... 00:17:27.317 --> 00:17:29.720 500 guns in this closet. 00:17:31.555 --> 00:17:33.624 Margaret tried to expand on that 00:17:33.690 --> 00:17:36.093 and try and make it a plausible theory. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.228 But while we were able to document 00:17:38.295 --> 00:17:42.199 that he was going to South America with guns... 00:17:43.600 --> 00:17:46.537 he wasn't running guns for the Colombian drug cartel. 00:17:46.603 --> 00:17:48.238 They were for hunting expeditions. 00:17:48.305 --> 00:17:50.374 He would only take one shotgun with him. 00:17:50.474 --> 00:17:53.844 This story was another red herring... 00:17:53.911 --> 00:17:55.312 Do you remember the date? 00:17:55.379 --> 00:17:57.247 And from that point on, 00:17:57.314 --> 00:17:58.649 we really started digging. 00:17:58.715 --> 00:18:01.852 And we found a lotta bizarre things about Margaret. 00:18:03.554 --> 00:18:07.124 She, like Ronald, had been married a many times. 00:18:08.225 --> 00:18:10.994 Her marriage to Ron was her fifth marriage. 00:18:11.061 --> 00:18:13.363 Each ex-husband was very wealthy. 00:18:14.398 --> 00:18:16.700 Ron had substantial wealth. 00:18:16.767 --> 00:18:19.503 Some estimates were upwards of 13 million dollars. 00:18:19.603 --> 00:18:21.038 She'd married into money, 00:18:21.105 --> 00:18:22.973 hoping that she would live 00:18:22.973 --> 00:18:25.776 a lifestyle of the rich and famous. 00:18:26.877 --> 00:18:28.445 But from day one, 00:18:28.479 --> 00:18:30.414 this marriage was tumultuous. 00:18:31.982 --> 00:18:34.618 The relationship became very turbulent. 00:18:34.685 --> 00:18:36.286 It was clear to me 00:18:36.353 --> 00:18:39.022 that the trust has been lost in that relationship. 00:18:40.090 --> 00:18:42.426 They fought all the time. 00:18:42.526 --> 00:18:45.395 There was a domestic violence incident 00:18:45.429 --> 00:18:48.398 where there was actually shots fired in the house. 00:18:48.432 --> 00:18:49.766 In fact, 00:18:49.800 --> 00:18:53.504 not long after Ron had married Margaret, 00:18:53.537 --> 00:18:56.807 he discovered that one of his weapons was missing. 00:18:56.907 --> 00:18:58.809 He had indicated that he believed 00:18:58.909 --> 00:19:00.477 she might have taken the gun. 00:19:00.544 --> 00:19:02.813 Ron's will spelled out, 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.882 "If I die under mysterious circumstances, 00:19:04.948 --> 00:19:06.550 or have a violent death," 00:19:06.617 --> 00:19:08.952 he wanted an extraordinary investigation done... 00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:11.722 and that if anybody was gonna kill him for his money, 00:19:11.788 --> 00:19:13.724 he didn't want them to get his money. 00:19:17.294 --> 00:19:21.465 Ron's closest friends told us Margaret wiretapped his office 00:19:21.532 --> 00:19:23.567 and put listening devices on his phones. 00:19:25.669 --> 00:19:28.138 She ultimately had the ability to intercept 00:19:28.138 --> 00:19:30.641 and listen to each one of his phone calls. 00:19:30.707 --> 00:19:32.843 She could hear his phone conversation 00:19:32.943 --> 00:19:35.012 with one or two of these women 00:19:35.078 --> 00:19:37.147 that he was having an affair with. 00:19:37.214 --> 00:19:40.017 She not only learned of his infidelity, 00:19:40.083 --> 00:19:42.186 but by intercepting his phone calls, 00:19:42.219 --> 00:19:43.954 what Margaret was learning is that 00:19:44.021 --> 00:19:46.223 Ron was actively changing his will. 00:19:51.295 --> 00:19:54.398 Her amount that she'd receive under the will 00:19:54.464 --> 00:19:57.601 was getting smaller and smaller and smaller... 00:20:01.705 --> 00:20:04.308 Her antique store was... 00:20:04.374 --> 00:20:07.144 doing terrible, failing, costing Ron a lot of money. 00:20:08.212 --> 00:20:10.614 He had given her thousands of dollars 00:20:10.681 --> 00:20:12.249 to get this off the ground. 00:20:13.684 --> 00:20:15.118 He told her, 00:20:15.185 --> 00:20:16.820 on the night before he disappeared, 00:20:16.887 --> 00:20:20.324 that he was cutting off her allowance for the store, 00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:22.459 he was turning off her cell phone, 00:20:22.526 --> 00:20:25.262 and he was turning in her Lincoln Continental 00:20:25.362 --> 00:20:26.830 that she was leasing. 00:20:26.897 --> 00:20:31.168 And so Margaret's cash cow was drying up. 00:20:32.236 --> 00:20:34.271 We believed that there was 00:20:34.371 --> 00:20:37.941 an awful lot of financial motive in having him killed. 00:20:41.378 --> 00:20:44.147 However, we had no direct physical evidence 00:20:44.214 --> 00:20:45.816 linking Margaret to the crime. 00:20:50.287 --> 00:20:51.922 We prepared a press release 00:20:51.989 --> 00:20:54.091 that it was a murder investigation now. 00:20:54.157 --> 00:20:56.760 And then we received a call from a young man 00:20:56.827 --> 00:20:59.229 who identified himself as Augustine Lovato, 00:20:59.296 --> 00:21:02.165 and he had a very interesting story to tell us... 00:21:02.232 --> 00:21:04.101 Detective Ramos. 00:21:04.167 --> 00:21:06.036 And that just turned everything 00:21:06.103 --> 00:21:07.671 upside down. 00:21:07.738 --> 00:21:09.306 OKay. Bye. 00:21:20.651 --> 00:21:22.019 Augustine Lovato says, 00:21:22.085 --> 00:21:23.920 "I have information about that Ron Rudin case." 00:21:23.954 --> 00:21:26.823 He began to tell us that the lady 00:21:26.890 --> 00:21:29.593 whose husband was killed 00:21:29.660 --> 00:21:32.696 hired me to clean up their bedroom, 00:21:32.796 --> 00:21:35.299 and we said, "What?" 00:21:35.332 --> 00:21:38.402 "She said that her husband had a bloody nose 00:21:38.468 --> 00:21:43.173 and he got blood on the mattress 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.676 and there was blood on the carpet 00:21:45.709 --> 00:21:47.477 so she wanted me to clean it up." 00:21:47.544 --> 00:21:51.315 He said, "There was a pool of blood on the entire top half 00:21:51.348 --> 00:21:55.118 of the mattress and it was just stinky and nasty." 00:21:55.185 --> 00:21:56.620 I said, "you're sure it's blood..." 00:21:56.687 --> 00:21:58.488 He goes, "I'm positive it's blood." 00:21:58.555 --> 00:22:00.123 And he said, "and right below the bed, 00:22:00.190 --> 00:22:02.092 on the carpet, it was soaked with blood." 00:22:04.828 --> 00:22:07.998 He said, "and then I looked on the wall" above the headboard 00:22:08.065 --> 00:22:10.367 and there was one of these glamour shots of the lady 00:22:10.467 --> 00:22:14.938 and there were little droplets of blood on the picture 00:22:15.372 --> 00:22:17.841 and as I'm looking at it I'm thinking, 00:22:17.908 --> 00:22:20.377 "oh my gosh how did the blood from a bloody nose 00:22:20.477 --> 00:22:21.978 get up on this picture?" 00:22:22.012 --> 00:22:23.880 And he said, "it just gave me the creeps, 00:22:23.947 --> 00:22:25.916 but she was paying me to get rid of it so I, 00:22:25.982 --> 00:22:28.251 you know, I did what the lady told me to do." 00:22:30.387 --> 00:22:32.356 And he told us where he had taken the mattress 00:22:32.389 --> 00:22:34.491 and we drove there and there it was sitting right there 00:22:34.524 --> 00:22:36.193 soaked in blood, boom. 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:38.495 We were on the right track with Margaret. 00:22:38.562 --> 00:22:40.297 We were able to get a search warrant 00:22:40.297 --> 00:22:42.566 based on the evidence that we collected 00:22:42.566 --> 00:22:44.901 from Augustine Lovato's statement, 00:22:44.968 --> 00:22:47.971 so we served the search warrant on the house. 00:22:48.038 --> 00:22:51.007 We had to find conclusive evidence that a crime 00:22:51.041 --> 00:22:53.310 had occurred in that specific location. 00:22:53.377 --> 00:22:55.912 One of the techniques that we used 00:22:55.979 --> 00:22:59.015 was spraying a chemical agent called luminol 00:22:59.049 --> 00:23:01.017 in the bedroom where we theorized 00:23:01.017 --> 00:23:03.353 that Ron had been killed. 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.522 Luminol is a chemical that is used 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:07.691 to help detect trace amounts of blood 00:23:07.791 --> 00:23:09.626 that may be found at a crime scene. 00:23:09.693 --> 00:23:11.895 So Luminol is typically sprayed on an area 00:23:11.962 --> 00:23:13.530 that you think has blood 00:23:13.597 --> 00:23:15.799 and the luminol actually interacts with the iron 00:23:15.866 --> 00:23:18.602 found in haemoglobin to create a blue light 00:23:18.668 --> 00:23:20.604 that you see for a quick moment. 00:23:20.670 --> 00:23:23.974 We sprayed the luminol 00:23:24.040 --> 00:23:25.375 and this wall lit up like the Milky Way, 00:23:25.442 --> 00:23:28.345 it was just glowing with blood. 00:23:28.412 --> 00:23:31.148 Blood that was not visible to the naked eye 00:23:31.214 --> 00:23:33.683 because whoever, and we believed it was Margaret, 00:23:33.717 --> 00:23:36.686 had tried to clean the blood off of the wall. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:40.590 Removing blood is almost impossible 00:23:40.657 --> 00:23:43.527 as much as you try and try and scrub and clean, 00:23:43.593 --> 00:23:46.196 there'll still be the smallest amount that's left. 00:23:49.032 --> 00:23:50.600 There's a phenomenon in criminalistics 00:23:50.667 --> 00:23:52.602 called high velocity mist. 00:23:52.669 --> 00:23:55.672 We believe that when the first bullet entered his skull 00:23:55.739 --> 00:23:58.208 it created a hole 00:23:58.275 --> 00:24:01.211 and when the subsequent bullets entered the skull 00:24:01.278 --> 00:24:06.082 the pressure that was inflicted on the inside of the skull 00:24:06.149 --> 00:24:08.418 caused a mist of blood to come out 00:24:08.485 --> 00:24:11.121 in the existing holes. 00:24:12.422 --> 00:24:14.024 High velocity mist 00:24:14.090 --> 00:24:17.227 has a very unique spray or aerosol like pattern, 00:24:17.294 --> 00:24:20.163 that's very distinguishable from something 00:24:20.230 --> 00:24:22.365 like a passive drop, say if you cut your hand 00:24:22.432 --> 00:24:25.235 or if you were to be hit with a bat 00:24:25.302 --> 00:24:26.937 it wouldn't create the same pattern. 00:24:27.003 --> 00:24:31.374 There were actual bits of brain matter and skull matter 00:24:31.441 --> 00:24:34.678 that was still left on the ceiling, 00:24:34.744 --> 00:24:37.447 but then another bizarre twist 00:24:37.447 --> 00:24:39.516 in this case happened. 00:24:39.583 --> 00:24:42.886 We found out that one of Ron's wives, 00:24:42.953 --> 00:24:45.455 I believe it was his third wife, 00:24:45.522 --> 00:24:49.726 this lady had committed suicide on that bed. 00:24:50.594 --> 00:24:53.029 Shot herself in the head, 00:24:53.096 --> 00:24:55.465 and the blood spray from that incident 00:24:55.532 --> 00:24:57.467 was still present on the wall. 00:24:59.603 --> 00:25:01.071 With blood, the amazing thing is, 00:25:01.137 --> 00:25:02.906 if something happened 20 years ago, 00:25:02.973 --> 00:25:04.674 there's very much a high likelihood 00:25:04.741 --> 00:25:06.243 that that blood will still be there. 00:25:06.309 --> 00:25:08.278 And we had to research that, 00:25:08.345 --> 00:25:11.014 and find out well this blood pattern here 00:25:11.081 --> 00:25:12.916 belonged to Ron Rudin when he was killed. 00:25:12.983 --> 00:25:15.185 This blood pattern here belonged to his wife 00:25:15.285 --> 00:25:16.786 when she committed suicide. 00:25:16.820 --> 00:25:18.555 If you suspect that there's 00:25:18.555 --> 00:25:20.624 multiple blood profiles that are in a room, 00:25:21.324 --> 00:25:24.060 you could use a lot of things to actually separate them out. 00:25:24.127 --> 00:25:26.263 So one may be the actual blood spatter analysis 00:25:26.329 --> 00:25:27.831 where you're looking at the direction, 00:25:27.931 --> 00:25:29.933 the size, the shape of the spots, 00:25:30.033 --> 00:25:32.936 but then furthermore you may do some DNA testing. 00:25:33.003 --> 00:25:36.106 We had no base DNA identity for Ron. 00:25:36.172 --> 00:25:38.341 Ron did not have any children, you know, 00:25:38.408 --> 00:25:39.843 if you if you have offspring you can 00:25:39.910 --> 00:25:41.311 get a DNA profile from your offspring, 00:25:41.378 --> 00:25:42.946 but he didn't have any. 00:25:44.648 --> 00:25:46.616 We found a handkerchief on Ron's side of the sink, 00:25:46.683 --> 00:25:49.286 that had little droplets of blood on it 00:25:49.352 --> 00:25:51.187 and we learned from his maid 00:25:51.221 --> 00:25:53.189 that Ron would dab himself 00:25:53.223 --> 00:25:54.724 with that handkerchief 00:25:54.791 --> 00:25:56.860 when he cut himself shaving. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.163 That was the only reference that we had 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:02.532 to Ron's DNA profile. 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:05.035 We needed to match the DNA profile 00:26:05.101 --> 00:26:06.803 from the droplets of blood on the handkerchief, 00:26:06.836 --> 00:26:09.739 with all the other blood that we believed was Ron's, 00:26:09.806 --> 00:26:11.775 because of the circumstances. 00:26:11.841 --> 00:26:14.778 But there was still that little one percent chance 00:26:14.778 --> 00:26:18.448 of well how do you know this is Ron Rudin's DNA, 00:26:18.515 --> 00:26:20.750 couldn't it have been a stranger? 