Murder In America - EP. 71 OHIO - 11 Victims, One Family: The Easter Sunday Mass Shooting

Episode Date: July 6, 2022

In 1975, a brutal crime rocked a small, sleepy town in Ohio that would forever change the community. On Easter Sunday that year, James Ruppert attacked his own family and enacted a vicious slaughter that has left blood stains in the family home to this day. You're listening, to MURDER IN AMERICA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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365-day returns. Quince.com slash America. This podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. Think about your family for a second. Your parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

Think about the time. times when you see them. Most people get together with their family during holidays or special occasions. And these times are supposed to be some of the happiest, surrounded by people you love the most. But if we've learned anything throughout this podcast, it's that you can't always trust the people within your circle. In fact, most murders are committed by the people closest to you. Today's story is about a mass shooting. When you think of a mass shooting, you usually think of a stranger, walking into a group of other strangers and killing at random. But that's not always the case.

Sometimes the person behind the trigger is no stranger at all. And sometimes the victims are members of an entire family. In 1975, this crime shocked the town of Hamilton, Ohio, when 11 members of the Rupert family, were gunned down inside of a home on Easter Sunday. This is the story of James Rupert and the Easter Sunday Massacre. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browne. And you're listening to Murder in America.

It was around 9.30 p.m. on Easter Sunday in 1975 when James Rupert calmly informed the dispatcher of the horrors that had just occurred inside of his mother's home. He shot them, all 11 members of his family, on a day that was supposed to be a celebration. When the officers pulled up to the home and saw James sitting on the front porch, there was nothing to indicate things had gone awry. It was a two-story framed house and a middle-class neighborhood in Hamilton, Ohio. And from the outside, everything looked completely normal. Even James, who was sitting on the front porch waiting for them, seemed to keep his composure.

But as the officers approached him, they soon learned that this was not your average Easter Sunday. Behind James, through the open door of the home, was a living room. And on the floor in plain sight, the bodies of two children lie dead, gunned down at their grandmother's home, shortly after. hunting for Easter eggs. As the officer peered inside, he quickly radioed for backup, and James stared blankly ahead. Once the backup arrived, they soon discovered that there were yet more dead children on the floor in the living room, and this horrific scene was just the beginning. There were bodies everywhere, most of which were children, and the Easter dinner was still

cooking on the stove. That awful day, James Rupert killed his entire family, making it the deadliest mass shooting inside of a private residence at the time. Follow us as we take you through the life of James Rupert and everything that led up to that horrible day in 1975. Our story begins on March 29th, 1934, when Charity and Leonard Rupert Sr. welcomed a baby boy into the world. named James Urban Rupert. But it wasn't necessarily a warm welcome. You see, Charity and Leonard already had a son, who was two years older named Leonard Jr.

And more than anything, they wanted to have a baby girl, not another boy. And they made that very obvious, even to James himself, that he was not wanted, often telling him that he was a mistake. Charity harbored resentment for James throughout his life for not being the daughter she always wanted. And this would go on to be the beginning of James's problems throughout his life.

James was also born in the middle of the Great Depression, when life was hard for everyone. He and his parents, an older brother Leonard, resided in a modest barn-style house with no running water or plumbing, and the family made a living by raising chickens in the back of their house. And we aren't talking about a backyard. The chicken coop was literally inside of the home since they lived in a barn. And this would go on to be a problem for James. With all the dust and feathers circulating throughout the home, James developed bad respiratory problems. His severe asthma made it to where he couldn't help out with the family business, and he was often sick. This coupled with the fact that he was a lot smaller than other kids his age, made it to where James was an outcast amongst his peers.

He couldn't run around and play. He couldn't participate in sports or gym. James also developed spinal meningitis as a kid, and after he was stricken with this illness, his body didn't develop properly. He was considered to be very short and frail. As a result, he struggled academically and had very few friends. A murderer's past can often provide insight into their life. It can provide clues as to why they chose to commit the crimes that they did. In James' case, it's clear that his motivations were driven by his unremarkable life and feelings of inferiority. James was an outcast among his peers, mostly because of his size. He was an outcast in his family because he wasn't the child his parents wanted. In addition to the animosity of his mother, James' father was not in line

for parent of the year. Leonard Rupert Sr. battled alcoholism, and he had a violent temper that he took out on everyone, especially his two sons. He would always tell James that he would never amount to anything, that he would never be able to make it in the world, or ever get a good job. Life for James Rupert was far from easy, and it got worse with the death of his father in 1947 when James was just 12 years old. Leonard Sr. died from tuberculosis, leaving charity to support her and the boys all by herself. And it wasn't easy for the single mother. She often vented her resentment towards James,

beating him every chance she got. And she constantly reminded him that he was a failure. Her oldest son, Leonard Jr., however, was clearly the favorite child. You see, unlike James, Leonard did very well in school. He was extremely intelligent and athletic. and Charity always doted on how great he was, right in front of James. As a result, the two siblings were in a constant rivalry over their mother's affection,

with James always getting the short end of the stick. To make matters worse, Charity even let Leonard discipline his younger brother. She gave Leonard full permission to beat James anytime he felt like he wasn't following the rules. And given that they only had a two-year age difference, Leonard often took full advantage of this. He was brutal and would sometimes lock James in closets, beat him with a rubber hose, and tie him up with ropes. Occasionally, he would beat James so severely that James would nearly go unconscious.

Leonard really seemed to take on his role as head of the household after their father's death and James was the target of his family's frustrations. That, coupled with the fact that he was also bullied at school, made James really depressed. and by the time he was 16 years old, he was tired of living. So tired, in fact, that he even tried to end his life by attempting to hang himself with a bed sheet. But James was unsuccessful with his suicide attempt.

And the bullying continued. After a while, he decided that maybe suicide wasn't the answer. Instead, he was just going to run away, escape the troubles of his home life, and start over somewhere new. But this didn't work out either. Shortly after running away, James found himself back home, unable to make it out there in the world by himself, which is a characteristic of his that seemed to follow him throughout his life, even into his adulthood. When James returned home after running away, he expected his family to be worried about him.

He even thought that maybe the abuse would calm down a bit, but he was wrong. His mother was more upset with him than she was worried, and James' resentment towards his family would continue to intensify even more as he got older. After graduating from high school, his older brother Leonard went on to earn a degree in electrical engineering. James tried to follow in his brother's footsteps, but he wasn't as driven or intelligent. And after two years of college, James flunked out.

Now, this would go on to cause a lot of problems within James. He wanted to be smart and get a good job and receive praise like his older brother. But he just couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. But there would be one good thing that came into James' life. It was a woman named Alma. James had never really dated before. He was a bit awkward and as a full-grown adult he was only about five-six,

which he was always very insecure about. So when he started dating Alma, James was very very, happy. He had finally found a woman that would give him a chance. But unfortunately, their romance wouldn't last very long. Alma ultimately broke up with him, and to James's surprise, she started dating his older brother, Leonard. Now, this was devastating for James because he had already been in competition with his brother for his entire life. Everybody always favored Leonard over James. And now, he was dating his ex-girlfriend. And to make matters worse, Leonard and Alma would go on to live a very happy life together.

They would eventually get married, and over the next few years, the couple moved into a really nice home in a suburban neighborhood. And after that, they would go on to have eight healthy children. Leonard also got a really nice paying job as an engineer at General Electric. He was living the dream. He had the nice home, money, a perfect family, everything that James had always wanted. But at 30 years old, James was very far from that lifestyle. It was very difficult for James to hold down a job.

He didn't have a great work ethic. Because of this, he didn't make enough money to support himself. So he eventually had to move in with his mother. Now, James was already feeling inferior for having to live with his mother at 30 years old. But to make matters worse, she was constantly reminding him of his shortcomings, just like she had done his entire life. Why can't you be more like your older brother? You should be a man and support yourself.

What 30-year-old still lives with his mom, she would tell him. And even though charity was very harsh, James realized that she was right. He needed to work harder so that he could live the life he wanted. It was around this time when James tried to get his life in order. He even signed up for classes to be a draftsman, and he worked in aviation for a period of time. But still, he couldn't seem to hold down the jobs. James was constantly in need of money, and he often had to borrow from his brother and mom. But he wasn't borrowing money for things he actually needed.

