Scamfluencers - Shot Through the Heart

Episode Date: May 8, 2023

Larry Rudolph is an enormously successful dentist and big game hunter in the Pittsburgh area. From the outside, he seems to have it all: A devoted wife, two children, a growing business, and an expensive hobby he’s pretty good at. But when he starts an affair with his hygienist, he begins spending lavishly – and telling lies so big he won’t be able to keep up with them. When the women in his life finally confront him, he’ll end up doing something unconscionable. Please support us by supporting our sponsors.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to ScanFluencers add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. We're so excited to announce that we just dropped our new ScanFluencers merch line. We are thrilled to introduce the Legend collection and has a touch of scam artist in it and we think you're really going to like it. Now I can finally just show people I have a podcast and not tell them. I know I think it's important that people not only hear about the things that I do, but that they also have to witness them,

and then hopefully purchase reminders of the things that I do for work. And you know what, there's some pretty good stuff here. Like, there's a really nice collection of high-quality, super soft t-shirts, some phone cases, hoodies, joggers, mugs. Sachee, what are you most excited about? I'm really excited for the shirt that says scam artist on it that I will be wearing to every funeral wake and wedding for the rest of my life.

What about you? You know what? I will never say no to a super soft hoodie. You do love a big hoodie. I do. Well, this collection is available for purchase right now and you can go buy it, we recommend you buy it, we can be twins, you can find it at scamflensers.com. That's scamflensers.com.

Ahead's up for our listeners. This episode includes mentions of gun violence, big game hunting, and dentistry. Listen with care. [♪ Music playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum beat playing in background, sounds of a drum It's the one part of the genetic lottery I won, and I love my dentist. We just talk about how great my teeth are. That sounds very reaffirming. I actually haven't gone to the dentist in a while, partially due to being uninsured. And also, I realize I am a bit scared of the dentist. Do you want me to go with you?

Then me and your dentist can talk about my great teeth. Yeah, absolutely. And I do know it makes me a bit of a baby, because I'm a grown-up, but I will say that the story I'm about to tell you actually justifies my fears a bit and my sincerest apologies to anyone listening who's trying to get over a restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona.

The enormous earth-tone dining room is buzzing. It's packed with the kind of people who love address code and order $94 stakes paired with $400 bottles of wine. So basically, it's a kind of place we'd go to Sachi. Stake 44 sounds like a fake restaurant name, but I would go there. While the decor in this restaurant is pretty over the top, there are huge displays of expensive liquor bottles and a wall covered in decorative meat cleavers. The bar tender that night is a man named Brian Leblase.

He's black and has dimples and dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail. One of his regulars, a man named Larry Rudolph, is sitting at the bar. Larry is a white man in his mid-60s with graying hair and a light reddish mustache. He's also rich enough to be a regular because he's a wildly successful dentist. It's not the most exciting job, but the money this guy makes is no joke. In fact, Larry is worth around $27 million. He made $27 million off dentistry? Yeah, I know that is a lot of money, and we will get into it. But Brian, the bartender, he doesn't know any of this. All he knows is that tonight Larry's drinking a kettle on Martini with his girlfriend, Laurie

Million. Laurie is petite with blonde hair and pale skin. She's in her early 60s though she looks much younger. As Larry and Laurie sip their drinks, they start arguing, loudly. People start to look over, but the music at the bar makes it hard to tell what they're saying. Sachi, have you ever experienced that thing at a restaurant or party where you have to scream over the music just to be heard? Only to have the music cut out just as you're saying something super personal or embarrassing? I mean yes, but also as you know, I'm often saying something super

personal or embarrassing and usually I am louder than the music. Well, that's exactly what happens here. While Larry and Laurie are in the middle of this huge argument, there's a pause between songs. The room goes totally silent. Just as Larry practically shouts, I killed my fucking wife for you. Oh my god, so relatable. Well, if you put this in a movie, I feel like it would seem too unbelievable, but it really did happen.

