Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Grand Canyon University, a private Christian university in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona, believes that we're endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. GCU believes in equal opportunity, and the American dream starts with purpose. Whether your pursuit involves a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, GCU provides a path to help you fulfill your dreams. Offering over 330 academic programs as of September 2023, find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private. Christian. Affordable.
Visit gcu.edu. Brought to you by the Capital One Venture X Card. If you love to travel, the Capital One Venture X Card is perfect for you. Earn unlimited double miles on your purchases and turn them into extraordinary travel. Enjoy premium benefits at a collection of luxury hotels when you book through Capital One Travel and get access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details.
Tonight on Dateline. They were a great couple, the power couple. She was a good hunter, a good shot. She would never mishandle a firearm that way, never. They had just finished their safari. You hear a gunshot. We heard a gunshot. There are people in that room within seconds. They see Larry hysterical, in shock.
Larry said that Bianca was packing the shotgun in a discharge. They ruled it an accident. Yes, they did. Some of Bianca's friends are saying there's something going on here. Larry's been having an affair. Did you do this, you know? I just didn't want it to be true. My heart was telling me that, no, there's no way that Larry could do something like this. You happened to overhear something. Yes, it was a shocking moment. He said, listen, we got to show them that I'm innocent.
You think this was planned? I do. The perfect place for a murder? Almost. A big game adventure in Africa turns deadly. Accident or murder? It may be one of the wildest mysteries you'll ever see. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with Safari Story. No one could have imagined that it would happen here, halfway around the world.
where the elephants roam, zebras run free, and the hippos patrol the waters. In the wild, untamed heart of Africa, that is Zambia, a place teeming with some of the world's most exotic wildlife. Some people come here to photograph big game. Others come to hunt. Especially here in Zambia's massive Kafui National Park, it is very special.
Africa on its own is a special place. Betsy Wonke is a world traveler and hunter who has been to Africa on safari several times. When you go out to Zambia, not only are the animals phenomenal, but it's just the whole atmosphere. Africa is one of those places that draws you back.
Among those who kept coming back, especially to Kafui National Park, were Betsy's close friend, Bianca Rudolph, and her husband, Larry, a prominent dentist and big game hunter from Pittsburgh. They loved the people there. They loved the animals there. The hunting was second to none. So it doesn't surprise me that they wanted to go back so many times. They loved it so much they had their own cabin built at the hunting camp. They did. They did.
Right on the banks of the Kafue River, Bianca and Larry's own private little paradise in the middle of paradise. And it was here that they returned in 2016 for the last time. It was September, prime season for hunting. The Rudolphs got a hunting permit, which is only legal in certain sections of Kafue National Park. The rest of the park is set aside for wildlife conservation. They hope to bring home a leopard.
But on this safari, only Bianca would be hunting. Larry was there to assist and observe. Over the course of nearly two weeks, Bianca and Larry scoured the massive park in search of that elusive leopard. Spencer Kokoma is an experienced game scout who accompanied the Rudolphs. He knows the park well, along with many of its best hunting spots.
How experienced was Bianca? With one shot? Yes. Were you impressed? She was a good hunter. She was a good shot. She could handle a gun as well, if not better than most of the men I know.
Larry was also an experienced hunter and brought both a rifle and a shotgun on the trip. But on this safari, he was all about supporting Bianca in her quest. Godfrey Nekube was the camp manager who maintained the Rudolphs' cabin and got to know them. They were a good couple. Very humble, especially with Bianca. Did she seem happy to be out here in the wilderness? She looked happy, cheerful.
But the hunting wasn't so good. As the safari stretched into October, Bianca's dream of bagging her prized leopard faded. So she never got her male leopard? Was she disappointed? Yeah, she was very disappointed, but she wasn't annoyed.
After all, the safari was still exciting. But now, after almost two weeks in Zambia, the Rudolphs were eager to return to the States for the wedding of their nephew. Just before dawn on a cool, clear October morning, the Rudolphs were up early packing for their long flight home. Godfrey was waiting near the cabin to say goodbye, when suddenly he heard an unmistakable sound echo across the camp. We heard a gunshot and a yelling voice. Yeah!
The shot was not only close. It came directly from Larry and Bianca's cabin. You should not be hearing a gunshot at this hour. Yes, the hunt was over. But the mystery was just beginning. Something horrible had happened inside Bianca and Larry's cabin.
Something so tragic, so inexplicable, that the investigation would span two continents, three countries, and take the next six years to solve. When we come back, a single gunshot at dawn. What had happened inside that cabin? It must have been such a shock to walk in here and see that. Exactly. I was very shocked. A wife on the floor. A husband in agony. He was saying, what am I going to tell my children?
It was dawn in Zambia's Kafui National Park. Its serenity had suddenly been shattered by a single gunshot and a frantic scream coming from Larry and Bianca Rudolph's cabin. Within seconds, Game Scout Spencer Kokoma rushed inside. When I entered the cabin, I saw Bianca Rudolph. She was lying here. It must have been such a shock to walk in here and see that. Exactly. I was very shocked.
Bianca lay in a pool of blood. Next to her was a shotgun still in its case, which was partially unzipped. There was a hole blown open at the end of the case from a shot that went through it. Minutes later, camp manager Godfrey Nekube also arrived at the cabin.
Did you think that maybe she was alive at first? She was dead. Larry Rudolph, according to hunting scout Spencer Kokoma, was beside himself. He was saying, what am I going to tell my children? What am I going to tell my children?
As the morning wore on, Spencer said Larry calmed down and detailed what happened in the cabin. What was he doing in the bathroom, did he say? He was taking a shower? And then it went off accidentally? Yes, then it went off accidentally.
A terrible accident, insisted Larry, that suddenly took Bianca away after 34 years of marriage. The two met some 40 years ago at the University of Pittsburgh. Bianca was an undergrad. Larry was attending the dental school. They soon fell in love, got married, and stayed in Pittsburgh, where they had two children. For Bianca, who was deeply religious, this was the stable, loving life she'd always wanted.
Bianca was a really proud woman. She was wonderful and caring. She wanted their marriage to be the one that everybody looks at and says, I want a relationship like that. Meanwhile, Larry's career was taking off, especially after he started his own dental practice. He eventually opened four clinics around Pittsburgh, which he heavily promoted, as seen in these commercials. I'm Dr. Larry Rudolph. At Three Rivers Dental Group, we specialize in smile makeovers.
From the beginning, the business was a success, says former employee Sherry Houck. We did sedation dentistry, so you would do the dentistry all in one visit for the patient. So it would include root canals and crowns and everything. It wasn't odd to do a $10,000, $20,000, $40,000 case on somebody. They knew Three Rivers, they knew Larry because it was commercialized. Anna Grimley was Larry's office manager.
