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Elderly women convicted of murdering homeless men

by Rob Peters | April 17, 2008 at 05:41 pm

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A pair of women in their 70s have been convicted of murdering two homeless men for whom they had previously taken out life insurance plans.

I read a lot of news every day but this story really caught my attention. The scheme is so calculated and horrible it's almost unbelievable.

Two elderly women have been convicted over the murder of two homeless men in an attempt to collect $2.8m (£1.4m) in life insurance.

Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, befriended the men from around Los Angeles, put them up in flats and took out insurance policies.

The two men were then drugged and killed in staged road accidents.

A jury found both women guilty of murder and conspiracy to murder. They face life in prison without parole.

Kenneth McDavid, 50, was found dead in the Westwood area of Los Angeles in June 2005. Paul Vados, 73, died in Hollywood in 1999.

Golay was found guilty of murdering both men for financial gain, and Rutterschmidt of murdering Mr McDavid.

The Los Angeles jury remained deadlocked on Thursday on murder and conspiracy charges against Rutterschmidt relating to the death of Mr Vados.

They will reconvene to attempt to reach a verdict on Monday on those charges.

Charges pending

The women, who had been friends for 20 years, were arrested in May 2006.