Arizona 79-Year-Old Man Who Confessed to Killing His Wife Disappears After Officials Find Ankle Monitoring Bracelet in Bushes

A 79-year-old Arizona man who was accused of shooting and killing his wife has disappeared.

Sun City resident Howard Rudolph didn't show up to a pretrial hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday morning, CBS' local station in Phoenix reported.

Rudolph was arrested in August of last year, after he told law enforcement officials that he'd fatally shot his wife because of a severe illness from which she suffered.

Rudolph was initially taken in for first-degree murder, but was later charged with second-degree murder, KPHO reported. While the 79-year-old was held on a $750,000 bond, his attorney managed to augment the details of his release. But the daughter of the murder victim, Diane Davis, along with officials from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office disagreed with Rudolph's discharge.

"He admitted it in the police report that he did it," Davis told KPHO. "How could they just say, 'Well, you're innocent until proven guilty, go out' and hope you come back? The judge made it very apparent he's a 79-year-old man. What's he going to do? He's not going to jump. He's not going to leave. And here we are. No one knows where he is."

Davis said she attended the hearing, scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on Monday, but was quickly given news of Rudolph's disappearance by Deputy County Attorney Katie Staab.

"She said, 'Diane, I had a phone call from pretrial. They were very adamant to speak with me, and this is what they told me. They told me that Howard cut the monitor off of his ankle and they found it in a bush and they have no idea where he's at,'" Davis recounted. "I knew he wasn't going to be there. I mean, from the get go, I knew he would not face what he's done. He's a coward."

Rudolph was originally released on grounds that Pretrial Services would keep an eye on him. He was ordered to live with friends in Sun City West, with a tight curfew and the aforementioned ankle bracelet.

Officials said they've tried calling Rudolph's public defender Christopher Manberg multiple times with no response. Davis said she is worried that Rudolph killed himself.

Rudolph has been described as 6'3" tall and weighing 189 pounds. He reportedly fled in a white Lincoln Town car with Arizona plates reading BER-4316.