And for Larry, this social snafu will be the beginning of the end of his dental empire and his freedom. Wondering's new podcast, Dis and Tell, wades into the glorious mess of celebrity beef. Each episode explores a different iconic celebrity feud, and asks, what does our obsession with these feuds say about us? Follow Dis and Tell wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondering app. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, Amazon Music or Wondery app. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondery's podcast,

American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Sarah Haggy, and I'm Satchy Cole, and this is Scamful Insurs. To me, this is a truly made in America scam. Larry Rudolph is flashy, obsessed with sex, rich, vindictive, and also violent. But no matter how sloppy his primes are, he almost always gets away with them. For decades, he scammed everyone from his patients, insurance companies, police, and even his own wife using techniques that should not have worked. But Larry Rudolph just kept winning. This is a story about big egos, big game hunting, and a larger-than-life crime that almost went unpunished. I'm calling it, shot through the heart.

Before Larry becomes an enormously successful dentist, he's a kid growing up just outside of Pittsburgh. His father teaches him to shoot a gun from an early age, and he falls in love with hunting. He's so good at it that by the time he's 18 in the early 70s, he's using a bow and arrow to kill deer. But he eventually pursues a pretty traditional career path. He goes to the University of Pittsburgh's dental program, and one day in the school's cafeteria,

he meets Bianca Fennizio. She's in her early 20s and beautiful, with shining red hair, and she comes from a very well-off, very Catholic family. Larry graduates in 1979, and he and Bianca get married three years later. A year after the wedding, Larry opens a dental clinic just outside of Pittsburgh with a friend from college. It's called simply the dentistry. Bianca does administrative work at the office, handling paychecks and the front office staff. And the clinic gets really popular

really fast thanks to Larry's signature technique. Sachi, have you ever heard of sedation dentistry? I'm guessing that's when the dentist puts you to sleep while they're messing with your teeth. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Larry later describes it in one of his own late night TV ads. We'll help you overcome your fears. You can have all your dental work done in one visit why you sleep. So don't put this off any longer. You're not alone. Find out why going to the dentist has never been so easy. In my experience, dentists don't want to put you to sleep unless it's absolutely mandatory. Like if you're having a tremendous amount of anxiety or if it's going to be super painful. Yeah, exactly. I mean, a lot of dentists use

some kind of anesthetic to help with anxiety or pain, but putting patients to sleep for a routine procedure is definitely not the norm. But Larry makes it as calling card and people love it. But there's a downside to being unconscious at the dentist. It makes it easy for Larry to perform expensive, unnecessary procedures, and even make his patient's teeth worse. He gives them unnecessary root canals, grinds their teeth down, and drills holes in them so they'll need more work. He even manipulates X-rays to convince his patients that they'll need additional work done.

And if his co-workers ever question his tactics, Larry gets really angry. He reportedly curses, makes threats, and throw stuff. One of his colleagues later says that he was a nightmare to work with, and that his employees lived in fear. He also says that, quote, money was God to Lawrence. Nothing else in his life mattered. Still, Larry seemingly has everything he's ever wanted. He's got a successful practice, he's making serious money,

and by the early 90s, he and Bianca have two kids. But when a new hire shows up at Larry's office, his perfect life will be turned upside down. In the early 2000s, Laurie Milliron walks down the hall of the dentistry, her heels clicking on the floor. She's 44, svelts, and has blonde hair that falls around her shoulders. She's just been hired as a hygienist on top of working another job as a hygienist elsewhere. The commute is about 60 miles each way,

but she's a single mother with three kids and she needs the extra work. Lori is new here, but she makes a quick impression on at least one person in the office, her boss. It's not clear how Larry and Lori's relationship begins, but things get intense really fast. Now, this is nothing new for Larry. People who know him later say that cheating

on his wife is one of his favorite pastimes. A coworker once asked why he fooled around so much, and Larry told him that it was, quote, as fun as the roller coasters over at the Kennywood theme park. Ah, yes, I too find adultery to be as fun as the cyclone at Coney Island. Well, Larry and Lori are catching some serious feelings. And their emails paint a picture of two deeply infatuated and maybe a literate people, Sachi, can you read the sentence from an email Larry sends to Lori? Yeah, it says,