People felt like they trusted him. If they saw him, it's like, oh, it's Dr. Rudolph. You know, they would connect with the commercial. Did Larry seem to be making a lot of money from the business? Absolutely. Larry's business was so successful, he and Bianca bought a second home in a swanky Phoenix suburb called Paradise Valley, where he continued to oversee his dental business remotely.
We didn't see him a lot, so you understand. He lived in Arizona and came in to visit the offices to see what was going on. The Rudolphs' daughter, Anna Bianca, followed her father into the family dental business while their son Julian became a lawyer. A successful, high-achieving family. Business kept booming, allowing Larry to further indulge in his expensive hobby, big game hunting. He traveled the world on safaris, and Bianca often joined him.
It was a passion of hers, and part of that came when she married Larry, and she really embraced it. This was something that really bonded those two, Larry and Bianca, the love of hunting. Absolutely. They could do it together and have that experience together. Larry was so passionate about the sport, he joined a hunting advocacy group called Safari Club International, or SCI for short.
Ron Arendt was on SCI's executive committee when he met Larry. He seemed like a real nice guy. He was someone to visit with. And some personality traits that you noticed right away. Very friendly, smiling, joking, very open. He was someone you'd like to be around. Larry quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the president of Safari Club International in 2009. I'm proud to be serving SCI. We're the most powerful hunting and conservation group in the world.
Later, Larry and Bianca joined another Hunter's advocacy group called the Weatherby Foundation. Betsy Wonke was director of operations. He left Safari Club and then he was working with us all the way to president. Yes. Larry came into the organization and won over, you know, the hearts and minds of the board members and me. He would make you feel important. That was Larry's gift.
And Bianca was right there with him, helping raise money and awareness for the foundation. I thought they were a great couple, the power couple. They worked together and they were both very well respected. But of course that changed. Changed literally in a flash from a single shotgun blast. And the shockwaves would only keep spreading. Coming up.
The Rudolph's son and daughter learn the awful news. She was unsettled, like something wasn't right. Well, it was just shocking, and he wasn't clear exactly what happened. She was really upset. When Dateline continues. The morning after, it was quiet now at the Rudolph's little hunting cabin in mid-October 2016.
Zambian police had taken Bianca's body to Lusaka, the capital city, four hours away. It's a teeming, bustling place where most of Zambia's government services are located, and where Bianca's body would undergo an autopsy. It didn't take long. Cause of death was a shotgun blast directly to the chest. Zambian police investigated the case and concluded Bianca's death was simply an accident.
Thousands of miles away in the States, the Rudolphs' children, Anna Bianca and Julian, had no idea what had happened to their mom. However, Larry had sent an email to his brother-in-law saying he and Bianca would miss that upcoming family wedding. But according to Larry's former employee, Sherry Houck, who saw Anna Bianca around this time, the Rudolph children sensed something was wrong.
Jillian and Anna couldn't get a hold of their mom. And they were getting really nervous and upset. And no communication? No communication. We just thought sometimes you can't get a hold of people, but it was very bizarre. Back in Zambia, Larry was making final arrangements at this funeral home. Grace Musazulwa, who worked there at the time, showed us the logbook. There's her name. Yes, yes. Yeah, Bianca T. Rudolph.
Grace was there when Larry came by to identify Bianca's body. What was his demeanor like? How was he handling the situation? Did your heart go out to him as you're watching this? Less than a week after Bianca's death, Larry left Lusaka. It was a long journey back home to Arizona.
During a stopover in Johannesburg, Larry called his son Julian and finally revealed the awful news. Julian then flew to Pittsburgh to tell his sister Anna Bianca in person. Anna Bianca wasn't home. Sherry Houck was taking care of her dogs. I saw him walking down the driveway, so, you know, I knew that it was not good news that he flew home. Are you thinking, Bianca? Yeah. This is about Bianca? Yeah.
And he didn't say that she was gone. He just said there was an accident. Less than two weeks after Bianca's death, her family gathered at this Catholic retreat center in Scottsdale, Arizona to say goodbye. I know that she took her religion very seriously. Following the funeral, Anna Bianca returned home to Pittsburgh.
She was unsettled, like something wasn't right. With the funeral over and his children back in their homes, Dr. Larry Rudolph was now all alone.
For the first time in 34 years, he was without Bianca. He spent the next few weeks handling the mundane but necessary task of sorting out her estate and filing claims on Bianca's life insurance policies. Slowly, he started putting his life back together and resumed overseeing his busy Pittsburgh dental practice.
Was Larry spending a lot of time in Pittsburgh or mostly most of his time in Arizona? When he was in town, we all always wouldn't know. I always thought like he kept it secret whether he was in town or not because he didn't want like the employees to play while he was away. One of his former employees, Anna Grimley, hadn't heard anything about Larry or what had happened in Africa. Anna had left the practice months earlier but kept in touch with her former colleagues.
And one day, several weeks after Bianca's death, she got a call from one of them. She said, did you hear about Bianca Rudolph? And it's like, no. It's like, what happened? And she's like, she was shot in a safari trip. And just like that, the memories came flooding back about her time at Three Rivers Dental, what she saw, and what she knew. Coming up.
They always came together, left together. Obviously they're like a thing, but don't mention it. She was constantly like asking, "Who is Lori? Why is she always with my dad?" After the death of Bianca Rudolph, the staff of Three Rivers Dental tried to resume business as usual.
But dental assistant Sherry Houck says it was difficult. Everybody was just in shock and I think just shell-shocked that this could happen.
Dr. Larry Rudolph made it very clear his wife's death was not to be mentioned. I never did talk to Larry about it, ever. Or say a word to him. We were told not to. So you just had to pretend almost like nothing happened? Yeah. It was awkward, but not unheard of. There were other subjects that were off-limits at Three Rivers Dental, like the role of an employee named Lori Milliron.
I don't know what her title was. Never knew her title. Anna Grimley started at Three Rivers as a manager in 2015, more than a year before Bianca's death. That's when she met Lori, a former hygienist who seemed to have taken on bigger responsibilities. She did some insurance as far as setting things up on our programs to bill. And she did show me how the system and what computer system and, you know, helped me with that. So I spent a little bit of time with her in the beginning.
Lori had three grown children and was helping to raise her grandson in Pittsburgh. She seemed friendly, helpful. But there was talk around the office about Lori and Larry. They always came like in the same car even early and left together, came together, left together. And just from rumors in the office, obviously they're like a thing, but don't mention it.
Especially after the Rudolph's daughter, Anna Bianca, graduated from dental school and joined the practice. She became a dentist because of him, right? Yeah. She wanted to be like her dad. She looked up to him. She, like, adored him. But Anna Bianca did notice something strange about her father and this Lori Milliron woman. She was constantly, like, asking, who is Lori? Why is she always with my dad? What's she do here? Does she have a job here?
