Accessory to Zambia Safari Murder Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal Prison

DENVER –The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Lori Milliron, 65, formerly of Paradise Valley, Arizona, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for her role as an accessory in the murder of Bianca Rudolph. Milliron had previously been convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction, and two counts of perjury before a grand jury after a trial last summer.  The jury acquitted her of three other counts of perjury.

Evidence presented at trial proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Lawrence Rudolph murdered his wife Bianca while the two were on a hunting trip in Zambia on October 11, 2016.  Rudolph shot his wife through the heart with a 12-gauge shotgun that was enclosed in a soft-shell case on the last day of a scheduled hunt, scheming to make the murder look like an accident. Upon his return to the United States, Rudolph filed false and fraudulent claims on nine separate life insurance policies issued by seven different companies to obtain $4,877,744.93.

Lori Milliron was subpoenaed to provide information to the grand jury investigating Bianca’s death.  During her appearance, on January 5, 2022, she lied and otherwise obstructed that investigation to help Rudolph avoid prosecution.  Asked about the nature of her relationship with Rudolph and the purpose of cash payments Rudolph had made to her before Bianca’s death, she testified that she didn’t know why and that Rudolph was simply being generous. But it was actually because she was Rudolph’s long-time mistress.  Asked about what Rudolph had told her after he found out he was under investigation by the FBI, Milliron told the grand jury that Rudolph was irritated by the investigation because he was “probably innocent;” actually, Rudolph had told her in Spring 2020 that “I killed my (expletive) wife for you.”

The Court granted an upward variance from the sentence recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines, referencing the underlying nature of the murder and trial evidence indicating that it was more likely than not that Milliron aided and abetted its execution by helping Rudolph obtain several vials of propofol, an anesthetic drug that is deadly at certain doses, before two of Rudolph and Bianca’s scheduled Zambian safaris.  The Court also referenced Milliron’s torment of the victim’s family, and her lack of remorse.  In addition to a sentence of 204 months in federal prison, the Court imposed the maximum fine of $250,000.

“Justice has arrived for Lori Milliron,” said United States Attorney Cole Finegan.   “We thank our partners at the FBI, as well as our prosecutors and professional staff, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that this Defendant would not evade responsibility for her role in this terrible murder.”

United States Senior District Judge William J. Martinez presided over the sentencing. The sentencing for co-defendant Lawrence Rudolph was recently vacated and will be re-set at an appropriate time after the parties have consulted with one another and the Court.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the FBI Denver Division. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bryan Fields, Garreth Winstead, and Bishop Grewell.

CASE NUMBER:  22-cr-00012-WJM-2