A US socialite dubbed the "black widow killer" after murdering her millionaire husband as part of plot to steal a share of his fortune has been awarded a new trial.
Margaret Rudin was convicted in 2001 for shooting real estate magnate Ron Rudin dead as he slept, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reports.
His skull and charred bones were found dumped in the desert about 72km from Las Vegas in 1995, one year after his murder.
Prosecutors said at Rudin's 10-week trial that she killed her fifth husband as part of a scheme to obtain a share of his $16 million fortune.
But a judge has now ruled that lawyers for the 61-year-old weren't effective in the trial.
The ruling came after lawyers on both sides of the case told the court Rudin's defence wasn't properly prepared.
"Obviously we're very happy with the judge's ruling and look forward to going to trial," Rudin's new lawyer Christopher Oram was quoted as saying.
The court heard that two of her lawyers felt unprepared for the trial due to the massive amount of material involved.
Expert witnesses had not been retained and other witnesses had not been interviewed, one of the lawyers said.
Rudin, who has already spent 10 years in prison, became a fugitive after she was accused of the murder, fleeing to Mexico, Phoenix and Massachusetts before being captured in 1999.
She was dubbed the "black widow killer" by the media and Las Vegas locals, referring to the female spider that sometimes eats the male after mating.
Front page
RSS Feed