PITTSBURGH — In the mind of filmmaker Dani Sloane, there are many unknowns in the case of Larry Rudolph, the wealthy Greensburg dentist sentenced to life in prison in 2023 for killing his wife on a 2016 hunting safari in Zambia.

Despite the conviction, she said, the story of Rudolph and the woman with whom he was having an affair, Lori Milliron (convicted of accessory to murder), still sparks conversation. That's one reason the story is the focus of her directorial debut, "Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari," which was released July 21 on Hulu.

The three-episode docuseries provides insight into Rudolph's case, analyzing the long-lasting patterns of behavior that led to his eventual murder conviction. It also includes interviews with his former coworkers, children and even Rudolph and Milliron themselves from prison.

Many of those interviews were conducted in Pittsburgh, and the series features shots taken around the region including those from Green Tree and the West End Overlook.

Creatively, the series is dark and "dream-like" in tone, utilizing Petzval lenses that mimic tunnel vision and foreboding music composition. This "visual language" was adopted to mirror mysterious aspects of Rudolph's story, Sloane said.

Sloane became aware of the saga after reading Matt Sullivan's 2022 Rolling Stone article, which detailed the mystery shrouding Bianca Rudolph's death prior to her husband's conviction. Immediately, Sloane sent the article to her producer and said "This is a story that we need to look into."

"The minute I read the article, I was like 'I'm hooked and I feel like there will be something in this that other people resonate with,'" Sloane said.

By this point, Rudolph's story was already of international significance. But its roots are local to Pittsburgh.

Rudolph graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's dental school, where he met his wife Bianca Finizio. The two married in 1982.

Eventually, Rudolph opened a Green Tree practice called The Dentistry. Though his patients generally had positive experiences, former employees of the practice said in the documentary that Rudolph had "another side."

He would throw fits of rage, chucking dental equipment into walls and at employees, according to former coworkers, and his relationships with female employees were often questioned. MaryAnn Versmessen, a previous dental assistant at the practice, said Rudolph "always had someone on the side," and he would "come on to everybody" in the office.

Rudolph claimed he lost his left thumb during a scuffle with a crocodile on one of his many hunting excursions to Zambia in 2006 and, claiming he could no longer perform as a dentist due to nerve damage in his hand, filed insurance claims for worker's disability. Though many of his former coworkers believe the attempt was faked, insurance agencies were shelling out $30,000 of tax free disability to Rudolph every month.

Then, when he was forced out of The Dentistry by his coworkers for seeing patients behind closed doors for cash, Rudolph opened a rival practice called Three Rivers Dental Group in 2008, which still exists today with locations in Cranberry, Greensburg and — right across the street from The Dentistry — Green Tree.

All the while, Rudolph was seeing Milliron on the side. Former coworkers in the docuseries allege the two were both power and money hungry. At trial, Milliron was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and accessory to murder.

While Sloane can't say herself whether Rudolph actually "did it," she said she was more interested in telling a story that an audience would talk about.

Rudolph was the archetype of a man who thinks everything is his for the taking, reflective of people who "just want more," said Sloane.

"I think people can figure out lots of parallels that they can draw between him and many figures that are out there today," Sloane said.

But Milliron's story was also significant. Sloane said viewers can look at Milliron and see "so many different things" — a "terrible boss" and "homewrecker" or a single mother who "fell in love with a man at work."

"You can look at the patterns of behavior leading up to [Bianca's death] and after it and have some questions about why [Milliron] did what she did, why she ultimately went in front of the grand jury without an attorney and lied under oath," Sloane said.

Still, Sloane believes it's a good thing that her story leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Since the series' July 21 debut, family and friends have been reaching out to Sloane to ask her what she truly believes. She has also enjoyed reading social media comments from Pittsburghers realizing they, too are connected to Rudolph's story.

"I really feel passionately about putting content out there that fosters conversation," Sloane said.

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