It was an arrest three decades in the making and investigators say the man responsible for killing a Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy is himself a former Deputy.
Mitchell Ruble was arrested on Tuesday in the killing of Lieutenant Ray “Joe” Clark in 1981.
But that wasn't the last of the surprises in this case. It was a crime that 33 years ago stunned a community.
"It was basically horror for a while, because you have the number two law enforcement officer in the county shot and gunned down in his home," said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.
He said he will never forget the night of February 7th, 1981 - the night he heard over the police scanner an emergency call to the home of Lieutenant Joe Clark. "He had been shot through the window of his home. He was watching an Ohio State basketball game and had gone to the refrigerator to get a snack during halftime. His wife was seated in the other room and she heard the explosion, went in and saw him laying (sic) on the floor."
Lt. Joe Clark
Mincks remembers Clark as a colleague and a friend. "He was just a good guy to be around. He was a true professional. He was a law enforcement officer, and was very good at what he did."
The horror of Clark’s killing was compounded by the mystery surrounding it.
Mincks says Mitchell Ruble, a former deputy and subordinate of Clark's, was a suspect early on. "Ruble had been fired by Joe because of excessive use of force while he was on duty.”
But it would take decades to make the case against him. In 2011, Mincks hired a retired deputy to focus exclusively on cold cases, including Clark's. Persistent police work, plus the resources of the Ohio Attorney General's Office, finally paid off yesterday.
"We got our man," said Mincks.
On Wednesday, prosecutors argued Ruble posed a grave risk to society if released on bond, detailing the arsenal discovered during a search of his home. "They've uncovered over 80 weapons, a machine gun, grenade fuses, 23 grenade fuses, a mortar, over two million rounds of ammunition."
Mitchell Ruble
A judge ordered Ruble held on $2.5 million bond.
Mincks hopes the arrest brings comfort to Clark's family, and a close to a mystery that's haunted this community. "When I first became Sheriff, my guys used to call me up and say, ‘Sheriff you're not going to believe this.’ Well now, I do believe it."
The Columbus Bomb Squad was called to Ruble's home on Wednesday to handle what investigators believed to be explosives found there. The Sheriff tells 10TV the bomb squad decided the items were too dangerous to transport, so they removed them and detonated them on site.
Through his attorney, Ruble denied the charges against him.
His family declined comment.