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# Many residents remain priced out of housing market Black widows to serve life
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/many-residents-remain-priced-out-of-housing-market-black-widows-to-serve-life/
- Published: 2008-07-16T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:11:07.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Community, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless

*L.A. Judge denounces women for sacrificing homeless men for greed*

DOWNTOWN L.A. An elderly Santa Monica woman was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for the murders of two homeless men, killed in an elaborate insurance scam that has stirred the minds of Hollywood deal makers, a throwback to the “Arsenic and Old Lace” tale.

Helen Golay, 77, and partner-in-crime, 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt of Hollywood were both ordered to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, the punishment for the murders of Kenneth McDavid and Paul Vados in separate yet similar hit-and-run crashes that took place in Los Angeles area alleys.

A probation officer reported to the judge that the women have no conscience and served as a threat to the public.

The two septuagenarian women sat in silence as their fate was handed to them, appearing depleted, the last streaks of color having slowly disappeared from their hair, a far cry from their depiction in the mug shots taken shortly after their 2006 arrest.

They would remain silent and apparently stoic as the family members of the victims spoke passionately about the deceased, about how Vados, a Hungarian immigrant, was a good father, teaching his daughter Stella the tango, and of McDavid for his good sense of humor.

Sandra Salman began weeping less than a quarter of a way through her statement, choked with tears as she spoke of regret for not knowing that her brother, McDavid, had been homeless, the lost opportunity for giving him the help he needed.

“I would’ve done anything for Ken if given the chance,” Salman said.

She spoke of the series of tragedies that have recently struck her family, her other brother suffering from schizophrenia, her mother in the early stages of dementia, a sister losing her husband.

In 2005, McDavid’s body, twisted and bloodied, was found lying in an alley behind Westwood Boulevard, his DNA eventually discovered in the undercarriage of a car tied to Golay.

“My brother Ken did not deserve to die the way he did,” she said.

Vados’ daughter followed, her statement introduced by attorney Gloria Allred, reflecting on the memories of her father, the two losing touch after she moved up to Northern California.

“Stella was daddy’s little girl,” Allred said. Both Rutterschmidt and Golay, who owned three apartment buildings in Ocean Park, were convicted in April on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors painted the two women as greedy and cold-hearted, plucking vulnerable homeless men off the street, setting them up in rent-free apartments and gaining their trust, killing them after convincing the men to sign them on to their insurance policy.

It’s a bizarre story that has captured the attention of Hollywood, namely for the age of the defendants and the lengths they went to accomplish their murderous plot.

A movie based on the events is currently in pre-production according to the Internet Movie Database.“Poor Things” is expected to feature an all-star cast that includes Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, Shirley MacLaine, and Olympia Dukakis.

The trial included a key piece of evidence used by the prosecution, a videotaped conversation between the two women shortly after their arrest on federal mail fraud charges, one accusing the other of greed.

“You were greedy … that’s the problem,” Rutterschmidt snaps at her long-time friend Golay in the tape.

The scene unfolded while the women were detained by the Los Angeles Police Department. The videotape served as a basis for a motion for a new trial that was filed by Golay’s defense attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, claiming collusion between the FBI and the LAPD. He said the arresting officer did not observe the warrant when they sent Golay and Rutterschmidt to the LAPD instead of federal authorities, leading to the videotaping. The motion was denied by Judge David Wesley.

“What we have here is a disobedience to the federal warrant,” Diamond said.

Before the women were sent off, Wesley, who said he normally doesn’t comment following trials, addressed the women directly, speaking about the nature of greed.

He said that while the men only needed food, water and shelter and a helping hand, the women instead sacrificed them on their “altar of greed.”

With that the women were escorted away.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 16, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071608.pdf?ref=smdp.com)