A wealthy Pennsylvania dentist was sentenced to life behind bars and forced to fork over millions of dollars in fines Monday for killing his wife during an African safari in 2016 and then cashing in on her death.
Convicted killer Larry Rudolph was hit with the jarring sentence in a Denver federal courthouse after being convicted last year of fatally shooting his wife of 34 years, Bianca Rudolph, in the heart on their last morning in Zambia where the couple went hunting.
Rudolph killed his wife in cold blood as part of a plan to receive life insurance payments and begin a new life with longtime mistress Lori Milliron, prosecutors said.
“Even Judas would be afraid to be in your company,” the victim’s brother Vincent Finizio told Rudolph before the judge sentenced him.
Prosecutors said Rudolph took the shotgun used in the heartless crime and placed it back in its soft case to make it appear that his wife shot herself by accident while packing on October 11, 2016.
“This result shows that no matter how much money, prestige, or power you have, you will be held accountable for your crimes,” US Attorney for the District of Colorado Cole Finegan said in a statement.
Rudolph was also found guilty of mail fraud, which is tied to the massive insurance payouts he received following his wife’s death. He received a 20-year sentence to run along the life sentence for that conviction.
He’s required to pay nearly $5 million in restitution and another $2 million in fines, the court ruled. He was also ordered to forfeit two homes, his cars, an Aston Martin DB-11 and Bentley Bentayga, and other assets bought with the insurance money.
The defense said all the assets totaled nearly $9 million.
The big game hunter has maintained his innocence with hopes he could be a free man after an appeal is heard.
He claimed Bianca Rudolph shot herself while she was in a rush to pack up for the trip home, but prosecutors argued the gunshot wound couldn’t have been self-inflicted.
Rudolph’s lawyers also insisted their client had no reason to kill his wife for Milliron since the married couple were in an open relationship for more than a decade. They also argued he didn’t need the money from the life insurance payouts.
Milliron, who was the manager of Rudolph’s Pittsburgh-area dental franchise, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in June after she was convicted of being an accessory.
While Rudolph’s life sentence was guaranteed based on federal guidelines, the defense and prosecutors butted heads over how much money he should be forced to pay.
Assistant US Attorney Bryan Fields said a pricey financial penalty would ensure Rudolph would not be able to file frivolous lawsuits or hire hit men while in jail in a bid for revenge. Prosecutors wanted a $10 million fine imposed.
Rudolph’s legal team said that hefty fines would prevent Rudolph’s two grown children from inheriting money from their late mother’s estate. Rudolph was worth $27 million when he was arrested in 2021, but is now worth $3 million, his lawyers said.
US District Judge William Martinez chose a fine on the lower end after receiving a note from son Julian Rudolph that a $10 million fine would further punish him and his sister.
The siblings haven’t spoken much publicly about their mother’s death, though Ana Bianca Rudolph testified against Milliron during her federal trial. They were not at their father’s sentencing.
With Post wires
