Bianca Rudolph: Murder While on Safari

Avid big game hunter, Bianca Rudolph, is found unresponsive in a cabin in Zambia with a gunshot wound to her chest. Her husband of 34 years, Dr. Larry Rudolph, the only other person in the cabin at the time, claims to have been showering when he heard the gunshot. He claims accidental discharge, but investigators disagree.  

In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the likelihood of Bianca Rudolph accidentally shooting herself, the complications of working a crime scene in the wilderness of Africa, the odd behaviors displayed by her husband at the time of her death, and the tip that lead authorities to an in-depth investigation, and eventual guilty verdict of her husband, Dr. Larry Rudolph. 

Show Notes:

0:15 - Introducing the death of Dr. Larry Rudolph’s wife of 34 years, Bianca Rudolph

2:14 - While packing up following a two-week hunting trip in Zambia, Dr. Rudolph claims his wife accidentally shot herself

6:56 - Is it physically possible to shoot yourself while packing away a shotgun?

8:48 - Explanation of the type of gun that killed Bianca, and ruling out possible suicide

12:05 - Joe explains the injury sustained to Bianca’s body from multiple 30-caliber-sized projectiles

16:29 - Looking for evidence of powder distribution on Bianca’s body and clothing

19:32 - Smooth bore weapons vs rifled weapons

21:37 - Working a crime scene in the wilderness of one of the world’s largest game preserves and how bodies are back to the US from Africa

25:24 - Dr. Rudolph’s push to have Bianca’s body cremated within three days of her death and the steps taken by the consular chief in Zambia to document her injuries

27:49 - The tip that leads to an in-depth FBI investigation

29:57 - Events that lead authorities to conclude Bianca’s death was no accident

34:09 - Odd behavior displayed by Dr. Larry Rudolph in the moments after he heard the gunshot

38:21 - Joseph Scott describes what happens when a round passes through an intermediate target and the amount of blood that he would be expected to be present in that situation.

40:39 - When the body is assaulted by such an event, does it fall in a specific manner?

42:47 - Resolution in the case against Dr. Larry Rudolph

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