Photo: Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office
A man accused of attempting to kill his wife recently won a World Series of Poker bracelet online while awaiting trial.
Rudy Gavaldon, 36, from Traverse City, wasn't in custody when he won the WSOP.com Michigan online bracelet for Event #3 $500 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo 6-Max and $20,193 under the screen name 'Flyheim86' last week, PokerNews.com reports. The tournament took place 11 months after he was charged with intent to commit murder and being a habitual offender in relation to a brutal assault on his now-ex-wife, Lara Gavaldon, on July 29, 2022.
Gavaldon had previously pled guilty to larceny in a building and third-degree home invasion for an incident that took place in 2011, which resulted in an 11-month jail sentence and 36 months on probation. The suspect had claimed that his wife was dying and needed medical attention when officers arrived at the crime scene at 12:05 a.m. on July 30, 2022, according to a police report obtained by PokerNews.com.
Lara Gavaldon was located inside the home and transported to a local hospital before eventually being airlifted to Grand Rapids Hospital for life-threatening injuries, at which point her then-husband was detained. Rudy Gavaldon was lodged at the Grand Traverse County Jail, but the facility said he hasn't been in custody since August 2022 and was awaiting trial at the time of his online poker win.
The 36-year-old had previously finished third for $2,858 in the WSOP Online Circuit Series Event #12: $20,000 NLH PKO 6-Max six days prior to his bracelet win and had also cased in a $500 no-limit hold'em Michigan online bracelet on June 4 following a $1,242 score for 10th place.