I can't wait, I want love affection, romance, and attention, BBBBB. The lack of punctuation, even the thoughts and the sentence are utterly unacceptable for people at their big ages. These are adults. Well, Larry takes Lori around the world on vacations,

including hunting trips to places like New Zealand and Ethiopia. And he also starts giving her tons of money, like tens of thousands of dollars in cash and banking deposits. This affair and Larry's flashy lifestyle is getting really expensive, and Larry needs more money to keep up with it. He needs to make a drastic move. A few years later, in October of 2006, Larry's on safari.

He's at a remote hunting camp in Zambia near the Kafoo River. Ever since he started making serious money, his childhood hobby has morphed into a luxury pastime. Whenever he's not at work, he's flying around the world, tracking down rare animals, and killing them for fun. But on this trip, Larry's not acting like himself. He's distracted. He spends most of his time hanging out with the hunting camp

staff, drinking and smoking weed, and he doesn't even seem that interested in bagging game, which is weird because this guy truly loves killing animals. It's also causing some friction among the crew he's with. The meat from the hunts goes toward feeding the group, and Larry isn't pulling his weight. But then, one night, the conversation turns to crocodiles, and Larry seems to perk up. So the guide takes him to a spot in a nearby river and shines his flashlight down into the water. Larry sees that it's teeming with crocs. The guide warns him not to go near this part on his own.

It's dangerous. The next morning, Larry says he's not going hunting. He's too hungover. But a few hours later, when the guide comes back to check on him, Larry is nowhere to be found. Some crew members say they saw him wandering away. And when the guide hears this, he starts freaking out. They're in super remote territory, far from any hospitals. Then he

hears a shot ring out from downstream. Right by the crocodile infested stretch of river he warned Larry about. Pretty soon Larry walks back into camp holding a rifle and with his left hand bandaged up. He tells the guide that he was just fishing down by the river and when he reached down to pull out a catch, a crocodile snapped at him. He says the croc dragged him into the water and bit off a chunk of his thumb before he kicked it off. This sounds suspicious, not because he was told specifically not to go there, but because I feel like if a crocodile snapped at him and then dragged him into the water, he would have eaten far more

of Larry than just, you know, a piece of his thumb. We would not be talking about Larry today. Yeah, the guide feels like something is not right. First of all, Larry is really calm. And though he says he was pulled into the water, he is not very wet. Also his pants are torn in a distressed jeans way rather than a narrowly escaping crocodile jaws of deathway, and the markings on his legs don't really look like bites. Kind of look like someone just jabbed him with a pocket knife. And when the Medevac arrives, Larry won't let anyone look at his hand. Eventually, after a lot of arguing with the Medevac pilot, Larry takes the bandage off. There is a small piece of his thumb missing, but not like a crocodile

bit it off. And when he gets home from his trip, Larry says he's been injured and can no longer practice dentistry. And over the next few years, he'll make a series of disability and insurance claims related to this incident, netting him more than $3.5 million. You know, $3.5 million for a piece of your finger getting bitten off by the crocodile you were told not to engage with is a pretty good payout. Yeah, that is a shit ton of money

for a little chunk of your thumb missing. And the scheme is so brazen that even Larry's closest friends think he shot off the tip of his own thumb for the insurance payout. But it seems like the insurance companies don't want to travel all the way to a super remote part of Zambia to fact check Larry's claim. So they just take his word for it. And Larry caches in. He apparently takes it as a kind of affirmation, because instead of laying low after this wild incident, he decides to take things to a whole new level. About a year after the crocodile incident, Larry is standing on stage in the ballroom of a Dallas hotel.

