Indiana Man Admits to Poisoning Wife's Coca-Cola For Months, Planned to Marry Her Daughter

An Indiana man was diabolical in his attempti to end his marriage.

On Monday (August 26), 71-year-old Alfred Ruf was sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to aggravated battery after admitting to poisoning his wife, Lisa Bishop, 51. The scheme lasted for months with Ruf having the intention of marrying her daughter, per local outlets.

It was in 2022 that Bishop notified police with concerns that Ruf was attempting to kill her. In six hospitalizations, Bishop tested positive for substances that she didn't willingly take, like cocaine, MDMA and benzodiazepines. The woman also suffered from "unexplained headaches, drowsiness, diarrhea and more" according to the Kansas City Star.

Ruf was accused of poisoning his wife’s Cokes 12 times for over four months. According to court documents, the concoction caused Bishop to sleep for "13 hours or so."

Ruf reportedly confessed to Bishop that he had been "spiking" her soft drinks with a powdery substance allegedly given to him by Bishop's 31-year-old daughter.

Ruf also reportedly admitted to having sex with his wife's daughter, who instructed him to put the powder into his wife's drink. The daughter reportedly told Ruf that they should plan to "get mom out of the picture" in order to inherit the life insurance policy.

The man would eventually confess in 2022 to "feeling bad" about the poisoning, which he claimed involved two other women.

Ruf was initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder. “Once the state changed the nature of the offense, he took responsibility for what he did wrong,” John Lawrence Tompkins, Ruf's attorney, told USA Today.

Following his 4-year sentence, Ruf will serve five years of probation.