Manslaughter conviction overturned for woman accused of murdering her billionaire husband

By Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — A judge has vacated the murder conviction of a 78-year-old Las Vegas woman who spent 20 years in prison for the 1994 murder of her billionaire husband before being paroled in 2020.

Margaret Rudin, an antique store owner, was convicted in 2001 of murdering real estate mogul Ron Rudin.

According to prosecutors, she killed him with a bullet to the head while he was asleep in his house and dumped his body in the desert.

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Margaret Rudin, second from left, is escorted from the women's correctional facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 10, 2020.AP

However, US District Judge Richard Boulware ruled Sunday that Margaret Rudin did not receive effective legal representation from her late defense attorney, Michael Amador, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Rudin always maintained his innocence.

“I will be 79 years old at the end of this month, so I am very, very grateful

,” she told that newspaper in an interview on Monday.

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The authorities who filed the charges against him in 1997 claimed that the motive for his crime had been economic.

Rudin disappeared before the day of her court hearing and spent two years on the run until a tip told on a television show in 1999 led to her arrest in Massachusetts.

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The Clark County district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, asking in an email whether prosecutors have considered appealing the judge's decision. or if Rudin will be put on trial again.