Jailhouse birthdays for Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt, accused of staging the hit-and-run deaths of two homeless men, quietly came and went uncelebrated this year. Golay turned 77 in February and Rutterschmidt became 75 this month.
But age could be a key factor in a trial set to begin this week before a three-woman, nine-man jury, who will determine the fate of the two women who prosecutors allege conspired to kill the men and collected nearly $3 million in life insurance claims. Opening statements are expected to start Tuesday.
The unusual age of the defendants, who face life without the possibility of parole if convicted, will be a "double-edged sword" in the case, said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor.
Although jurors might be sympathetic to the petite, aging women, their ages also leave little possibility for a plea deal with prosecutors, Levenson said.
In a plea agreement, "the government would usually want some jail time, but giving them any jail time is giving them a life sentence," she said. "There isn't as much wiggle room."
Prosecutors decided last year not to seek the death penalty. Because capital punishment appeals take a minimum of 10 years, the women could die in prison before any decision was reached.
"They're not likely to get the death penalty on little old ladies. . . . Seeking the death penalty, you don't gain anything," Levenson said.
But the district attorney's office said the women's age would not be an issue in the trial. "It's not the age that counts, it's what they do. And we intend to show in court what their actions were," said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, noting that people of similar ages have been convicted in murder trials.
"Their being female and of that age certainly raises your eyebrows," said Det. Dennis Kilcoyne of the Los Angeles Police Department, the chief investigator in the case.
Golay's attorney, Roger Diamond, said his client was innocent and no attempt was made to strike a deal.
Diamond said he had a defense of "dynamite nature" that would prove no murder ever took place, but would not elaborate. Rutterschmidt's attorney, public defender Michael Sklar, declined to comment.
In a case that has drawn the attention of legal experts and moviemakers, prosecutors allege that the women befriended the homeless men, put them up in apartments and hired security guards to keep an eye on them before staging their deaths.
