No one batted an eye at the two women who became fast friends at an LA gym in the 1990s – until years later, when it came out that they’d teamed up for a plot to kill men down on their luck. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the backgrounds of Helen Goulet and Olga Ruderschmidt?
This episode includes discussions of murder. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. At first glance, you probably wouldn't clock Helen Goulet and Olga Ruderschmidt as serial killers. Helen was a Texan with big hair and a mind for real estate. Olga was a fast-talking Hungarian immigrant who made a habit out of suing people. Both were over 62, old enough to retire.
Chapter 2: What shocking scheme did Helen and Olga concoct?
In decades on their own, neither woman was a hardened criminal. However, once they got together, they became co-conspirators in a shocking insurance scheme, one that left millions of dollars in their pockets and at least two bodies in their wake. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. I'm Janice Morgan.
You might recognize me as the voice behind the investigative docuseries Broken and the true crime podcast Fear Thy Neighbor. I'm guest hosting for Serial Killers, and I'm thrilled to be here. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast, and we'd love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts.
Today, we'll meet Helen Goulet and Olga Ruderschmidt. They found their victims in Los Angeles in the late 90s and early 2000s, in between trips to the gym. Stay with us.
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Once they became friends, Helen Goulet and Olga Ruderschmidt did just about everything together. But while the two were joined at the hip in adulthood, their beginnings couldn't have been more different. Because she was born first, we'll start with Helen's story, which begins in Texas in 1931. her childhood was marred by instability and tragedy.
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Chapter 3: How did Helen Goulet's early life shape her later choices?
Soon after her birth, her mom left the family and ran off with another man. When she was still just a young girl, her dad died in a car crash. She moved in with her grandfather in Texas, then her cousins in Washington State. But nothing lasted. Eventually, during her late teens, she ended up in foster care, which she left when she turned 18.
After graduating high school, Helen tried to establish herself in Oakland, California, struggling to find a good job and provide for herself. But she soon found out that it was easier to rely on someone else than to fend for herself. In this instance, that someone else was 22-year-old Vernon Goulet.
When they met in 1951, Vernon was a Navy veteran on his way to becoming a dentist with a steady salary. That meant he could take care of Helen in a way no one had since she was a little girl. The couple married and settled down in Salem, Oregon, and went on to have two daughters. For a while, it seemed that Helen's life had changed for the better.
She wanted for nothing and was in a loving, stable home. But then, around 1960, after nine years of marriage, it all came crashing down when the couple divorced. Helen kept the girls and returned to California. At some point after that, she got back into the dating scene. And in the spring of 1962, she wound up pregnant. The relationship didn't last, but she decided to keep the baby.
In her book, Signed in Blood, author Jean King claims Helen's ex, Vernon, wasn't happy with this new development and made it clear that he'd only pay child support for their two daughters and not her daughter with another man. It's unclear if Helen ever even asked him to help out with her youngest daughter, but the fact remains that there was now an extra mouth to feed.
The stress of it all seemed to weigh on her, as did her ex's financial presence. By the mid-60s, 30-something Helen was a struggling single mom in Los Angeles, which has never been an easy city to make it in. Helen picked up odd jobs, but at times, she had to rely on welfare just to get by. Then, one day, her luck changed.
At some point in the 70s, she got a job in real estate, which brought her into the orbit of mogul Artie Aaron. She started bringing in real money for the first time in her life, and she was even able to purchase several rental properties of her own. Given her history, you might expect Helen to be a sympathetic landlord, but that wasn't the case.
She wanted to make as much as she possibly could, so she raised her rents through the roof. But in 1979, the city of Los Angeles passed the rent stabilization ordinance. This meant that landlords could only increase rent once a year and only buy so much. After that, a lot of property owners felt like they couldn't make a profit anymore. Helen, though? She took it in stride.
She figured there were other ways to make a quick buck off her tenants. One of which was collecting fines if they broke any of her rules. But for that to work, Helen had to catch people in the act. So over the next several years, she reportedly peered in windows, listened at doors, and generally snooped.
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Chapter 4: What traumatic experiences influenced Olga Ruderschmidt's life?
So she left her mother and her homeland behind. She journeyed to New York City, where a local family sponsored her. What she actually got up to in New York is unclear. But by the early 1970s, the 40-something moved to Los Angeles. There, she met and married her husband, Andre Ruderschmidt. Soon after that, the two opened up a coffee shop in Hollywood.
In a way, the small business symbolized her rise to success. From a child of war to a businesswoman, Olga was the American dream personified. Unfortunately, her life followed a similar trajectory to Helen's. Great until it wasn't. In 1978, Olga's marriage ended. The coffee shop closed down. Olga was on her own. Even worse, she was low on cash. Her solution? Lawsuits.
One time, she was at a grocery store and claimed that a stack of boxes had fallen and maimed her. She hit the store with a personal injury claim. Another time, she complained to a coffee shop manager that she'd been served subpar food. A nearby customer overheard the commotion and came to interject. Only, they didn't just use their words.
According to Olga, this third party shot her with a stun gun, right there in the middle of the store. It's almost too wild to believe. But Olga insisted it was all true. What's more, she claimed the attack had caused her physical injuries and emotional trauma. So she filed a negligence claim against the coffee shop.
It seems like a frivolous case, but it might have worked out for Olga Ruderschmidt, because by the mid-80s, she could afford visits to the Sports Connection Athletic Club. That's where she reportedly met and became enamored with Helen Golay, and that friendship would change her life. Call it fate or destiny, but when Helen Goulet met Olga Ruderschmidt, she felt an instant kinship.
They were both beautiful health nuts, both divorced, and most importantly, they both liked the idea of easy money. It was almost inevitable that the 50-somethings would be fast friends. One of their early capers together involved a trip to the exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel. Once inside, Helen grabbed Olga's arm and took her to the bathroom.
They changed into their sexiest swimsuits and spent the day lounging at the pool. But they weren't finished. They were on a mission to find a fabulously wealthy man and make off with whatever they could. It didn't take long for a guy to approach. He was immediately taken by Helen's southern drawl. And as Helen flirted with him, Olga pickpocketed his wallet. Then the two ladies excused themselves.
They said they just needed to run to the bathroom and promised they'd be back in a minute. Instead, they ducked into a stall, changed back into their regular clothes, and strutted out of the hotel. By the time the guy realized he'd been fleeced by two middle-aged women, they were long gone. As far as we can tell, Olga was more than happy to be Helen's wingwoman. But Helen wasn't quite so pleased.
While the scheme was fun, stealing wallets was small-time stuff. If they wanted to make real money, they'd need to change up the game. At this point, they'd each dabbled in the litigation business and now seemed like the perfect time to combine their efforts. Not that Helen needed the cash.
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