Old Women Sentenced for Murders

(Los Angeles, California) Last week, Superior Court Judge David Wesley sentenced Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, to life in prison without possibility of parole for murdering two indigent men to collect on their life insurance policies.

They were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for the deaths of Paul Vados, 73, and Kenneth McDavid, 50.

The women were convicted of a scheme in which they befriended homeless men, took out policies, and then killed them in murders staged to look like hit-and-run auto accidents.

Prosecutors say the women collected $2.8 million before the scheme was uncovered.

The judge said the two men they killed needed only food, water and shelter.

''They needed a helping hand. They thought they were getting this from you,'' Wesley said. ''Instead these unfortunate men were sacrificed on your altar of greed.''

Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the victims' families, said, "This is tantamount to the death penalty. They will die in prison. I think that's a just sentence.''

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy