Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt: The Black Widow Murderers
Los Angeles, California, Nov. 8, 1999: A 911 call comes in to the LAPD about an apparent hit-and-run in a dark alley. When police arrive, they find an elderly white man lying awkwardly on the pavement, obviously deceased. His injuries indicate the man had been lying down when he was run over. The police assume he must have been passed out in the road when a car drove over him, killing him.
Using fingerprints, police identify the man as Paul Vados, a 73-year-old Hungarian immigrant. He had recently been reported as missing by his fiance, Helen Golay, and cousin, Olga Rutterschmidt.
Now that he has been found, Golay takes possession of Vados’ remains from the morgue. But not before toxicology tests are done. They show no evidence of drugs or alcohol, disproving the theory that Vados was passed out when he was struck.
Days later, Rutterschmidt comes into the police station wanting Vados’ death certificate. Unlike most people whose relatives had been killed, Rutterschmidt doesn’t seem upset in the least. Her matter-of-fact, all-business demeanor stands out to police, especially to Det. Lee Willmon, who is in charge of Vados’ case.
Willmon is suspicious about the circumstances surrounding Vados’ death. But with no witnesses or surveillance videos, Willmon has nothing to go on. It looks like Vados’ case will become yet another unsolved murder.
Nearly six years pass, until June 22, 2005. Another 911 call comes in to the LAPD about the victim of a hit-and-run in a dark alley. This time, the man has two laminated ID cards in his pocket identifying him as 50-year-old Kenneth McDavid. His chest and skull have been crushed — highly unusual for a hit-and-run victim. He also has what looks like grease from the undercarriage of an automobile smeared on his clothes, leading detective Dennis Kilcoyne to believe McDavid had been lying down, perhaps passed out, when he was run over.
But nearby is a bicycle, its front tire removed as though McDavid had been repairing it — inconsistent with him being passed out. Kilcoyne wonders why would anyone stop here, in a dark alley, to repair their bicycle, when they could walk it only a few feet away to the better lit street?
When Kilcoyne inspects the bike’s tire, he notices McDavid’s helmet is placed on top of it, and the tire itself is full of air and undamaged. Kilcoyne’s suspicions are raised; this is beginning to look more like a staged crime scene than an accident.
Fortunately, a nearby store has a CCTV aimed at the alley. While neither the victim or the perpetrator are caught on camera, it does provide some important clues. It shows that right around the time of McDavid’s death, a vehicle, either a Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable station wagon, drove into the alley and past the camera. Then the brake lights came on, and soon after that, all the vehicle’s lights went dark. They remained dark for about five minutes. Then, its lights came back on, and it drove away.
Meanwhile, when toxicology tests come back, they show that McDavid had high levels of alcohol, zolpidem, and hydrocodone in his system — enough to knock him out. It would have been impossible for him to have been riding a bicycle at the time of his death. Now Kilcoyne is sure there was foul play involved.
So police begin their investigation with the only lead they have: McDavid’s last known address. At that apartment, the manager tells police that McDavid no longer lives there. Unable to make his rent, he ended up homeless. But the manager stayed in contact with McDavid and knew that an older woman named Helen Golay had offered to take him in.
Before Kilcoyne can track Golay down, she has already claimed McDavid’s remains and requested to have him cremated. Then his cousin, Rutterschmidt, comes into the police station to pick up his death certificate.
Meanwhile, the insurance company Mutual of New York (MONY) has opened an investigation into claims made on two policies taken out on McDavid. Since the policies were just shy of two years old, MONY opens a routine investigation, basically just confirming that all the information on the polices are correct.
MONY investigator Ed Webster begins looking into the policies — totalling $1 million — and immediately finds inconsistencies. The beneficiaries, Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt, describe their relationship with McDavid as “business partners.” Yet at the police station, they represented themselves as his fiance and cousin. In fact, nearly everything on the policies is false, including where McDavid lived and worked.
When Webster tries calling the women to question them, they refuse to speak to him. So he goes to the police.
In a stroke of luck, while Webster and Kilcoyne are discussing McDavid’s case, Willmon — whose desk is just across from Kilcoyne’s — just happens to overhear them. The details of the case — a homeless man found struck by a vehicle in a dark alley — rings a bell. He goes to his cold case files and finds Vardos. The two women who had claimed to be his next of kin: Golay and Rutterschmidt.
The case is now about more than just insurance fraud. Golay and Rutterschmidt are suspected of murder. The FBI and the California State Department of Insurance are called in on the case.
A little digging reveals that the two women, who are in their 70s, have taken out more than 20 policies on both Vados and McDavid, totalling more than $5 million. This despite the fact that both men were homeless and unemployed.
Investigators discover that back in 1997, Golay and Rutterschmidt had introduced themselves at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, which offers meals to the homeless. They claimed they wanted to help the men by giving them a place to stay and covering their bills until they could get on their feet. The pastor, Rev. Charles Suhayda, describes them as seemingly trustworthy older ladies.
But digging into the two women’s past reveals a very different story.
Golay was born in Texas in 1931. After her father died in a car accident, she was shipped around various family members’ houses until she ended up in foster care. She married twice and had three children. When she ended up in Santa Monica, California, in the 1980s, she tried her hand at real estate. But because of stricter tenant’s rights, it was harder to make money on rental properties then. So she began snooping on her tenants and then extorting them for money. She also made good money for herself by bringing a string of lawsuits against anyone who was unlucky enough to get between her and what she wanted.