Anna Grimley heard the rumors, but she and Lori got along fine. But then one day, Anna says Lori overshared. I needed some help putting a dresser together, and I had no tools. So Lori offered to come to my house, and she had tools from the office, and she was going to help me build this dresser. And at that time is when she disclosed that they were together.
So she just volunteered it? She volunteered it. Oh, here's the screw. Like, yeah, I'm having an affair. Yep. This, you know, wow, this is intense. Yeah, yeah. It was extremely intense. Intense and uncomfortable. After that conversation with Lori, Anna says she tried to probe delicately to figure out what Anna Bianca knew or didn't know. And I'm saying, hey, do you think anything's going on with...
In the hunting world, Larry had a reputation of being a womanizer going back several years. And this wasn't the first time he may have crossed the line in a professional setting.
While Betsy Wahnke was working for the Weatherby Foundation, she said she had an awkward interaction with then-president Larry Rudolph when he called her for an after-hours meeting. I got a phone call at 3 o'clock in the morning at a board meeting from Larry asking if he could come up and talk business. And I was not going to take that bait. You feel that he wanted to come up to your room for sexual reasons? You can draw your own conclusions, but...
I wasn't in that man's head, but I do know that 3 o'clock in the morning is kind of an odd time to discuss business. Were you aware of his infidelities at this time? I was. Larry's love life also caused rumblings at Safari Club International.
According to Ron Arendt, he and other members tried to confront Larry at a board meeting. There were three or four of us that wanted to talk about it and say, what's going on? You're not presenting a good moral image of Safari Club International president or people on the executive committee. And Larry and his folks that didn't want to hear about it. So Larry said, I don't want it in there. We're not going to put on the agenda. And that's it. So it was stopped.
But in 2012, Safari Club International leaders took a drastic step. They accused Larry of misconduct for committing adultery.
They expelled him from the club and stripped him of his hunting awards. Larry fought back, filing a defamation lawsuit against the club's officers. The case dragged on for years, and in May 2016, he appeared for a video deposition. And those rumors included that I was having a long-term affair with a woman from Atlanta, and that my wife was fully aware of this. I was surprised.
Surprised because he claimed in that lawsuit the rumors were flat-out false. In July 2016, just three months before her death, Bianca was also deposed and was asked if she knew whether her husband was having an affair with Lori. She answered, no. The lawsuit eventually settled and SCI paid Larry an undisclosed sum. But Betsy believed Bianca was aware of Larry's affair with Lori. I just asked her if this is what she wanted and how things were going.
And she was going to hang in there. She was loyal. She was going to do her damnedest to keep things together. During this time, you started to see a change in Bianca as well? I did. Meeting Bianca for the first time with those mischievous eyes and the life that was behind it,
As time went on, I saw those eyes start to dim. What did you feel was happening? I know it was Larry. He had other relationships going. And unfortunately, Bianca knew about some of that. She loved Larry. You know, she wanted to make it work. Whether or not Bianca knew about Lori, Lori definitely knew about Bianca. And that led to an alleged ultimatum. Coming up.
She's saying she wants to be with Larry. So the ultimatum was to leave or I'm leaving. Lori puts Larry on notice and questions begin to grow about Bianca's death. I'm not the only one feeling these feelings about what's going on. Somebody needs to look into it. When Dateline continues.
Dr. Larry Rudolph had built a highly successful and lucrative dental practice in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He promoted the business as family-friendly, even featuring employee Sherry Houck's daughter in a commercial. I went to Three Rivers Dental because I needed help with my braces.
But the truth was, according to Sherry, Larry wasn't easy to work for. He could be super nice at times, and then he would just snap. And we would just say that it was like going Rudolph. He'd be going Rudolph. That happened often. Everybody lived in fear with him. I don't know what manager didn't live in fear, what employee didn't live in fear. Office manager Anna Grimley realized pretty quickly after she joined the practice that Larry's anger was an issue.
When you say he was angry at the office, what would get him fired up? It would be something as simple as an employee who had an index card of what they're supposed to say or how to answer a phone. If they didn't have that and say exactly what he wanted them to say, it could trigger him. And that moment of that trigger, you would see anger. And, she says, Larry would often get physical.
Anna only lasted a year at Three Rivers Dental. She was living in Las Vegas in December 2016. That's when she got the call from a former co-worker about Bianca's death. That co-worker had no doubt about who she thought was responsible.
To Anna, it all made sense that her former boss just might be capable of murder, especially when she remembered something else, the money.
For years, Larry had encouraged patients to pay in cash and gave them discounts when they did. According to Anna and Sherry, a lot of cash flowed through the business. How much cash do you think was coming through the office every month? Oh, like each office be close to $200,000 or plus.
Maybe even more than that. In cash alone? In fees. Cash, I mean, a lot of cash. The cash that we did receive, we would have to put the cash in a safe, which is a huge safe. Anna says she didn't just see cash come in. She saw it go out, too. Lori and Dr. Rudolph would come in, take the cash out.
And every office had a safe. So they would put in an envelope and leave together with the cash. According to Anna, Lori and Larry plan to use that cash to fund a whole new life together.
Her source of information, she says, was Lori herself. She was telling me about them wanting to leave and take all the cash and not let the family know where they were at out of the country. I said something, how could you just leave your kids? How can you just pick up and just not tell them? And her comment was to me, well, they're well taken care of.
As Anna thought back about this conversation, she knew she had to do something or tell someone. She thought long and hard, then made a bold move and called the FBI, telling them... Somebody needs to look into it. You know, just take a look at everything that's happened. Anna said the agent she spoke with told her something surprising. Anna wasn't the first person to share her suspicions with the FBI.
In fact, a friend of Bianca's had called just days after the funeral to say that Bianca, a devout Catholic, would never have wanted to be cremated. The friend asked the Bureau to investigate Bianca's death. Hearing that, it sort of gave me like, okay, this definitely was the right thing to do because I'm not the only one feeling these feelings about what's going on. After Anna tipped off the FBI, she said agents came to Las Vegas to meet with her.
Nervous? Maybe. But Anna had to talk to the FBI about one more thing Lori had shared with her during that intense conversation they had while assembling the dresser.
What she said to me is he has a year to get rid of Bianca. It's what she gave him one year. A year to get rid of her or? Or what? Or she's leaving. And did you say, what do you mean get rid of her? I didn't question it at the time, knowing she's saying she wants to be with Larry. She wanted Bianca out of the picture. So the ultimate was to leave or I'm leaving.
