Golay and Rutterschmidt Arrested on Murder Charges

Los Angeles: Los Angeles police detectives arrested 75-year-old Helen Golay and 73-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt this evening around 7 PM after a federal judge released the two women from federal custody so they could be re-arrested on state Capital Murder charges.

Both women were booked on charges of murdering Paul Vados, 73, and Kenneth McDavid, 50, in order to claim insurance proceeds. Both women have already been indicted federally on mail fraud charges in connection with their scheme. Both men’s deaths were initially investigated as hit-and-run accidents, Vados in 1999 and McDavid in 2005.

"We owe a debt to the Los Angeles office of the FBI," said lead investigator Detective Dennis Kilcoyne. "They put the federal case together so we could take both these women out of circulation before they could strike again. That gave us breathing room to complete the homicide investigation."

Detectives also relied on assistance from the State Department of Insurance to help locate the life insurance policies the women opened on their targeted victims. Representatives from the FBI and the Department of Insurance were both present as the women were booked.

The murder charges are based upon the totality of the circumstances behind the women’s scheme. The keystone in the case was connecting DNA found on a silver Mercury Sable station wagon to Kenneth McDavid’s 2005 death in a West Los Angeles alley. "We found tissue in three locations on the undercarriage of the car," Kilcoyne said. "We have records to show both women bought this car in 2004, then they stored it at Golay’s house." The car was later abandoned and sold off for storage fees.

Detectives believe the women are directly involved in killing the men. "We think they drugged them with pills or alcohol first, then ran over them," added Kilcoyne.

Investigators found applications for $800,000 life insurance policies for these men. As the case moves toward trial, detectives released two photographs and the three names in the hopes of locating and interviewing the men: Nicolas Koos, born November 17, 1939; Jimmy Allen Covington, born August 9, 1960, and Scott B. Gones. No picture or birth date was available for Gones. Detectives believe Covington may be in the San Francisco area.

Golay and Rutterschmidt will be arraigned tomorrow morning in Division 30 of the downtown Superior Courthouse.

Detective Dennis Kilcoyne will take media questions in front of Parker Center tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM.