A 71-year-old Indiana man, Alfred W. Ruf, pleaded guilty in Wayne County Court on Monday to attempting to poison his wife's Coca-Cola with various drugs in a plot to kill her and marry her daughter. Ruf was sentenced to aggravated battery posing a risk of death- a level 3 felony. While a conspiracy to commit murder charge against him was dismissed, he received a four-year prison sentence followed by five years of probation.
The case against Ruf arose from a series of incidents in 2021 when his wife was hospitalised multiple times and tested positive for illegal drugs she denied taking. Ruf reportedly admitted to police that he had been poisoning her to try to kill her and marry her daughter, reported Fox News.
Ruf's wife contacted police in January 2022 after he allegedly confessed to trying to poison her. She reported being hospitalised six times in recent weeks with symptoms like headaches, drowsiness, and diarrhoea. At the hospital, she tested positive for MDMA, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, though she denied using any of these substances.
During a police response to the couple's home, Ruf was heard saying he had been "spiking" his wife's drink with an "unknown substance" provided by her daughter. The wife handed over a pill bottle containing an off-white powdery substance and a Coca-Cola can with a similar residue, the media outlet reported.
Ruf was taken to the sheriff's department for questioning, where he confessed after acknowledging his Miranda Rights. He claimed his wife's daughter from a previous marriage had given him the powdery substance and told him to put it in his wife's drink. Ruf admitted to being in a sexual relationship with the daughter, who allegedly suggested killing the wife to inherit her life insurance policy and later marry Ruf.
Ruf stated that from September to December 2021, he poisoned his wife's drink about 12 times, with the daughter and her friend visiting the house each time she was unconscious. According to court documents, Ruf said he knew the poison would eventually kill his wife and that it was their "ultimate goal."
Ruf reportedly confessed to his wife on January 3, 2022, "because he felt bad." However, the wife told police she became suspicious and confronted him, leading to his admission of drugging her so he could sleep with her daughter and her friend.
Court records show that Ruf's wife had previously filed several reports with local police about missing personal items and had also reported to Indiana State Police her suspicions of being drugged. At the time of Ruf's arrest, local police stated they were still investigating two other suspects connected to the case, but no further arrests have been made.
