THE BLACK WIDOW
Margaret Rudin was dubbed the ‘Black Widow Killer’ at her infamous 2001 trial, during which she was convicted of the gruesome murder and beheading of her real-estate mogul husband, Ron Rudin, after seven years of marriage.
Rudin was Ron’s fifth wife and she stood to inherit a big chunk of his $12 million estate.
Ron disappeared after walking into her antique shop on December 18, 1994. In January 1995, his charred remains were found near Lake Mohave, Nevada.
Two years after he went missing, Rudin battled her husband’s trustees over receiving her share of his fortune from his will. Out of her husband’s millions, Rudin settled for $600,000, but alleged she only received $179,000 after paying her legal fees.
In 1997, a grand jury indicted Rudin for Ron’s murder. She went into hiding for the next two years before she was caught by the FBI in 1999. Prosecutors argued Rudin betrayed her husband and killed him for his fortune. In 2001, she was sentenced to 20 years to life behind bars.
Twenty years on, Margaret, now 78, has been released from prison and still proclaims her innocence.