Anytime his family would lend him some cash, James would head straight to the bars and blow all of it on alcohol. There were certain times when he would invest in stocks, but, He never invested in the right places, investments which left him in a lot of debt with Leonard and Charity. Charity threatened to evict James on a number of occasions because of his behavior. She was tired of him constantly switching jobs and coming home drunk most days of the week. And it was around this time in 1965 when James started exhibiting some concerning behavior. In one instance, the Hamilton Police Department was called when James called a local library and started berating a staff member with vulgar remarks.

We weren't able to figure out exactly what he said, but it's believed that the remarks were sexual in nature. Now, James got in trouble for this incident and as a result, he started becoming overly paranoid. Mentally, he started spiraling, and he became more and more suspicious that his mom and brother were secretly sabotage. James was convinced that they were the ones who called 911 on him. Even though they weren't. James believed that his family was conspiring to discredit him, and he thought they were, quote, telling the FBI that he was a communist and homosexual. James was convinced that the FBI was following him wherever he went, and he refused to use any phones because he thought that the FBI was following him,

was tapping them. And I'm not even talking about the phones just at his house. James wouldn't use phones at all. Not at his favorite bars, at his friends' houses, anywhere. He thought that they were all bugged and that the FBI was after him. His paranoia began to permeate every single part of his life. When he was driving in the car, he would think that the FBI was tailing him. He began to believe that that everyone was against him, especially his family. James' life was full of unfortunate events, and to be frank, he just didn't have good luck. But James didn't think of this luck as the fate of the universe. He thought that it was intentional, that people were interfering with his life and causing this bad luck. For instance, he often thought

his brother was tampering with his Volkswagen. Now, James's car was actually just really old and had a lot of issues, but James was convinced that it wasn't the car. It was his brother, Leonard. If the car engine wouldn't start, he thought that Leonard had come over and secretly messed with the engine. If a tire was low on air, James suspected that Leonard had come over and let some out. But in reality, his car was irreparable. James' mental connections led him to conclude that the FBI's interference and his family's attempts to undermine him were the causes of all the horrible things that had been happening to him. James eventually sunk into depression, which worsened his drinking and drove him to the edge. And it was around this time that he decided to purchase a firearm. He chose to get

a handgun and began spending his time practicing shooting, and eventually he became a very skilled shooter. In his free time, James would frequently drive down to the Great Miami River on the weekends, place cans along the bank, and spend hours shooting at the targets. After being emasculated his entire life, holding a gun gave him a sense of masculinity. He felt strong when he fired a rifle. Soon, the shooting stopped merely for defense and started becoming a passion of his. And like most gun enthusiasts, he started acquiring more. And after a while, he had a pretty big collection of guns. But despite all of that, James couldn't free himself by shooting guns, because he was still plagued by persistent paranoia. He was under the impression that someone was constantly keeping

an eye on him and that they were planning his downfall. His paranoia continued to get worse, and in 1975, it all came tumbling down in a way that no one had predicted. James couldn't shake the fact that he always lived in his brother's shadow. Leonard was always the favorite. He was successful and smart. He was married to the woman that he was supposed to be with. And because they were family, James had a front row seat watching his brother live the life he always wanted, and he hated him for it. On top of that, Leonard was horrible to him his entire life. He would beat him as a child. And now that they were adults, James was convinced that Leonard was sabotaging him still. His brother was no hero, like everyone thought.

In James's eyes, Leonard was sadistic and cruel. He was the enemy. Now, it was around this time when James was treated for psychiatric problems. But I don't think anyone knew the true rage that was building within him. They couldn't have known. But in hindsight, James was showing signs

that he was about to break. In the months before Easter of 1975, James was acting noticeably different. His paranoia was worse than ever, and he was drinking nearly every day of the week. He had even lost his job. And Charity had been threatening to kick him out of the house. James, during this time period, then convinced himself that he needed to buy a gun with a silencer. According to the shop owner from whom he frequently bought his firearms and ammunition,

James entered the establishment in February of 1975, appearing anxious as usual, and inquired about where he could obtain an assault rifle, equipped with a sniper scope and a silencer. He never said exactly why he needed it, but it seemed as if the matter was urgent. Then, on March 29th, James' birthday, witnesses recounted seeing him firing at Cairns with a 357 magnum along the banks of the Great Miami River in Hamilton.

