1 00:00:01,870 --> 00:00:04,370 This is a CNBC original. 2 00:00:11,410 --> 00:00:16,230 In this episode of American Greed, two grannies in jail. 3 00:00:19,670 --> 00:00:21,010 Caught on tape. 4 00:00:22,430 --> 00:00:29,110 Their cold -blooded murder -for -money plot is 5 00:00:29,110 --> 00:00:30,110 finally up. 6 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:31,980 They'd already murdered two men who was going to murder me. 7 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,680 Their story is about to unravel. 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,000 They just fed them and housed them like animals, just for the sole purpose of 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,480 killing them. And it sounds just like something out of a Hollywood movie. 10 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,460 I think I still could not really get my brain around the fact that these two 11 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:49,580 geriatrics had executed this guy. 12 00:01:13,290 --> 00:01:16,610 Los Angeles, California, June 22, 2005. 13 00:01:17,530 --> 00:01:23,070 In the early morning hours, traffic detective Nelson Hernandez gets a call 14 00:01:23,070 --> 00:01:27,110 what looks like a hit -and -run in the upscale neighborhood of Westwood. 15 00:01:27,390 --> 00:01:32,450 There was a man in the alley, dead, and they wanted me to come out and 16 00:01:32,450 --> 00:01:33,450 investigate him. 17 00:01:33,650 --> 00:01:37,070 A middle -aged man lies face -up in the center of the alley. 18 00:01:37,650 --> 00:01:39,570 There's a bicycle a few feet away. 19 00:01:39,790 --> 00:01:41,250 The front wheel is off. 20 00:01:41,550 --> 00:01:45,030 as though the man had been changing a tire when he was hit by a car. 21 00:01:45,570 --> 00:01:48,030 We checked the tire, and it was hard. It had air in it. 22 00:01:48,770 --> 00:01:52,750 And then the other thing was, well, if he's going to work on the tire, why 23 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:54,990 he put his helmet on top of this other tire? 24 00:01:55,430 --> 00:01:56,650 It just didn't make any sense. 25 00:01:57,530 --> 00:01:59,530 And why would he stop here in darkness? 26 00:01:59,950 --> 00:02:04,290 Why wouldn't he just walk the bike down to the end of the alley where there's 27 00:02:04,290 --> 00:02:05,290 light? 28 00:02:06,690 --> 00:02:10,830 The man has nothing in his pockets except for two photo IDs. 29 00:02:11,390 --> 00:02:16,770 So it was very clear that someone wanted to tell us who this guy was. 30 00:02:18,130 --> 00:02:20,230 His name is Kenneth McDavid. 31 00:02:20,570 --> 00:02:25,550 Hernandez notes that McDavid's clothes are covered in grease, most likely from 32 00:02:25,550 --> 00:02:28,310 the bottom of a car, unusual for a hit -and -run. 33 00:02:28,870 --> 00:02:33,090 Usually pedestrians will get hit and then they will either get pushed to the 34 00:02:33,090 --> 00:02:37,470 side of the road or will flip over the car and they will land someplace else. 35 00:02:37,590 --> 00:02:39,990 They will not have all that grease from the undercarriage. 36 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,540 So there were a few things here that just didn't look right. 37 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:53,900 Once the sun comes up, Hernandez combs the area for witnesses and inquires 38 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:56,340 any surveillance video taken that night. 39 00:02:56,660 --> 00:03:00,580 One of the stores on the block has several cameras in the alley. 40 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,500 We looked at the video that this camera had captured. 41 00:03:05,180 --> 00:03:08,920 and we could see taillights of vehicles entering the alley and traveling 42 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:10,180 southbound in the alley. 43 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,960 The camera doesn't capture the victim, but there's something suspicious about 44 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,100 one of the cars that enters the alley. 45 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:21,740 The brake lights came on, all lights went out. 46 00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:28,260 The lights came on five minutes later, and the vehicle just drove off. 47 00:03:29,220 --> 00:03:33,760 It appeared to be a Ford Taurus or a Mercury Stable station wagon. 48 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,760 He can't make out the license plate number. All he has is the possible make 49 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,300 model of the car and the dead man's IDs. 50 00:03:42,980 --> 00:03:49,400 He follows the only lead he has, McDavid's last known address, 1843 51 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,900 Lane. We made a follow -up to that address. 52 00:03:52,140 --> 00:03:56,980 We talked to the manager, and she said, yeah, he used to live here. He used to 53 00:03:56,980 --> 00:03:58,080 live on the fourth floor. 54 00:03:58,700 --> 00:04:03,420 Ken McDavid played classical piano and worked as a disc jockey in his hometown 55 00:04:03,420 --> 00:04:04,420 of Sacramento. 56 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:07,760 He moves to L .A. to try his hand at writing screenplays. 57 00:04:08,540 --> 00:04:12,420 He can't make it as a screenwriter and eventually becomes homeless. 58 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:18,220 The building manager at 1843 Cherokee Lane tells Detective Hernandez what she 59 00:04:18,220 --> 00:04:19,480 knows about McDavid. 60 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:25,660 An older woman named Helen Golay takes him off the streets and pays his bills 61 00:04:25,660 --> 00:04:26,660 for many months. 62 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,260 She appeared to be a well -to -do type person. 63 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:35,540 Why would this lady allow this supposedly homeless man to stay in her 64 00:04:35,540 --> 00:04:36,540 for so many months? 65 00:04:37,220 --> 00:04:42,220 Before Hernandez can track Golay down, he finds out that she's gone to the 66 00:04:42,220 --> 00:04:47,360 morgue, claiming to be McDavid's fiancée. She identifies the body and 67 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,280 that he be cremated. Then things get stranger. 68 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,140 Another woman, Olga Ruderschmidt, who claims to be McDavid's cousin, shows up 69 00:04:55,140 --> 00:04:58,140 the police station asking for a copy of the police report. 70 00:04:58,860 --> 00:05:04,520 Usually when a family member comes to the station, they're hurting because 71 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:05,379 loved one died. 72 00:05:05,380 --> 00:05:09,040 So they want us to explain to them the report. 73 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,780 Many cases, you know, they cry and so on and so forth, and they have questions. 74 00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:15,240 Not in this case. 75 00:05:15,540 --> 00:05:18,560 They basically come in, get the copy, and out the door. 76 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,560 Rudderschmidt's cold, businesslike demeanor leaves a profound impression. 77 00:05:24,940 --> 00:05:27,080 And then, more red flags. 78 00:05:28,060 --> 00:05:29,280 Toxicology comes back. 79 00:05:29,620 --> 00:05:34,180 Ken McDavid's body has large amounts of two prescription medications, including 80 00:05:34,180 --> 00:05:35,980 a sleep aid, Ambien. 81 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:40,500 Why would you be taking a sleeping pill if you're going to go out and ride your 82 00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:41,500 bike? 83 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:48,400 Hernandez begins to wonder if Ken McDavid's death was no accident, if 84 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:49,400 set him up. 85 00:05:50,460 --> 00:05:53,080 But if it's murder, what's the motive? 86 00:05:54,030 --> 00:05:57,410 It was just frustrating. I just didn't have enough to be able to solve this 87 00:05:57,410 --> 00:05:58,410 case. 88 00:05:59,510 --> 00:06:01,730 Time passes with no new leads. 89 00:06:04,010 --> 00:06:08,610 Two months after Ken McDavid's death, a life insurance claim comes in to money, 90 00:06:08,770 --> 00:06:10,030 Mutual of New York. 91 00:06:10,470 --> 00:06:13,510 Ed Webster is an investigator assigned to the case. 92 00:06:13,990 --> 00:06:15,690 The claim is for $1 million. 93 00:06:16,510 --> 00:06:20,410 The beneficiaries were Olga Ruderschmidt and Helen Golay. The contract was 94 00:06:20,410 --> 00:06:25,460 written. in the context that Kenneth McDavid was a businessman. 95 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,880 These two women were his business partners in a company called HKO 96 00:06:30,940 --> 00:06:34,260 which, you know, is an acronym for Helen, Kenneth, and Olga. 97 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,960 They claimed that he made about $60 ,000 in annual income and that if he passed, 98 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,120 their business would be adversely affected. 99 00:06:42,620 --> 00:06:47,600 Ed Webster soon discovers that Helen and Olga told police that they were 100 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,540 McDavid's fiancé and cousin. 101 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:50,880 not business partners. 102 00:06:51,180 --> 00:06:52,600 Something doesn't feel right. 103 00:06:54,980 --> 00:06:58,000 Webster flies to L .A. to try to get some answers. 104 00:06:58,820 --> 00:07:04,100 There had been a medical examiner's report, and when I looked at that, it 105 00:07:04,100 --> 00:07:09,580 the first time I saw Kenneth McDavid represented as a homeless man, which 106 00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:12,900 in the face of all the documents that we had underwriting. 107 00:07:14,060 --> 00:07:15,740 And there is more. 108 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,780 The address that was listed as his home address. 109 00:07:19,310 --> 00:07:21,550 was actually Helen's address in Santa Monica. 110 00:07:21,990 --> 00:07:26,370 The address that was listed on the application as his business address was 111 00:07:26,370 --> 00:07:28,690 Olga's address in West Hollywood. 112 00:07:29,010 --> 00:07:32,150 So those were clearly misrepresented. 113 00:07:33,010 --> 00:07:38,150 It looks like Helen and Olga are definitely in business together. The 114 00:07:38,150 --> 00:07:39,990 is, what kind of business? 115 00:07:40,670 --> 00:07:44,710 They take in a homeless man, apply for a million -dollar life insurance policy 116 00:07:44,710 --> 00:07:48,530 on him, lie about their relationships to him, and now he's dead. 117 00:07:51,140 --> 00:07:56,040 Webster tries to schedule a meeting with Helen Golay and Olga Ruderschmidt to 118 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:57,520 ask them about Ken McDavid. 119 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,780 To his surprise, all he gets is doors slammed in his face. 120 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,620 Neither of these two women would speak with me. 121 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:06,400 Ever. 122 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:08,820 They would never call me back. 123 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,060 They left cards in the mailbox. 124 00:08:11,340 --> 00:08:13,420 I screamed from the sidewalk. I did everything. 125 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,040 And they just flat out refused to talk to me. 126 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,120 Their expectation was to collect the million dollars in life insurance 127 00:08:20,750 --> 00:08:24,550 Answering my questions would certainly be one step towards fulfilling that 128 00:08:24,630 --> 00:08:26,150 and they just wouldn't do it. 129 00:08:26,930 --> 00:08:30,570 The two women's reaction makes Webster even more suspicious. 130 00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:34,049 He decides it's time to talk to the LAPD. 131 00:08:36,230 --> 00:08:40,870 When he and Detective Hernandez put the evidence they found together, they're 132 00:08:40,870 --> 00:08:43,230 confident there's more to Ken McDavid's death. 133 00:08:43,669 --> 00:08:48,070 Why would this lady be taking life insurance policies on a guy that 134 00:08:48,070 --> 00:08:48,989 be homeless? 135 00:08:48,990 --> 00:08:52,930 Hernandez shows Webster the grainy surveillance video taken of the alley. 136 00:08:54,210 --> 00:08:58,590 As they start to piece the puzzle together, the two women who come across 137 00:08:58,590 --> 00:09:02,390 nice old grannies are beginning to look like cold -blooded killers. 138 00:09:03,290 --> 00:09:06,490 They paid a lot of money in premiums for a million dollars worth of life 139 00:09:06,490 --> 00:09:11,470 insurance. And they paid a lot of money for rent and housing. So if you take all 140 00:09:11,470 --> 00:09:14,470 of that in mind, the only way that they could capitalize on their investment is 141 00:09:14,470 --> 00:09:15,470 if he died. 142 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:21,800 Next on American Green, a coincidence that's too close for comfort for police 143 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,000 reveals another victim of the killer granny. 144 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:41,080 In Los Angeles, Detective Nelson Hernandez investigates a hit and run in 145 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,460 Westwood alley. The victim, Ken McDavid, was once a homeless man. 146 00:09:45,900 --> 00:09:49,620 until two older women take him in and put him up in an apartment. 147 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:54,340 But a puzzle is unraveling, and now what once appeared to be two grannies 148 00:09:54,340 --> 00:09:57,600 lending a helping hand is starting to look suspicious. 149 00:09:58,340 --> 00:10:02,780 The two women file for benefits on two insurance policies they take out on 150 00:10:02,780 --> 00:10:04,080 McDavid. The total? 151 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:05,640 One million dollars. 152 00:10:07,020 --> 00:10:11,080 Detective Fernandez talks about the case with a colleague, Detective Willman, 153 00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:13,240 when they make a startling discovery. 154 00:10:14,140 --> 00:10:15,140 That's Lee. 155 00:10:15,790 --> 00:10:17,190 It just didn't make any sense. 156 00:10:17,630 --> 00:10:22,350 I got this guy in the alley, and now I got this insurance guy telling me that 157 00:10:22,350 --> 00:10:28,250 these two old ladies in their 70s have insurance policies on this guy totaling 158 00:10:28,250 --> 00:10:29,250 million dollars. 159 00:10:29,530 --> 00:10:34,670 He had mentioned that the guy was in an alley, got hit by a car, and had life 160 00:10:34,670 --> 00:10:35,670 insurance policies. 161 00:10:35,790 --> 00:10:37,850 I'm thinking in my mind, hey, I had this before, too. 162 00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:47,350 I walked back to where we keep our unsolved fatals in our cold cases. 163 00:10:48,050 --> 00:10:51,770 Well, back in November of 99, this is who I was dealing with. 164 00:10:52,830 --> 00:10:55,750 Detective Willman's victim is Paul Vados. 165 00:10:56,190 --> 00:11:02,310 In 1999, Vados, a homeless man, is found dead in an alley, an apparent victim of 166 00:11:02,310 --> 00:11:03,149 a hit -and -run. 167 00:11:03,150 --> 00:11:06,490 Two older ladies claim to be next of kin. 168 00:11:07,660 --> 00:11:09,720 And he said, did you get the names of those two ladies? 169 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,460 And I said, yeah, one of them is Olga, the other one is Helen. 170 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,280 They're the same names that I got for my two old ladies. 