It sounded sinister, but it wasn't proof of anything. To get proof, the FBI would travel thousands of miles back to a bloodstained cabin in Zambia. Coming up... Larry's afraid that he's going to be arrested? Yes. New doubts about Larry Rudolph's story. Did you believe what Larry was telling you? No, at that moment, we didn't believe the story. ♪♪
Just months after Bianca Rudolph's funeral, her husband Larry welcomed a new woman into his home. His longtime lover, Lori Milliron. The two lived together in Larry's mansion in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Months passed, then two years. By all accounts, they lived large. One of their favorite hangouts was Steak 44. It's a high-end restaurant. You have some great clientele, a very affluent community and guests.
Ryan Lovelace was a bartender there, someone you might want to remember. Larry was extremely friendly, very polite, respectful, generous. Big tipper? He was a generous tipper, yes. He was my favorite regular. Larry may not have known it, but a completely different kind of tip had caught the attention of the FBI. Tips from Bianca's friends and Larry's former employee that suggested he might have had something to do with her death.
FBI agents took them seriously and were digging for any possible clues. But there was no solid evidence that Larry killed his wife. Then, in 2019, the investigation entered a whole new phase. Thousands of miles from Arizona, little did Larry know that the FBI was here on the ground in Zambia investigating Bianca's death. They were interviewing witnesses from the scene and talking to anyone who had interacted with Larry in the days after the shooting.
We retrace the FBI's steps, which included a visit to the Rudolph's hunting cabin where Bianca was shot. They later interviewed Game Scout Spencer Kokoma. Remember him? He was with the Rudolphs during their safari and rushed into the cabin when he heard that fatal shot. Spencer still vividly remembers the scene and how Larry was behaving.
How chaotic was it in the cabin? She's dead. He's freaking out. People are trying to figure out what happened. During the chaos in the cabin, Spencer also heard Larry say something stunning. He said, I want to kill myself, because...
To Spencer, who had just spent several days with Bianca on safari, suicide seemed unimaginable. That didn't make sense to you, that she would kill herself on the last day of the trip?
Spencer said Larry also changed his story, suggesting that Bianca's death was an accident. One person the FBI didn't interview in Zambia that we did was Godfrey Nekube, the manager of the Rudolph's hunting camp. He too descended on the cabin that morning.
I said, we need the help of the police. You insisted that Larry go to the police department? Yes, yes. Why was it so important for you that Larry go to the police department? He's the one who actually saw the activity. But the witnesses told us Larry wasn't eager to go to the police. Spencer remembers him saying this. Are they going to arrest me? Larry's afraid that he's going to be arrested? Yes. So I asked him.
Later that day, Larry agreed to go meet with Zambian police. So he and Spencer, along with the Rudolph's hunting guide, hit the road, heading for the town of Mambwa, two hours away, home to some 20,000 people and a small police station. There, Larry was met by investigators and police commander Rostan Yeyenga, who later spoke to the FBI.
What kind of state of mind was Larry Rudolph in at that point? Commander Yeyenga told the FBI about Larry's account of what happened in the cabin that horrible morning in October 2016. Agents were also provided a written statement from Larry taken during his police interview.
He says he rushed out of the bathroom. Yayenga told the FBI that Larry said Bianca accidentally shot herself.
Did you believe what Larry was telling you? You didn't believe him? Really? Yeah.
Commander Yeyenga also told the FBI that he sent a team of investigators down the rugged back roads to the Rudolph's remote cabin.
Larry returned here to the cabin that afternoon with the police. The guides said that he had calmed down at that point, and he walked the officers through what he said happened that morning. Once again, he said he heard a gunshot. He raced out of the bathroom only to find his wife dead. In fact, you can still see stains on the floor left over from her blood.
Detectives collected some of that blood along with the shotgun that killed Bianca. They wanted to find out if the gun had been properly unloaded and accidentally went off, or if Bianca mistakenly touched the trigger. Commander Yeyenga said that Bianca's body was then taken from the cabin to the capital of Zambia for a complete autopsy.
But the FBI learned that Larry Rudolph had other ideas about how to proceed that seemed to catch everybody by surprise. Coming up, something curious at the funeral home. They start to take pictures of Bianca's body. He says, this doesn't look like a self-inflicted wound to me. When Dateline continues…
As you set your resolutions for 2025, consider how learning a new language can enrich your life.
Rosetta Stone has been a leader in language education for over three decades with millions of satisfied users worldwide. With courses in 25 languages, including Spanish, French, German, and more, you can choose a language to learn that unlocks new places and connections and experiences. Plus, the mobile app makes it easy to learn on the go, so you can conveniently fit in lessons on your own schedule.
Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach. Today, Dateline listeners can take advantage of Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com slash dateline. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life at rosettastone.com slash dateline. Do it today. Make this new year a milestone in your child's education with IXL.
IXL uses advanced algorithms to personalize your child's learning experience, ensuring they receive the right support at the right time. IXL encourages your child to set specific goals, whether it's improving grades in a challenging subject or mastering foundational skills, all while helping them build confidence along the way. With subjects spanning from counting and ABCs to advanced high school topics like calculus and SAT prep,
One subscription covers all your children's educational needs and saves you time by providing organized resources all in one place. Make an impact on your child's learning with IXL. And Dateline listeners can get an exclusive 20% off an IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com slash Dateline. Again, that's ixl.com slash Dateline for an exclusive 20% off an IXL membership today.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive, where drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average. Quote now at progressive.com to see if you could save.
As FBI agents made their way through Zambia in 2019 investigating the death of Bianca Rudolph, they wanted more information about a part of the story they found odd.
The autopsy proceeded. But when Zambian police wanted to conduct their own post-mortem exam, Larry insisted it be canceled.
Instead, as the FBI learned, he had other, more urgent priorities, which he made clear when he called the U.S. consulate about Bianca. To report the death and then just to say, I need her body cremated because I need to take it back to the States.
Pam Flick is a former FBI special agent and analyst for NBC News. She didn't work on the Rudolph investigation, but reviewed the case for us. So the consulate general talks to him a little bit, and Larry keeps kind of going back to, no, you don't understand. I need this cremation expedited. And Larry just kept pushing, pushing, pushing the cremation. It has to be done now. And he thinks this is kind of odd.
The consular chief told the FBI that he heard from the funeral home some 48 hours after Bianca's death, saying her body was scheduled for cremation the very next day. And he had a bad feeling about the situation, which he thought was moving too quickly. So unbeknownst to Larry, he raced over to the funeral home where Bianca's body was being held and brought along two security agents and a camera.
And they start to take pictures of Bianca's body to make the identification of the body. But when the consular chief saw Bianca's gaping chest wound, he was concerned. He's a former Marine and has seen gunshot wounds and looks at this and says, "This doesn't look like a self-inflicted wound to me. Maybe this isn't an accident." So pictures of the wound were taken since they might be needed as part of the investigation.
Meanwhile, two hours away in Mumbwa, Zambian detectives were trying to determine how and why Bianca Rudolph was killed. This was a high-profile case involving a prominent American. So Zambian police management and the U.S. Embassy jointly decided to move the investigation to the headquarters in Lusaka. Investigators in the capital city now took over the case and reviewed the evidence.
