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LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Two Los Angeles women were arrested after being identified as the beneficiaries on life insurance policies for homeless men killed in hit-and-run accidents.
Both women, in their 70's, filed claims for more than $2.2 million more than two years before the men were mysteriously killed, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
A connection was discovered between the two cases six years apart when investigators happened to discuss the peculiar details. In both instances, Olga Rutterschmidt, 73, and Helen Golay, 75, claimed the bodies.
"It was somewhat unusual that two elderly ladies unrelated to the victim were coming in making requests for police reports ... attempting to gain custody of the body and claiming there was no one else in the world who cared about this poor soul," said Detective Dennis Kilcoyne.
Investigators told the Times the women took out 19 policies on the two men although neither was a relative.
Police arrested the women on suspicion of mail fraud, although they also said the women could be implicated in the men's deaths, the Times said.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