He went out later that evening and spoke with worker Wanda Bishop at the 19th hole cocktail lounge. Later, she recalled that James appeared to be quite depressed and had complained to her about his mother's demands and her threatening eviction. James had been out of work for a while and was deeply in debt by that point. The waitress stated,

he said that he needed to solve the problem. He left the bar at 11 p.m. that night, but returned about an hour later. When the waitress playfully asked if he had solved his problem, James replied, no, not yet. James stayed in the bar until closing time, at around 2.30, drinking away his problems.

Based on his behavior at the time, some argue that James was already plotting ways to get rid of his family. He became distressed at having to find a place to live when he had no money or job. And even though he wasn't expressing these concerns to people, it was slowly eating at him little by little. There's a saying that quiet waters run deep, which seemed to be a great description of what was going on in James' mom. James Rupert was a guy living on the brink of ruin. Not only was he in danger of losing his house, but Charity and Leonard were also pressing for the huge debt he owed. And it was only a matter of time until James Rupert would reach his breaking point.

That day would come on March 30th, 1975, Easter Sunday. The day began as usual with nothing. out of the ordinary except a celebratory mood throughout the city. Families everywhere got together, attended Easter service, and spent the day eating good food and hunting for Easter eggs. Many families were eager to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The third day of Easter is all about Jesus' resurrection, but this day would have another meaning for the people of Hamilton, Ohio. In just a few hours, the Rupert family would be eliminated by one of their own.

But that Easter started off just like it had every other year. Leonard, Alma, and their eight children would make their way over to Charity's house on 635 Minor Avenue. Charity wasn't feeling the best that day. But that didn't stop her from giving her grandchildren the best Easter that they could have. As each kid entered the home, they smiled at the big, vibrantly colored Easter baskets that were waiting for them. This was arguably one of the most exciting days as a child, knowing that the Easter Bunny had left you presents in tiny little eggs around your home. It really is a day that all kids look forward to, and that day, everyone was in a really good mood, despite James, who had slept until 4 p.m. He had spent the entire day before Easter Sunday shooting guns and drinking.

And at around 3 in the morning, he had hobbled back home and crawled into bed and slept through most of the Easter Sunday festivals. He was the family's black sheep, so no one seemed to care about his absence. James heard the sound of his nephews and nieces when he woke up and went downstairs to say hello. Despite his bitterness against his mother and brother, he never had any issues with the kids. The whole family was having quality time and were all blissfully unaware of the horrors about to occur. Even James, who had frequently contemplated eliminating his family, probably wasn't ready for what would happen next. Nonetheless, James was a disaster waiting to happen. He suffered from traumatic childhood experiences, difficulties in his adulthood, and the

unending thoughts that his mother and brother were plotting against him, and everything was about to come crashing down. According to James himself, he woke up and decided he was going to go target shooting later that day. So he grabbed his handguns and rifle and loaded them full. of ammunition. As he was doing so, Leonard, Alma, and Charity were in the kitchen cooking sloppy joes for their Easter dinner. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, and they all continued their typical Easter activities, completely oblivious to the fact

that these were their last moments on earth. James could hear downstairs, as his mom, sister-in-law and brother were laughing and conversing in the kitchen. noises filled every corner of the home. The house was in happy chaos. Alma had even popped a bottle of their favorite champagne, which boosted the festive atmosphere even more. Her husband could be heard bragging about his successful career and the good plans he had for his family.