They also conducted a drop test with the gun to see if it would fire when it hit the floor. It didn't, which conflicted with the theory that Bianca's death was accidental. Nevertheless, just days later, they came to the conclusion it was an accident. The report from Lusaka police also said the firearm was loaded from the previous hunting activities and safety precautions were not taken, causing the firearm to accidentally fire.
which came as a total surprise to the Rudolphs' game scout, Spencer Kokoma. That gun would have been cleaned the night before and checked? You saw her yourself cleaning it?
Assuming Spencer Kokoma's account was true, how could Bianca have accidentally shot herself? Spencer told us he was convinced the gun was both clean and unloaded when the Rudolphs went to bed the night before her death. That would mean that someone had to have put a shotgun shell back into the gun after she cleaned it. Someone purposely put a shell in there. 100%.
Spencer wouldn't speculate as to who that might be. But he did say there was something else that bothered him about Bianca's death. Larry's story. Remember, Larry said he was in the shower when the shot was fired. But when Spencer heard that shot, he rushed right to the cabin only to find Larry fully dressed, as seen in this photo taken shortly after the shooting. It just took me maybe 15 seconds. How can he manage to put you in everything? Shoes,
A puzzle with lots of pieces. We reached out to Zambian police for comment on their investigation, but did not get a response. In the end, they concluded Bianca had accidentally shot herself, as Larry had told them. They took his word for it because Larry had given testimony to them saying, no, this was an accident. I was in the other room. So Zambian police cleared Larry.
Nima Rahmani is a former federal prosecutor who studied the case. There was a limited investigation, but certainly nowhere what needed to be done under the circumstances of the case. What didn't they do? They didn't conduct the tests that would have happened here in the United States. Law enforcement in other countries, they have limited resources. They don't have the testing that we do. They don't have the financial resources. And that's really what happened here.
With the Zambian police investigation over, Bianca's cremation soon followed. As far as the Zambian police were concerned, this was considered case closed. It was. They spent a matter of days investigating this case and they closed their file. Bianca's friend, Betsy Wanke, herself an expert hunter, never believed Bianca shot herself accidentally.
She was way too comfortable with firearms and how to handle them, how to clean them, how to put them away. There's only three scenarios here. I mean, one is that she killed herself. Two, she killed herself by accident. Three, she was murdered. Right. And for her to put a gun away and get shot by accident, I don't think that could ever happen. The FBI's findings regarding Larry's activities in Africa seem to cast even more doubt on his story about Bianca's accidental death.
And investigators would also learn about one more strange safari story involving Dr. Larry Rudolph that happened at the very same hunting camp where his wife was killed. Coming up, flashback to one decade ago. A different safari, a bizarre injury, and gunshots. He shot almost three shots. Larry did. That's how they last today. An omen of the tragedy to come?
The FBI's investigation in Zambia had been revealing. From the scene at the cabin to Larry Rudolph's behavior after Bianca's death, they had uncovered a treasure trove of clues, all circumstantial. But one key piece of physical evidence was missing. Zambian police conducted tests on the shotgun that killed Bianca, but they hadn't kept it. The shotgun was given back to Larry
The FBI didn't know where it was. Even if they couldn't find the weapon, maybe they could find a motive. The FBI took a deep dive into the insurance claims Larry filed after Bianca's death. They found out she had several policies. The insurance companies had hired an investigative firm to review the claims.
Its final report said police concluded the death was accidental, but they still have unresolved questions. Despite those questions, the insurance companies paid up. The grand total? $4.8 million. And the FBI just wasn't satisfied. Just wasn't satisfied. With the investigations that had been done. No.
This case was not closed. No, it wasn't. Not by a long shot. No. There is a citizen that was possibly murdered overseas, and that's important. But really, it didn't take much detective work to see that Larry was spending plenty of cash after Bianca's death. He bought fancy cars, began construction on a brand new home in Paradise Valley, and took high-end vacations. All with his longtime mistress, now partner, Lori Milliron.
Three Rivers Dental employee Sherry Howe couldn't ignore her suspicions. You're thinking about money. Yeah. And you're thinking about this other life he's living with Lori. Yeah. He could have both. That's the kind of man he was. Was there any part of you that thought, what if he did this? Of course. Yeah. I'd always be like thinking in my mind, did you do this? Did you do this? Like, are you really that person? Could you be that cruel? Yeah.
FBI agents had the same questions, and they heard a bizarre story that seemed to them like a possible precursor of what happened to Bianca. Bianca's death wasn't Larry's first incident here in Zambia. Ten years earlier, he says while he was out here fishing in these crocodile-infested waters, he learned firsthand just how dangerous the wildlife can be.
Larry claimed that he was fishing, and when he went down to grab his fish out of the water, a crocodile came and bit the fish and inadvertently bit his thumb. And then pulling him into the water where he wrestled around with the crocodile, was able to get himself free, swim to shore, and call for help. According to Larry, he somehow miraculously escaped with just that one injury, a partially bitten off thumb.
Back in the States, some people who knew Larry thought his battle with the crocodile was downright fishy, especially members of Safari Club International like Ron Arendt. I've seen crocodile attacks, whether it's filmed, which I never saw one live, but a 10-foot crocodile taken off the tip of the thumb only? You can see what's left of the thumb in this video that Larry made and posted on YouTube.
Spencer Kokoma, the game scout at Kafui National Park, heard about what happened, or at least what Larry said happened that day at Kafui River. He also heard that Larry was not only carrying a fishing rod that day, he was carrying a rifle. Three shots, the international distress signal. They find Larry with a half thumb. Yes.
But no crocodile. The hunting guide and camp staff told the FBI they didn't believe there was a crocodile. They thought Larry fired his gun for an entirely different reason. They surmised that Larry had shot his thumb off.
To the FBI, the entire episode seemed suspicious, especially when they learned Larry filed an insurance claim right after the incident. He was able to get, I believe, a $30,000 a month disability payment. Wow. That's, I mean, painful, but lucrative. Yes, very lucrative. ♪
Over the next 15 years, Larry collected at least $3.5 million in disability insurance. He still had his business, he just didn't have to work it anymore, right? So he can go out and do his hunting. Didn't stop him from hunting. Federal investigators believe the crocodile story might be evidence of planning and motive. If Larry was willing to shoot himself to collect insurance money, would he shoot his wife to collect even more?
That question, along with Larry's rush to cremate Bianca's body and his affair with Lori, were all intriguing. But it was not enough to charge Larry with murder. Not yet. Something was about to boil over. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know it was going to be as big as it was. Coming up.