He's in front of a crowd of hunting enthusiasts in ticsitos and cowboy hats. It's 2007 and they're here for the annual conference of Safari Club International. It's like the NRA but for serious hunters. And Larry has just won their highest award, the Weather Bee. It's known as a Nobel Prize for trophy hunters. To win the Weather Bee, you need to meet a bunch of different criteria, including killing an animal on nearly every continent. Oh, and you also need to have, quote,

ethics and integrity. But Larry's professional life is pretty rocky. He can no longer do procedures because of his crocodile injury and his partners have started to think he's been taking money directly out of the business's accounts, which Larry denies. But after a confrontation, they decide to force him out. Partly because of the money, but also, they're just fed up with this guy. His

anger has always been intense. Like, at a staff meeting, he got so worked up, he ripped an exit sign out of the ceiling. His partners even have to change the locks to keep him out. But of course, Sachi, Larry, doesn't go down without a fight. In 2008, he sues his partners for defamation and breach of contract. The case ends in a settlement. And once it's all over, Larry opens up a brand new clinic called Three Rivers Dental, just 500 feet away from his old office.

I admire that level of pettiness. To be so petty that you wanna run into the person you hate all the time, I'm on board. That is actually something I like. We should do that together. Let's figure it out. Yeah. Well, he brings Lori along to the new office with him.

And guess what? Three rivers is an immediate success. Around the same time, Larry is continuing to gain recognition in the hunting scene. He's actually elected president of Safari Club International. He becomes a figurehead for the organization and rub shoulders with powerful supporters like George W. Bush. He's legitimately a hunting influencer. And in case you're wondering what exactly that entails, here's a YouTube video of Larry addressing his fellow club members. As your president, I continually encourage and support new members,

whether they hunt turkeys and whitetails right here in Western Pennsylvania or mountain game in Pakistan. We are all hunters and we need to be unified. Larry is on top of the world making a name for himself as a hunter and a dentist. Over the next few years, he opens up three more locations of three rivers all around Pittsburgh. But he's about to get his first taste of real failure, and it will send his life spinning

into some unbelievable new territory. It's 2012 and Safari Club International is holding its annual conference at the enormous Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas. The place looks exactly like you'd expect. Pattern hotel carpets at Hurt Your Eyes and oppressive casino lighting. And by this time, Larry's wife Bianca has reportedly started hearing rumors that Larry's having a long-term affair. She's furious. And the rumors are getting to Larry too. One night, he and Bianca are at the hotel bar with a friend, and Larry allegedly goes to look for the Safari Club member

he's convinced is spreading these rumors. Larry reportedly finds him in a hallway and threatens to kill his children and his whole family. This is classic, Larry. I don't expect anything more from him. And, you know, of course, Larry denies things went down this way. Regardless, Bianca stands by her man. But the higher ups at Safari Club International aren't quite as loyal to Larry as Bianca is. They've had enough.

Between his cheating, his temper, and all this stuff he's been piling onto his expense account, he's become a real liability. So a few months later, Larry Larry Spellow Safari Club executives confront him with an audit. They take away his awards and erase his name from the record books. Literally. If you look at the official list of more than 50 years of whether-be award winners, it just says no award winner for the year that Larry won. Imagine being so bad that some hunting club is like, we are just choosing not to acknowledge it at all for the year.

In 50 years, they've never done this. Like, he is the most despicable person. These despicable people have ever encountered. Very high bar to clear. Well, Larry is determined to get revenge. He tries to sue the club for defamation and even makes recordings of other members to try and prove his innocence.

He edits some of those clips and posts them on YouTube. And Sachi, I have to tell you, this video to me is truly a masterpiece. It looks like something from an adult swim show. This is cable access. Well, in the video, Larry denies taking funds from Safari Club International. He says he's contributed more than $200,000 to the group. If he really needed the money, how would he have been able to make such a big donation? And then he says this about the allegations. In hunting terms, we call this a heart shot

and was designed to kill me. Make no mistake. This was done with malice and design, craft of at lies, myths, truths, and slander. Sticks and stones, Larry, come on. And Saty, in the end, the video doesn't make a difference. Actually, it makes things worse. Larry's status in the hunting world has been ripped away.

But if there's one thing we know about Larry, it's that he's never taken a loss lying down. And he's not about to start now. Three years after Larry was kicked out of Safari Club International, he's focused on his dental offices. He recently hired a new office manager named Anna Grimley. She's a spunky, middle-aged woman with dark hair that's streaked with chunky blonde highlights. And since she's new in town, Lori decides to make her feel welcome.

