A 71-year-old man from Wayne County, Indiana, has been sentenced to prison after admitting to poisoning his wife over several months as part of a plan to marry her daughter. Court records show Alfred Ruf pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in July and was sentenced to four years in prison on August 26, 2023. He initially faced a more severe charge of conspiracy to commit murder, but it was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
The plot came to light after Ruf’s wife experienced a series of unexplained health problems that led to multiple hospitalizations. According to documents obtained by local news outlet WXIN, she was hospitalized six times in just a few weeks, dealing with symptoms like severe headaches, drowsiness, and diarrhea. Toxicology tests revealed the presence of MDMA, cocaine, and benzodiazepines in her system, even though she insisted she had never taken those substances.
Ruf eventually confessed to his wife that he had been spiking her drinks with drugs. This confession was later confirmed by an affidavit cited by the Richmond Palladium-Item. Ruf admitted that he was in a relationship with his wife’s 31-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and that they had planned to be together by removing his wife “out of the picture.”
Court documents further detailed that Ruf’s stepdaughter provided him with a substance to mix into his wife’s drinks. The two had reportedly hoped to use the wife’s life insurance money once she was gone. Ruf confessed to spiking his wife’s drinks, primarily Coca-Cola, at least 12 times over a span of four months, causing her to sleep for extended periods.
Ruf’s attorney, John Lawrence Tompkins, spoke to USA Today about his client’s decision to plead guilty after the charge was reduced. “Once the state changed the nature of the offense, he took responsibility for what he did wrong,” Tompkins said, adding that it was “the appropriate thing to do.”
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office mentioned that during the initial investigation, Ruf admitted to giving his wife an unknown substance, knowing it could be lethal over time. However, when he was arrested in January 2022, deputies also mentioned that two other persons of interest were being looked into. As of now, no additional charges have been brought against anyone else.
Ruf’s sentence includes four years in prison followed by five years of probation, according to court records.