Larry, Lori, and a couple of cocktails. A bartender overhears an overheated conversation. You could hear a pin drop at that moment. Are you 100% sure you heard what you heard? It was crystal clear. A couple of people said, hey, you need to go to the police about this. When Dateline continues. It was early 2020, more than three years since Bianca Rudolph's tragic death.
Life in Paradise, Valley that is, was good for Dr. Larry Rudolph and Lori Milliron. They were building a new mansion and had plenty of money too. When they weren't traveling the world, Larry and Lori were often at their regular spot, Steak 44. Bartender Brian Lovelace was always happy to see them. They came in often, probably twice a month, and they spent a lot of money.
Lori and Larry usually sat right at the bar, where Brian served them martinis, followed by big steaks. They were always together and very kind and nice to each other. One night, Larry and Lori were at their usual place at the bar. It was busy. Music playing, drinks flowing. Then, all of a sudden, Brian said something happened between them.
It was an uncomfortable conversation that you can tell that they were having, and there was a moment of silence where the music had changed from song to song. That's when Brian heard something he'll never forget.
He said to Lori, I killed my effing wife for you. My gosh. And you could hear a pin drop at that moment. What are you thinking when you hear that? I mean, there's a lot to process in that moment. Yeah, it's a lot to process. And the very first thing I was thinking is, well, I killed my wife for you. Well, who's Lori? I thought Lori was his wife. Brian says Lori stormed out, upset, red-faced.
Larry quickly paid the bill and also rushed out. Are you 100% sure you heard what you heard? Yes, I'm 100% sure. There's definitely no doubt. It was crystal clear. Later that night, Brian told his wife Amber about what happened. Word of the incident also spread fast among the other bartenders via a group text. So there was a couple of people in the group chat that said,
Hey, you need to go to the police about this. And I said, no, there's not enough information. What am I going to say to the police? Amber agreed. Remember, at this point, she and Brian didn't know anything about Bianca's death. I'm like, I don't think you should do anything about this. So they let it go. Weeks went by. The Larry-Laurie bar blowup seemed to fade away. Until...
One of the bartenders sent a link to all of us, and that link had shown Dr. Larry Rudolph, wife was killed by accident on safari in Africa. Extremely shocking, to say the least. And so, of course, read the article and saw, wow, okay, Lori is not his wife. He did have a wife, and she did die. Brian was conflicted. Call the police? Or just clam up?
So I was hung on that and thinking, well, it was investigated and it was deemed an accident. I didn't want Brian saying anything about this guy. Like, I don't know what he's capable of. I have two children. If he were to get him in trouble, I don't know what kind of power he has to maybe affect our lives. Did you leave it there then? I felt that I should leave it alone. Nearly two years passed. It was December 2021.
Five years since Bianca's death, the FBI knew nothing about Brian Lovelace and the bar incident. But they kept investigating Bianca's death. The agency started conducting a series of ballistics tests in their lab, where shots were fired at a target ranging from half an inch to a little over nine feet away. The shotgun pellets left a unique pattern. The FBI then compared that pattern to photos of Bianca's wound.
Remember, those were the photos taken by the consular chief in Zambia just days after Bianca died. The shot pattern was consistent with a shot that was fired from one to three feet. Not right up against her chest. Not right up against her chest. And they were able to figure out that there's no way on earth she was able to shoot that gun. So who did? The FBI had a prime suspect.
Coming up...
High Five Casino lets you play your favorite slot in live table games like Blackjack with a chance to redeem for real cash prizes. High Five Casino has a giant selection of over 1,200 games, including hundreds of exclusive games only found on High Five Casino. It's always free to play, and free coins are given out every four hours. Ready to have your own high five moment? Visit HighFiveCasino.com. That's high, the number five, casino.com. No purchase necessary, void, or prohibited by law. Must be 21 years or older. Terms and conditions apply.
CarMax knows that finding the right car is all about exploring your options, like the option to shop your way on your schedule. At CarMax, you can browse, compare, and pre-qualify online, then finish up at the store or simply start on the lot. The choice is yours because at CarMax, you're in the driver's seat. Start the search for your next car today at CarMax, the way car buying should be.
If you're a facilities manager at a university, you know students rely on the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the occasional late night snack. So when a dishwasher breaks down and dirty plates pile up, the mess hall can turn messy in the blink of an eye. Enter Grainger. With over a million industrial grade products and fast delivery, the product you need now is never far away. So you can turn that dishwasher back into a lean, clean washing machine. Call, click Grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger.
For the ones who get it done. Cabo San Lucas was a special place for Larry Rudolph and Lori Milliron. They visited often, brought Lori's kids, even bought a condo there. But everything changed in December 2021, according to attorney John Dill. They were flying down there for the Christmas holidays.
When they landed, Lori sees Mexican police lining up on the tarmac. They came in, they started asking for people's passports. Wow. That's when he was put in jail and detained. The next day, U.S. Marshals escorted Larry back to the States.
More than five years after Bianca's death, Dr. Larry Rudolph was arrested for murder and for defrauding the life insurance companies that paid him millions of dollars. Facing life in prison, he was being held in Denver, home to one of those insurance companies. He spoke with Lori by phone from jail. The recordings have never been heard on television until now.
Two weeks after Larry's arrest, Lori flew to Denver to support him at a detention hearing in federal court. This was a key hearing, according to former federal prosecutor Nima Rahmani.
Prosecutors believed that Larry Rudolph was a flight risk and a danger and argued for no bond. The defense tried to convince the judge to allow him to remain on house arrest, but the judge said, absolutely not. I'm not going to treat Larry Rudolph differently just because he has a lot of money. The judge denied bail. Larry would stay in jail. As for Lori, she'd received a subpoena to appear before the grand jury.
She talked to Larry about it in that phone call. So she goes in front of the grand jury and now they're pulling out financial records and they're putting everything in front of her.
That very same day, the grand jury indicted Larry for murder, which was big news, especially for his hometown of Pittsburgh and NBC station WPXI. Dr. Lawrence Rudolph started Three Rippers Dental, but now he's accused by the feds of actually murdering his wife and all the collected millions in life insurance. Dr. Rudolph entered a not guilty plea. I was just in shock, you know, like, wow.
After all this time, this is really happening now. Sherry's former co-worker, Anna Grimley, felt a sense of relief. I felt like maybe justice is going to do something correct, especially for Bianca. She didn't have a voice. So to hear that he was arrested, it felt good that the FBI actually put all the pieces together completely with everybody.
But not everybody felt that way. Sherry Houck said that Larry's daughter, Anna Bianca, never wavered in her support for him. She never said she thought he had anything to do with it, ever. Did she ever express that this is unfair? Well, she didn't ever want to believe her father did this.
Shockwaves from Larry's arrest reached all the way to Phoenix and NBC station KPNX. "He told investigators that she accidentally shot herself. Now he is under arrest accused of murder." Which was stunning news to bartender Brian Lovelace. "That really changed things. To actually read that he was indicted for murder, the FBI doesn't reopen cases, you know, to lose them. This is unbelievable."
