‘Black Widow’ Margaret Rudin sues city after she wrongly spent 8,000 days in prison for murder of investor husband

A WRONGFULLY labeled “Black Widow” is sueing the city who put her behind bars just two years after her record was wiped clean.

In 2001, Margaret Rudin, then 57, was arrested and found guilty of her husband Ron, 64, who disappeared in December 1994.

In 2001, Margaret Rudin, then 57, was arrested and found guilty of her husband Ron, 64, who disappeared in December 1994Credit: AP

She was released on parole in 2020, when both she and her lawyer continued to maintain that she was innocentCredit: AP

Now, Margaret is sueing the city of Las Vegas for her wrongful conviction, seeking damages, housing and insurance aid, and a reimbursment for her attorney feesCredit: AP

It was not until, 2001, after a tip came in on a “most wanted” television show, that Rudin was arrested and eventually convicted by a Las Vegas court.

In 2020, at the age of 76, she was released from prison on parole; at the time she was maintaining her innocence.

As she left the prison, her lawyer Greg Mullanax read a statement describing a “happy day for Margaret Rudin and her family”.

“Margaret Rudin is innocent and she did not murder her husband,” he added.

Two years later a federal judge vacated her conviction which is the ground for her current lawsuit which she is now pursuing at the age of 80.

“Margaret Rudin, in fact, did not murder Ron Rudin, did not participate in or plan his murder, and does not know who killed Ron Rudin,” the lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court said, reported KLAS 8.

“She is innocent of the crime and has professed her innocence to the crime and involvement in his death for thirty years.”

Margaret’s lawyer spoke more about the intentions of the lawsuit.

“A federal court has already found that Margaret Rudin was wrongfully convicted,” said Rudin’s attorney, Adam Breeden.

“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.”

She is asking for monetary reparations for the wrongful incarceration, as well as assistance for housing and insurance, and reimbursement for attorney fees.

The judge who vacated her sentence explained that, when reviewing her case, there was no evidence connecting her to the murder weapon or his abandoned car.

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Additionally, he explained that the defense attorney Margaret had provided insufficient representation.

MARGARET REFLECTS

After her release in 2020, she describe the life she intended to pursue.

“I want to be free to travel if I choose to on a passport,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I want to be able to vote. I want to be able to do all the things I was able to do before Ron was murdered. And I did not do it.”

In a recent 2022 interview, Margaret reflected on her experience and dynamic with her late husband.

Margaret’s conviction was vacated in 2022 after a federal judge found there to be insufficient evidence in her case and that she was given ineffective counselCredit: AP

She described Ron as paranoid, explaining that he used to keep their house heavily surveilled and owned hundreds of gunsCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk

‘He had always cheated, and every time he would say, ‘I’m not going to do it again, I’m not going to do it again,’’ Rudin said in 2022.

She described Ron as paranoid, explaining that he used to keep their house heavily surveilled.

In addition to the cameras scattered throughout their home, Ron also kept hundreds of guns by Margaret’s account.

Aside from the paranoia, her husband was chronically unfaithful, adultering on multiple occasions.

“He had always cheated, and every time he would say, ‘I’m not going to do it again, I’m not going to do it again,’” Rudin said in 2022.

In a more recent interview with KLAS 8, she spoke about the infamous nickname given to her upon her arrest.

When asked “What do you think of that moniker?” referring to the “Black Widow” name, Margaret had a simple answer.

“I don’t think anybody would dare call me that to my face,” she said.

HOW THE INNOCENT WAS LOCKED UP

IT took six years for Margaret to be arrested an found guilty following her husbands death, but over three times that time to be found innocent.

Margaret was working to open an antique store in a strip mall her husband owned when Ron went missing in 1994.

While searching for the missing man, police found his car in late December, abandoned and covered in dust in the parking lot of a gentlemen’s club on the Las Vegas Strip.

Then, in January of 1995, Ron’s burnt body was found near Nelson’s Landing, 50 miles south of Las Vegas with several bullet wounds to the head.

Upon discovering his body, police began to theorize that he was shot in the head with a gun fitted with a silencer that he had reported stolen within a year of marrying Margaret.

Soon, they pieced together a story that she has shot and killed Ron while they slept, after finding a drop of Ron’s blood in their shared bedroom.

Prosecutors at trial painted the alleged scheme as a money grab, noting that Ron’s net worth was between $8-$11 million at the time of his death.

A year after Ron’s body was found, the murder weapon was discovered by a diver at the bottom of Lake Mead; Margaret promptly went on the run.

As she was indicted for murder, accessory to murder and unlawful use of a listening device in 1997, the woman changed her name and appearance to keep her identity hidden.

Then, in 1999 she was found and arrested, allowing the trial to play out and Margaret’s 20 condemnation began.

She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole.

MARGARET REFLECTS

HOW THE INNOCENT WAS LOCKED UP

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