00:26:20.817 --> 00:26:22.686 I suppose it could have. 00:26:22.752 --> 00:26:25.455 That just caused us to dig our heels in more 00:26:25.522 --> 00:26:27.524 and just focus on what we had, 00:26:27.591 --> 00:26:29.526 and go out and find more evidence. 00:26:32.195 --> 00:26:34.230 It was believed that his body 00:26:34.230 --> 00:26:36.266 was placed in a humpback trump. 00:26:36.333 --> 00:26:38.501 The trunk was believed to have been 00:26:38.568 --> 00:26:40.637 an antique piece. 00:26:40.704 --> 00:26:42.872 We knew that it was blue on the outside 00:26:42.939 --> 00:26:45.575 and it had wallpaper on the inside 00:26:45.642 --> 00:26:48.078 from what was left at the crime scene. 00:26:48.144 --> 00:26:51.114 I found a receipt in Margaret's files 00:26:51.181 --> 00:26:54.651 that described the purchase of a humpback trunk 00:26:54.718 --> 00:26:57.387 with the interior with wallpaper, 00:26:57.454 --> 00:26:59.656 it spelled it out and the dimensions matched 00:26:59.723 --> 00:27:01.391 the dimensions of the of the framework, 00:27:01.458 --> 00:27:03.493 and I thought "found it." 00:27:03.560 --> 00:27:06.463 So I called the dealer, 00:27:06.529 --> 00:27:09.566 gave him the receipt number and described the trunk, 00:27:09.633 --> 00:27:12.035 he says, "Yeah, I remember selling that trunk 00:27:12.102 --> 00:27:14.738 to that really nice lady from Las Vegas." 00:27:17.107 --> 00:27:18.675 He described it perfectly. 00:27:21.645 --> 00:27:23.813 The evidence that we had all pointed to Margaret. 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:26.149 To this point, it's all circumstantial 00:27:26.216 --> 00:27:27.917 but we were hoping that 00:27:27.917 --> 00:27:29.653 we would get more evidence to follow up on. 00:27:29.686 --> 00:27:32.122 So we took the case to a Grand Jury. 00:27:35.892 --> 00:27:37.594 When we began to present 00:27:37.661 --> 00:27:39.062 this case to the Grand Jury, 00:27:39.162 --> 00:27:41.831 we were presenting it more to gather up evidence 00:27:41.898 --> 00:27:44.968 to find out just what the state of the evidence is. 00:27:45.035 --> 00:27:48.338 Margaret was not co-operating with us; 00:27:48.405 --> 00:27:50.507 Wasn't telling us anything. 00:27:50.573 --> 00:27:53.209 We were not permitted to speak to Margaret 00:27:53.276 --> 00:27:56.146 without a lawyer present. 00:27:56.212 --> 00:27:58.048 But when you're the focus of an investigation 00:27:58.081 --> 00:28:00.150 by the law enforcement agency 00:28:00.216 --> 00:28:02.318 and evidence is being presented to a Grand Jury 00:28:02.352 --> 00:28:05.455 the target of that investigation has the opportunity 00:28:05.522 --> 00:28:08.792 to go in front of the Grand Jury and defend themselves. 00:28:08.858 --> 00:28:10.994 But they don't have the right 00:28:11.061 --> 00:28:14.664 to have an attorney present during that examination. 00:28:14.731 --> 00:28:17.500 We were hoping that Margaret would avail herself 00:28:17.567 --> 00:28:20.270 to defend her actions, but she never did 00:28:20.336 --> 00:28:22.505 she never did take that opportunity. 00:28:22.572 --> 00:28:24.941 In our minds, the evidence was all there, 00:28:25.008 --> 00:28:27.110 but we were looking at it from our point of view 00:28:27.210 --> 00:28:28.712 from a cop's point of view. 00:28:28.745 --> 00:28:30.447 And they said we just don't have enough 00:28:30.513 --> 00:28:33.750 and as an investigator it's very frustrating. 00:28:33.817 --> 00:28:36.720 I thought this case was stalled. 00:28:36.753 --> 00:28:39.222 I thought, it's going to be a cold case. 00:28:48.631 --> 00:28:52.135 After the initial thrust of the investigation had calmed down, 00:28:52.235 --> 00:28:54.204 we still had other cases to work, 00:28:54.270 --> 00:28:57.607 but in our downtime we were always focusing on what, 00:28:57.674 --> 00:28:59.943 what are we missing on the Rudin case? 00:29:00.009 --> 00:29:01.711 What else can we do on the Rudin case? 00:29:01.778 --> 00:29:04.380 Stew Bell was the elected DA at the time 00:29:04.414 --> 00:29:06.616 and he had come down and seen me and indicated 00:29:06.683 --> 00:29:09.018 that this case was growing old 00:29:09.052 --> 00:29:11.688 and he wanted to do something about it. 00:29:13.323 --> 00:29:15.358 And so Stew Bell gave me the assignment 00:29:15.425 --> 00:29:18.261 of presenting it to a second Grand Jury. 00:29:18.328 --> 00:29:20.764 The forensic evidence, 00:29:20.797 --> 00:29:22.132 the blood evidence in the room, 00:29:22.165 --> 00:29:24.234 all over the ceiling, 00:29:24.300 --> 00:29:26.136 on the floor, 00:29:26.169 --> 00:29:27.937 on the carpets 00:29:28.004 --> 00:29:30.073 became a very important part of this case. 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:33.009 We needed conclusive scientific proof 00:29:33.076 --> 00:29:36.546 that yes indeed that blood belonged to Ron Rudin. 00:29:36.613 --> 00:29:39.382 The handkerchief was the only reference that we had 00:29:39.449 --> 00:29:42.819 to Ron's DNA profile. 00:29:42.919 --> 00:29:45.622 Now one could argue that well how do you know 00:29:45.688 --> 00:29:48.391 that was Ron's blood that was on that handkerchief? 00:29:48.458 --> 00:29:50.260 A good defense attorney is going to work on that 00:29:50.293 --> 00:29:52.295 and beat it to death. 00:29:54.564 --> 00:29:58.434 At that time, DNA profiling was in its infancy 00:29:58.468 --> 00:30:01.437 and Ron's living relatives weren't close enough 00:30:01.471 --> 00:30:03.840 that we could have got a DNA profile from them. 00:30:05.942 --> 00:30:07.911 On most murder scenes you have a body bag 00:30:07.977 --> 00:30:09.679 and you have a full-size body 00:30:09.746 --> 00:30:11.714 that you take to the Medical Examiner. 00:30:11.781 --> 00:30:13.950 Poor Ron in this case, you know, 00:30:14.017 --> 00:30:16.119 his remains fit in a little bag. 00:30:16.186 --> 00:30:19.055 There was just a skull and some burnt bones. 00:30:21.191 --> 00:30:23.560 However, during the Grand Jury presentation 00:30:23.626 --> 00:30:25.461 we were able to extract DNA from the teeth 00:30:25.528 --> 00:30:28.097 that were in the skull. 00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:32.335 If a body is completely burned 00:30:32.402 --> 00:30:34.204 and there's no tissue, 00:30:34.237 --> 00:30:36.472 teeth are going to hold up. 00:30:36.506 --> 00:30:40.743 In the tooth is the nutrient center called the pulp. 00:30:40.810 --> 00:30:43.112 And that pulp has a location 00:30:43.146 --> 00:30:45.381 where there is a rich source of DNA. 00:30:45.448 --> 00:30:47.684 That pulp can be used to compare 00:30:47.750 --> 00:30:51.421 against the blood from the victim you have. 00:30:51.487 --> 00:30:55.024 We removed the pulp from the tooth 00:30:55.091 --> 00:30:57.727 in Ron Rudin's skull and said yep, 00:30:57.794 --> 00:31:00.964 the blood on the mattress, the blood on the ceiling, 00:31:01.030 --> 00:31:04.000 the blood on the wall all have the same DNA profile 00:31:04.033 --> 00:31:06.302 as the tooth that was in the skull found out at the lake. 00:31:08.104 --> 00:31:09.906 It was one of the very first times 00:31:09.973 --> 00:31:12.175 that the pulp in the tooth was used to identify 00:31:12.242 --> 00:31:15.445 a DNA profile. 00:31:15.511 --> 00:31:16.746 In fact, 00:31:16.813 --> 00:31:19.282 it was one of the first times here in Las Vegas 00:31:19.349 --> 00:31:22.418 that it was admitted as evidence in court. 00:31:22.485 --> 00:31:24.187 We've got a pretty good case on Margaret, 00:31:24.254 --> 00:31:27.023 we just need that one little bit more 00:31:27.090 --> 00:31:30.093 to tip the scales in our favor. 00:31:33.029 --> 00:31:34.998 The Grand Jury had been convened 00:31:35.064 --> 00:31:36.699 and having looked at the trace evidence, 00:31:36.766 --> 00:31:37.901 I was part of that. 00:31:37.934 --> 00:31:39.369 I was called to testify, 00:31:39.435 --> 00:31:40.570 and during one of the breaks 00:31:40.670 --> 00:31:42.305 I heard the deputy District Attorney 00:31:42.372 --> 00:31:44.007 talking to one of the crime scene analysts, 00:31:44.040 --> 00:31:46.943 saying next week bring in the bullets, 00:31:47.010 --> 00:31:48.745 we'll get those entered into evidence. 00:31:48.811 --> 00:31:51.381 And I went on alert and immediately I said, 00:31:51.447 --> 00:31:54.751 "Bullets, what bullets? We've not examined any." 00:31:54.817 --> 00:31:57.587 The bullets and the bullet fragments 00:31:57.687 --> 00:31:59.956 that were found within the skull were deformed 00:32:00.056 --> 00:32:02.592 to the point that they were still identifiable, 00:32:02.659 --> 00:32:04.560 but just barely identifiable. 00:32:04.594 --> 00:32:07.964 The forensic pathologist had looked at them 00:32:08.064 --> 00:32:09.632 and said they were too damaged, they were of no value, 00:32:09.666 --> 00:32:11.567 and so the detectives 00:32:11.601 --> 00:32:14.037 just never submitted a request on those. 