LOS ANGELES – Police say they have new evidence linking two elderly women to the death of a homeless man on whom they had taken out an insurance policy.
Authorities said in a search warrant affidavit they found blood and organic matter on a Mercury Sable connected to Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt, who are being investigated in connection with the 2005 death of Kenneth McDavid and the 1999 death of another homeless man, Paul Vados.
In the search warrant affidavit, authorities say Golay called to have the vehicle towed an hour before McDavid's body was discovered. McDavid, 50, was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run.
DNA tests were being performed on the blood on the car, but detectives have not received the results.
Golay, 75, and Rutterschmidt, 73, are being held in federal custody and could not be reached for comment Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times said. The paper said it also was unable to reach their attorneys.
Authorities allege Golay and Rutterschmidt befriended McDavid and Vados, convinced the men to sign them on to their life insurance policies and then collected some $2.3 million after they were killed.
Golay and Rutterschmidt pleaded not guilty to nine federal mail fraud and related charges earlier this month. They have not been charged in either death.
The car was registered to an Encino woman whom authorities believe was the victim of identity theft. The woman said she never owned the car but that her purse was stolen in 2003.
Police said they found information about the woman and the Sable during searches of Golay's Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle and Rutterschmidt's Hollywood apartment.
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