Lessons in Ruthlessness, Part 1: Solving Homelessness

Today I’m kicking off a new feature: Lessons in Ruthlessness. I’ve always admired people who pursue some lofty goal – be it profit, power, or whatever – with complete and utter disregard for the welfare and feelings of their fellow man. I’ve tried hard to trade in the remnants of my conscience for large amounts of cash, so I look to these role models for inspiration and guidance.

Our first Lesson is quite a doozy, and it comes to us from, where else… Los Angeles. Two septuagenarian women, Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt, were arrested last Thursday on fraud charges. Their alleged crime? Taking in two homeless men, giving them a place to live, food to eat… and 19 life insurance policies valued at over $2 million. Two mysterious hit-and-run accidents later, and the women cashed in on their callous investments. Police suspect the pair may have run this brilliant scam before, and are now looking at past unsolved murders for links.

This story has it all: seemly innocent grandmothers revealed as greedy sociopaths; novel methods of making money off of vagrants; turning seemingly kind acts into startlingly craven schemes for bilking insurance companies. It takes a special kind of mind to look at a homeless person and see a gold mine. Bravo!