What happened to the man who poisoned his wife’s Coca-Cola so he could marry her daughter?

In 2021, then 69-year-old Alfred W. Ruf took his wife to the hospital six times with symptoms including serious headaches, nausea, and drowsiness. Ruf’s wife, who at this writing has not been identified in the press, tested positive for illegal drugs, which she said she didn’t take.

About a year later, Ruf’s wife told the police her husband admitted he had tried to kill her by putting drugs like MDMA, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, which her daughter from a previous marriage had given him, in her Coca-Cola. Ruf confessed to what he’d done because he “felt bad,” and admitted he conspired to murder his wife with his wife’s daughter, who in her 30s, and the daughter’s female friend.

Ruf revealed he was having an affair with his wife’s daughter, and said they planned to be together after Ruf’s wife died, Indiana news outlet WXIN reported. Ruf said they planned to kill his wife to collect on a life insurance policy, and that her daughter also hoped to collect on the proceeds from selling their home.

Ruf’s wife’s daughter performed sex acts for Ruf

As if Alfred Ruf having an affair with his wife’s daughter wasn’t unsettling enough, the women involved in the case performed for Ruf sexually with each other, in addition to the sexual relationship Ruf had with his wife’s daughter. Ruf reportedly paid his wife’s daughter and the other woman for the sex shows, and while Ruf was having sex with his wife’s daughter, the other woman allegedly stole his wife’s belongings. All of this happened after Ruf’s wife was drugged and fell asleep.

Once arrested, Ruf, so far the only person charged in the case, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery posing a risk of death. In Aug. 2024, Ruf, 71, was sentenced to four years in prison and five years probation. In 2022, when Ruf was arrested, authorities said they were investigating two other suspects involved in the case, presumably Ruf’s wife’s daughter and her friend. Neither woman has so far been identified in the press. The status of that investigation is unclear.