171 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,540 Do you have a phone number for them? He says, wait a minute, that's the same 172 00:11:20,540 --> 00:11:22,080 phone number that I got for my two old ladies. 173 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:28,160 When Detective Willman talks to Helen Golay, she claims to be Varus' fiancée. 174 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,380 She had zero emotion on the phone about what happened, and most people do. 175 00:11:34,420 --> 00:11:39,060 Later, Olga Ruderschmidt follows up with a phone call claiming to be Paul Varos' 176 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,540 cousin. She came in a couple weeks later for a copy of the police report. 177 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,980 She had no emotion. She had no interest in the investigation. She just wanted to 178 00:11:46,980 --> 00:11:48,560 get the police report and leave. 179 00:11:49,220 --> 00:11:55,680 The parallels between Paul Varos' case in 1999 and Ken McDavid's in 2005 are a 180 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:57,060 little too close for comfort. 181 00:11:57,710 --> 00:12:02,530 Two homeless men with sizable life insurance policies literally run over 182 00:12:02,530 --> 00:12:04,850 crushed to death in two different alleys. 183 00:12:05,830 --> 00:12:09,170 Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Gave me the kind of chilling 184 00:12:09,170 --> 00:12:14,470 feeling. And that's when we looked at each other and it was, bingo, we got 185 00:12:14,470 --> 00:12:17,890 than a traffic accident here. These two old ladies are killing the homeless. 186 00:12:18,410 --> 00:12:21,130 The irony of the situation doesn't escape them. 187 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,040 Two detectives who sit across from each other just happened to hit on two 188 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:26,080 identical cases? 189 00:12:26,740 --> 00:12:28,020 It was a miracle, basically. 190 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:34,620 The odds of us sharing the same information, the odds are just one in a 191 00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:35,900 billion. 192 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,580 Insurance investigator Ed Webster hears about the new development in the case 193 00:12:42,580 --> 00:12:44,180 and begins pounding the pavement. 194 00:12:45,020 --> 00:12:49,820 If what he and the police suspect is right was a method to how Helen and 195 00:12:50,010 --> 00:12:51,670 find and choose their victims. 196 00:12:53,470 --> 00:12:58,570 He has a theory that the two women are searching out victims on skid row and in 197 00:12:58,570 --> 00:12:59,570 treatment centers. 198 00:12:59,930 --> 00:13:05,090 The perfect vehicle for these women to capture these fellows would be in rehabs 199 00:13:05,090 --> 00:13:07,310 or AA meetings where people are open. 200 00:13:07,890 --> 00:13:12,090 They can identify people who don't have family. They can identify homeless 201 00:13:12,090 --> 00:13:15,470 people. You know, they can identify people that would not be missed. 202 00:13:16,270 --> 00:13:17,890 His hunch pays off. 203 00:13:19,180 --> 00:13:22,840 I was able to find the Presbyterian Church in North Hollywood where they 204 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,720 actually were capturing these guys. 205 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,820 Vados was there, McDavid was there, and there were predictable gatherings of 206 00:13:29,820 --> 00:13:32,700 homeless people there. So that was like a home run for me. 207 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,940 Ken McDavid and Paul Vados were regulars at Hollywood Presbyterian Church's 208 00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:38,940 homeless shelter. 209 00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:45,180 Two of the seemingly good souls who come to help out are Helen Golay and Olga 210 00:13:45,180 --> 00:13:46,180 Ruderschmidt. 211 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,360 Pastor Charles Sujeda remembers them. 212 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,340 My first impression of Helen and Olga was good. 213 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:55,300 They were nicely dressed. 214 00:13:55,620 --> 00:13:59,580 Now, they didn't actually talk about volunteering there or serving there at 215 00:13:59,660 --> 00:14:03,280 but they did express an interest and wanted to know what we were doing. 216 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,720 If they're coming for the first time, we always explain to them a little bit 217 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,280 about history and how people can actually volunteer in the program. 218 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,240 They do reach out to a few of the homeless men. 219 00:14:13,460 --> 00:14:15,380 They seem interested in their plight. 220 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:16,800 But they're not. 221 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,120 They prey on their desperation and isolation. 222 00:14:20,620 --> 00:14:23,820 They tell them each the same story. They can help. 223 00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:28,740 They offer what's irresistible to a homeless person, food and shelter. 224 00:14:29,100 --> 00:14:33,780 What the homeless men don't know is that the women have a plan, and it's time to 225 00:14:33,780 --> 00:14:34,780 perfection. 226 00:14:34,980 --> 00:14:39,380 They immediately take out insurance policies on the men, saying they are 227 00:14:39,380 --> 00:14:41,000 business partners or relatives. 228 00:14:41,540 --> 00:14:42,560 Then they wait. 229 00:14:43,020 --> 00:14:46,480 It takes two years before they can collect on the insurance policies. 230 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,320 They guard their prey like investments for that two -year period. 231 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:56,160 By housing them for two years, they would know who they communicated with 232 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,440 who they didn't communicate with, and that there was nobody. 233 00:14:59,700 --> 00:15:03,600 They would become totally dependent on these two women, and they would know 234 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,720 conversation and phone calls, whatever, that they had nobody else. 235 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,640 So they would feel comfortable in having them disappear. 236 00:15:12,540 --> 00:15:17,660 Once the two years are up and the women can collect, the men are history. 237 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:21,200 And they start looking for their next victim. 238 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:28,940 In downtown L .A., Jimmy Covington is down on his luck, living on the streets. 239 00:15:30,030 --> 00:15:33,550 Mostly the hardest part of being out there is just trying to get back up out 240 00:15:33,550 --> 00:15:37,430 the street because you need a little help. I mean, I can work a little bit, 241 00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:41,590 I just couldn't get the housing that I needed, and I couldn't get the medical 242 00:15:41,590 --> 00:15:44,270 attention at first, and I had to really struggle to get those things. 243 00:15:46,930 --> 00:15:48,390 Olga watches Jimmy. 244 00:15:49,070 --> 00:15:53,150 He sleeps behind a church, and the security guard has just kicked him out. 245 00:15:54,650 --> 00:15:59,210 One day, while Covington is walking in downtown L .A., Olga approaches him. 246 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,880 Olga approached me, she came right up to me and asked me, are you homeless? 247 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:07,200 I kind of said, well, why were you asking? She said, real anxious. 