COLUMBUS (Ohio) — A man from Ohio was sentenced to life for shooting 11 relatives, including eight children, to death on Easter 1975.
James Ruppert, aged 88, was taken to the Franklin Medical Center in Columbus by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Ruppert’s death was announced Monday by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. It stated that Ruppert died from natural causes, but that an official cause of death has yet to be determined.
Ruppert was living with his mother in Hamilton at the time of the shootings. Ruppert was rumored to have struggled with alcohol and was currently unemployed.
Ruppert’s brother and sister-in law, along with their eight children, were visiting Ruppert for the holiday. His brother asked Ruppert about his car. Ruppert took this as an insult, since he believed his brother — an engineer who is highly successful — was judging him.
Ruppert fired 44 shots with three pistols and one rifle, 40 of which hit his victims according to authorities. The bodies of eight children, ranging in age from 4-16 years old, were found scattered across the first-floor rooms.
Ruppert was allegedly contemplating suicide for about two hours, according to a psychiatrist. But that would have been a grave sin, and Ruppert decided not to let that be his last act. He instead called police.
