Did big-game hunter, wealthy dentist and accused killer Lawrence Rudolph lose the tip of his thumb to an African croc back in 2006 or did he shoot it off himself to collect $3.5 million in insurance?
That's one of the issues in dispute in the federal murder case in Denver against Mr. Rudolph, a former Greensburg dentist accused of shooting his wife on a 2016 African safari and staging it as an accident so he could take up with his mistress and collect nearly $5 million in life insurance.
As part of its prosecution against Rudolph and the mistress, Lori Milliron, the U.S. attorney's office wants to introduce the thumb story to bolster its contention that Rudolph committed insurance fraud 10 years earlier in the same remote part of Zambia where the FBI said he later shot his wife.
Prosecutors earlier this month filed what's called a Rule 404(b) motion to allow evidence of prior criminal acts to show someone's intent, in this case an insurance ripoff.
The U.S. attorney's office believes that during a 2006 safari to Kafue National Park to hunt water buffalo, Rudolph shot off his own thumb and then said a croc got him.
He collected $3.5 million on insurance claims.
The Chinyembe hunting camp where he stayed is the same one in which the FBI said Rudolph murdered his wife Bianca a decade later.
The government said that given the lack of witnesses to that 2016 shooting, "the value of the crocodile fraud in establishing that Rudolph chose remote Chinyembe as a location to murder his wife is highly probative of his intent, planning, preparation, and lack of accident."
Prosecutors said Rudolph collected on disability insurance because he said he couldn't practice dentistry anymore.
"The 'accident' led to probably the best outcome imaginable: The injury specifically disabled Rudolph from working — he could no longer physically practice dentistry in an office — but he could continue to draw profits from his ownership interests in dental businesses from anywhere in the world while continuing to pursue his passion for hunting without impairment," prosecutors said.
Mr. Rudolph's Miami-based lawyer responded Thursday, saying any fraud evidence should be barred and that a croc did indeed chomp his client back in 2006.
"Recognizing the 'circumstantial nature' of its case, the government seeks to introduce uncharged and unproven conjecture that Dr. Rudolph did not lose part of his thumb to a crocodile bite on safari 16 years ago but instead deliberately blasted it off with a shotgun," attorney David Markus said. "But the government's theory is simply not true — Dr. Rudolph did not shoot his own thumb off."
Mr. Markus asked the judge to bar the government request, saying that regardless of the facts, the entire incident has nothing to do with the murder case.
The government has indicated it will call two witnesses to prove Rudolph shot himself, Mr. Markus said.
The first, Clint Burton, is a hunter who guided Rudolph on the 2006 safari. Markus said Burton had consistently said through the years that a crocodile bit Rudolph. Lately, he's changed his story, but Markus said that's because of the "scandalous" media attention the case has generated.
The second witness is Jim Caruso, the Denver medical examiner, who examined photos of the injury and said a croc didn't do it.
But Markus said he has three witnesses who say otherwise. Further, he said Jay Young, the owner of a reptile park in Colorado, told the FBI that the injury was caused by a croc bite but that prosecutors chose to ignore him.
Mr. Markus also said any evidence that Rudolph shot off his thumb should be barred because it's an improper attempt by the government to show his "bad character" in carrying out insurance fraud schemes.
"The government’s argument here...is just a straight propensity argument: Whenever Dr. Rudolph commits insurance fraud, he goes to Africa to stage an accident," he said.
That kind of argument, he said, is inadmissible because it will prejudice the jury.
Rudolph, 67, is set to go on trial in July along with Ms. Milliron, the former office manager at his Greensburg practice. The FBI said Rudolph shot Bianca with a shotgun during a leopard hunt, then claimed she shot herself while packing her gun. Agents said he then collected nearly $5 million in insurance and he and Milliron moved in together at his Phoenix mansion.
Milliron is accused of lying to a federal grand jury in order to protect her boyfriend.
First Published: May 26, 2022, 7:53 p.m.
Updated: May 27, 2022, 11:53 a.m.