A 71-year-old American man has been sentenced to four years in prison and five years of probation after pleading guilty to poisoning his wife in a failed attempt to kill her and marry her daughter. The shocking plot, which involved the victim's stepdaughter, was revealed after a series of suspicious hospitalisations and a dramatic confession.
Alfred W. Ruf, who conspired to poison his wife’s Coca-Cola with a mix of illicit drugs, pled guilty to aggravated battery posing a risk of death, a level 3 felony, in Wayne County Court in Indiana on Monday, Fox reported. Originally facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, Ruf’s more severe charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
The case unravelled after a string of bizarre incidents in 2021, where Ruf’s wife was hospitalised multiple times with severe symptoms, including unexplained headaches, drowsiness, and diarrhea. Medical tests revealed the presence of MDMA, cocaine, and benzodiazepines in her system—drugs she vehemently denied taking. It wasn’t until January 2022, after her husband admitted to poisoning her, that the horrifying truth emerged.
In a disturbing admission to police, Ruf confessed that he had been “spiking” his wife’s drink with an “unknown substance” provided by her own daughter from a previous marriage. “Ruf stated that the substance would then make [his wife] go to sleep for approximately 13 hours or so,” read the court documents.
His intent, he told officers, was to ultimately kill his wife and fulfill a grotesque plan hatched with the daughter, which included stealing the wife’s personal items and eventually marrying the daughter, Fox reported.
The police investigation uncovered that Ruf had poisoned his wife’s drink around 12 times between September and December 2021. During these months, the daughter and her friend would allegedly visit Ruf’s home while his wife was unconscious. While the convict and his step-daughter had sexual intercourse, her friend stole items from the house. Ruf reportedly paid the step-daughter and her friend for their involvement.
The twisted plot was finally exposed when Ruf, overcome with guilt, admitted to his wife in early January 2022 that he had been poisoning her. His wife, already suspicious due to her missing personal items and deteriorating health, contacted the police, leading to Ruf’s arrest.
While Ruf has been sentenced, the investigation is ongoing. Local police are still probing the involvement of the daughter and another individual connected to the case, but no further arrests have been made.
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