Ruby Ann Ruffolo, the woman accused of killing her husband with a fatal dose of heroin in 2003, will have her case documented on an episode of Scorned . Investigation Discovery’s hit show examines the murder cases of individuals that have adultery and infidelity as the central theme. ID’s Scorned will return with a new season, beginning with the episode entitled, “Northern Exposure,” which will follow the case of a book-smart housewife who plotted and carried out the murder of her own husband. Ruby Ann Ruffolo, aka Ruby Ruffolo, was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years-to-life in a Canadian prison. The case was featured on Oxygen’s Snapped several years ago.
https://www.facebook.com/timescolonist/posts/493456164044471
John Ruffolo’s dead body was found in a ditch by a hiker off of Humpback Road in Langford, British Columbia, in October, 2003. He’d been reported missing five days before by his wife, Ruby Ann Ruffalo, who told police that her husband had a problem with drugs. As detectives checked further into the couple’s marital background, they found that Ruby Ann Ruffalo was an out-of-work housewife with a law degree that she never used. John Ruffalo was an armed guard who worked countless hours.
The marriage was a troubled one that left the couple distant and at odds. Detectives found out that John Ruffalo was doing more than keeping guard at night, he was also carrying on an intense sexual affair with a woman at work. In fact, John was ready to move on with his life, a fact that angered Ruby Ann, since she was jealous that he was engaging in extramarital affairs. She also had no desire to divide up the rental properties that they owned.
As detectives probed further, they learned that Ruby Ann Ruffalo had tried to find someone who would kill her husband, and when she couldn’t, it was possible that she had devised a plan to kill him and make his death look like an overdose of heroin. The judge in the case believed that Ruffalo carried out the plan and had help moving the body from their home to the final location, where the body was found. According to CTV News -Vancouver, Justice Mary Humphries made the following observation.
“She said she left him sleeping at home on the morning of Sunday, October 19, 2003 and assumed when she returned that night after a long day of looking after the rental properties that he had gone to work.
“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the only rational conclusion is that Ms. Ruffolo either injected the heroin herself, or if Vivian Kirkland participated, she did so with the assistance and encouragement of Ms. Ruffolo.”
Ruby Ruffalo was already a mother-of-four who left her children at the hometown farmhouse, while she went off to start a new life in Victoria. It was there that she met John Ruffalo. The two ended up marrying and having a daughter together. But, their life was punctuated by financial and domestic problems. From the beginning, it seemed like the couple was not meant to be together. Ruby was an intelligent woman with book smarts, and John was a charismatic blue collar worker, which seemed to bother Ruby Ann. After some time, the problems between them bubbled to the surface and ended in a tragedy so great that two families were torn apart, leaving the couple’s daughter, Jovanna, in the middle.
Ruby Ann Ruffalo was eventually arrested and charged with the death of John Rufalo. His devastated family had expected swift justice, but it took seven more years before the case went to trial due to delays. Lois Ruffolo, the victim’s mother stated the following.
“No family should have to wait seven years for justice for their son. He’s missed seven birthdays while she walked free.”
Tune in to Investigation Discovery this weekend for the new episode of Scorned at 10/9 p.m. central. Recently, ID profiled the case of sex slave master and serial killer John Edward Robinson .
[Image via YouTube ]