Rudy Gavaldon, the winner of the WSOP.com Michigan-only bracelet Event #3, $500 NLH Turbo 6-Max, has been identified as then man currently awaiting trial for the attempted murder of his wife in July 2022. Gavaldon, from Blair Township, Michigan, near Traverse City, also faces repeat-offender charges.
Gavaldon, 36, competed as "Flyheim86" in the WSOP.com event and topped a 193-entry field to win $86,850 and the bracelet. Gavaldon has cashed three times this month in WSOP.com Michigan's ongoing online bracelet events and Online Circuit series.
Just after midnight on what was then July 30, 2022, a Grand Traverse County sheriff's deputy responded to calls about a man who was knocking on doors and claiming that he was dying. The deputy arrived and found Gavaldon carrying a child but displaying no visible injuries. Gavaldon then told the deputy that it was his wife who was dying, and the deputy soon discovered Gavaldon's wife, Lara, who had suffered life-threatening facial injuries.
Lara Gavaldon was immediately brought to a hospital in Traverse City for emergency care, and she was soon transferred to a facility in Grand Rapids for further treatment. The injuries inflicted on Lara Gavaldon resulted in facial-reconstruction surgery and the removal of one of her eyes.
Rudy Gavaldon was immediately arrested and charged after a brief investigation. He was freed on bail weeks after the July 2022 arrest.
Friends and family of Lara Galavdon, who was 28 at the time of the life-threatening assault, started a GoFundMe drive to help with her ongoing medical and living expenses. The GoFundMe drive had already drawn nearly $30,000 of its stated $50,000 goal at the time Rudy Gavaldon won his WSOP online bracelet.
Featured image source: Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department