James could hear the laughter of the children that had just come inside from their Easter egg hunt on the lawn. And after a while, James decided he needed to go downstairs and say hi to everyone, but afterwards he was going to go target shooting. So he slowly walks down the stairs with his handgun and rifle in hand. On his way down, he bumps into his brother Leonard. There's a bit of tension in the air. Charity isn't happy that James slept for most of the day,

and Leonard was still a little annoyed because James owed him much. money. But nonetheless, James walks into the kitchen where Charity, Alma, and Leonard, and three of their children were hanging out. James then leans his rifle up against the refrigerator. In the room up ahead are Leonard's five other children who are watching TV and eating their Easter candy. Everything seemed to be calm. That was until Leonard turns to his brother and asks him an innocent question. How's that Volkswagen, James? And as soon as he said that,

everything went silent as though the world was paused. To James, this was no innocent question. James thought that Leonard was making fun of him, and it just confirmed everything he had already been suspecting.

Leonard was the one who was messing with his car. Why else would he ask him that? and all James could think about were the echoes of torment he faced from his family throughout the years. A train of thoughts raced through his mind as he recalled the humiliating things that they had put him through. James started to sweat and his hands began to tremble. At this point, something had snapped and it was a moment of no return. While everyone else carried on with their conversation, James grabbed his gun, pointed it at his brother in the two locked eyes before James pulled the trigger.

As Leonard bled out on the kitchen floor from the hole in his head, the small home turned into a war zone as the reality of the situation set in. Once Leonard was down, Charity lunged at her son in an attempt to stop him, but she was quickly slain before she could do anything. James shot Charity point blank in the head. James then turned the gun towards Alma, his sister-in-law and ex-lover. Strangely enough, Alma would be the only person shot in the chest that day. All the other victims were shot in the head, which makes us think that maybe he had shot her near the heart because she broke his years prior. James was a good shot too.

He had perfected his aiming techniques while training along the banks of the Great Miami River. No one could have ever guessed, however, that his shooting practice would be put to the test against his own family. After the three adults in the home were dead, James turns his gun towards the children. Leonard and Alma's two daughters and son were in the kitchen, and they had witnessed everything. James then aims his gun at 13-year-old Carol Rupert, then 11-year-old David, and 9-year-old Teresa. The police would later discover them lying next to their parents, with Easter candy and blood covering the floor. It's hard to imagine what went through their minds in the moments leading to their death, watching as their uncle who they loved was pulling the trigger.

As for the children in the living room, it's likely that they weren't sure what was going on in the room over. You see, James had used a silencer. So it's likely that they heard some type of commotion, but they weren't completely sure of the severity of the situation. But they too would soon find out that they were in danger when their uncle James walks into the living room and begins shooting them one by one. He first aims the gun at Leonard III, his 17-year-old nephew, then 16-year-old Michael and 14-year-old Tommy. The children were scared, running around the room trying to dodge the bullets. But like we mentioned, their uncle is a good shot. No matter how hard they try, they can't escape.

At one point, James even stops to reload his gun. 12-year-old Anne Rupert decides that this is her chance to make a run for it out of the back door. And she almost makes it outside, but not before her uncle James guns. her down. Lastly, he shoots at his youngest nephew, four-year-old John, who was found near the couch holding a piece of Easter candy. A grim reminder of how innocent that day was supposed to be. According to ballistic specialists, James shot each victim at least once to render them incapacitated before meticulously approaching each and finishing them off with his killer shot in the head. In under less than five minutes, 11 members of James's

family lay dead in a pool of blood. And at the time, it was the worst mass shooting inside of a home in American history. The house that had earlier been filled with noises of festivity and celebration suddenly was plunged into silence. And because he had used a silencer, no one in the neighborhood even knew that a massacre had occurred next door. For the next three hours, James sat amongst his dead family members while their blood slowly soaked into the flooring of the home. And his paranoia continued. After a while, James took a stroll through the crime scene and shot each victim again just to make sure they were really dead. He contemplated suicide for a while, but ultimately decided to call the police on himself. When the police arrive at the scene, James didn't attempt

to flee or hide. Instead, he patiently waited for them on the front steps. And as the officers take a look inside, they see a scene that would be forever ingrained in their minds. First, they enter the living room, where the TV is eerily playing in the background. Bullet casings scatter the floor. Bodies of children are sprawled all around the room. And blood was everywhere. As they enter the kitchen, they find another gruesome scene. Six more bodies, more bullet casings, and more blood.