248 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,560 Well, I'm an advocate for homeless, and I've helped other homeless guys, and I 249 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,980 can get you benefits, and I can get you $2 ,000 a month, plus I can pay you $15 250 00:16:16,980 --> 00:16:19,840 a day, and I also have a little place for you to stay right now if you want to 251 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,420 come up and fill out some paperwork for me. 252 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,180 I said, okay, I'll try it out. Where's this place at? She said, right behind 253 00:16:26,180 --> 00:16:26,939 up there. 254 00:16:26,940 --> 00:16:28,520 I went, whoa, okay. 255 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,560 I'll go up and see what this woman's all about. 256 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:36,400 Olga takes Jimmy to an office building across the street near the intersection 257 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,180 of El Centro and Hollywood Boulevard. 258 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:43,040 She takes him upstairs to a small office space that's sparsely furnished. 259 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,140 She came back the next day and she had some more paperwork. 260 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:50,220 And then she started wanting my mother's name and her Social Security number and 261 00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:54,660 her maiden name and my dad's stuff and all their medical background and 262 00:16:55,370 --> 00:16:58,850 I said, I don't have that information for you right now. I can't get it. 263 00:16:59,410 --> 00:17:02,290 She started banging on the desk, and her fist was sticking out, and her eyes 264 00:17:02,290 --> 00:17:03,290 were sticking out. 265 00:17:03,390 --> 00:17:07,369 I'm just thinking that she's not right. I don't know what her situation was. 266 00:17:08,130 --> 00:17:12,550 Jimmy lives at the office building on El Centro for four days, but he reaches 267 00:17:12,550 --> 00:17:16,470 the breaking point when he hears Helen and Olga fighting outside his door. 268 00:17:16,829 --> 00:17:20,829 And I said, here, here's your key back. I shut the door, and I left. 269 00:17:22,170 --> 00:17:23,170 A smart move. 270 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:24,900 as Jimmy will later realize. 271 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:30,480 Helen and Olga apply for an $800 ,000 life insurance policy on his head. 272 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,220 Unlike Vados and McDavid, Jimmy Covington lives to tell about it. 273 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:42,360 Back at the LAPD, detectives Hernandez and Willman confront the shocking truth 274 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:43,820 about Helen and Olga. 275 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:51,020 It seemed to me unimaginable to think that two old ladies in their 70s could 276 00:17:51,020 --> 00:17:52,920 be conspiring to kill. 277 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:54,580 homeless people. 278 00:17:56,460 --> 00:18:01,020 The case is getting big, and LAPD's homicide squad is called in. 279 00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:07,540 Next on American Greed, with an undercover camera rolling, Helen and 280 00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:08,540 finally talk. 281 00:18:10,220 --> 00:18:14,440 What they say could land them in prison. 282 00:18:27,270 --> 00:18:32,350 And later, do the pair have another potential victim in their sight? 283 00:18:45,570 --> 00:18:47,210 In Los Angeles... 284 00:18:47,550 --> 00:18:52,490 Two men, Ken McDavid and Paul Vados, are found dead in two different alleys six 285 00:18:52,490 --> 00:18:53,490 years apart. 286 00:18:54,130 --> 00:18:58,610 LAPD detectives believe both men were killed by Helen Golay and Olga 287 00:18:58,610 --> 00:19:03,990 Rudderschmidt. But Helen and Olga are unlikely suspects, both in their 70s 288 00:19:03,990 --> 00:19:05,070 no criminal records. 289 00:19:05,610 --> 00:19:09,490 Most of the population we deal with, we plug their name into these computers. 290 00:19:09,710 --> 00:19:12,770 The computers start smoking and spit out 30 pages of information. 291 00:19:13,030 --> 00:19:15,390 With Helen and Olga, there's nothing. 292 00:19:16,330 --> 00:19:20,030 We don't know if they're related. We don't know what their connection is. We 293 00:19:20,030 --> 00:19:22,370 don't know what their connection is to the victim, if any. 294 00:19:24,150 --> 00:19:26,850 The women are put on round -the -clock surveillance. 295 00:19:28,290 --> 00:19:31,430 24 police officers watch their every move. 296 00:19:33,850 --> 00:19:37,370 Detective Sanchez and I are kind of floundering around trying to figure out, 297 00:19:37,470 --> 00:19:42,050 well, what are we going to get in the daily lives of Helen and Olga? What are 298 00:19:42,050 --> 00:19:43,050 going to learn? 299 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,520 We started reaping the rewards of the surveillance almost immediately. 300 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:54,140 And we started learning who they would go see during the day, where they went, 301 00:19:54,220 --> 00:19:55,220 where they banked. 302 00:19:55,780 --> 00:19:57,620 They're the perfect odd couple. 303 00:19:57,980 --> 00:20:02,520 Helen Golay drives a Mercedes and lives just a few blocks from the ocean in 304 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:03,700 upscale Santa Monica. 305 00:20:04,140 --> 00:20:09,240 She's a creature of habit. She lunches at Izzy's Deli several times a week and 306 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,700 gets a reputation as a bad tipper. 307 00:20:13,070 --> 00:20:16,110 Olga, an immigrant from Hungary, is athletic. 308 00:20:16,350 --> 00:20:21,390 She takes long walks and climbs steep trails through the Hollywood Hills. 309 00:20:21,970 --> 00:20:25,230 To our amazement, they were never, ever seen together. 310 00:20:25,470 --> 00:20:30,110 And it's not like Olga comes over for pot roast on Thursday nights or 311 00:20:30,170 --> 00:20:31,170 It's just nothing. 312 00:20:31,470 --> 00:20:36,390 With surveillance on the suspect underway, detectives meet with the 313 00:20:36,390 --> 00:20:40,930 family. Ken McDavid's family is surprised to hear he had a fiancée. 314 00:20:41,340 --> 00:20:44,740 He never mentioned these ladies or never mentioned a fiancé. 315 00:20:45,580 --> 00:20:47,180 Their names never came up. 316 00:20:49,260 --> 00:20:54,020 Meanwhile, Ed Webster, the insurance investigator for Mutual of New York, is 317 00:20:54,020 --> 00:20:55,800 compiling a mountain of evidence. 318 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,280 I was able to call other companies just to determine if they had coverage, and I 319 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,600 found that there was a lot more coverage on McDavid and there was a lot of 320 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,920 coverage on Vados, all of which was in favor of Helen and Olga. 321 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:14,240 There wasn't a single contract out there that had anyone else as a beneficiary. 322 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,960 In fact, there are 20 insurance policies with a face value of more than $5 323 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:20,960 million. 324 00:21:21,540 --> 00:21:25,580 Armed with what he thinks is a good cause to pull the plug on his company's 325 00:21:25,580 --> 00:21:30,280 insurance, Webster returns to the women's homes to get some answers, this 326 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,280 with LAPD homicide detective Rosemary Sanchez by his side. 327 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:36,740 But they can't get in. 328 00:21:37,180 --> 00:21:40,820 Helen's house is surrounded by an eight -foot wooden gate, and she won't answer 329 00:21:40,820 --> 00:21:41,820 the door. 330 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,700 At Holder's residence, they meet resistance of a different kind. 331 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,460 Ed's knocking on the door. 332 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:49,720 Who is it? 333 00:21:50,140 --> 00:21:53,940 He identifies himself, Ed Webster from Mutual of New York. 334 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,080 Immediately, she's busy now. She can't come to the door. She's taking a bath. 335 00:21:59,300 --> 00:22:01,300 So we said we'd wait for her. 336 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:02,580 No, no, no, no. 337 00:22:03,470 --> 00:22:06,650 I don't want to talk to you. Well, we'll come back later. No, no, I have nothing 338 00:22:06,650 --> 00:22:09,430 to say. She did not want to talk to Ed Webster at all. 339 00:22:10,090 --> 00:22:12,790 But now Webster has another card to play. 340 00:22:14,070 --> 00:22:18,370 He calls Helen Golay and sets up a meeting at her favorite deli, supposedly 341 00:22:18,370 --> 00:22:20,130 deliver her insurance check. 342 00:22:21,630 --> 00:22:25,510 We were just reaching for anything that was going to help us build our murder 343 00:22:25,510 --> 00:22:29,870 case. In our minds, now we're thinking, okay, they're murderers, and we've got 344 00:22:29,870 --> 00:22:31,430 to get them off the street here. 345 00:22:32,260 --> 00:22:36,620 Detective Sanchez is with him. This time, she's wired for audio, and she has 346 00:22:36,620 --> 00:22:39,260 small camera that looks like a button on her shirt. 347 00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:40,980 Is there a signature on here? 348 00:22:42,660 --> 00:22:43,700 That's where you signed it? 349 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,520 When we met Helen initially, the first thing out of her mouth was, I'm not 350 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,260 answering any, I'm here for my checks, don't ask me no questions. 351 00:22:51,980 --> 00:22:56,660 But instead of the $1 million check, he hands Helen a refund for her premium 352 00:22:56,660 --> 00:23:00,540 payments. He says the insurance company is canceling the policy. 353 00:23:01,070 --> 00:23:02,070 She's outraged. 354 00:23:02,510 --> 00:23:08,190 I gave her the letter and the check, and she read it, and she threw the whole 355 00:23:08,190 --> 00:23:12,950 thing at us, and just started ranting that it was unacceptable, she was going 356 00:23:12,950 --> 00:23:13,950 call her lawyer. 357 00:23:16,270 --> 00:23:19,570 And then 358 00:23:19,570 --> 00:23:26,490 she went outside, and we 359 00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:28,590 waited, but she clearly was not coming back. 360 00:23:29,290 --> 00:23:36,010 I'm thinking, oh, yeah, she is just an evil, greedy woman 361 00:23:36,010 --> 00:23:37,510 that needs to go down. 362 00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:39,970 They're involved. They killed him. 363 00:23:40,350 --> 00:23:41,930 How they did it, we don't know yet. 364 00:23:42,610 --> 00:23:43,610 So we're on it. 365 00:23:44,250 --> 00:23:45,710 Now it's Olga's turn. 366 00:23:46,090 --> 00:23:49,330 They arrange to meet her in a bank lobby, but she doesn't show. 367 00:23:49,850 --> 00:23:51,210 Helen could have warned her. 368 00:23:51,930 --> 00:23:54,310 They go to her apartment and knock on the door. 369 00:23:54,810 --> 00:23:58,890 This time, Detective Sanchez gets it all on tape with her undercover camera. 370 00:23:59,250 --> 00:24:00,450 We're locking on the door. 371 00:24:01,110 --> 00:24:02,210 He's pissed off. 372 00:24:03,010 --> 00:24:04,170 Talk to my lawyer. 373 00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:08,150 If we don't get away from the door, he's going to throw hot water on us. 374 00:24:08,410 --> 00:24:09,450 I said, go ahead. 375 00:24:09,730 --> 00:24:12,950 Then I told her that, you know, her deal might be different than Helen's. 376 00:24:13,570 --> 00:24:16,230 And so she always will open the door and take the letter. 377 00:24:23,919 --> 00:24:25,960 It's a refund for the premiums that you pay. 378 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,420 Read it. Read the policy there. The letter. I don't see it. 379 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:32,920 Thank you. 380 00:24:33,260 --> 00:24:34,520 Wait, one more question. 381 00:24:36,380 --> 00:24:37,279 Go ahead. 382 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:38,860 Quit slamming. You're going to break the door. 383 00:24:39,380 --> 00:24:45,400 Neither one of them would engage for a second. 384 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:47,080 Not for a second. 385 00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:49,780 Next on American Greed. 386 00:24:50,410 --> 00:24:52,050 I have to call my lawyer. 387 00:24:52,250 --> 00:24:55,830 As fraud evidence mounts, investigators make arrests. 388 00:24:56,130 --> 00:24:58,110 But can they prove murder? 389 00:24:58,470 --> 00:24:59,470 There you go. 390 00:25:00,470 --> 00:25:01,470 Oh, 391 00:25:02,950 --> 00:25:03,990 my, that's a lie. 392 00:25:04,450 --> 00:25:05,930 This is an assumption. 393 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:23,380 In Los Angeles, Helen Golay and Olga Rudderschmidt are trapped. 394 00:25:24,220 --> 00:25:25,360 Helen is angry. 395 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,040 If you're not going to pay me the full amount, this has been a total waste of 396 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:31,040 time. 397 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,120 Olga is even more blunt. 398 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:38,080 Read it. Read the policy there. The letter. I don't see it. 399 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:45,120 Their behavior bolsters detectives' darkest suspicions that the two women 400 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,080 Paul Barros and Ken McDavid. 401 00:25:47,470 --> 00:25:48,550 for insurance money. 402 00:25:48,990 --> 00:25:53,410 You just see her and you're like, yeah, she's so evil, yeah, she would do it. 403 00:25:53,770 --> 00:25:58,490 I think everybody involved in this case knew that these women were as hard as it 404 00:25:58,490 --> 00:25:59,309 could be. 405 00:25:59,310 --> 00:26:00,310 They were killing these guys. 406 00:26:00,510 --> 00:26:02,790 So they knew they weren't normal grannies. 407 00:26:03,230 --> 00:26:07,770 The circumstantial evidence is compelling, but investigators have no 408 00:26:07,770 --> 00:26:12,210 gun. They plan to buy some time by first building a mail fraud case. 409 00:26:12,730 --> 00:26:14,910 The charges fall into play. 410 00:26:15,550 --> 00:26:19,790 When you make your monthly premium payment and you put a fraudulent 411 00:26:19,790 --> 00:26:23,770 in an envelope, put a stamp on it, and you put it in the United States mailbox, 412 00:26:24,130 --> 00:26:26,910 well, each time you do that, that's one count of mail fraud. 413 00:26:29,110 --> 00:26:34,430 Continuing investigation finds that Helen and Olga apply for 26 fraudulent 414 00:26:34,430 --> 00:26:37,150 insurance policies with multiple companies. 415 00:26:38,010 --> 00:26:40,930 The face value totals close to $7 million. 416 00:26:41,930 --> 00:26:43,670 But the applications are filled with lies. 417 00:26:43,970 --> 00:26:48,750 They lie about addresses, income levels, and most importantly, their 418 00:26:48,750 --> 00:26:50,030 relationships to the men. 419 00:26:50,690 --> 00:26:56,270 They claim to be fiancé and cousin to both dead men on some claims, business 420 00:26:56,270 --> 00:26:57,370 partners on others. 421 00:26:58,090 --> 00:27:03,330 When in reality, Barros and McDavid are homeless strangers they take in off the 422 00:27:03,330 --> 00:27:04,330 street. 423 00:27:05,310 --> 00:27:09,230 Those were the kinds of things that made immediately apparent that there was 424 00:27:09,230 --> 00:27:10,230 fraud. 425 00:27:11,950 --> 00:27:14,710 To help make the case, the FBI gets involved. 