Santa Monica Daily Press, March 13, 2007

Page 1

INSIDE SCOOP PARENTING LOCAL

POLS SAY NO TO GAS TERMINAL PAGE 3 REST FOR MOMMY PAGE 9 UPGRADES FOR AREA SCHOOLS PAGE 14 Visit us online at smdp.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007

Volume 6 Issue 103

Santa Monica Daily Press

LEO MANIA IN ISRAEL SEE PAGE 17

Since 2001: A news odyssey

THE WELCOME BACK ISSUE

‘Black widows’ case finally begins BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer

DOWNTOWN, LA It was the moment they had all been waiting for. After months of delays and waiting, Santa Monica landlord Helen Golay, 76, finally had her day in court on Monday, starting the first day of an expected three-day preliminary hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. It’s been almost 10 months since Golay and her alleged accomplice, Olga Rutterschmidt, a Hungarian immigrant from Hollywood who turned 74 last Monday, were arrested for federal mail fraud charges. Those charges were later

dropped when the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed murder charges against the pair in late July of 2007. The trial has been marked by delay after delay, as the preliminary hearing date wasn’t set until just a few months ago. The latest postponement occurred last month when the preliminary hearing date of Feb. 20 was postponed to Monday. Even the beginning of the preliminary hearing date on Monday was delayed for an hour in order for Judge David Wesley to conclude another trial. The pair of women are accused of murdering Paul Vados, 73, and Kenneth McDavid, 50, both of whom were killed in separate yet similar hit-and-run incidents in 1999 and 2005, respectively. Investigators believe that Golay and

Rutterschmidt concocted a scheme in which they befriended the two men when they were still homeless, setting them up in apartments and gaining their trust. The RUTTERSCHMIDT GOLAY women then allegedly convinced Vados and McDavid to sign them onto their life insurance policies. SEE TRIAL PAGE 14

Day in the sun

Fabian Lewkowicz fabianl@smdp.com Linda Hackman, left, leans up against her husband Jerry Hackman during the peak of afternoon temperatures on Monday at Santa Monica Beach. The Hackman’s are in town on vacation from Columbus Ohio and are enjoying the recent winter heat wave hitting the area. Temps reached the 80s Monday, but are expected to subside a bit Tuesday according the National Weather Service.

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