There was so much blood in fact that investigators noticed it was dripping through the floor down into the basement of the home. During the assault, James used a rifle and three handguns. In an overturned trash can was the sole indication of a struggle. There were Easter baskets and candy all throughout the home. And the Butler County prosecutor would later say, quote, When I walked through that front door, right into the middle of all the that carnage, I saw that four-year-old little boy with blue overalls on, a long-sleeved blue

cotton shirt, lying on the floor at the foot of the couch, stretched out with a bullet hole in his head. In his outstretched right hand, he had partially opened the ten-foil purple wrapper off an Easter egg. That was a sight that shook me to the depths of my soul. I will never forget it." That day, James Rupert was placed under arrest and charged with 11 counts of aggravated murder. He was quite uncooperative and wouldn't respond to any of the questions during his interrogation. In the beginning, investigators couldn't figure out why James annihilated his family. The Hamilton Police Chief would later say, quote, we can't seem to find a motive. These type of murders usually have intent like greed, sex, or jealousy.

But because James wouldn't talk, they weren't sure why he killed his family. Over the next few days, as words spread about the Easter Sunday massacre, a picture of a modest, quiet loner who was short and frail emerged from interviews with neighbors. He was easy to ignore and had problems keeping jobs. Some of Leonard's close friends weren't even aware of James's existence. Leonard's milkman was familiar with both brothers. He claimed that James was the quiet one. With time, investigators discovered that the Ruperts were a dysfunctional family.

But no one would have ever known. From the outside looking in, they seemed like your average American unit. People that knew them said that Leonard and James were always very well behaved, but no one knew about their secrets. No one knew of the resentment that had been building in James over the years about his paranoia or recent fixation with guns. The Easter Sunday massacre rocked the little town and grabbed national attention. James was never thought to be violent by those who knew him.

He was the ideal neighbor, quiet and modest, but a neighbor who had darkness deep within. The legal battle in this case is truly unlike anything we've ever seen, which is interesting considering this isn't a who-done-it-type case. It's very clear that James Rupert was the one who gunned down his family. But the thing that came into question was whether or not he was insane during the shooting. James thought he was indeed insane, so he claimed not guilty by reasons of insanity. According to the psychiatric witness for the defense, James slaughtered his family out of uncontrollable.

rage. They described him as a paranoid psychotic individual, and they claimed that James, who had previously been treated for psychological issues, resented his brother. And on that fateful day, when Leonard mentioned the Volkswagen, James lost it. He had been paranoid for months that his brother was sabotaging him, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. but the prosecution didn't think this was true. After doing a little digging into the Rupert family, they came to the conclusion that James killed his family so that he could inherit the nearly $300,000

he would receive from his family's estate. Now, the trial was only a few months after the murders, but James' fate wasn't being determined by a jury. Instead, he opted for a three-paneled judge charge, which means that three different judges would determine if he was guilty or innocent, which in his case was probably a good idea because the town of Hamilton absolutely hated this man for what he did. But the judges didn't rule in James's favor and they ended up finding him guilty on a two-to-one vote, meaning only one of the three judges thought that he was insane

during the murders, but the other two didn't. So with that, James was found guilty of 11 charges of aggravated murder. After the trial, the 11 members of the Rupert family were buried in the Arlington Memorial Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the house on Minor Avenue was a grim reminder of the horrors that occurred that Easter Sunday in 1975. About a year after the murders, an open house was held at the location, and all of the family's stuff was auctioned off to the public. Soon after, the house was cleaned and renovated and a new family eventually moved in, completely unaware of the atrocities that had occurred inside of the home.

