In my last blog post, you learned about a critical care nurse who used succinylcholine to murder his politician wife, Kathy Augustine. This week’s case is, sadly, another domestic homicide. In 2016, Pittsburgh-area dentist Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph killed his wife, Bianca, while on a safari in Zambia. He then claimed Bianca had accidentally shot herself.
Larry Rudolph and the “Accident”
Larry Rudolph was a successful dentist. His clinics, Three Rivers Dental Group, had made him a wealthy man by the mid-2010s. In 2016, he and his wife had been married for thirty-four years. They shared a passion for big game hunting and often went on safaris in Kafue National Park in Zambia. The couple was wrapping up one of these trips when tragedy struck.
Larry and Bianca were in their hunting cabin at about 5:00 a.m. on October 11, 2016. Bianca was packing when, according to Larry, her shotgun accidentally discharged, killing her instantly.
Zambian authorities investigated and ruled the shooting accidental. An FBI agent reported the ruling, and the case was closed. Rudolph had Bianca’s body cremated before leaving Zambia.
Larry Rudolph Goes On with Life
After Bianca’s death, Rudolph collected nearly $5 million on life insurance policies from multiple insurers. Documents suggest that the insurance companies did conduct their own investigations before paying up.
In most cases, that would have been that. However, Larry Rudolph had been conducting a long-term extramarital affair with one Lori Milliron, who he eventually placed in charge of managing his dental clinics. In addition, Bianca’s friends had suspicions of foul play. After all, how could Bianca, an experienced hunter, have been so careless as to leave her shotgun loaded? And why did her husband hurriedly have her body cremated? Bianca was a devout Catholic and opposed cremation.
In 2020, Larry Rudolph learned that the FBI was reopening the investigation into Bianca’s death. At dinner at the upscale Steak 44 in Phoenix, Arizona, a bartender overheard Larry say, “I killed my f***ing wife for you!”
Larry Rudolph Goes Down
In December 2021, Larry Rudolph was arrested in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he owned a home. He went on trial in July 2022, charged with murder and mail fraud (for defrauding the insurance companies). The trial took place in U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado, because it was the home location for several of the insurers.
On August 1, 2022, a federal jury found Rudolph guilty of murder and defrauding multiple insurance companies. They also convicted his mistress, Lori Milliron, of being an accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice, and two counts of perjury before the grand jury.
Epilogue
Lori Milliron received a sentence of seventeen years in prison. Today (2023), she resides at the Federal Correctional Institution Marianna in Marianna, Florida.
Larry Rudolph’s sentencing was postponed. He could receive either life in prison or the death penalty. He awaits sentencing (2023) at the Federal Correction Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colorado.
Dateline NBC aired Safari Story, an episode about Bianca Rudolph’s murder, on December 2, 2022.
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