US dentist on trial for wife's 2016 safari death in Zambia

DENVER (AP) — A shotgun blast that shattered the early-morning tranquility of a remote southern Africa national park nearly six years ago, killing a U.S. hunting enthusiast, resonates again in a Denver courtroom this week as the founder of a Pennsylvania dental franchise goes on trial for allegedly killing his wife and collecting nearly $5 million in insurance proceeds.

Federal prosecutors allege that Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph, 67, himself a big game hunter and former head of an international safari club, killed his wife, Bianca, 56, at the end of a 2016 safari trip in Zambia and later cashed in life and accidental death insurance policies in the United States. He’s charged with murder and mail fraud.

Prosecutors also allege that Lori Milliron, Rudolph’s alleged mistress and a former hygienist and manager of his Pittsburgh-area business, lied to a federal grand jury about the case and her relationship with Rudolph, who was arrested in December. She’s charged with perjury and being an accessory after the fact.

Their trial begins with jury selection Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver. The wide-ranging case - involving the 2016 death of a U.S. citizen, the purchase of a residence in Arizona, and Rudolph’s surprise arrest in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - is being tried in Colorado because several insurers tied to the payout were based here.

Rudolph and Milliron's attorneys, David Markus and Margot Moss, counter that the U.S. case is little more than a fragile web of circumstantial evidence compiled by overzealous FBI agents long after Zambian authorities determined that Bianca’s death was accidental. She died of a shotgun wound to the heart inside the small wooden cabin the couple shared during the safari. They had been married 34 years.

“No physical evidence supports the...