Easter Sunday Massacre

James Urban Ruppert (March 29, 1934 – June 4, 2022) was reported to have had a troubled life.

His mother, Charity, had told him that she would have preferred to have a daughter as her second child; his father, Leonard, also had a violent temper and held little affection for his two sons.

Leonard died in 1946 from tuberculosis at the age of 37, when James and his brother Leonard Jr. were aged 12 and 14 respectively.

Leonard Jr. became the father figure of the family and constantly picked on James during their upbringing, often taunting him.

At 16, James was so dissatisfied with his home life that he ran away and attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself with a sheet.

He was unsuccessful and returned home.

As an adult, Ruppert stood 5'6" and weighed 135 pounds. He was described as a modest, bookish, and helpful man who was unremarkable and quiet. In addition, he had no police record.

James also owed his mother and brother money, having lost much of what little cash he had in the 1973–1974 stock market crash.

A month before the massacre, James inquired about silencers for his weapons while purchasing ammunition.

His behavior deteriorated caused by a deep depression as he neared the breaking point.

The Easter Sunday Massacre occurred on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975, when 41 year-old James U. Ruppert fatally shot eleven members of his own family in his mother's house at 635 Minor Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio.

Ruppert was tried and found guilty on two counts of aggravated murder, but not guilty on the other nine counts by reason of insanity.

He received two life sentences, to be served consecutively at Allen Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio, and the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.

By 1975, Ruppert was envious of his older brother's successful job and family.

Ruppert himself had dropped out of college after two years, then trained as a draftsman, although by 1975, he was unemployed, was unmarried, and was still living at home with his mother.

In contrast, his older brother, Leonard Jr., had earned a degree in electrical engineering, had married one of the few girlfriends James had ever had, owned his own home in the city of Fairfield, and had eight children.

Charity was frustrated with James' inability to hold a steady job and his constant drinking; she had threatened to evict him from her home on more than one occasion.

On March 29, 1975 (his 41st birthday), witnesses had seen him engaging in target practice shooting tin cans with his .22 pistol and .22 rifle along the banks of the Great Miami River in Hamilton.

The night before the murders, James went out as he did nearly every night.

On Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975, Ruppert's brother Leonard Jr. and his wife, Alma, brought their eight children ranging in age from 4 to 17 for Easter dinner at their house located at 635 Minor Avenue.

Ruppert stayed upstairs, sleeping off a night of drinking, while the other family members participated in an Easter egg hunt on the front lawn.

At around 4:00 p.m., James woke up, loaded a .357 Magnum, two .22 caliber handguns, and a rifle, then went downstairs.

Charity was preparing sloppy joes in the kitchen, in the company of Leonard Jr. and Alma.

Most of the children were playing in the living room.

He killed Leonard Jr. when he shot him in the head in the kitchen, then his sister-in-law Alma when he shot her.

Then, as his mother lunged at him, he shot her once in the head and twice in the chest.

David, 11, Teresa, 9, and Carol, 13, were later killed by him.

James turned the corner into the living room.

One by one, James shot his remaining niece and nephews: Ann, 12, Leonard III, 17, Michael, 16, Thomas, 15, and John, 4.

Charity had been shot once in the chest; the remaining victims were shot in the head and shot again, to ensure they had died.

He was moved to Franklin Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio in 2019 because of his declining health.

James Ruppert died from natural causes on June 4, 2022 while incarcerated at the Franklin Medical Center.

Ruppert was 88 at the time of his death.

It is the deadliest shooting by a lone perpetrator in the state of Ohio.

At the 19th Hole Cocktail Lounge, he talked with an employee, 28-year-old Wanda Bishop.

She would later state that James told her he was frustrated with his mother's demands on him and his impending eviction and that "he needed to solve the problem".

According to Bishop, Ruppert stated that his mother had complained that if he could afford to buy beer seven nights a week, he could afford to pay the rent.

Ruppert left the bar at 11:00 p.m. that night and later returned.

When Bishop asked him if he had solved the problem, he replied, "No, not yet."

James stayed at the bar until it closed at 2:30 a.m.