Two women in their 70s who befriended and then murdered homeless men to collect millions of dollars in life insurance were on Tuesday jailed for life without the possibility of parole at a Los Angeles court hearing.
Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, who were convicted of murder in April, have been dubbed the “Black Widows” for orchestrating a scheme that saw them take out insurance policies on destitute men before killing them.
Judge David Wesley told Golay and Rutterschmidt on Tuesday that their victims, Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid, “needed only food, water and shelter.”
“They needed a helping hand. They thought they were getting that helping hand from Ms Golay and from you, Ms Rutterschmidt. Instead, these unfortunate men were sacrificed on [your] altars of greed,” the judge told the women.
The two women received nearly US$3 million in insurance payouts before their crimes were discovered, the court heard.
McDavid, 50, was found dead in an alley in Westwood in June 2005. He had been run over by a car. Vados, 73, was killed after being run over in an alley in Hollywood in 1999.
Vados’ daughter Stella said: “I want to know why my father’s life had to end like this. He didn’t deserve this. No one does.”
“The defendants were greedy and selfish, and that is why they committed murder,” she said.
According to prosecutors, the women applied for 26 life insurance policies on three different people, including the two dead men.
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