426 00:27:15,750 --> 00:27:19,710 Anytime we identified a bank account, credit cards, we would start subpoenaing 427 00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:21,590 the records, and they were a wealth of information. 428 00:27:22,150 --> 00:27:26,410 We found that Helen was actually wiring money from her account to Paul 429 00:27:26,410 --> 00:27:30,630 Vodafone's account to pay premiums. So it would appear to the insurance company 430 00:27:30,630 --> 00:27:32,430 that he was making the premium payment. 431 00:27:32,850 --> 00:27:36,850 In terms of proving a fraud case, it made my life really easy. I mean, it was 432 00:27:36,850 --> 00:27:38,930 just one pack of lies after another. 433 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:44,760 As investigators build a mail fraud case, the LAPD has Helen and Olga under 434 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:45,679 -hour surveillance. 435 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:50,360 They learn that Olga is meeting regularly with an elderly Hungarian man 436 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:51,500 Joseph Gabor. 437 00:27:52,220 --> 00:27:55,800 Surveillance has taken pictures of Olga, Mr. Gabor. 438 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:02,200 She's leading him into banks, opening bank accounts, side streets on the back 439 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:03,580 her car, signing papers. 440 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:08,600 And she's obviously instructing him what to do and where to sign. 441 00:28:09,290 --> 00:28:12,510 So right before our eyes, they're working up another victim. 442 00:28:13,050 --> 00:28:17,530 We're as far as we can go, and I can't have surveillance people on Helen and 443 00:28:17,530 --> 00:28:21,130 Olga and watch them run over Mr. Gabor. We can't do that. 444 00:28:22,190 --> 00:28:28,970 On May 18, 2006, 70 agents from the FBI, LAPD, and other agencies 445 00:28:28,970 --> 00:28:33,110 arrest Helen and Olga. I have to call my lawyer. 446 00:28:35,090 --> 00:28:37,670 All at once. 447 00:28:38,010 --> 00:28:41,510 The tentacles go out, and we're going to seize all the information that we can 448 00:28:41,510 --> 00:28:42,750 get at one time. 449 00:28:43,870 --> 00:28:45,790 I don't know what is this. 450 00:28:46,050 --> 00:28:47,790 What is happening here? 451 00:28:48,830 --> 00:28:52,810 It was a Cecil B. DeMille production. I mean, there was a ton of people. 452 00:28:53,010 --> 00:28:54,010 On your knees. Come on. 453 00:28:54,330 --> 00:28:55,330 There you go. 454 00:28:55,350 --> 00:28:57,450 And it went off basically without a hitch. 455 00:28:58,070 --> 00:29:02,130 Who's Galay? My name is Sam Arrows. I'm with the FBI. You're under arrest for 456 00:29:02,130 --> 00:29:02,829 mail fraud. 457 00:29:02,830 --> 00:29:04,310 Mail fraud? Yes. 458 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:05,840 But what reason? 459 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,680 For fraud. There's no proof? 460 00:29:07,900 --> 00:29:09,780 No. It's actually for mail fraud. 461 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,660 I haven't done any mail fraud. What are you talking about? Insurance. 462 00:29:14,340 --> 00:29:19,520 When Helen was arrested, all she kept saying was, who would do this to me? 463 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,460 Who would do this to me? 464 00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:23,540 Who would do this to me and why? 465 00:29:26,380 --> 00:29:27,800 What are you talking about, Helen? 466 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:30,500 Yeah, you did it to yourself. 467 00:29:31,340 --> 00:29:36,040 Perhaps because of experience, Olga is quick to throw Helen under the bus. 468 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,620 There was no insurance fraud. Helen Goley made insurance. 469 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,160 Olga is pretty predictable. She's ranting and raving, and she's quite the 470 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,660 talker. We know this by now, that she just never... She's not crazy, but she's 471 00:29:49,660 --> 00:29:52,960 very caustic with anybody she comes across on the street. 472 00:29:53,260 --> 00:29:54,580 Oh, my, that's a lie. 473 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:56,580 This is an assumption. 474 00:29:58,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Anytime... 475 00:29:59,610 --> 00:30:04,110 Helen, on the other hand, comes out, and she's a little missed innocent. Oh, 476 00:30:04,250 --> 00:30:08,670 what's going on? You've got the wrong house. It can't be me. I haven't done 477 00:30:08,670 --> 00:30:12,950 anything. I can't believe this. I have no mail fraud whatsoever. 478 00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:21,070 But inside, Helen's home is filled with evidence against her. When we searched 479 00:30:21,070 --> 00:30:24,930 Helen's residence, there was a book in the living room, and the book was The 480 00:30:24,930 --> 00:30:26,230 Sociopath Next Door. 481 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,220 With a subtitle or something like that, one in 25 Americans has no conscience 482 00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:36,460 whatsoever. And we're thinking, gee, that's a strange book for Helen to be 483 00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:39,700 reading. The book is only the tip of the iceberg. 484 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:46,800 We found a whole bunch of original checks that she had written to pay for 485 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,680 premiums for the insurance companies, for the rent on Ken McDavid's apartment. 486 00:30:52,980 --> 00:30:56,240 I saw a check Olga had written to a rubber stamp company. 487 00:30:56,650 --> 00:31:00,470 We called the owner and met with him. When we went over there, we showed him a 488 00:31:00,470 --> 00:31:01,830 picture of Olga. 489 00:31:02,170 --> 00:31:04,250 And he said, oh, this is a black widow. 490 00:31:05,070 --> 00:31:06,730 And we said, what? 491 00:31:08,130 --> 00:31:09,270 What are you talking about? 492 00:31:09,590 --> 00:31:11,450 I thought maybe he knew something we didn't know. 493 00:31:11,790 --> 00:31:15,470 The stamps are precise copies of her victim's signatures. 494 00:31:16,150 --> 00:31:20,010 But she bought a number of signature stamps, not only in Ken McDavid's name, 495 00:31:20,010 --> 00:31:25,170 also Paul Vados' name, her own husband's name, even Helen Golay's name. 496 00:31:25,690 --> 00:31:30,210 She would tell the stamp guys, yeah, I'm helping out the homeless, or I'm trying 497 00:31:30,210 --> 00:31:33,670 to help these people who can't get in here and pay their bills. 498 00:31:34,390 --> 00:31:37,070 Supposedly, she was doing her good deed for society. 499 00:31:37,590 --> 00:31:40,730 The money trail highlights the viciousness of the crime. 500 00:31:41,350 --> 00:31:45,610 Helen and Olga planned to keep the men alive just long enough to avoid 501 00:31:45,610 --> 00:31:47,790 and then lead them to slaughter. 502 00:31:48,390 --> 00:31:54,130 We found scratch paper in Olga's apartment where she was literally 503 00:31:54,130 --> 00:31:57,780 how much premium, They were going to have to pay over a two -year period. 504 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,940 That's pretty good circumstantial evidence, I think. 505 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,240 They just fed them and housed them like animals, just for the sole purpose of 506 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:06,139 killing them. 507 00:32:06,140 --> 00:32:11,280 While the LAPD and the FBI are searching their homes, detectives Kilcoyne and 508 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,080 Sanchez take Helen and Olga in for questioning. 509 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:17,860 We put them together and interview them. 510 00:32:18,490 --> 00:32:23,170 Like a couple of convicts, they immediately start shushing each other, 511 00:32:23,170 --> 00:32:25,810 can't keep her mouth shut. She's just running at the mouth. 