A Cowboy Passes
Steve Rudd's integrity apparently cost him work in Spokane's regional construction industry. The resulting stress may have contributed to his death, but it was a price he was willing to pay.
By Larry Shook
(October 13, 2009)
SPOKANE, WASH. — Former construction fraud investigator Steve Rudd died of a massive heart attack Friday, according to his fiancé, Nicole Fairbank. He was delivering firewood in the Spokane Valley at the time of his death.
Rudd was extensively quoted in the story “Deathtrap” on this website. Based on construction work he performed on the Cowles-owned River Park Square parking garage, Rudd feared that hazardous deterioration of the facility made it unsafe for public occupancy. He was also concerned that Cowles media was covering up the hazards. As reported in “Deathtrap,” Rudd presented evidence of the garage's dangerous condition to former Cowles television news anchorman Randy Shaw. According to Rudd, Shaw told him that his superiors would not permit him to report the story. Shaw confirmed Rudd's account.
Rudd blamed the Cowles garage's poor condition for the death of Jo Ellen Savage on April 8, 2006. Savage's car fell through a barrier that, according to the garage's former manager, had earlier been marked for replacement.
Several times this year Rudd called me to inform me that he was fired from construction jobs, due to his high profile in “Deathtrap.” Rudd told me he lost three different jobs for this reason, naming the jobs and contractors involved. I asked if he regretted speaking out.
“No,” he said. “I did the right thing. I'm at peace with my decision.”
Nevertheless, Rudd's candor took its toll on him.
Did the stress of his battles contribute to his death?
“Oh, I know it did,” answered Fairbank.
Did Rudd regret talking to me for “Deathtrap”?
“He did not,” she said. “We talked about it, and he didn't regret one minute of it.”
Fairbank said she spoke to Rudd on the phone forty-five minutes before his death. “He sounded fine. He was just so happy to be going and delivering this firewood to someone who needed it. He told me he loved me. I told him I loved him and I'd see him later.”
Steve Rudd was forty-nine years old. Services are scheduled for 1 p.m., October 15 at the Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home, 1306 N. Pines Rd. in the Spokane Valley.
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