A COUPLE’S vacation ended in homicide as a wife was found dead during a hunting trip.
At first, Bianca Rudolph’s death was ruled an accident.
Who was Bianca Rudolph?
Born on December 4, 1959, Bianca Rudolph was a hunting enthusiast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
She was married to Larry Rudolph and they had two children, Julian and AnaBianca.
Bianca and Larry raised their family in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where the latter’s dental practice was located.
Eventually, the family relocated to Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Bianca and her husband frequented Africa for hunting excursions.
“She was an amazing mother,” said her son to ABC News.
“I loved her. She was my best friend. Nothing will ever bring my mother back.”
She is buried at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in McMurry, Pennsylvania.
What happened to Bianca?
On October 11, 2016, 56-year-old Bianca was found dead from a gunshot wound to her chest.
At the time, she and Larry were on a safari in Kafue National Park, Zambia.
The latter told police that his wife was packing away her 12 gauge rifle when it supposedly, accidentally went off and killed her.
Although Zambian authorities ruled her death an accident, US law enforcement looked into the matter further.
As Larry’s stories conflicted with previous accounts he gave, the investigation evolved into a homicide case.
On December 22, 2021, Larry was arrested in connection to his late wife’s murder.
On February 15, 2022, Lori Milliron was also apprehended.
Milliron was Larry’s co-worker and office manager who he was having a 10-plus year extramarital affair with.
What were Larry Rudolph and Lori Milliron’s trial verdicts?
On August 1, 2022, Larry was found guilty of murder of a U.S. national in a foreign country and one count of mail fraud.
The mail fraud charge was for the $4.8 million he received from Bianca’s life insurance policy.
On August 21, 2023, the dentist was sentenced to life in prison.
He was ordered to pay $4.87 million in restitution and a fine of $2 million.
Milliron was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to the murder, obstruction of justice, and two counts of perjury before a grand jury.
On June 23, 2023, she was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Bianca’s homicide investigation is retold in an episode of CBS’ 48 Hours titled Death on Safari.
Dateline NBC also revisits the case in their episode, Safari Story.
On July 12, 2024, ABC’s 20/20 profiled the case in The Last Hunt.