A dentist in Pennsylvania allegedly killed his wife during a safari hunting trip in Zambia. He is accused of killing her for $5 million in life insurance money for him and his mistress.
Lawrence Rudolph, 67, was charged in June with the slaying of his wife Bianca in 2016. He allegedly shot her in the chest in Kafue National Park, a hunting grounds in Zambia.
The affidavit, written by FBI Special Agent Donald Peterson, states, “as part of a scheme to defraud life insurance companies and to obtain money and property from them through the false and fraudulent pretense, representation and promise that the death was an accident.”
A friend of Bianca told the FBI that an extramarital affair was going on between Rudolph and the manager of his dental practice. The FBI looked into her suspicions, and discovered that Rudolph and his practice manager had been on several vacations to Cabo San Lucas since 2010. There were travel and finance records to prove it.
The Rudolphs, both avid hunters, went on the African safari to kill. Bianca’s dream was to kill a tiger.
But the tables were turned, and Bianca became the victim.
Mr. Rudolph told Zambian police that his wife had accidentally shot herself in the bathroom while preparing her rifle for the safari trip, and the local police recorded her death as an accident.
When Rudolph tried to have his wife cremated in Zambia, a diplomat in the US embassy in Zambia got suspicious and took photos of the deceased’s body to preserve evidence. The diplomat told authorities that the bullet had been aimed straight to Bianca’s heart, which was in conflict with the husband’s story. According to Lawrence Rudolph, his 5-foot-4-inch wife had shot herself with a 3.7-foot-long Browning rifle. The FBI didn’t buy it. Evidence shows that the gunshots came from 2-3.5 feet away.
After her death, Rudolph submitted claims for seven life insurance and accidental death policies, and cashed out in 2017 for almost $5 million.
Rudolph’s defense attorney, defending him in court on Tuesday, demanded his release on bail, saying that the death had officially been ruled an accident and the insurance companies had agreed to pay.
But FBI agents had been digging up details in Zambia and from people associated with the family, especially the friend that knew about the affair.
If convicted, Rudolph could face up to 20 years in prison.
He was ordered to be held without bail on Tuesday by US Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix in a Denver courtroom.