And after a few months of living there, this new family claimed to have heard noises and experienced unexplainable paranormal activity. Late at night, when someone would be up, a door down the hallway would slam by itself. While sitting on the couch, the lights would slow. flicker on and off, as if somebody was standing by the switch, flipping it up and down. And frequently, the new family that lived in the home would report hearing thundering footsteps running up and down the stairs. Maybe they'd be sitting in the kitchen and they'd hear somebody come running down the stairway. But when they'd go over to check, it was only darkness that they found, and no one was ever inside of the house. When they did some research

of their own, the family found out just what had happened in that house. And after learning the story of the sorted murders that had occurred right there in their house, the family quickly moved out. But this story isn't over just yet. A few years after the murders, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that James Rupert could have a new trial. You see, at the time of James' first trial, he wasn't aware that the three judges' decisions didn't need to be unanimous. for him to be found guilty. So he basically waived his right to a jury without receiving the right information. And since he wasn't informed of this, he was granted a new trial, which would start in September of 1982. And this time, James chose to have a jury decide his fate.

The second trial lasted about six weeks, and the outcome was a bit different than the first. This time, the jury determined that James wasn't insane during the murder of his mom and brother, but that he was insane during the murder of his sister-in-law and eight nieces and nephews. Which was almost unheard of. This was really strange to me because I feel like you were either sane for all of them or you weren't. But ultimately, they decided that James deliberately killed his mom and brother, and after that he went insane and decided to kill everyone else. And this ruling would reverse his 11 life sentences,

and instead he was only sentenced to two life sentences, which either way he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, but a lot of people were upset by this verdict. Alma Rupert's mother, Edna Algayer, gave a harsh assessment of the murderer on the day of the 1982 verdict. There are times when I consider hanging him up on the cross like Christ and chopping off a small piece at a time. I'd want him to bleed gradually. Edna also told the newspapers that James was responsible for 13 deaths, not 11.

Her husband, Alma's father, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head on Easter Sunday, three years after the killings. And during the 1982 trial, one of the jurors passed away after, collapsing due to a heart attack. Since his arrest on the day of the killings, James Rupert had been incarcerated for close to 50 years. He was most recently housed at the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution, where he was serving his two life sentences.

He tried to get parole a number of times, but he was repeatedly turned down. The date of his next parole hearing was set for February of 2025, But James Rupert died in prison just recently, on June 4th of 2022, this very year. He was 88 years old. In 2014, Cinnamon Baker, a mother of two, the occupant of the two-story frame house in the middle-class neighborhood of Hamilton, Ohio, expressed that she isn't afraid of living inside of the home.

She's fully aware of what happened, but to her, it's so. just a house, a house which still has decades-old bloodstains in the basement. Many families have come and gone from the home throughout the years, but Cinnamon Baker is the only one who wasn't bothered by the house's past. Maybe the shock waves caused by that horrible incident in 1975, which in the past appeared to leave an enduring impression on the home, have now subsided. And maybe the Rupert family's spirits can now rest in peace after after 40 years. But even though all that time passed, the Easter Sunday massacre is still one of the deadliest homicides inside a private residence in U.S. history. And it seems that the town of

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. And Courtney. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Murder in America. We're so just glad to have everybody out there listening. Courtney, what are your wrap-up thoughts on this case? I just think it's so sad. Easter's supposed to be one of the best parts of your childhood. All of my favorite memories are from Easter, and it's really sad that this family had to experience that. Yeah, and we just obviously had the 4th of July here in America, so the holiday highs is strong here in the country, and it's just it's unimaginable to have such a tragic thing happen on a day that's supposed to be so joyous, kind of like what happened yesterday here in Illinois. I think this just goes to show that no holidays are

safe. No, nowhere you go is safe from people with a gun. So I want to give a shout out to a couple of our new patrons this week. J.T. Vole, Leslie G. Rivera, Emily R. Sheen Williams, Kaylee Faireier, Andrew Fisher, Nick Tillerie, and Jonathan Williams. If you want to become a patron, you just had to Patreon, type in Murder in America, and we post all of our episodes, ad free the moment that they go live on all streaming platforms. So if you don't like the ads, Patreon is the way to go for you. Follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. Or you can follow our Facebook group.

Yeah, we're going to be back next week. Sorry, this one was a little bit short. Last week's was incredibly long and detailed. Thanks to Courtney for that. I have some incredible episodes coming up for you guys and y'all are going to love them. We just love everybody so much. Stay safe out there. And from Colin here. And Courtney, we love you. And we'll catch y'all next week. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle.

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