Margaret Rudin

ABC’s 20/20 featured the story of Ron and Margaret Rudin this past weekend. Did you catch it?

Margaret and Ron were both married five times, and this last marriage ended with Ron being murdered. Ron’s beheaded body was found in an antique chest burned in the desert. Margaret was the last one to see him.

The question, of course, was whodunit.

Margaret has always stood steadfast that she was innocent, but she ended up being convicted, and served 20 years of her life sentence before winning parole a year ago in January.

When you watch Margaret speak, what do you see? Do you see an innocent woman or someone who is denying her dirty deeds?

I always caution people not to assess someone’s truthfulness after they have paid the price for their crime. Why? Because there is no longer any pressure to have to succeed with their lie. Liars leak the most clues when they are under pressure to succeed with the lie, avoid punishment, etc.

Once the stakes are gone, its very easy to say you are innocent without any stress or indicators–there are zero risks and all benefit to do so now! That’s not to say one wouldn’t leak clues, but I have seen guilty people years later come across very honest and innocent when they claimed they were innocent when they were far from it! So be warned.

However, Margaret, in my opinion is only fooling herself here. She thinks she is still so brilliant she can tell you her story and you won’t pick up on the inconsistencies, but oh dear, no. She is wrong.

Did you catch any of her leaks?

Here is one of my favorites: “They stuck the name on me. That ‘black widow, black widow, black widow,’ like I had killed somebody before, or like that I was in the habit,” said Margaret Rudin.

Oh dear, Margaret. You aren’t good at self-censoring, are you? Your interview? It was a train wreck. I did not believe a word.