512 00:32:26,010 --> 00:32:31,290 The interrogation is being taped. What the two women don't realize is that when 513 00:32:31,290 --> 00:32:34,170 detectives leave the room, the video is still running. 514 00:32:34,790 --> 00:32:40,270 Why did you make all these extra insurances? Too many you had. There's a 515 00:32:40,830 --> 00:32:42,590 You can't do that many. 516 00:32:43,570 --> 00:32:44,650 You were greedy. 517 00:32:44,910 --> 00:32:45,910 That's the problem. 518 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,880 I mean, this is a goldmine for us. I mean, right before our eyes, they're 519 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,560 rowboats sinking fast. 520 00:32:54,020 --> 00:32:55,580 We had no problem in the relationship. 521 00:32:55,780 --> 00:33:00,140 You pay me and be nice and do me excellent things. I was doing everything 522 00:33:00,140 --> 00:33:01,780 you. They're hanging themselves. 523 00:33:02,140 --> 00:33:06,940 And Helen knows she's cognizant of what's going on. She keeps trying to 524 00:33:06,940 --> 00:33:09,180 Olga up, but it's not working. 525 00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:12,380 You are wasting your time and energy with this. 526 00:33:13,130 --> 00:33:15,850 And secondly, no, we're going to go to jail. 527 00:33:16,050 --> 00:33:17,670 They're going to lock you in. 528 00:33:18,030 --> 00:33:24,470 And they come just short of saying that, you know, that they personally did it. 529 00:33:26,710 --> 00:33:27,710 Yes. 530 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:41,460 It doesn't matter. 531 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:43,120 It doesn't matter. 532 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:50,500 Next on American Greed, the police have the murder weapon, which leaves one 533 00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:51,500 question. 534 00:33:51,700 --> 00:33:55,520 Who's behind the wheel? The shocking answer when American Greed returns. 535 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:15,520 In May of 2006, Helen Golay and Olga Rudderschmidt are in federal lockup, 536 00:34:15,580 --> 00:34:17,520 looking at eight counts of mail fraud. 537 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:21,800 But LAPD detectives suspect them of much more. 538 00:34:22,659 --> 00:34:23,659 Murder. 539 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,739 They believe Helen and Olga have killed two homeless men. 540 00:34:28,139 --> 00:34:33,580 Ken McDavid and Paul Vados, to collect $2 .8 million in life insurance payouts. 541 00:34:33,860 --> 00:34:38,659 The problem is investigators have trouble believing that Helen, who's 75, 542 00:34:38,659 --> 00:34:41,960 Olga, 73, killed the two men by themselves. 543 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,780 We knew that they had committed murder. We just didn't have direct evidence 544 00:34:46,780 --> 00:34:51,440 linking them to it. We can't just seem to wrap our brains around the fact that 545 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:56,620 these little old gals are that vicious that they are actually behind the wheel 546 00:34:56,620 --> 00:34:57,479 of the car. 547 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,680 You know, we're holding out for more and more information all the time, as are 548 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:01,578 the prosecutors. 549 00:35:01,580 --> 00:35:04,340 They're just saying, you know what, you're not there yet, you're almost 550 00:35:04,420 --> 00:35:06,200 but who's behind the wheel? 551 00:35:06,900 --> 00:35:11,880 During a search of Helen's apartment, FBI Special Agent Sam Mayrose finds an 552 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,640 answer to that question in Helen's daily planner. 553 00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:20,320 I come across this one page, and there's a post -it on it, and it's got a 554 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,740 partial tag, a partial VIN. 555 00:35:23,340 --> 00:35:24,840 I was like, holy smoke. 556 00:35:25,340 --> 00:35:29,340 Eureka, we found gold, because we knew that had to be the car. 557 00:35:30,020 --> 00:35:34,160 So I gave that to Dennis. He called back to his office, and within minutes, they 558 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:38,940 had the complete VIN number, the license plate number, knew who the current 559 00:35:38,940 --> 00:35:42,840 registered owner was, and from there, it was just Katie barred the door. 560 00:35:43,140 --> 00:35:49,380 It's a 1999 silver Mercury Sable station wagon, just like we have in the video. 561 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,100 And we go out, and they locate it. 562 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:57,220 Now the pieces are beginning to fit together to form the perfect scenario of 563 00:35:57,220 --> 00:35:58,220 murder for money. 564 00:35:58,940 --> 00:36:03,260 The night of the murder, shortly after the time stamp on the surveillance video 565 00:36:03,260 --> 00:36:07,960 shows the mercury sable pulling out of the alley, Helen Golay makes a call to 566 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,180 auto repair shop from her cell phone. 567 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,880 She's hit something and broken the fuel line. 568 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:19,420 She actually called for road service on the night of McDavid's murder, one block 569 00:36:19,420 --> 00:36:22,040 away from McDavid's murder off Westwood Boulevard. 570 00:36:22,540 --> 00:36:27,760 to have a 1999 Mercury Sable station wagon, the car we've got in our lab 571 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:29,880 now, towed back to her residence. 572 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,780 The phone call puts Helen at the scene of the crime. 573 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:39,440 She abandons the car in the alley behind her home. It's later impounded by the 574 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,760 city. But the underside of the car hasn't been touched since that night. 575 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,220 perfect specimen for forensic testing. 576 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,980 The Ohio Patrol people put it up on a lift, and they start going through the 577 00:36:50,980 --> 00:36:52,000 undercarriage of the car. 578 00:36:52,490 --> 00:36:57,170 On the right side of the undercarriage is what they call wiping, and the road 579 00:36:57,170 --> 00:36:58,750 grease is absent. 580 00:36:59,110 --> 00:37:02,970 Well, that shows that they ran over something that wiped the bottom of the 581 00:37:02,970 --> 00:37:03,970 clean. 582 00:37:04,670 --> 00:37:10,110 Kilcoyne believes that something was the body of Ken McDavid. When McDavid was 583 00:37:10,110 --> 00:37:13,270 found in the alley, his clothes were covered with car grease. 584 00:37:13,510 --> 00:37:18,010 There are dark spots on the underside of the vehicle that police think could be 585 00:37:18,010 --> 00:37:19,090 Ken McDavid's blood. 586 00:37:20,410 --> 00:37:22,170 They send samples to the lab. 587 00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:23,460 for DNA testing. 588 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:28,200 The answer could conclusively identify Golay's car as the murder weapon. 589 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:33,680 Helen and Olga are sitting in federal prison arrested for mail fraud to buy 590 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,220 police time to build a murder case against them. 591 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,280 The mail fraud is easy to prove. 592 00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:42,400 Each one of the life insurance policies the two women take out on the dead men 593 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:43,760 is a pack of lies. 594 00:37:44,260 --> 00:37:47,420 In some, Helen and Olga claim to be business partners. 