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In 2016, Bianca Rudolph, a Pittsburgh mother-of-two and wife of affluent dentist Lawrence Rudolph, died of a gunshot to her chest while on an African safari with her husband in Kafue National Park in Zambia. Lawrence claimed that Bianca accidentally shot herself with a rifle while loading it into a case on the last day of their trip on October 11.
Although Bianca's death was initially ruled an accident, a later investigation revealed that the incident was a premeditated murder plot orchestrated by her husband and his longtime lover Lori Milliron. Lawrence's alleged affair with Milliron, who worked as an assistant for his multimillion-dollar dental empire, was the reason behind his unlawful actions. Money was also a motive.
Nearly six years after the tragedy, in August 2022, Lawrence Rudolph, now 67, was reportedly convicted of his wife's murder. The federal court jury also found him guilty of mail fraud, given that he tried to cash in almost $5 million in life insurance claims.
On Saturday, CBS 48 Hours will revisit Bianca Rudolph's 2016 murder case and the subsequent federal investigation that helped bring the perpetrators to justice. The episode, titled Death on Safari, will air on September 10, 2022, at 10 pm ET.
A former US Marine was the first person to guess that Bianca Rudolph did not accidentally shoot herself
On October 11, 2016, the last day of the couple's two-week hunting safari in Zambia, Bianca Rudolph was brutally shot in the heart with a Browning 12-gauge shotgun. According to Lawrence Rudolph, the husband, Bianca was in the bedroom of the couple's cabin while he was in the washroom when he heard a gunshot and discovered his wife bleeding profusely.
The Zambian Police Service determined that Bianca's death was a tragic accident caused by her failure to use adequate safety protocols while packing up the pistol. Following the husband's narrative, authorities believed that her carelessness led to the handgun being accidentally discharged. However, a sequence of red flags, including an apparent public admission to murder, led to Rudolph's arrest.
Just hours after the incident, Lawrence reportedly notified the US embassy of Bianca's death. Speaking about the conversation, the consular chief stated that he "quickly turned the conversation to the issue of cremating Bianca’s body and leaving the country."
The chief, a former US Marine, visited the funeral home to inspect and click pictures of Bianca's body to secure any additional evidence. He claimed that based on the wounds he witnessed, it appeared the firearm was discharged from a distance of several feet. The FBI later ran a slew of tests only to confirm the theory.
According to Law & Crime, the FBI made a statement, saying,
"At that distance, there is reason to believe that Bianca Rudolph was not killed by an accidental discharge."
Financial and other motives discovered behind Bianca Rudolph's 2016 premeditated death
Suspicions started growing around Bianca Rudolph's death when one of her friends claimed that she was a Catholic and her body wouldn't normally be cremated. Fresh information about Lawrence's alleged extramarital affair with his assistant also came to the surface. Furthermore, his attempts to acquire around $4.8 million in life insurance claims within a month after returning to the US contributed to the pile of red flags.
About five years after Bianca Rudolph's tragic death, her husband was arrested in December 2021. During his 2022 trial in federal court in Denver, Colorado, Lawrence Rudolph maintained that he did not kill his wife to claim insurance money or be with Lori Milliron, his lover at the time. Moreover, sources claim that his story kept changing.
While he initially told authorities that Bianca died by suicide, witnesses taking the stand claimed that they heard Lawrence publicly admit to the murder. He allegedly said, "I killed my f***ing wife for you!" during an argument with Milliron.
His lawyers, however, contested the claims, saying that people misheard the statement. Instead, the defense insisted that their client had said,
"They're saying, 'I killed my f***ing wife for you.'"
Lawrence Rudolph was found guilty of foreign murder in his wife Bianca Rudolph's 2016 death. In addition, he was found guilty of mail fraud for collecting $4.8 million in life insurance benefits after Bianca passed away. His lover, Milliron, was found guilty on one count of accessory to murder, another charge of obstructing a grand jury, and on two more perjury charges.
CBS 48 Hours airs on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 10 pm ET.
