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An American dentist has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the murder of his wife with whom he had been with for 30 years. Larry Rudolph had been on an African safari hunting with his wife Bianca. They both shared the love of hunting for exotic big game animals, they traveled to Zambia together in the hope of shooting a leopard. Which, Bianca wanted to add to their collection. On the last day of their hunting trip, Rudolph shot his wife through the heart with a 12-gauge shotgun and staged it to look as if it was an accident.
In court, Rudolph did not give up on keeping his innocence. He took the stand for himself and he stated “I did not kill my wife. I could not murder my wife. I would not murder my wife,” Rudolph said that he was in the bathroom when he heard the gunshot… he then stated that “the shotgun went off accidentally as his wife was putting it in its case,” he then told the court that he found his wife bleeding out on the floor when he got back. but that was soon to be discovered to be false information. Rudolph killed his wife to get insurance money off of her death so that he could be with his girlfriend Lori Millron.
Statements say that “Rudolph had no financial motive to kill his wife. In court documents, he noted Rudolph owns a dental practice near Pittsburgh valued at $10 million.” He did not need the money he was trying to gain after the death of his wife. Rudolph then filed a claim for 4 million dollars when he got back to America.“The defendant in this case thought he could murder his wife overseas and get away with it he was wrong.” Even though Rudolph left the country to commit this federal crime against his wife he would not get away with it. The ploy for money he made was shut down quickly and he was “ordered to pay back $4,877,744 in restitution as well as a fine of $2 million dollars.” When Rudolph got back to America he married his girlfriend that he was with at the time and they stayed married for a year before Rudoplh was sentenced to life in prison, “The jury also found Milliron guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder” Lori was sentenced to prison for 17 years after being found guilty as well for the plot of Bianca’s murder, but other members of the jury were upset to hear about Lori’s verdict coming back as guilty, some believed that she was innocent in this crime. “Lori Milliron is innocent and we will continue to fight to exonerate her, ”John Dill said. Bianca Rudolph was a strong believer in the judicial system and her murder was not going to be overlooked as an accident.
The jury fought to get justice for Bianca, and they fought until they won. Both Rudolph and his new wife were put behind bars. Bianca’s murder was mourned by the rest of her loved ones. Bianca was loyal to her husband and never knew that during their marriage he was with another woman, and he was plotting to kill her and gain money off of her death for his new wife Lori whom he got with shortly after the death of his wife who he had been with for 30 years. Was their love ever real to him we wonder. Why is it that he decided he needed money when he already owned his own dentistry and already had a company worth 10 million dollars? What drew him to commit an act of violence against a woman who stood by his side for many years?
Will we ever learn what truly happened on that African safari between this couple… what comes next for Rudolph will hopefully teach him his lesson. Will he learn and will he be able to truly forgive himself for what he did in Zambia? “The defendant in this case thought he could murder his wife overseas and get away, with it he was wrong.” “Bianca was loyal to her husband and never knew that during their marriage he was with another woman, and he was plotting to kill her and gain money off of her death for his new wife Lori whom he got with shortly after the death of his wife, who he had been with for 30 years.”
Sources:
Lynch, Jamiel. “American Dentist Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Wife While on African Safari.” CNN, August 22, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/us/larry-rudolph-dentist-safari-wife-death/index.html.
Bio:
My name is Grace VerCauteren, this is my second year being a part of the Poudre Press if you would like to see more of my work you can visit my website here!