00:32:15.138 --> 00:32:17.807 In this case, the bullets did look very damaged 00:32:17.840 --> 00:32:20.176 but it turned out that a lot of the marks on them 00:32:20.243 --> 00:32:21.945 which were very, very coarse marks 00:32:21.978 --> 00:32:23.579 were actually gun marks. 00:32:25.715 --> 00:32:27.483 I kept thinking what could cause 00:32:27.550 --> 00:32:29.852 this kind of coarse character to the marks 00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:32.522 and one of the possibilities that came to mind 00:32:32.588 --> 00:32:35.425 that maybe a suppresser or a silencer had been used. 00:32:40.196 --> 00:32:43.066 And so in my efforts to evaluate that 00:32:43.132 --> 00:32:45.468 I thought you know where can I get some samples 00:32:45.535 --> 00:32:47.570 of bullets from a silencer for comparison. 00:32:47.637 --> 00:32:49.472 And I remembered a gun recovered 00:32:49.539 --> 00:32:51.541 under unusual circumstances. 00:32:57.814 --> 00:32:59.582 In the Summer of 1996 00:32:59.649 --> 00:33:01.217 at Lake Mead, 00:33:01.284 --> 00:33:03.886 there was an area that was reserved for scuba diving. 00:33:06.556 --> 00:33:09.025 This one diver saw a white plastic bag 00:33:09.092 --> 00:33:11.861 on the bottom of the lake. 00:33:11.928 --> 00:33:14.597 They opened it up and wow. 00:33:14.664 --> 00:33:17.200 There was a 22 semi-automatic pistol 00:33:17.266 --> 00:33:18.968 with a silencer. 00:33:19.035 --> 00:33:21.537 The park ranger called the police department, 00:33:21.604 --> 00:33:23.306 he called us the homicide section, 00:33:23.406 --> 00:33:25.808 but that information hadn't been passed on to Jimmy and I. 00:33:25.875 --> 00:33:27.677 So we weren't aware of it. 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:34.417 The gun had been wrapped in countless plastic baggies. 00:33:34.484 --> 00:33:36.853 Baggie after baggie after baggie. 00:33:36.919 --> 00:33:39.389 Certainly it was hoped that the gun 00:33:39.422 --> 00:33:41.057 would never be found again. 00:33:45.294 --> 00:33:47.430 They said it was a bull barrel Ruger 00:33:47.530 --> 00:33:50.033 which is a term for a target barrel gun 00:33:50.066 --> 00:33:51.768 and as soon as I looked at it, 00:33:51.834 --> 00:33:53.803 I realized it was not a bull barrel 00:33:53.803 --> 00:33:55.772 it was a suppressor, a silencer. 00:33:56.572 --> 00:33:59.442 When a gun is fired the bullet exits the barrel 00:33:59.442 --> 00:34:01.844 and behind it is a wave of high pressure gas 00:34:01.911 --> 00:34:04.714 and that is what you will perceive of as sound. 00:34:05.982 --> 00:34:08.084 A suppressor delays that wave exiting 00:34:08.151 --> 00:34:10.319 makes it take a little longer to get out 00:34:10.353 --> 00:34:12.588 and so the sound is reduced. 00:34:12.655 --> 00:34:14.223 It's more of a poof, 00:34:14.290 --> 00:34:16.359 because it was a little unusual 00:34:16.459 --> 00:34:18.594 we proceeded to clean it and put it back together 00:34:18.661 --> 00:34:20.229 and test fire it. 00:34:20.997 --> 00:34:22.899 Okay, I've got a 22 short here. 00:34:25.535 --> 00:34:27.103 The chamber's loaded. 00:34:34.243 --> 00:34:36.045 We looked at the bullets, 00:34:36.112 --> 00:34:37.680 but we couldn't link it to anything. 00:34:37.713 --> 00:34:39.382 So the gun went to the evidence vault 00:34:39.482 --> 00:34:40.817 where it was stored, 00:34:40.850 --> 00:34:42.919 and the test fires went into our evidence storage 00:34:42.919 --> 00:34:44.921 in the laboratory. 00:34:46.355 --> 00:34:48.558 Later on when the Grand Jury had been convened, 00:34:48.624 --> 00:34:51.394 I remembered the test fires from the gun from the lake, 00:34:51.461 --> 00:34:53.329 and so I pulled those out of evidence 00:34:53.396 --> 00:34:56.232 to see if the marks from a silencer were similar 00:34:56.265 --> 00:34:59.235 to the marks we were seeing on the bullets that killed Ron Rudin. 00:34:59.635 --> 00:35:02.839 As I put those test fires from the suppressed weapon 00:35:02.905 --> 00:35:04.640 on my scope and compared them 00:35:04.707 --> 00:35:06.843 to the bullets removed from Ron Rudin's head, 00:35:06.909 --> 00:35:09.345 I started seeing what appeared to be 00:35:09.412 --> 00:35:11.414 the marks lining up. 00:35:11.481 --> 00:35:13.116 And of course I'm thinking 00:35:13.116 --> 00:35:15.184 this is just a random gun found in the lake, 00:35:15.251 --> 00:35:17.386 this can't be, but the more I looked, 00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:19.689 it became clear to me that there was a relationship 00:35:19.689 --> 00:35:22.792 between those bullets and the gun from Lake Mead. 00:35:23.226 --> 00:35:27.663 So I made some enquiries with the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms 00:35:27.697 --> 00:35:31.067 and found that there was a record of this gun. 00:35:31.134 --> 00:35:33.503 It had belonged to Ron Rudin. 