Dentist Murders Wife During Hunting Trip, Stages Accident To Claim Millions In Insurance: FBI

A Pennsylvania dentist has been arrested for murdering his wife during a hunting trip in Africa and staging it as an accident to claim millions in insurance money, federal authorities said.

Dr. Lawrence P. Rudolph, 67, has been accused of fatally shooting his wife, Bianca Rudolph, during a hunting expedition in Zambia in 2016. Bianca's death was initially ruled accidental and her body was cremated in Africa three days after the incident.

After his wife's death, Lawrence reportedly claimed more than $4.8 million through seven different insurance companies. More than five years after the incident, he was arrested on charges of mail fraud last month. Lawrence murdered Bianca to claim insurance payout and to be with his longtime mistress, federal authorities detailed his elaborate scheme in a recently unsealed court document, ABC 17 News reported Wednesday.

Lawrence told investigators in Africa that on Oct. 11, 2016, he was in the bathroom when he heard a gunshot from the bedroom. He said he found his wife on the ground bleeding from the chest, according to the report.

Lawrence claimed that his wife died when the gun accidentally went off while she was packing it into its case. The Zambian Police Service ruled the death as accidental and believed Bianca died after failing to take proper safety precautions while packing the gun, Law & Crime reported.

A U.S. consular chief who spoke to Lawrence after Bianca's death told the investigators that Lawrence hurried to bury the body. The consular chief photographed Bianca's body at the funeral home and observed that the injuries on her appeared as if the gun was fired from "approximately 6.5 to 8 feet" away from her, the report said.

The FBI also got a tip-off from one of Bianca's friends who said that Lawrence was having an affair and the couple had fought over money. The investigators then found that Lawrence and the girlfriend were in a relationship for at least 15 years and she had given Lawrence an ultimatum to sell his dental offices and leave Bianca within one year.

A medical examiner in Colorado reviewed the evidence Bianca’s death and stated that it was not possible for the woman to have accidentally shot herself with the firearm, the Law & Crime report said.

Meanwhile, Lawrence's attorney released a statement to KDKA-TV that read: "This is an outrageous prosecution against Dr. Larry Rudolph, a man who loved his wife of 34 years and did not kill her. Back in 2016, his wife had a terrible accident during a hunting trip in Zambia."