Rudnick came from a wealthy family and attended medical school at Duke University alongside future serial killer and rapist [[Greg Yates]], who was a friend of his. In 2002, he dated a Swiss exchange student named Lena Grunwald and was engaged to her, but their relationship was not well and Lena eventually broke up with him. Enraged by this, Rudnick raped and strangled her, then cut her body to pieces and entombed them in the wall of his great-aunt's house, where he was staying at. Rudnick later called Yates to help treat the wounds he sustained during the attack, and Yates gave him tips on how to kill his next victim: by keeping her alive for as long as possible and to fracture her skull to incapacitate her. Rudnick then disguised himself as Lena and used her passport to travel to Switzerland to cover up her death. He then returned to the U.S. using his own passport after the deed was done. At some point before or after that, Rudnick became a renowned medical examiner with the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner department. In his spare …show more content…
After Brooke says it is Rachel, she breaks down into tears and Rudnick comforts her. When the body of Lena is found, Rudnick personally autopsies her too and concludes she was attacked by someone with medical training. When Sergeant [[Olivia Benson|Benson]] and D.A. [[Rafael Barba|Barba]] arrive, Rudnick informs them the body was broken, cut, and tied with an electrical cord to fit in a briefcase. Rudnick gives them basic information on her age and race but makes intentional mistakes to keep her identity from being discovered. He states that while her skull was fractured, the cause of death was strangulation and she was buried for nearly a decade. Rudnick asks how they found her and they say Yates tipped them off to her location. Barba asks if Yates was the murderer, and Rudnick subtly implies he