• Helen Golay was convicted on April 17, 2008, of the murders of two homeless men, Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid. Golay and co-defendant Olga Rutterschmidt had befriended the men and opened life insurance policies on them. They then killed the men and collected the insurance benefits.Los Angeles Times: One 'Black Widow' defendant convicted of murder (April 17, 2008)

  On July 15, 2008, Golay was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.The Associated Press: Elderly women get life in L.A. insurance killings (July 15, 2008)

• Fast Facts:

  1. Born: 1931
  2. Residence: Santa Monica, California
  3. Occupation: Real estate investor
  4. Victims: Paul Vados, Kenneth McDavid
  5. Accomplice: Olga Rutterschmidt
  6. Conviction: Murder
  7. Collected approximately $3,000,000 in insurance on two victimsWashington Post: In L.A., a Case Straight Out of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (March 17, 2008)
  8. Took out multiple policies on the victimsWashington Post: In L.A., a Case Straight Out of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (March 17, 2008)

• Personal Background

  Golay and Rutterschmidt met in the 1980s and reportedly bonded over shared experiences of childhood trauma -Golay from a car accident and Rutterschmidt from a childhood spent in World War II Hungary.Los Angeles Times: Pair accused of killing homeless men grew to distrust each other (August 19, 2006) The pair, however, would soon direct their bond toward crime.

• Criminal Background

  Golay and Rutterschmidt began their criminal careers by stealing purses and credit cards, but by 1999 had progressed to the murder/fraud schemes that eventually led to their convictions. That year, Golay and Rutterschmidt staged the hit-and-run death of homeless man Paul Vados in order to collect on a life insurance policy they had taken out in his name. Six years later, they killed another homeless man, Kenneth McDavid, under similar circumstances. Similarities between the two so-called accidents led police to the two elderly women, arresting them in October, 2006.Washington Post: In L.A., a Case Straight Out of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (March 17, 2008)

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Olga Rutterschmidt | Paul Vados | Kenneth McDavid | Los Angeles | California

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