Dentist & Big Game Hunter, Lawrence Rudolph Guilty of Killing His Wife on Hunting Trip

The court found Lawrence Rudolph, a wealthy dentist and big game hunter, guilty of murdering his wife during a hunting trip in Africa.

The Colorado court jury also charged Rudolph, 67, with mail fraud in Denver along with his murder charge.

His girlfriend Lori Milliron was also found guilty of being an accessory, obstruction of justice, and two counts of perjury. As for the other three counts of perjury she was facing, Milliron was found not guilty.

Lawrence could get life in prison, while Milliron could get up to 35 years. Their sentence hearings have not been scheduled yet.

“We are disappointed in the jury’s verdict, but that is our system. Lori Milliron is innocent of the charges and we will continue to fight to exonerate her,” Milliron’s lawyer John Dill said.

After a very trying three-week trial, the jury found Rudolph completely guilty in the killing of his wife in 2016.

His wife Bianca died form a fatal shotgun blast to the chest. Rudolph initially claimed, she must have shot herself as she was packing her gun away, after they were done hunting the Safari in Zambia.

However, prosecutors countered his testimony and said that Rudolph killed his wife of 34 years so he could collect millions of dollars in life insurance benefits and continue his relationship with his girlfriend Milliron.

During the trial held in U.S. District Court in Denver, a federal prosecutor claimed Lawrence admitted to the killing while at dinner with Milliron at a Phoenix steakhouse when he learned in 2020 that the FBI was investigating his wife’s death.

Last week, Rudolph told jurors, “I did not kill my wife. I could not murder my wife. I would not murder my wife.”

The couple was getting ready to leave their hunting camp in Kafue National Park on the morning of Oct. 11 when Bianca died. Rudolph claimed, a shotgun the pair had obtained to hunt a leopard accidentally went off. He said that he was in the bathroom when he heard the gunfire and found his wife bleeding on the floor afterward.

Federal authorities got involved in the case after a friend of Bianca’s told authorities on Oct. 27, 2016, that she wanted the FBI to investigate her friend’s death because she suspected foul play, claiming that Lawrence had cheated on his wife and had been having an affair at the time of her death.

During the trial, Lawrence testified that he had an open relationship with his wife and said they were reasonably happy with that decision.

The consular chief at the U.S. Embassy in Zambia told the FBI Lawrence asked him about having his wife’s body cremated shortly after her death.

The consular chief told the FBI, “I had a bad feeling about the situation. I thought he was moving too quickly. So I traveled to the funeral home with two others from the embassy to take photographs of the body and preserve any potential evidence.”

The consular chief also told the FBI, “Lawrence was very livid when he found out I had gone to see Bianca’s body and took photographs.”

Authorities testified that there was no way that Bianca could have shot herself with that type of shotgun because of its long barrel. A Colorado medical examiner also claimed, “It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Ms. Rudolph to reach the trigger of this weapon even if it was placed in the case with the muzzle pressed against her chest.”

An arrest warrant was issued for Lawrence on Dec. 22, 2021. He was indicted in early January 2022 in Colorado, as that is where one of the insurance companies involved in the payout he received following her death is based.