Judge says six more weeks before the trial date is set
By JESSICA ROBERTS Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN LA — The “Black Widows” will continue to wait.
A Superior Court judge on Thursday delayed for another six weeks the setting of a preliminary trial date for two elderly women that stand accused of killing homeless men in efforts to collect millions of dollars in life insurance payouts.
The defendants, 75-year-old Helen Golay, of Santa Monica, and 73-year-old Hungarian-born Olga Rutterschmidt, of Hollywood — often referred to as “The Black Widows” — each face two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for financial gain in the deaths of Paul Vados in November 1999 and Kenneth McDavid in June 2005.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Thursday,the judge also quickly denied Rutterschmidt’s request to be released in order to cast her vote in Tuesday’s elections.
Vados, 73, also a Hungarian native, and McDavid, 51, were killed in separate hit-and-run accidents that took place in alleys in Hollywood and Westwood. Both men had multiple life insurance policies — Vados had three, McDavid 16 — that named Golay and Rutterschmidt as beneficiaries.
Investigators allege that the women befriended the two homeless men, convinced them to sign the women on to their life insurance policies and,after running over the men in secluded alleys, pursued some $2.3 million from insurance companies — in some cases even suing the companies to recover the funds.
The murder charges carry special allegations that could make the women eligible for the death penalty if convicted.Prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue the death penalty.
Golay and Rutterschmidt will return to court on Dec. 13 to set a date for a preliminary hearing, although the case will likely be continued again at that time. Rutterschmidt’s attorney, public defender Michael Sklar, indicated that he would not be ready to try the case until January.
Sklar has been working on the case for a shorter time than Golay’s attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, because he was assigned only three months ago.
“I got a head start on him,” Diamond said Thursday. “I was involved since May, when the federal charges were filed.”
Thursday’s decision marked the third time the attorneys had appeared in court in efforts to set a preliminary hearing date for the trial.
“Every time,he’s asked for a delay,”Diamond said.“And every time it’s been granted.”
Diamond objected to the postponement and informally requested to try the two women separately instead of continuing the case again, so that Golay’s trial could begin. However, the judge was not prepared to consider severance and District Attorney Shellie Samuels indicated that she would object to separating the two defendants’ cases.
“I’m disappointed we can’t move forward,” Diamond said.“Of course, if she were out on bail, it would be different. The problem is she’s in jail.”
Golay and Rutterschmidt have been held without bail since they were arrested on May 18 for mail fraud and related false insurance claims. Those federal charges were dropped when the murder charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office on July 31, and the women remained in jail. The law entitles Golay to a preliminary hearing within 10 days of arraignment. However, since Golay is being tried with a co-defendant, case law allows the judge to delay the process to accommodate the needs of both defendants.
Sklar’s motion to allow Rutterschmidt to be escorted from jail so that she could vote on Nov. 7 reportedly provoked some stifled laughter from court employees — and was denied by the judge.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 3, 2006. Read the original PDF.