[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
An Indiana man pleaded guilty to aggravated battery after admitting he poisoned his wife. And the story behind that is… even more shocking.
According to newly revealed court documents accessed by USA Today and other outlets, 71-year-old Alfred Ruf (pictured above) pled guilty to aggravated battery during a court hearing in Richmond, Indiana back in July. Then, on Monday of this week, he was sentenced to four years in prison and five more years of probation.
According to prosecutors, the whole thing came about after Ruf got the idea to kill his longtime wife… so that he could marry his stepdaughter!
Related: Two 14-Year-Old Girls Charged In Horrifying Murder Of Elderly Woman
Per multiple outlets, Ruf told cops that he began “spiking” his wife’s drinks in January 2022. The substance he used, which authorities later determined to contain cocaine, MDMA, and benzodiazepines, was first given to him by his stepdaughter — the woman’s very own daughter.
The whole plot came undone when the wife began to suspect she was being drugged. She went to the cops with a pill bottle she found in her house that contained an unknown powdery substance with an “off-white residue.” They tested it, and also her blood and urine, and all samples came back with those three drugs. She denied ever using drugs herself — and so, the investigation was on.
The whole thing began to unravel rather quickly after that. When questioned, Ruf admitted he had been poisoning his wife in a wild bid to get with her daughter from a previous marriage. Ruf’s defense attorney told USA Today:
“Once the state changed the nature of the offense, he took responsibility for what he did wrong. That’s the appropriate thing to do.”
Uh… sure… better late than never, we suppose.
The motive for Ruf’s poisoning attempt is even crazier. Per prosecutors, Ruf admitted to being sexually involved with his stepdaughter, who is — thankfully — an adult at 31 years old. She was the one who gave him the pill bottle, he claimed, and she ordered him to put the substance in her mother’s Coca-Cola. But the stepdaughter has not been charged in connection with the crimes.
As for the reasoning behind it, prosecutors said Ruf and the stepdaughter, who has not been named publicly, were having sex — and were even keen on getting married after his wife was out of the picture. At various times, the stepdaughter — as well as an unidentified friend of hers — would call Ruf and ask him to come sprinkle the poison into the Coke cans. At that point, according to a police affidavit, all hell would break loose:
“Alfred would then sprinkle some of the white powder in (his wife’s) Coca-Cola can and then wait for her to fall asleep. [The two women] would then come to Alfred’s residence and put more of an unknown substance in (Ruf’s wife’s) drink and have her drink it.”
Then, with his wife knocked out cold — Ruf told cops she would usually be unconscious for 12-13 hours — the daughter and her friend would put on a “show” for the old man. Per court docs, the two younger women would wear the wife’s lingerie and perform “sex acts on each other” for Ruf to watch.
WTF?!?!?!
Ruf would pay the women for the sex acts, per cops. And to top it all off, the two women allegedly stole some of the unconscious wife’s personal items during those sex sessions, as well. Per the affidavit, the stepdaughter in question wanted to “get mom out of the picture” after first learning that Ruf and his wife were planning on selling their home. (Seems like we’ve been hearing a lot of unsettling news in that realm lately…) The stepdaughter was also apparently interested in a life insurance policy that was in place for her mother.
Related: Daughter Allegedly Helped Mom Murder Dad With Poison She Got On Etsy!
Ruf’s stepdaughter kept telling him they would get married after they “took care” of his wife, per court docs. So yes, Ruf did realize his wife would eventually die from the persistent powerful drug cocktails. In the end, he told interrogators he “felt bad” about what was going on and decided to come clean. Now he’s facing the prospect of spending some time in prison on these horrific charges.
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[Image via Richmond Police Department/Coca-Cola/YouTube]
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