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TRIAL AVOIDED: RUDY PLEADS 'NO CONTEST' TO MURDER, MUTILATION CHARGES
Thursday, May 25th, 2006 -- 11:56 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Shaun Rudy, Thorp, pleaded “no contest” to one count of 1st-degree intentional homicide, one count of 1st-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child and one count of mutilating a corpse, during a plea hearing Thursday morning in Clark County Circuit Court.
In doing so, Rudy, 23, admits prosecutors have laid out a factual basis to charges that he shot and killed his wife, Christine, and than dismembered the body to conceal the crime.
21-year-old Christine Rudy was six-months pregnant at the time of her death.
Mr. Rudy appeared in court wearing a blaze orange Clark County Jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles. Before sitting next to attorney David Grace, he made eye contact with his parents, who were sitting in the back of the courtroom.
Easily one of the highest-profile cases in Clark County history, Rudy’s decision not to fight the charges came as a surprise to most observers of the case – especially considering no plea deal was offered by the prosecution.
During the hearing, Clark County Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell spent a good deal of time making Rudy state on the record that he knew what he was doing.
Rudy consistently answered in the affirmative and when the time came to enter the pleas, he didn’t hesitate to enter “no contest” pleas to the charges.
Stating he was satisfied Mr. Rudy entered the pleas “freely and voluntarily”, Judge Counsell accepted them, and found him guilty of the charges.
Counsell ordered a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) and schedule sentencing for August 3rd. Shaun is facing a maximum of well over two life sentences.
Barring appeal, the sentencing could be the final court action in the case, which began in November when Shaun reported his 21-year-old wife missing.
After an extensive investigation, authorities announced in January they believed Christine was shot and killed by her husband as the two argued on a rural Clark County road.
Mr. Rudy was charged in March. Christine’s torso was discovered on the banks of the Chippewa River later that month.
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