19-Mar-18 – Before his murder trial starts in June, Donnie Rudd, the former Chicago lawyer who helped overhaul condominium law in Illinois, will first be examined by Dateline NBC correspondent Keith Morrison.

A two-hour documentary on Rudd is scheduled for March 25 on the Investigation Discovery television network, programs of which are seen in 85 million households in the United States.

Peacock Productions has been working on the documentary for Investigation Discovery for about one year. Producer Azriel Relph and a documentary film crew were in the Chicago area last March.

From the small towns of Texas to elite suburbs of Chicago, the documentary, says Investigation Discovery, tells Rudd’s story through family members and business associates. His trial still pending, Rudd himself was not interviewed.

Rudd is accused of killing his wife of 28 days, 19-year-old Noreen Rudd (left), in 1973. Now 75 years old with careers in law and medicine, Rudd maintains Noreen died in a traffic accident. Prosecutors believe the accident, on what is now Dundee Road in Barrington Hills, Illinois, was staged, and that Rudd murdered his wife – striking her in the head – for insurance policies worth more than $100,000.

Rudd (right) has never denied receiving the money but contends he did not know of the insurance policies until after Noreen died. The judge in the trial has ruled Rudd may use part of his bond fund to pay for an expert witness. On March 7, Rudd told Circuit Court Judge Marc Martin he needs $25,000 for the witness, a forensic pathologist. His bail set at $4 million, Rudd was released from custody on September 15, 2016, after paying $400,000.

The documentary premiers on March 25 at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. Rudd’s trial is scheduled to start on June 25 at Third Municipal District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows.