Husband's directive reflects fear his wife would kill him

Ronald Rudin apparently was so afraid his wife was going to kill him that, originally, he wanted his trustees to investigate her in the event of his death. But, fearing he might be wrong, decided to re-word his directive.

When Rudin died, his directive simply said his death should be investigated and any beneficiaries connected to it should be cut from his will, attorney Patricia Brown told jurors Monday.

Brown took the stand Monday and again this morning in the murder trial of Margaret Rudin, 56, suspected of killing her husband in December 1994 to get her share of his estate, estimated to be between $8 million and $11 million.

Brown testified that Rudin, a real estate developer, came to her in April 1991 and asked her to prepare the directive.

"He had indicated that his wife had made some violent overtures to some of his employees and he had some concerns for his own safety," Brown said.

Brown said the original directive she prepared said Margaret Rudin should be investigated. However, Rudin said he would feel badly if he died of natural causes and his wife learned of the directive.

Rudin said he loved his wife despite her sometimes vicious and violent nature and that they were trying to salvage their marriage through counseling, Brown said. He asked her to re-word the directive and to keep it separate from his trust so that his wife would be unaware of it.

In November 1993 Brown said her client asked her to increase Margaret Rudin's share of his estate from 40 to 60 percent for tax purposes -- a fact Margaret Rudin's defense attorney, Michael Amador, honed in on during his cross-examination.

Amador contends that Ronald Rudin's trustees, who also benefitted from his will, were behind his death.

Amador noted that when Margaret Rudin's portion of the estate increased, that of trustee Sharron Cooper's decreased from 15 to 10 percent. A new trustee, Harold Boscutti, was also added in November 1993 at 15 percent.

Also testifying Monday was Frank Janise, a Metro detective sent to speak with Rudin two days after her husband was reported missing.

Janise said Rudin granted him full access to her house, and he conducted a search for Rudin's body and any clues regarding his whereabouts.

The 31-year Metro veteran testified he didn't see or smell anything odd in Ronald Rudin's bedroom. He said he went so far as to get on his hands and knees to look under the bed.

Prosecutor Chris Owens told jurors in opening statements that day laborer Augustine Lovato will testify that he removed bloody carpeting from the master bedroom at Rudin's behest.

Lovato went to the police Jan. 25, 1995, with his story. Janise testified Monday that a $25,000 reward was announced Jan. 3, 1995.

The entire morning was spent questioning Carole Kawazoe, a tax preparer who rented office space from Ronald Rudin.

Kawazoe testified that Margaret Rudin, a complete stranger to her, showed up at her office at 2:30 a.m. Dec. 19, 1994, and offered to buy her a cup of coffee at a local convenience store.

Prosecutors theorize that Rudin was trying to develop an alibi. Kawazoe said that although Rudin told her she had been working late nights at her antique store on the opposite end of the same mini-mall, she never saw her car or store lights.

Under an intense grilling from defense attorney Tom Pitaro, Kawazoe admitted that from her store she couldn't see one of the entrances to Rudin's store, or a back parking lot.

Kawazoe still insisted, however, that she would have been able to see Rudin's lights reflecting off buildings across the street.

Kawazoe's questioning took so long that District Judge Joseph Bonaventure told the attorneys he is considering extending the work day to 7 p.m., or the work week through Saturday.

Bonaventure noted that on some days only one or two witnesses have taken the stand. Four witnesses were questioned Monday afternoon, in addition to Brown.

In other trial news, Juror No. 5, who teaches at-risk students, asked to be excused from duty. Since the trial began slightly more than two weeks ago, his students have "chewed up and spit out" six substitute teachers and are struggling in class, he said.

"I think my students need me probably more than the court does," the juror said.

Bonaventure said he would make some calls and inform the juror of his decision later in the week.

Bonaventure later told attorneys he wanted to keep the juror a few more days in the event problems occur with other jurors. With the trial taking so much longer than expected, the judge said he is concerned he could run out of alternate jurors, of which there are six.

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