595 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:49,840 In others, fiancées and relatives. 596 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:55,020 But Helen and Olga aren't worried. In a telephone conversation, Helen tells her 597 00:37:55,020 --> 00:37:58,680 daughter she's confident police can't build a case against them. 598 00:37:59,580 --> 00:38:00,580 She's wrong. 599 00:38:00,740 --> 00:38:03,220 Two weeks later, the DNA results come back. 600 00:38:03,460 --> 00:38:06,820 The spots on the underside of the car are Ken McDavid's blood. 601 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:13,420 So then we all realize these are evil, evil women. And they are, in fact, the 602 00:38:13,420 --> 00:38:14,780 ones behind the wheel of the car. 603 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:20,080 It's our belief that they probably met him, took him to dinner. 604 00:38:20,490 --> 00:38:25,810 And the combination of this prescription medication, which we found in powder 605 00:38:25,810 --> 00:38:30,030 form mixed together in a prescription vial in her medicine chest, they're 606 00:38:30,030 --> 00:38:31,990 sprinkling that in his drink that night. 607 00:38:32,690 --> 00:38:37,330 And we can see from the videotape, the car goes down the alley, passes under 608 00:38:37,330 --> 00:38:40,490 one camera, the brake light comes on, the lights go out. 609 00:38:41,930 --> 00:38:47,410 Now, for four to five minutes, the lights are out, which is our belief that 610 00:38:47,410 --> 00:38:48,790 that's the time that they're... 611 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:54,600 pushing mcdavid out of the car the backup lights come on the car comes back 612 00:38:54,600 --> 00:39:00,420 about 50 feet stops and then the car moves forward so they've laid them out 613 00:39:00,420 --> 00:39:04,780 back up to get a running start and then they go forward and they just bulldoze 614 00:39:04,780 --> 00:39:10,500 over this man crushing him to death and it's at this point we believe that the 615 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:14,120 fuel line is pulled from the undercarriage of the car 616 00:39:14,860 --> 00:39:20,340 And then because of the 15 % grade on that alley, the car rolls down to the 617 00:39:20,340 --> 00:39:25,520 block, and that's where Helen calls for AAA to come get her. The evidence 618 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,680 against Helen and Olga is overwhelming. 619 00:39:28,060 --> 00:39:32,460 They're charged with two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder 620 00:39:32,460 --> 00:39:33,460 financial gain. 621 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,020 Their relatively cushy lives abruptly change. 622 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:39,400 They trade in their upscale lifestyles for county jail. 623 00:39:40,860 --> 00:39:42,720 You could tell that they were terrified. 624 00:39:43,470 --> 00:39:46,270 that this was not part of their world. 625 00:39:46,750 --> 00:39:50,670 You know, this was something that you read about maybe in a magazine or the L 626 00:39:50,670 --> 00:39:54,810 .A. Times and you turn the page because it disgusts you. But this is real life 627 00:39:54,810 --> 00:39:56,570 in the city, and they were part of it now. 628 00:39:58,490 --> 00:40:02,090 On March 18, 2008, the case goes to trial. 629 00:40:02,550 --> 00:40:06,330 Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace is one of the lead prosecutors. 630 00:40:07,470 --> 00:40:12,670 People say, wow, you know, these people were upwards of 70, 80, going on 80 631 00:40:12,670 --> 00:40:17,570 years old, and they were involved in this complex scheme to murder two 632 00:40:17,570 --> 00:40:20,270 individuals for financial gain. 633 00:40:20,790 --> 00:40:23,650 Even in Los Angeles, that's unheard of. 634 00:40:24,110 --> 00:40:27,550 Definitely have never prosecuted anybody as old as they are for murder. 635 00:40:27,790 --> 00:40:31,530 Grace has to prove that these two women are not what they appear to be. 636 00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:36,440 I think there's a lot of people out there that would commit crimes to 637 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:41,760 to enrich themselves. But how many of them are willing to go through such 638 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:46,420 elaborate means to get millions of dollars? It's just mind -boggling. 639 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:49,180 The prosecution has a mountain of evidence. 640 00:40:49,540 --> 00:40:54,020 But the coup de grace is a tape of what transpires between the two women after 641 00:40:54,020 --> 00:40:55,020 they were arrested. 642 00:40:55,240 --> 00:41:00,040 Their interrogation is taped. And when detectives leave the room, the little 643 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:01,440 ladies speak their mind. 644 00:41:02,300 --> 00:41:04,160 Admit it was your fault. 645 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,840 Because what you did, of course I got angry. 646 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:09,380 You were greedy. 647 00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:10,660 That's the problem. 648 00:41:11,860 --> 00:41:14,520 We have to cooperate now. 649 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,080 We have to attack money together. 650 00:41:18,260 --> 00:41:22,960 That was just really the nail in the coffin, so to speak. Once the jury got 651 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:28,080 opportunity to really hear from Helen Golay and Olga Richmond out of their own 652 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:33,080 mouth. then they realized that these women were truly, truly greedy and truly 653 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:36,700 evil, that they were willing to do anything to gain and to profit. 654 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:42,740 After a six -week trial, Helen Golay and Olga Ruderschmidt are found guilty and 655 00:41:42,740 --> 00:41:44,780 sentenced to life in prison without parole. 656 00:41:45,460 --> 00:41:50,000 Among those satisfied with the sentence is Jimmy Covington, the victim who got 657 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,000 away. 658 00:41:51,150 --> 00:41:55,390 I went around with the papers, showing everybody, look, this is what they got 659 00:41:55,390 --> 00:41:57,850 him, they got him, they were going to kill me, they got him. I went through 660 00:41:57,850 --> 00:41:59,570 trip for a while. I was really ecstatic about it. 661 00:41:59,850 --> 00:42:02,430 Olga and Helen are sent to different prisons. 662 00:42:02,990 --> 00:42:04,690 Both women appeal their cases. 663 00:42:04,990 --> 00:42:09,590 But in August 2009, their convictions are upheld and the appeals are denied. 664 00:42:11,030 --> 00:42:13,670 They will remain in prison the rest of their lives. 665 00:42:14,290 --> 00:42:17,970 That's probably the best punishment for two greedy people. 666 00:42:18,430 --> 00:42:23,170 like Helen and Olga, that they ought to sit out the rest of their naturalized 667 00:42:23,170 --> 00:42:27,410 thinking about. Why did I let greed drive me to have to spend the rest of my 668 00:42:27,410 --> 00:42:28,410 life in prison? 669 00:42:28,770 --> 00:42:32,890 You almost wonder if it was like a drug to them. I joke a lot that it's crack. 670 00:42:33,350 --> 00:42:36,910 Maybe they got addicted to it. They just wanted money. 671 00:42:37,430 --> 00:42:41,850 Detective Kilcoyne has an interesting theory about the pair. It all comes down 672 00:42:41,850 --> 00:42:42,850 to greed. 673 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:49,220 If they had slowed down, not got so many policies on McDavid and the millions, 674 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,520 multiple millions of dollars, they'd still be out there.