Tuesday, March 09, 1999
Husband's intent key to murder trial
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The night before he killed his wife, prosecutors say, Timothy Rueve showed up on her doorstep with roses, grocery money and a promise to be a better husband.
They say the gesture brought the estranged couple together just long enough for Mr. Rueve to strangle her.
“He literally squeezed the life out of her,” assistant prosecutor Heather Russell said Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
“He could not live without her. And if he couldn't have her, nobody could.”
In opening statements at the murder trial, Ms. Russell said Mr. Rueve was a jealous husband who became enraged when his wife, Robin, told him she was dating another man.
She said an Oct. 9 argument in the couple's Price Hill home turned violent after Mrs. Rueve began talking about her new relationship.
Mr. Rueve grabbed his wife, pinned her neck in the crease of his arm and squeezed so hard he broke cartilage in her spine, Ms. Russell said.
Defense attorney William Whalen said the fight started when Mrs. Rueve told her husband she was having unprotected sex with another man. Since Mr. Rueve's brother had died of AIDS, Mr. Whalen said, he reacted angrily to the news.
“Tim Rueve never in his wildest dreams intended to take the life of Robin Rueve,” he said.
Mr. Rueve's intent is crucial to the case because prosecutors must prove he purposefully caused his wife's death to sustain a murder conviction.
If convicted, Mr. Rueve, 25, could face 15 year to life in prison. The trial resumes today before Judge David Davis.
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