A Missing Bullet & the Black Widow of Las Vegas

Tim Noble called 911, desperate for help. He’d just walked into the home he shared with his fiance, Debra Holden, and found her dead on the couch. A gun lay next to her. It appeared she’d died by suicide, and that’s exactly what the medical examiner ruled. Investigators couldn’t find the bullet, though. That seemed a little odd. The blood trail also seemed odd. It was as if she’d been moved after she died. Then Tim showed up at the hospital with a bullet in his leg and an incredibly strange story as to how it got there.

Then Kristin tells us about Margaret Rudin, the so-called black widow of Las Vegas. When Margaret and Ron Rudin got married, it was the fifth marriage for both of them. What had been a whirlwind courtship got rocky as soon as they moved in together. Margaret discovered that Ron was having an affair. She also discovered that he’d never renovated the home after his ex-wife died by suicide. Over the years, Margaret says their marriage improved. But when Ron was brutally murdered, Margaret was the prime suspect. 

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

“Five Weddings and a Murder,” episode of 20/20

“Rudin’s Revenge,” episode of Mugshots
“Last Vegas attorney Amador arrested on felony assault charges,” by Mike Blasylas for the Vegas Review-Journal

“Socialite seeks a mistrial,” by Ken Ritter for the Associated Press

“The Missing Bullet” episode Accident Murder or Suicide

“Man Passes Out, Urinates Himself After Being Questioned About Fiancée's Murder” by Aly Vader Hayden, oxygen.com

“Murder trial: Opening statements paint two pictures of a woman’s death” by Amanda Thames, Jacksonville Daily News

“Defendant takes stand in murder trial” by Mike McHugh, Jacksonville Daily News

“Onslow Co. man sentenced to life in prison for killing fiancee” by Elizabeth New, WNCT9 News

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