Dec. 21--A man charged with killing his young bride in the northwest suburbs more than four decades ago is expected in Cook County court Monday afternoon.
Police arrested Donnie Rudd, 73, in Texas on Thursday on charges he killed 19-year-old Noreen Kumeta Rudd by hitting her on the head in September 1973 in Barrington Hills. Sources with knowledge of the case have said she was originally believed to have died in a car accident but authorities now believe her husband staged her death.
Rudd -- a former local attorney disbarred in 1994 after numerous accusations of dishonesty, according to state records -- had arrived in Illinois as of Monday morning and was expected in bond court in Rolling Meadows early in the afternoon, said Lisa Gordon, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
As of Monday, authorities had not offered details of the investigation or explained what spurred the reexamination of the woman's death. Authorities planned to hold a press conference after the scheduled court appearance.
Kumeta Rudd's body was exhumed in 2013. She died at Elgin's Sherman Hospital, and officials first believed the death was the result of a fracture to the cervical spine and other trauma from the accident, authorities said. Kane County Coroner Rob Russell said the pathologist who performed the 2013 autopsy came to a different conclusion but he declined to provide further details pending the press conference.
Donnie Rudd was licensed in 1969 to practice law in Illinois, but he ended his legal career facing several accusations of misconduct. He agreed to his own disbarment in 1994, state records show.
In 1989, Rudd gained Loretta Tabak-Bodtke as a client, state records show. Rudd filed a lawsuit for her and falsely claimed he'd won money, according to state records. Tabak-Bodtke, 59, was shot to death in her Arlington Heights home in 1991. Since there was no sign of forced entry or a struggle, police determined she must have let her killer in, according to Tribune archives.
During the disciplinary investigation into Rudd's work for the woman, he invoked his right against self-incrimination "based upon an ongoing criminal investigation concerning certain facts and events related to Tabak-Bodtke," state records show.
dhinkel@tribpub.com