One night, she goes over to Anna's place with a bottle of wine to help her assemble a dresser. As the drinks start flowing, so does the office gossip. There's plenty to talk about. At this point, three rivers dental is basically an empire. It has locations all around Pittsburgh and Larry rules over them with an iron fist. And as a notorious temper is only getting worse, he sends furious emails, screams at employees, punches walls, and throws things all the time. And he's

getting reckless. Employees will later tell Rolling Stone that he drinks a jaymason out of a Styrofoam cup before and during work. I do that. I don't say why that's newsworthy at all. Yeah, you absolutely do. But as the night goes on, Anna later tells Rolling Stone Laurie confides in her about her nearly decade-long affair with Larry. Laurie says that at one point, they plan to take all the money from the business and leave town. But that didn't happen. So according to Anna,

Laurie says she gave Larry an ultimatum. You have one year to get rid of your wife. Laurie and Larry's relationship cools off for a while, but they just can't quit each other. Soon enough, Larry's inviting her to stay at his new home in Arizona while Bianca's away. And as the relationship intensifies, Laurie's ultimatum is back on to. She won't settle for second fiddle. And if Larry wants to keep her happy, he's going to have to make a big move.

In the spring of 2016, almost one year later, Larry and Bianca have recently moved into their new mega mansion in Arizona. But just a few weeks after moving in, Bianca have recently moved into their new mega mansion in Arizona. But just a few weeks after moving in, Bianca says she finds another woman's hair clip in their bed. She knows she needs to find out the truth, so she asks Larry's personal assistant to meet her at the mall. When they meet up, Bianca is distraught. She chokes back tears as she asks whether Larry is cheating on her and his assistant says

yes. Bianca breaks down. She's caught Larry and lies before, but this is the first time she's ever been able to see the truth. Bianca admits that she's fed up, but as a devout Catholic, it doesn't seem like she's even considering divorce. She's also afraid that if they split up, she'll be left with nothing. She claims Larry has a habit of forging her signature and that he signed her name to

a legal document that would block her from getting money if they divorce. She feels trapped. So right there in the mall, she and Larry's personal assistant roleplay a conversation where Bianca finally confronts Larry. She's going to tell him to dumb Laurie and fire her. And if he won't, their marriage will be over for good. But the thing is, Bianca knows her husband. This guy will never admit he's guilty

unless he's backed into a corner. So she goes home and breaks into Larry's email account. She finds a bunch of exchanges with Laurie and prints him out. And when she finally confronts Larry, he does something he's probably not used to doing. He apologizes. He promises Bianca that, if she stays, he'll do whatever she wants. Bianca believes that forgiveness is a requirement in any long-term relationship. She and Larry are going to start over with a clean slate. But for Larry, the pressure

is mounting from both of the women in his life. His promised Bianca he'll be a more devoted husband, but he's also promised Laurie that he'll get rid of Bianca, and he can only keep one of those promises. In October 2016, a few months after Larry and Bianca patched things up, they decided to go to a remote hunting camp on the Kafoo River in Zambia. The same camp where Larry had his crocodile incident a decade earlier. At the end of the trip, their hunting guide asks them if they want to stay a few extra days. But Bianca says they have to get to New York for her nephews wedding. The next morning around 5 a.m. the guides are in the dining hall when a gunshot rings out from Larry's hunting lodge. A guide and a scout

rush over to investigate. When they arrive, they see Bianca's body on the floor covered in blood from a gunshot wound in her chest. Larry's leaning over, and he seems upset. At first, he says that Bianca killed herself. But when they ask questions, Larry immediately changes this story, saying the gun must have gone off while she was trying to pack. He also says that he was in the shower when it happened, which is weird because Larry is fully dressed

and completely dry. It sounds like this is another story of Larry's that completely doesn't add up and has like an element of violence to it, but his version of it just sounds like bullshit. Nothing about it actually makes sense. And when the police arrive, they don't exactly treat it like a crime scene.

