Case 255: Rudolf Rupp

Police are disgusting. They don't care who they hurt. Thank you for the episode.

I just listened to this episode, and when it got to the "confessions" and trial, I couldn't stop swearing at the cops, prosecutor, and judge. The absolute injustice is infuriating. Both the prosecutor and judge just made up their own "facts" to fit their own narrative that the four were for sure guilty. Their tiny minds couldn't possibly comprehend how his body came to be on his knees, facing the back, other than to suggest, among other ridiculous explanations, maybe he was *put in a freezer and frozen in that position* (??!?). I mean....what? 🤦🏻‍♀️ How about any of these – realistic – options: a) he accidentally drove into the river, turned around in his seat to find an escape, but his drunk ass couldn't maneuver his way out of a wet paper bag; or b) he did make the decision to end his life, but once the car was submerged he panicked and changed his mind...and once again his drunk ass couldn't maneuver his way out of a wet paper bag, and he drowned in that position; or c) it only appears that he turned himself around on his knees, but he could have actually been in a seated position when he drowned, and when rigor mortis set in, the motion from the water/current bumped and bounced his body around so much, he finally ended up in that position. And I'm sure there are even more theories that make more sense than the two useless brains of the prosecutor and judge could come up with together. Unbelievable.

Fucking hell that was a ride! Thanks Casey & team

Oof, This case was infuriating to me because I teach high school small group MID (students with IQs in the 50-70 range, and/or other intellectual disabilities such as Down syndrome and moderate autism). If the Rupp daughters lived in my city, they would've been in my class. This should definitely have been a factor during their interrogation and trial. To give an example of how it could have affected a false confession: I recently had a student whom I absolutely adored... and who lied constantly. They were usually small lies and not at all meant in a malicious, deceptive way. Most weren't even intentional, though there was one instance that could have resulted in serious consequences (but I won't go into details for obvious reasons). She would just say things that were clearly wrong without really thinking about it. If she were in a situation such as the Rupp case, I can easily see how she would be coerced into a false confession and believe that it was the truth.

Ah, yes, the choose-your-own-murder-method prosecution. Truly, no reasonable doubt can be gleaned from using this especially when, after police interrogation, the suspect have confessed to each method and a few more (you know, to be sure the prosecution could collect the full set). What an incredible story!

casey you're killin' me here

If you ever want to hire an unscrupulous criminal, go to the police.

Wow, it’s so obvious that he was a drunk, diabetic, mentally unwell and all 3 of these things are good reasons as to why he crashed his car into that river. He could have been wasted, experiencing hyperglycaemia or a heart attack, he could have simply purposely ended his own life. I can’t believe his family wasn’t immediately acquitted. What would their motive be to lie about the circumstances of his death if they knew his body and car were in that river and could be found one day? It’s clear the German justice system was reaching for any excuse to not take accountability for their sham of an investigation and interrogation tactics.