00:35:35.605 --> 00:35:37.173 I called The DA and I said 00:35:37.273 --> 00:35:38.841 you are not going to believe this, 00:35:38.875 --> 00:35:40.643 but I've got the gun that killed Ron Rudin 00:35:40.710 --> 00:35:42.678 and his response was, "What?" 00:35:46.716 --> 00:35:48.818 The Eureka moment was the gun. 00:35:48.885 --> 00:35:50.786 The gun being identified as, 00:35:50.786 --> 00:35:52.555 number one the murder weapon, 00:35:52.655 --> 00:35:54.524 number two that it had belonged to Ron 00:35:54.557 --> 00:35:56.359 and number three that it disappeared 00:35:56.425 --> 00:35:58.361 shortly after Margaret came into the picture. 00:35:58.427 --> 00:36:00.830 That was the coup de grace moment. 00:36:00.930 --> 00:36:04.000 Who else is going to be in the man's bedroom 00:36:04.066 --> 00:36:06.202 with that gun at two o'clock in the morning 00:36:06.302 --> 00:36:08.437 when he's asleep to be in a position 00:36:08.471 --> 00:36:10.206 to shoot him in the head five times? 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:19.215 The Grand Jury began deliberations 00:36:19.282 --> 00:36:21.450 around one o'clock in the afternoon, 00:36:21.484 --> 00:36:24.220 and by three o'clock they had given us a true bill, 00:36:24.287 --> 00:36:26.088 or an indictment and said, 00:36:26.155 --> 00:36:28.090 yep there is enough evidence here 00:36:28.157 --> 00:36:29.859 to hold her for trial. 00:36:29.959 --> 00:36:31.527 Go get her, boys. 00:36:34.363 --> 00:36:36.432 Margaret knew that we were coming after her, 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:41.370 but Margaret Rudin had disappeared off the face of the earth. 00:36:52.982 --> 00:36:55.017 Once the Grand Jury indictment was handed over, 00:36:55.084 --> 00:36:57.486 we realized Margaret Rudin was gone. 00:36:59.255 --> 00:37:01.123 She took off and was in the wind. 00:37:02.858 --> 00:37:04.794 Both Jimmy and I looked at each other and said, 00:37:04.860 --> 00:37:06.629 "Here we go the hunt is on." 00:37:10.533 --> 00:37:12.168 We had no idea where to start looking 00:37:12.235 --> 00:37:15.271 so we just entered her into a national database, 00:37:15.338 --> 00:37:17.640 listed all of her aliases. 00:37:17.740 --> 00:37:20.042 While she was on the run, 00:37:20.109 --> 00:37:22.211 Margaret kept two or three different wigs, 00:37:22.278 --> 00:37:24.547 a couple of bottles of hair dye. 00:37:24.647 --> 00:37:27.250 She went to great lengths to conceal her identity 00:37:27.283 --> 00:37:29.018 and she was successful at it for a while, 00:37:29.085 --> 00:37:30.653 for almost two years. 00:37:32.555 --> 00:37:35.491 Phoenix Police department received a tip. 00:37:35.558 --> 00:37:38.194 The caller said, 00:37:38.261 --> 00:37:40.496 "This woman that's wanted is my neighbor." 00:37:40.563 --> 00:37:43.199 A Phoenix police officer responded to that call, 00:37:43.266 --> 00:37:46.502 but we weren't able to get a photograph to him in time. 00:37:46.569 --> 00:37:49.438 This officer actually spoke to Margaret. 00:37:49.505 --> 00:37:51.941 He said, "Do you know who Margaret Rudin is?" 00:37:52.041 --> 00:37:54.477 "Oh no sir, I have no idea, who is she?" 00:37:54.543 --> 00:37:56.312 "Well she's wanted for murder." 00:37:56.379 --> 00:37:58.814 "No, that couldn't possibly be me." 00:38:00.249 --> 00:38:02.018 Later on he went back to find her 00:38:02.084 --> 00:38:03.653 she had gone at a moment's notice. 00:38:03.686 --> 00:38:05.288 She just took off. 00:38:09.592 --> 00:38:11.460 From Arizona she ended up in Mexico. 00:38:13.162 --> 00:38:16.265 We had gotten another series of tips 00:38:16.332 --> 00:38:17.800 and they said "Yes, she's in Mexico, 00:38:17.867 --> 00:38:20.136 I know that because friends are speaking to her 00:38:20.202 --> 00:38:21.771 and they know where she is." 00:38:24.407 --> 00:38:27.443 Margaret had a series of friends in a little 00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:29.612 communication network that she would use, 00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:33.049 and that's how she was able to contact her family 00:38:33.115 --> 00:38:35.117 and they were able to contact her. 00:38:36.118 --> 00:38:39.221 Ultimately, one of her friends said enough is enough, 00:38:39.288 --> 00:38:42.992 I'm not gonna be part of this helping a fugitive 00:38:43.059 --> 00:38:45.695 and called the FBI and said, 00:38:45.728 --> 00:38:48.631 "I know how to get a hold of where Margaret's at." 00:38:48.731 --> 00:38:50.733 She's no longer in Mexico 00:38:50.833 --> 00:38:53.869 she's in a little town named Revere: 00:38:53.936 --> 00:38:55.971 It was a suburb of Boston. 