Wife's trial in Las Vegas millionaire's slaying postponed

LAS VEGAS - A judge on Friday postponed the high-profile murder trial of a woman accused of killing her millionaire husband six year ago and setting his body on fire.

In the meantime, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure agreed to hear more evidence on why the case should be thrown out based on allegations of misconduct by the prosecution.

Margaret Rudin, in her only direct participation in the four-hour evidence hearing, answered yes when Bonaventure asked if she was willing to push the trial back from Jan. 24 to March 5.

Rudin, 56, is accused of shooting Ronald Rudin while he slept, decapitating and stuffing his corpse in a trunk, and setting the trunk afire in a remote part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in December 1994.

Bonaventure suspended Friday's pretrial hearing after Ulrich Smith, a former chief assistant district attorney, denied leaking secret grand jury information to civil lawyers during probate hearings on Rudin's estate.

''My office never gave them anything,'' said Smith, who is now in private practice in Las Vegas. ''My office was not part of what is being alleged here.''

Michael Amador, Rudin's defense lawyer, told the judge that criminal investigators and the civil lawyers improperly joined forces to gather evidence against his client. Amador alleged ''outrageous government conduct'' and asked the judge to dismiss the case.

Chief District Attorneys Chris Owens and Gary Guyman, the prosecutors in the Rudin case, denied Amador's charge.

Bonaventure reserved judgment. He set pretrial hearings to resume on Wednesday with testimony on the grand jury question from Las Vegas police homicide Detective Jimmy Vaccaro, one of the lead investigators in the case.

Among more than a dozen rulings, Bonaventure turned down Amador's request to switch the usual order of closing statements at trial to let the defense have the last word.

He approved a plan to circulate questionnaires to prospective jurors. Bonaventure - who has posted on his bench a sign reading ''The truth takes few words'' - said the trial could feature up to 200 witnesses and take two months.

The case stirred intense interest after the charred remains of Ron Rudin, a 64-year-old real estate magnate, were found in January 1995 in a ravine near Lake Mohave.

Witnesses say the couple was at odds and Margaret Rudin stood to lose a $6 million inheritance if they divorced.

Rudin is accused of having a laborer haul the bed away, remove carpeting and a blood-splattered art work, and clean the room.

She disappeared before her April 1997 indictment on murder and other charges. She was arrested in November 1999 in Massachusetts after having been featured several times on the television show ''America's Most Wanted.''

Rudin remains jailed without bail as a fugitive, and appeared Friday in court wearing blue jail clothing and slippers. She was shackled at the waist and hands.