In 2002, Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were riding high following their first successful life insurance scam. Before the women set their sights on their next victim, Kenneth McDavid, there was another scheme brewing. This one, developing across the country, and involving an elderly man named Fred Downie. At 96-years-old, this widowed New Englander owned a house on Cape Cod, and somehow befriended a young woman named Kecia Golay, Helen Golay’s youngest daughter. 

Kecia soon convinced Fred to move to Southern California, where her mother owned several properties. Fred Downie agreed and would indeed find his place in the sun, though only for a short time. He’d write his niece Mildred letters about the glory of west coast living. As the months rolled by, however, the letters got more despondent. And then, the letters stopped. Soon, Mildred would learn that Fred was dead. 

Unfortunately for Helen and Olga, their claim on an insurance policy for Kenneth McDavid landed on the desk of Ed Webster, a detail-oriented insurance investigator who previously worked as a private eye. And Ed had questions. Soon, the LAPD got involved. Through Kenneth McDavid’s case, they learned about Fred Downie’s case which only raised more questions. Why was 97-year-old Fred Downie in the middle of the road, unattended, when he was struck by a car? And why was he carrying funeral instructions on him when he died? 

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Follow host, Jami Rice, on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube @JamiOnAir to keep up with this story and other true crime cases she’s deep-diving into and providing commentary on.

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Dirty Money Moves is a collaboration between MURDERISH and Cloud10 Media.

Executive Producers are: Jami Rice and Sim Sarna

Research and writing by: Zach Selwyn

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Sources are available at MURDERISH.com

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