00:38:59.608 --> 00:39:02.011 It was one of the best takedowns 00:39:02.078 --> 00:39:04.080 that I can remember. 00:39:04.146 --> 00:39:05.915 It was a classic piece 00:39:05.981 --> 00:39:08.617 of stick and whistle 101. 00:39:12.021 --> 00:39:15.124 The cops in Revere saw a pizza delivery guy 00:39:15.191 --> 00:39:16.926 go to the apartment 00:39:16.992 --> 00:39:20.563 so the cops stop the pizza delivery kid 00:39:20.629 --> 00:39:22.198 as he walked away. 00:39:22.264 --> 00:39:24.133 And the cops put on the pizza delivery uniform, 00:39:24.166 --> 00:39:26.669 a little hat and a jacket and they went back 00:39:26.769 --> 00:39:28.337 and knocked on the door. 00:39:31.374 --> 00:39:33.342 And they said, "Margaret do you know why we're here?" 00:39:33.376 --> 00:39:36.245 And she said, "Yeah, it's about that Vegas thing." 00:39:38.681 --> 00:39:40.049 She fought extradition, 00:39:40.149 --> 00:39:41.784 we had to wait for a governor's warrant 00:39:41.851 --> 00:39:43.986 and once she got back to Vegas 00:39:44.053 --> 00:39:45.955 she had three attorneys defending her. 00:39:47.022 --> 00:39:48.424 I don't mean to say 00:39:48.491 --> 00:39:49.859 that many murder cases are simple 00:39:49.925 --> 00:39:51.694 but many murder cases are simple. 00:39:51.761 --> 00:39:53.195 There's eye witnesses that are left, 00:39:53.262 --> 00:39:54.697 there's a smoking gun. 00:39:54.797 --> 00:39:57.366 The murderer is standing over the body many times. 00:39:57.433 --> 00:39:59.969 This case was very different in that regard. 00:40:01.303 --> 00:40:03.072 We had to be able to prove this case 00:40:03.139 --> 00:40:05.207 beyond a reasonable doubt, 00:40:05.274 --> 00:40:07.243 and that's why each and every piece of evidence 00:40:07.309 --> 00:40:10.012 became so important to us. 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:13.649 It was hours and hours and hours of, 00:40:13.716 --> 00:40:15.718 you know, good old fashioned police work 00:40:15.818 --> 00:40:17.920 bolstered by a new science 00:40:17.987 --> 00:40:20.222 that was just being brought into police work. 00:40:21.457 --> 00:40:23.726 The finding of the gun in the lake, 00:40:23.793 --> 00:40:26.328 and the ballistics matching the projectiles 00:40:26.395 --> 00:40:28.197 that were found in Ronald Rudin's skull 00:40:28.264 --> 00:40:30.232 and his remains became overwhelmingly powerful, 00:40:30.299 --> 00:40:33.002 at least in the eyes of the state. 00:40:34.937 --> 00:40:38.140 Between the ballistics and the DNA, you know, 00:40:38.174 --> 00:40:39.942 they both came together and gave us 00:40:40.009 --> 00:40:41.811 that final piece of evidence, 00:40:41.844 --> 00:40:45.281 irrefutable evidence that she was responsible 00:40:45.347 --> 00:40:47.016 for this poor man's death, 00:40:47.082 --> 00:40:48.717 and a gruesome death at that. 00:40:52.121 --> 00:40:55.257 It's sad to that think this poor guy was killed 00:40:55.324 --> 00:40:56.892 by one of his own guns. 00:41:00.763 --> 00:41:01.997 I guess that old adage, 00:41:02.064 --> 00:41:04.133 live by the sword die by the sword, 00:41:04.200 --> 00:41:06.936 sure turned out to be the case here. 00:41:07.002 --> 00:41:10.973 Of course, the jury had the last say in this matter. 00:41:11.040 --> 00:41:14.877 After about a month long trial she was convicted 00:41:14.977 --> 00:41:19.148 and received a sentence of 20 to life 00:41:19.248 --> 00:41:23.085 for her part in Ron's murder 00:41:23.152 --> 00:41:26.622 and she's still in jail today. 00:41:32.394 --> 00:41:35.898 It's a classic story of greed, 00:41:35.965 --> 00:41:38.534 power, 00:41:38.634 --> 00:41:39.702 money, 00:41:39.768 --> 00:41:41.504 revenge. 00:41:43.038 --> 00:41:45.608 I can tell you just about everybody is capable 00:41:45.674 --> 00:41:47.443 of becoming a murderer at some point. 00:41:49.245 --> 00:41:50.713 If you piss somebody off enough, 00:41:50.779 --> 00:41:52.815 they're going to take the revenge on you.