"If they conspired, it doesn't matter who actually ran over (the victims). They are guilty," Deputy District Attorney Truc Do said in closing arguments.
Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, and Helen Golay, 77, are each charged with two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for financial gain. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Do said the women invested heavily in insurance policies on the lives of Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid, who were run over by cars in deserted alleys more than five years apart.
"They picked up complete strangers, men they did not love or care for, destitute men, and made them worth millions if dead," Do said.
The prosecutor said the women bought a total of 21 insurance policies worth $4.5 million and collected $2.8 million after paying premiums on term insurance policies that would have lapsed in 10 years if the men did not die. Testimony showed the women were continuing to try to collect more when they were arrested.
In the case of Vados, who was in his 70s, Do said the only kind of policy available was one that would pay in case of accidental death or dismemberment. When he was struck by a car in 1999, the women collected $829,500 on his insurance.
"This was not insurance fraud or a gamble that someone might die of natural causes," the prosecutor said. "It was murder."
Do said the women supported McDavid for two years, paying premiums of $64,000 on 17 insurance policies "on a man they did not know."
"They owned his life, is the way they saw it. ... They weren't going to let him go because he was worth $3.74 million," Do said. She said the women collected $2 million on his policies and were seeking more from insurance companies that balked at paying.
Defense attorneys were to present their closing arguments Friday afternoon. Superior Court Judge David Wesley said the case would probably go to the jury Monday.
Golay's lawyer, Roger Jon Diamond, has suggested his client's daughter was the driver of the car that ran over McDavid in 2005 and that the mother knew nothing about it. The daughter is not charged in the case.
Do said the driver's identity was irrelevant because the defendants bought a car to use as a murder weapon and conspired to kill McDavid.
"These women are guilty of murder whether or not you conclude they were at the crime scene," she said, noting they could be convicted of aiding and abetting as well as conspiracy.
She projected photos of the men's bodies and pointed out injuries she said were atypical of hit-and-run accidents. Both women stared at the pictures without reacting, while the victims' daughters wept softly.
"This was an intentional running over, not a hit-and-run," Do said.
She said the defendants had enticed the two men with offers of friendship and a way out of destitution.
"Mr. Paul Vados thought Olga Rutterschmidt was his only friend," the prosecutor said. "Mr. McDavid thought they were rescuing him from sleeping on the streets. It was inconceivable to these men that these defendants would cross the bounds of human decency to murder them. And it is incredible."
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