Two elderly women killed homeless men for insurance

TWO elderly women accused of killing a pair of homeless men to collect millions of dollars in insurance payouts were convicted by a Los Angeles jury.

In an unusual step, the jury will hear more arguments before deciding remaining counts against Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75. The judge decided to take five initial verdicts.

Golay was convicted of the first-degree murders of Kenneth McDavid, 50, in 2005 and Paul Vados, 73, in 1999. She was also convicted of conspiracy to murder in both killings.

Rutterschmidt was convicted of conspiracy to murder Mr McDavid for financial gain.

The judge ordered the prosecution and Rutterschmidt’s defence to present new arguments on two counts that Rutterschmidt murdered Mr McDavid and Vados, and a conspiracy count involving Mr Vados.

Prosecutors said the women collected $2.8 million (€1.8m) from policies on the lives of the two men who were killed in staged hit-and-runs. Golay’s convictions carry potential sentences of life in prison without possibility of parole. The single conspiracy count against Rutterschmidt carries a sentence of 25 years to life.

Prosecutors said the women recruited their prey from among the homeless of Hollywood, invested thousands on policies and in putting them up in apartments.

The jury saw a secretly-recorded video where Rutterschmidt berated Golay, saying her actions in taking out 23 insurance policies raised a red flag when the men died. “You can’t have that many insurances... You were greedy. That’s the problem.”