They don't take any fingerprints or check for gun shot residue or keep any of Larry and Bianca's clothes. When they're done looking around, they give Larry's gun back to him. Bianca's death is as suspicious as it is tragic. But what Larry's about to do in the days and months, following his wife's death is as suspicious as it is tragic, but what Larry's about to do in the days and months following his wife's death is truly shocking, even for him.

Lesson 12 hours after Bianca's found dead, police conclude that her death was an accident. Authorities want to do an autopsy, but when Larry hears this, he tries to bribe a funeral home to cremate Bianca's body before it can be properly examined. It doesn't work, and eventually a couple of US officials do take pictures of her body, but Larry is furious and screams that they're invading his privacy.

Just three days after her death, Larry finds a funeral home in Zambia willing to cremate Bianca's body. And get this. After all this happens, Larry sends an email to Bianca's brother, pretending she's still alive. We actually got our hands on the letter, and Sachi, which you might be reading what it says, oh, it would be my pleasure.

It says Ralph, we have had to extend our African trip. Regrettably, we will miss the wedding and the trip with all. And then he ends the email by writing, sorry for the last minute notice, email a spotty here. Enjoy the wedding, regards to all, Larry. Yeah, that's why there was a last minute notice. It's because the day I'm in, I'm in Zambia, and Larry also gets in touch with Lori,

saying that there's been an accident. Then two days after he gets back to the US, he emails a lawyer. He needs help dealing with Bianca's life insurance, because it turns out Larry has taken out nine different policies on her life, and he updated the policies earlier this year. Meanwhile, Larry's adult children still do not know

that their mother has died. They actually don't find out about it until almost a full week after her death. Their son, who's in his mid-20s, actually calls the US Embassy in Zambia, frantic, asking whether it's true. Oh, well, that's evil. It's already evil to kill your wife. Obviously, this is like a new layer to let everybody panic. And actually, some of Bianca's friends and family don't find out about her death until

her funeral. Some who attended say the whole thing is brief and badly organized. Bianca, who was so Catholic, she wouldn't divorce her cheating husband, doesn't even get a proper mass. Larry cashes in all nine of Bianca's life insurance policies, collecting around $5 million from her death. Oh, and the jewelry Bianca was wearing when she died. Zambian authorities gave that back to Larry, but according to court documents, he lies

to his insurance company and claims it was lost. He gets a little more than $15,000 for it. The man can literally not help himself. And we don't know what Laurie's thinking at this point, but she doesn't seem too rattled $15,000 for it. The man can literally not help himself. And we don't know what Laurie's thinking at this point, but she doesn't seem too rattled by any of this. In December, just two months after Bianca's funeral, she moves into the Arizona mega mansion Larry bought

for his recently deceased wife. But it seems like Larry's less comfortable continuing to live in the house he renovated with Bianca. So the next summer, he puts down $3.5 million to build a new home just a few miles away. And in the meantime, he and Lori move into a condo. He splurges on a Bentley, an Aston Martin, and a vacation home in Cabo. Several, non-suspicious things to buyife yourself after your wife mysteriously dies on vacation. Yeah, he's not even pretending to grieve, but behind the scenes, Larry's getting paranoid.

He tells his employees at Three Rivers Dental not to accept any cards or flowers for Bianca. If a patient mentions her name, they're supposed to change a subject. And though at this point, Larry pretty much lives in Arizona full time. He finds ways to micromanage three rivers from afar. He has security cameras installed all over the offices, including in the break rooms.

And employees start to notice that Larry's been eavesdropping on their conversations. Like when one female employee quietly asks another for a tampon, they get a call from Larry asking what they're whispering about. And when a receptionist makes a joke about Trump, Larry goes off on a rant about left-wing idiots. Eventually, Larry brings in a waiver for everyone to sign that says they don't have any right to privacy in the office, even in the women's bathrooms.

The same receptionist who joked about Trump actually gets fired because she won't sign it. I feel like we should remind ourselves that this kind of dictator-like atmosphere is happening at a dentist's office. I can't think of anything essential that happens in a dentist's office, including actual dentistry.

