LINDA DEUTSCH

Two elderly women accused of killing two homeless men to collect millions of dollars in insurance payouts have been convicted of conspiracy to murder and one was convicted of the murders themselves.

The jury was to hear more arguments yesterday before deciding remaining charges against Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75.

Golay was convicted of the murders of Kenneth McDavid, 50, in 2005 and Paul Vados, 73, in 1999. She was also convicted of the conspiracy charges in both killings.

Rutterschmidt was convicted of conspiracy to murder McDavid for financial gain.

Prosecutors said the women collected £1.4m from insurance policies on the lives of two homeless men who were killed in staged hit-and-runs.

Golay could face sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rutterschmidt could face a sentence of 25 years to life.

Prosecutors said the women recruited their prey from among the homeless of Hollywood, invested thousands in insurance policies on them and in putting them up in flats, then drugged them and ran them over in secluded alleys.

Both men initially appeared to have been victims of hit-and-run accidents, and police linked the cases only in late 2005 when a detective investigating one overheard a colleague describe a similar case.

The women were likened to the old lady killers in the film Arsenic and Old Lace, who poisoned their victims.

A key witness was a homeless man who said he was targeted as another victim but left when Rutterschmidt put him under pressure to sign papers. Jimmy Covington, 48, said she approached him on a street in 2005 and promised benefits, a place to stay and money.