| WITNESSES
FOR THE DEFENSE |
| Defense Case |
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Terrance Cluretie, real estate expert
Said Ron Rudin's real estate practices were illegitimate
Confirmed Rudin would sell properties under fictitious names to inflate property values
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Richard Scott, Carpeteria
Testified Margaret Rudin had a new carpet installed a month after Ron Rudin's disappearance
Said the date was Jan. 18, 1994, four days later than Augustine Lovato had said
Claims he alerted Las Vegas police about the correct date
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Robert Will, Illinois attorney
Testified Margaret Rudin contacted him about a year after Ron's body was found and visited him in Illinois
Said Margaret was distraught and very scared
He advised her to return to Las Vegas just prior to her flight from authorities
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Curtis Lynch, Margaret Rudin’s uncle
Testified that Ron and Margaret Rudin seemed happy at Thanksgiving in 1994
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Susan Reasbeck, Ron Rudin's employee
Said she witnessed Ron Rudin having frequent nosebleeds
Testified she discovered Rudin was secretly taping his employees
Said Ron Rudin was not discreet in his affairs with other women
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Dr. John Thornton, blood spatter expert
Testified that blood spatters show Rudin was not shot in the bedroom
Said the murder weapon, a 22 caliber pistol, would not produce a gunshot powerful enough to propel blood onto the ceiling or walls
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Marina Flores, Rudin’s maid
Confirmed location of portrait during time period of the murder
Admitted to regularly visiting Margaret Rudin in jail
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Michael Wysocki, defense investigator
Explained layout of life-sized model of Rudin bedroom brought into court
Showed jurors aerial photograph showing the close proximity of the Crazy Horse Too and a nearby crematorium.
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Donald Charleboix, retired detective, Las Vegas Police Department
Responded to the 1978 suicide of Ron Rudin's third wife, Peggy
Gave a graphic description of the crime scene
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Eugene Marshall, detective, Las Vegas Police Department
Recalled to the stand after testifying for the state
Testified that there were 20 calls from Margaret Rudin's home to police in the month following Ron Rudin's disappearance
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Eugene DeFlorentis, deceased friend of Ron Rudin
Testified Margaret Rudin would often work late inside her shop
Described Ron as very paranoid and said he had bullet-proof glass around his real estate office
Said Ron joked Margaret would divorce him after learning how excited she was about her new antique shop
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Marvin Eikenberry, employee of Margaret Rudin
Worked in Margaret Rudin's antique shop
Said that he never saw a trunk in the store
Identified an item in a photo which prosecutors say is a trunk as a chest
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Barbara Orcutt, friend of the Rudins
Testified Margaret Rudin called her concerned and upset about Ron Rudin's disappearance
Prompted by the phonecall, sent a search party out to look for the missing millionaire
Said Ron Rudin told her he used recording devices in his office
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Eric Hall, former stepfather of Augustine Lovato
Was married to Terry Hall, the mother of the Rudin's handyman and prosecution witness Augustine Lovato
Said he recalled her talking about the reward but couldn't recall when
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Michelle Nissen-Stephens, operations manager of US Rent A Car
Spoke to police about Sharon's rentals
Said she didn't see investigators take pictures or inspect for evidence
Testified vehicle was clean when it was returned by Sharon
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Maria Romano, general manager of US Rent A Car
Testified about Yehuda Sharon's car rentals between Dec. 18 and 23, 1994
Confirmed the mileage on the car was less than where Sharon told police he went
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Jeanne Nakashima, defendant's friend
Said she spent three hours with Margaret Rudin the evening Ron disappeared
Testified that the next day Margaret seemed upset
Told Margaret, based on an experience with her missing son, that one must wait 48 hours before reporting a missing person
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Nora Rudin, DNA consultant
Contradicting prosecution expert's findings, said tests on picture frame were inconclusive
Said prosecution experts should have performed further testing
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Burt Barton, funeral home director
Testified it would take at least three hours and 1,400 degrees of heat to cremate a body
Said Rudin's bones and skull did not appear to have been burned at the same time
Admitted Rudin's body did not appear to have been cremated in a controlled environment
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John DeHaan, fire forensics expert
Concluded Ron Rudin's was not completely burned at Nelson's Landing where it was found
Said not enough gasoline, no evidence of body fat and no wick don't support the prosecution's theory
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