Brian still didn't know what to do about the conversation he'd overheard between Larry and Lori. But one of his co-workers at Stake 44 apparently thought she knew what to do. The co-worker had a nickname, Nancy Drew. ♪
Nancy Drew loves to investigate pretty much any and all situations that seem suspicious. And she took it upon herself to contact the FBI. Oh, my. So she gave me a heads up, said, you know, sorry, but the FBI is going to be calling you. What'd you say? I said, are you crazy? Don't you think this is something you should have talked to me about first?
As FBI agents made their way to Phoenix to talk to Brian, there was someone else the government was keeping an eye on, Lori Milliron. Lori and Larry's affair was a huge piece of the circumstantial puzzle and the reason that Larry had a motive to kill Bianca. Lori was back in Phoenix managing the dental practice remotely. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office was taking a closer look at the transcript of her grand jury testimony.
Former Prosecutor Romani read the transcript too. Lori was very evasive during the grand jury testimony. There were a lot of "I don't recalls," "I don't remember." And her story shifted over time. Six weeks after she testified, Lori's attorney, John Dill, got a surprise call from the FBI. Saying, "Hey, do you represent Lori Melliron?" I was like, "Lori Melliron? Yeah, I represent Lori. Well, we're outside her house and we're going to arrest her." Federal agents had a warrant for Lori's arrest.
They searched her, put her in shackles to appear in front of the court. What exactly are they alleging she did? They're alleging that Lori went in front of the grand jury and gave misleading answers to certain questions, specifically about her relationship with Dr. Rudolph and about the way that he was supporting her, essentially. Lori was indicted for obstruction, perjury, and accessory after the fact.
She appeared in court in Denver to plead not guilty, but the judge allowed her to go home to Phoenix, where she would be under house arrest. As a condition of her bond, the judge ordered Lori not to have any contact with Larry, as Lori's attorney told us at the time. There's been no communication between the two of them. But they still say they're together. They're still together. I mean, I believe they're both in a horrible situation.
Former prosecutor Romani believed the whole situation was part of the government's strategy. Prosecutors wanted to trap Lori and get her to flip on Larry. That was their entire strategy here. Maybe prosecutors felt they needed Lori's help. Larry had hired a high-powered defense attorney who was confident he could take the government's case apart.
This is all theater. This is all trying to say, "Look at all this smoke," when they don't have any proof of fire. Criminal prosecutions are about, "Do you have the goods? Do you have the proof?" And they don't have it. Coming up, the defense questions everything. The gun. There's no proof that Larry Rudolph pulled the trigger. The cremation. Her will showed that she, in fact, wanted to be cremated. He loved her very much, and he did not do this. When Dateline continues.
More than five years had passed since Bianca Rudolph's death, and her husband Larry was now behind bars at a Denver jail, thousands of miles away from Zambia's Kafui National Park, where Bianca had been shot. Prosecutors thought Larry murdered her, and that they could get Larry's longtime lover, Lori Milliron, to flip and testify against him. So said Lori's attorney, John Dill, who also said this. If
If Lori knew something and had something to give them, then I can understand why they would hope that. The problem is they've got the facts wrong, and so she can't be the star witness for a theory of the truth that doesn't exist. Did she have any involvement in Bianca's death, whether it was before, after? Absolutely not. Lori Milliron had nothing to do with lying before the grand jury. She had nothing to do with this death. She hasn't tried to cover anything up.
Lori denied ever giving Larry an ultimatum to get rid of Bianca. And Lori did not flip on him. Instead, she would take her chances at trial. So now, without Lori's testimony, prosecutors looked to bolster their case. That led them to, of all places, the tiny town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. And this unassuming house. Headquarters of a company called Anthrotech.
Dr. Bruce Bradmiller is one of the world's leading experts on the study of people's personal measurements. Whether it's their arm length, leg length, or overall height or whatever. Not something that you would usually apply to a crime, a potential crime? Definitely not.
That is, until Dr. Brad Miller got a call from an FBI agent about the Bianca Rudolph investigation. He gave me the broad outlines of the case. So something that happened all the way in Zambia, in Africa, has now landed here in your lap in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It did. Crazy. Totally crazy. The FBI wanted Dr. Brad Miller to lend his expertise and confirm their findings that Bianca Rudolph could not have accidentally shot herself.
They're going to be handed a shotgun and a shotgun bag. So he recruited 36 additional women and conducted an even more extensive experiment, beginning with a simple behavioral study. Please place the shotgun in the bag.
We gave the women, here's a gun, here's a bag, put it in and zip it up. Nobody pointed at themselves. Keep this part pointed at your heart. But if Larry's story was true, Bianca must have somehow pointed the gun at herself. Dr. Bradmiller tried to figure out if that was even possible. I can't. I can't. I can't reach it.
It would be so difficult to position the gun at 90 degrees and have it go off accidentally. I mean, you'd have to be really trying to make that happen. And, you know, who would do that? We wanted a firsthand look at what the test entailed, so Dr. Bradmiller conducted it one more time. Straighten your fingers. Perfect. 706. You would be certainly within the range of people that we would have been measuring.
Here's the shotgun, and notice that it's unloaded. This part of the test was more complicated and cumbersome. This is really heavy. It is heavy, and the weight is not distributed evenly throughout the thing. We want to emphasize again that the gun was not loaded. Wow!
I want you to zip the bag while holding the muzzle at 90 degrees to your chest. And I'm trying to zip it and then pulling the trigger? Right, but you're not at 90 degrees. I mean, because I can't. I'm not strong enough and this gun is too long and too heavy. Yeah. This is impossible. Gotcha.
If that wasn't hard enough, the last part of the test required reaching inside the case and touching the trigger to see if Bianca could have accidentally caused the gun to fire. This is not happening. There's no way I could ever get to that trigger. I can't even touch it.
With the exception of one participant, your experience was exactly the same as everybody else. You can't possibly get there. That one person out of the entire test group, he told us, had unusually flexible shoulders, which allowed her to barely touch the trigger. Did that give you pause that maybe Bianca was able to reach the trigger? It certainly introduces a tiny bit of doubt, but the fact that nobody...
pointed the gun at themselves gave me pretty good confidence that this proposed scenario was highly unlikely. Dr. Brad Miller reported his findings to the FBI. We found it extremely unlikely that Bianca had somehow positioned the gun at her chest and then pulled the trigger. Compelling? Maybe. But would it be convincing to a jury? Finally, in July 2022, almost six years after Bianca's death, the case went to court.
Larry and Lori would stand trial together in the same courtroom with the same jury deciding their fates. Since this was a federal case, there were no cameras allowed. Larry's attorney, David Marcus, was confident as the trial began. They should not have charged this case. Zambians, the insurance company, found an accident. And there's no proof that Larry Rudolph pulled the trigger. Even though Dr. Bradmiller's study indicated Bianca couldn't have pulled the trigger either...
Larry's defense had an entirely different theory on how she was shot. Our position is that it was an accident that the gun dropped. Zambia police did ballistic tests, and they did a drop test, and they said that the gun did not misfire. Yeah, it's interesting. The Zambian test wasn't videotaped. It wasn't documented. So we don't really know how that drop test was conducted. And there was no way for the defense or anyone else to test the gun again because it was gone.
Larry got rid of it in the years after Bianca's death. But Marcus pointed out that even the owner's manual warns of accidental discharge. As for the other evidence against Larry, the defense said it was misleading or flat-out wrong. For example, Bianca's cremation.
Did Larry Rudolph have her cremated so quickly to dispose of evidence? No, and this is a crazy claim made by the prosecutor. They believe that Bianca Rudolph did not want to be cremated, and that gave them some suspicions. And her will showed that she, in fact, wanted to be cremated. There it was, signed on April 25, 2016, almost six months before her death.
Anna, Bianca and Julian showed that support by attending the trial, sitting behind their father.
They listened as the prosecution methodically outlined the details surrounding their mother's death. This wasn't a smoking gun case. This was a case about individual pieces of circumstantial evidence. That circumstantial evidence included FBI ballistics tests, which, along with those photos of Bianca's wound, indicated that the gun would have been one to three feet away from Bianca's chest when it went off.
Prosecutors detailed those insurance claims, too, which Larry filed within weeks of Bianca's death, totaling $4.8 million. A clear motive, they said, to cash in and move on with Lori Milliron. But it was that conversation between Lori and Larry that the prosecution saved for last. The one bartender Brian Lovelace overheard that night at Steak 44. He said to Lori, I killed my wife for you.
But during cross-examination, Larry's attorney asserted Lovelace didn't hear the entire conversation in context. According to the defense, what Larry really said was, "They think I killed my wife for you." "They" being the FBI. Larry never confessed to killing his wife. Let me be very clear about that. It just did not happen. What did you make of that argument? Did it make sense? It didn't make sense. That one phrase was by itself.
I'm positive of what I heard. In the end, the whole trial came down to one witness, Dr. Larry Rudolph himself. Coming up.
A father-daughter conversation that's a heartbreaker. And Larry Rudolph on the stand. If he were able to convince those jurors that this was an accident, he would walk. What would the verdict be? For two weeks, the legal drama played out in this federal courthouse in downtown Denver.
Then came the witness everyone was waiting for, someone the defense had saved for last and believed would seal its case, the defendant himself, Dr. Larry Rudolph. It's a huge risk to have Larry take the stand, or in the case of a client like Larry, he may have insisted on taking the stand. Over the course of two days, Larry answered questions about what happened inside that cabin in Zambia.
Larry testified that when he heard the shot that morning, he was in the bathroom, but not in the shower, as the game scout had said. That's why he was fully dressed in that photo from the scene. He said he'd rushed out, only to see Bianca lying dead on the floor. A tearful Larry was emphatic he loved his wife, would never harm her. Bianca's death was simply a tragic accident, he said.
If he were able to convince those jurors that this was an accident, he would walk. And if not, he would be convicted. Lori didn't take the stand, but her defense insisted she had no part in Bianca's death. On a Friday afternoon, jurors got the case, with Larry and Lori's fates in their hands. Day one ended without a verdict. Larry's devoted daughter, Anna Bianca, returned to Pittsburgh. Her father called her from jail.
and talked about testifying.
Anna Bianca felt confident the jury would acquit her father. Day two, Monday. Hours passed. Still no word from the jury.
Then, just minutes before court adjourned for the day, a decision that made big news in Denver, where the trial took place. Guilty verdict for a dentist accused of shooting and killing his wife. Larry was convicted of all counts, premeditated murder and mail fraud. Lori was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder. She was convicted of obstruction of justice and convicted of some, but not all of the perjury charges.
But that wasn't the end of the story. Far from it. After the verdict, Larry made a call to his daughter, Anna Bianca. I know, honey. I don't want to lose you either.
Anna Bianca was angry, and not just at the prosecutors. I don't understand. Why did you love Lori more than you loved me and Mom at the end? I didn't, Connie. I didn't. It just felt that way. She was just my friend.
I needed a friend to have sex with. I'm your friend! I'm your friend! I would do anything for you. I dedicated my whole life to you. To coming to Dennis, to following your footsteps.
In another call, Anna Bianca placed the blame squarely on Lori. The judge allowed Lori to return to Phoenix under house arrest to await sentencing.
Five days after the verdict, Larry called Lori from jail. Both seem stunned by the jury's decision.
Larry seemed to have his own theory about why the jury convicted him. Right.
But Lori had her own concerns, big ones. Remember, she turned down the chance to take a plea deal and testify against Larry. Even though she'd been found guilty, Lori had planned to run Three Rivers Dental until she had a report to prison. Lori also thought she would move into the nearly finished Paradise Valley Mansion. Here she is checking on the construction. That didn't happen.
To her apparent surprise, Lori was fired by Larry's son and cut off from all the Rudolph's bank accounts and properties.
She vented about it in that jail call with Larry. Oh, boy.
Besides her loss of income and a place to live, Lori had another very big problem. By talking to Larry, she was violating a court order. Remember, Lori and Larry were not supposed to have contact while she was on house arrest. The U.S. Attorney's Office pounced and had Lori arrested again. She was brought back to Colorado and to jail.
She will remain there until she is sentenced in February 2023. Prosecutors have recommended 15 years in prison. As for Larry Rudolph, he faces life behind bars. Larry declined our interview request. He now awaits his sentencing in this federal lockup in Pahrump, Nevada, thousands of miles away from the cabin in Kafue National Park, where a fatal shot ended the life of Bianca, the hunter, the mother,
The friend. Bianca was a beautiful, vibrant woman. Betsy Wonke hopes the focus can once again be on Bianca's memory. She was this just wonderful woman who made a difference in this world. Without people talking about Bianca and what a great woman she was, Larry wins. And I'm not going to let that happen.
That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again next Friday at 9, 8 central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt for all of us at NBC News. Good night.
Walmart Plus. It's Walmart plus free delivery, which saves members time plus money. Yep. Plus an included Paramount Plus subscription to stream movies, shows, sports, and that can't miss documentary. Plus Burger King savings. That's right. Members get 25% off Burger King digital orders every day of the week. Walmart Plus. It's Walmart Plus. Become a member at WalmartPlus.com. $35 order minimum. Paramount Plus essential plan only. Separate registration required. Valid at participating USBKs in the BK app or BK.com for members only. 25%.
See Walmart plus terms and conditions.