Very little of it is, you know, emergency. Yes, I think it's easy to lose sight of the big picture here. And even though all of Larry's paranoia might seem like overkill, the police ruled Bianca's death in accident, and he's already got the insurance money. But he's right to be nervous because the FBI investigation into Bianca's death isn't exactly open and shut. A friend of Bianca's contacted the FBI South African office after her death, telling them she suspected foul play.

And then, in the spring of 2017, an FBI agent calls Larry to ask if he can come in and answer a few questions. And Larry just goes, why would I want to do that? He somehow manages to keep the authority his office back for a while. And he probably knows it's going to be difficult to investigate Beyond His Death. She died in a super remote location,

and not a lot of evidence was collected from the scene. But the feds continue to work the case. And Larry, the hunter, is about to become Larry the Hunter. And I feel like a... About three years go by with no real movement in the case. And it's starting to look like Larry might actually be in the clear until that is Larry decides to blurt out something extremely incriminating in a quiet restaurant. Do you remember what happened, Satchie? If my memory serves me correct,

he yelled out that he killed his wife. Ding ding ding, yes, exactly that. So Brian Lovelace, the bartender at stake 44 that night, mentions it to one of his colleagues, and then she decides to get in touch with the FBI. Brian later tells Rolling Stone, he initially doesn't want to get involved, but he agrees to testify about what he heard. Around the same time, more people are coming forward with allegations against Larry. Some of his former co-workers, a friend of Bianca's, and the ex-wife of one of his hunting guides,

all say they found Bianca's death suspicious. Plus, the FBI has been running ballistic tests using the same shotgun model that killed Bianca, and the more tests they do, the more impossible Larry story seems. Larry and Laurie should probably try to lay low, but of course, they go out and do the exact opposite. In November of 2021, they attend a fundraiser for the Arizona Republican Party,

and Larry tells everyone that he's thinking of running for Congress. And weeks later, just before Christmas, Larry and Laurie board a plane to Cabo. But something is up. Laurie notices a few extra passengers getting on at the last minute, and after they land, Mexican immigration officials arrest Larry. He's taken back to the U.S. and eventually charged with premeditated murder and defrauding life insurance companies. A few days later, Laurie testifies before a federal grand jury and lies her ass off. It's now come to light that Larry's deposited almost $240,000 in Laurie's personal bank account

over the course of their relationship. But Laurie claims she has no idea why Larry gave her so much money, and she denies ever giving Larry an ultimatum to leave Bianca. She gets arrested too and charged with obstruction of justice and lying under oath. For years, Larry and Laurie have done whatever the hell they wanted, no consequences, but now, based with a federal trial, they finally have to answer for their crimes. Larry and Laurie have a joint trial, and they both plead not guilty. In July 2022, Larry takes the stand. He claims he and Bianca were in an open marriage and that he was in the bathroom when she died

taking a huge shit. When asked about where the murder weapon ended up, Larry says under oath that he's not a gun guy and that he paid a quote, Hispanic gentleman, to get rid of it. And then he has the audacity to read his eulogy for Bianca to the jury. He fights back tears and Bianca's brother and cousin get up and leave the courtroom. After Larry's testimony, Lori and her legal team

seemed super confident. She even invites a Rolling Stone reporter back to her apartment where she drinks wine and makes dick jokes with her daughters, her lawyer, and her trial prep coach. Here's what I'll tell you. As a reporter, if somebody who was on trial for murder invited me over to get loaded and talk about Dix on the record. I would send my editor a text that just said jackpot. There's no greater career high.

