Murder Trial Starting Over Chicago-Area Woman's 1973 Death

A Texas man's defense attorney says he's eager to face trial on charges that he killed his wife 45 years ago in a staged car crash in suburban Chicago.

Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday in the trial of 76-year-old Donnie Rudd on first-degree murder charges for the 1973 death of Noreen Kumeta Rudd.

Authorities initially ruled the 19-year-old woman's death an accident, and Donnie Rudd wasn't charged until late 2015 when he was living in Sugar Land, Texas.

Defense attorney Timothy Grace tells the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that prosecutors won't be able to prove Rudd killed his wife.

Cook County prosecutors say a 2013 autopsy of Kumeta Rudd's remains determined she died of homicide and that $120,000 in life insurance motivated Rudd to kill his wife.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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