Rutterschmidt was born in Hungary in 1933 and lived there throughout WWII, only moving to the US with her husband in 1957. Now a widow, she claims a mental disability and lives in Section 8 housing. In her Hollywood neighborhood, she’s mostly known as being a “nut,” overly talkative and prone to flying off the handle.
The two women met at a health club and discovered they had a common interest in making easy money. Together, they perpetrated a string of bogus “slip and fall” type lawsuits against various businesses. They would also hang out at expensive hotels, posing as guests, and flirt with wealthy men. They would string the men along, angling for expensive dinners and gifts, and in some cases, outright rob them.
But those were small-time cons. These women wanted the big money. So in 1997, they started offering to “help” homeless men, specifically men who didn’t have any family. They would offer to put them up in one of Golay’s apartments, pay the men’s bills, and take care of them — in exchange, all the men had to do was sign a few papers and give the women some personal information.
The two met Vados at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church in 1997. For two years, they put him up in one of Golay’s apartments, and she paid his utility bills. Rutterschmidt took care of Vados, who had health problems. Little did Vados know that the two had taken out multiple life insurance policies on him, both together and separately.
But after Vados’ death, the policies took over a year to pay out. So the women threatened to sue the insurance company. They ended up settling for $600,000.
During that time, Golay possibly engaged in another sinister “side hustle.” Her daughter, Kecia, befriended 97-year-old Fred Downie in Massachusetts and convinced him to move to Santa Monica so her mother could “take care” of him.
Very quickly, the mother and daughter took title of his house and control of all his financial assets, cutting out his rightful heirs. They drained his accounts, borrowed money against the house, then sold it.
While under the Golays’ “care,” Downie quickly became emaciated and frail. In November of 2000, he wandered out into traffic and was struck by a car. He lingered for about a month before succumbing to his injuries. The case was determined to be an accident.
In 2003, the two went back to Hollywood Presbyterian, where they found McDavid. Like with Vados, they lured him in with the promise of free housing in exchange for simply filling out a few forms.
While their investigation is going on, police put the two under surveillance. To their horror, they see the women are already luring in another victim. They know they have to get these women off the street before they kill again. While they don’t yet have enough evidence to arrest them for murder, they dohave an airtight case for multiple counts of mail fraud, one for each time they sent falsified insurance documents or payments through the mail. So on May 18, 2006, Golay and Rutterschmidt are arrested for mail fraud.
Once the two are in custody, police search their houses. Golay’s house, particularly, is a goldmine of evidence. Apparently Golay is a meticulous record-keeper; police find documents pertaining to the three men (Vados, Downie, and McDavid), as well as rubber stamps of Vados’ and McDavid’s signatures. They also find large quantities of Zolpidem and hydrocodone.
But most importantly, they find a stolen driver’s license and a sticky note with a partial VIN and license plate number. When they trace the vehicle information, they find it belongs to a 1999 Mercury Sable station wagon. It had been purchased in the name on the stolen ID.
On the night of McDavid’s death, Golay had called AAA to come tow the vehicle, where it had broken down not a block away from where McDavid was found. She told the tow-truck driver that she had run over something and it had broken the fuel line. The Sable was then towed to Golay’s house. Police discover that it had been abandoned just around the corner from Golay’s house. It was impounded and later sold at auction.
Nearly a year had passed since McDavid’s murder, but police want to at least try to find any remaining evidence. They search the undercarriage and, to everyone’s surprise, find human blood. DNA tests later prove that it is McDavid’s blood.
Then a man comes forward with some interesting information. Jimmie Covington saw a story in the paper about the women’s arrests and recognized them right away. He goes to the police and tells them about his experience with them. He says that back in 2001, he had been homeless. He was approached by Rutterschmidt with an offer of a place to stay in exchange for filling out a few forms. However, when she and Golay began pressuring him for more and more personal details, Covington got spooked. He handed them back the keys and left. Investigators discover that the two had already taken out a life insurance policy on him.
Under questioning, Golay and Rutterschmidt exercise their right to remain silent. So police put the two into an interrogation room together and leave them alone. Apparently unaware they are being recorded, Rutterschmidt immediately begins conspiring with Golay. She blames the situation on Golay being “greedy” by “making too many insurances.” At one point Golay tries to shush her and redirect the conversation towards what their story will be, but Rutterschmidt can’t keep her mouth shut.
On March 18, 2008, Golay, now 77, and Rutterschmidt, now 75, are tried together for the first-degree murders of Vados and McDavid, as well as conspiracy to commit first-degree murder (there was not enough evidence to charge Golay with Downie’s murder). They both plead not guilty. But their defense strategies are inconsistent, and the tape of them in the interrogation room convinces the jury of their guilt.
On April 18, 2008, they are both found guilty of conspiracy to murder Vados and McDavid, and of first-degree murder of Vados. Only Golay is convicted of first-degree murder of McDavid. They are sentenced to consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
Golay and Rutterschmidt operated much like other senior serial killers the Copelands and Dorothea Puente: they targeted the most vulnerable people in society — the homeless — and lured them in with the promise of housing that they so desperately needed. Now 89 and 87, respectively, they are serving their sentences in the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, alongside such notorious women as Susan Atkins (until her death in 2009), Nancy Garrido, Omaima Nelson, Louise Turpin, and Dorothea Puente (until her death in 2011).