I honestly don't know what I would do in that situation. Like a part of me would want to be like, do you know how dumb this is? But then also it's like dig your own grave, you know? Yeah, I mean, I'd remind her she was still on the record, but I wouldn't remind her twice. Well, days later, the jury finds Larry guilty of murder, and Laurie guilty of accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Larry was also found guilty of male

fraud after caching in 4.8 million dollars in life insurance payments after Bianca's death. Larry's in custody, and at the time of this recording, he's facing a maximum of life in prison. Laurie faces up to 35 years in prison and has to wear an ankle monitor until her sentencing hearing, which is expected later this year. She and Larry are both planning to appeal, and Laurie is steadfastly maintaining her innocence. But for Larry, the situation seems to be sinking in. Dateline NBC recently intercepted

one of Laurie's phone calls to Larry in prison, and he told her to find a new boyfriend. When she told him to never give up, he said, it's not about giving up, it's about facing reality. He told her he thinks he's gonna die in prison, and Sachi, he might be right. Well, Sachi, that is definitely one of the more cursed stories we've covered on this show.

And I would like to know, has your opinion of dentistry and dentists changed at all? No, my opinion on men named Larry is forever changed, but I still love my dentist. She would never murder her spouse and then say that she was taking a big old dump. Okay, Sachi, I know Larry is a murderer, but I do think that there's something about this whole story where there was really zero motivation for him to be this level of scammer and this level of kind of evil?

There's no origin story, there's no trauma associated with his life as to why he became terrible. It just seems like he's maybe the most purely evil scammer we've covered. Yeah, I mean, I think with scam influencers, we always try to find a reason for someone to make the bad choices that they make. Because more often than not, it comes from being born into poverty, being afraid. Yeah, it's not excuses, but I see how someone could get to that point. There are usually clear motivations, and though we might disagree with them,

we can at least identify what they are. And with this story, the motivations are just that, like Larry is an asshole, and Larry wanted, with Larry wanted, and so he got it in whatever way he could. And he found someone who would engage with him in his most bassist desires. I am interested in discussing his influence only because this guy was an influencer in his own right,

maybe not to a regular person, but I'm wondering how you feel like this played into his scam, like kind of getting to the top of the hunting world, you know what I mean? I feel like Larry didn't get a lot of pushback for a lot of his life, and that's why he felt it was so easy to walk over people. I mean, you don't make a request at your office that the women in the office won't even have a reasonable expectation of privacy

in the bathroom if you don't think that you're gonna get away with it. And so I think he was used to wielding a lot of influence over lots of people and they would just do what he wanted. And I really think he was used to wielding a lot of influence over lots of people, and they would just do what he wanted. And I really think he would have run for Congress, and I think we would have probably heard, like I do believe he had the power to do that.

Yeah, we would be talking about President Larry right now, had he not done all those murders. I would say I was feel a little unsafe with men who want to prove their virility by murdering a lion. There are other ways to be a man. I think even outside of the morality of hunting, it is just like kind of pathetic to imagine like a bunch of men with like very advanced rifles acting out this like, you know, primal instinct of what I'm guessing was like

cavemen running after things and hitting them. Yeah, and it's just like, that's not very tough, you know what I mean? Like you're going on these guys, people have to watch you. Like if you really want to show your man as a hunter, go out with nothing. Run after these lions and kill them with your bare hands, and then maybe I'll respect you a little. Yeah, it's really a game of aim. I think if you want to hunt big game, you should have to do it naked and afraid. A hundred percent. Yeah, best of luck!

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to ScanFluencers, Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. This is Shot Through the Heart. I'm Sarah Haggy, and I'm Sachi Kohl. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at scamfulinswersatwondery.com.

We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were True Crime Safari. Did this Trump loving dentist murder his wife? And worse than the O.J. Glove. The dentist, the love triangle, and the trial of the safari murder mystery by Matt Sullivan in Rolling Stone, and ABC News' 2020 episode, The Last Hunt. Emma Healey wrote this episode,

additional writing by us, Sachy Cole and Sarah Haggy. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi Peary. Our story editor and producer is Sarah Enne. Our story editors are Eric Thurm and Allison Wyntrop. Sound design is by Sam Ada. Fact checking by Gabrielle Jolet. Additional audio assistance provided by Agent Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Freesson Sync.

Our managing producer is Matt Gantt and our senior managing producer is Tanya Thigpen. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock. Kate Young and Olivia Rashard are our series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louis Berwundry. you