‘Black Widow of Vegas’ Files Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit for Husband’s Murder

Posted on: May 2, 2024, 01:25h. 

Last updated on: May 2, 2024, 02:04h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Margaret Rudin, the Las Vegas woman convicted of murdering her husband in 1994, is suing the State of Nevada for wrongful conviction. Rudin, 80, whose conviction was vacated in 2022 after she already served 21 years in prison, filed her lawsuit on Thursday morning in Clark County District Court. It did not specify the damages sought.

Rudin was sentenced to life in prison in 2001, after being found guilty of murdering her husband, millionaire Las Vegas real-estate developer Ron Rudin. Following her 1997 indictment, Margaret fled Nevada, but was found and arrested in Massachusetts 31 months later.

Prosecutors alleged that money was her motive, leading tabloids to brand her the “Black Widow of Las Vegas.” Rudin has always maintained her innocence, though, fighting for a new trial since beginning her incarceration.

Rudin was released on parole in 2020 and a federal judge granted her a conditional writ of habeas corpus on May 15, 2022, citing ineffective counsel at trial that violated her constitutional rights. Prosecutors elected not to re-try her.

“Ron Rudin had a long list of enemies from a complicated personal life, a known history of dubious business dealings, and ties to criminal elements,” Margaret’s attorney, Adam Breeden, stated in a press release on Thursday.

“There was never any evidence such as fingerprints, DNA, or eyewitnesses connecting Margaret Rudin to Ron Rudin’s murder,” Breeden’s statement read. “However, inexperienced homicide detectives focused on Margaret Rudin from the beginning in a biased police investigation.”

Rudin Awakening

Ron Rudin, 64, disappeared on Dec. 18, 1994, during a walk to Margaret’s antique shop from his real estate office, which was located in the same strip mall. A month later, his charred and beheaded remains were found in a hiking area near Lake Mead in Boulder City, Nev. But the location at the heart of Margaret’s appeal was where his car was found.

It was parked at Crazy Horse Too, a strip club notorious for its ties to old-school Las Vegas gangsters.

In 1981, the former nightclub was purchased by reputed mob figure Tony Albanese after its owner died of health complications. Albanese renamed the club as the sequel to the Crazy Horse Saloon, another Las Vegas strip club he owned.

Three years later, Albanese disappeared, and his severed head turned up in the desert outside of Needles, Calif. When the Crazy Horse Too was finally demolished in late 2022, no one shed a tear.

“Today in her early 80s, Margaret Rudin intends to prove, under a Nevada statute amended in 2019 to address the rights of persons wrongfully convicted, that she was not involved either directly or indirectly in her husband’s death and did not commit the crime,” Breeden said.

In their original investigation, police reported finding blood spatter in the main bedroom of the Rudin residence.  In 1996, a .22 caliber handgun was found in Lake Mead. The gun was traced back to Ron Rudin and determined to be the murder weapon. According to police, Rudin had reported it missing in 1988, shortly after marrying Margaret.