Scioto County man gets life without parole in murder, arson case
A Scioto County man received a life sentence without parole eligibility for the next 48 years following his convictions for aggravated murder and 19 other counts following a four-day jury trial which concluded on April 17.
James Ruggles, 33, faced 20 total counts, all for felony charges, stemming from an indictment returned by the grand jury in September 2025. Ruggles faced counts of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, arson, tampering with evidence, domestic violence, gross abuse of a corpse and obstructing official business stemming from the murder of a 59-year-old man at his residence on Millers Run Fallen Timber Road in Lucasville on Sept. 1, 2025.
Ruggles also faced additional counts of felonious assault and domestic violence arising out of a prior incident at the same address on Aug. 27, 2025, involving a second victim.
Ruggles’ trial took place in the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas General Division and was presided over by the Honorable Judge Mark Kuhn. The State of Ohio’s case was presented by chief assistant prosecutor Julie Cooke Hutchinson, along with assistant prosecuting attorney Matthew Loesch, while Ruggles was represented by local attorney Shawn Stratton.
According to the facts of the case as alleged:
At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2025, the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a friend and co-worker of the murder victim reporting a grisly discovery. When the victim did not meet this friend at their customary meeting point to ride into work together, the friend was concerned and went to the victim’s residence to check on him.
When the victim’s friend entered his home after the door was not answered, he discovered it was filled with smoke. The friend then went into the room the victim slept in to find him covered in blood and partially burned. A cause of death was not immediately apparent due to the significant amount of blood and debris on the victim’s face.
The investigation into the victim’s cause of death was led by the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of lead detective Sgt. Jodi Conkel. Det. Conkel called for assistance from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio State Fire Marshall’s office. Crime scene analysis quickly discovered a machete, believed to be the murder weapon, that was left on the floor near the victim’s body, which was covered with blood and hair.
The Fire Marshal office’s investigation determined that the fire was caused deliberately in an attempt to destroy evidence and was done with the use of an ignitable liquid. A bottle of hand sanitizer containing ethyl alcohol (an ignitable liquid) was determined to be of interest and collected for processing.
Based on review of surveillance footage, witness interviews and recent police reports, Detective Conkel identified James Ruggles as a potential subject in the murder.
Around 3 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2025, Ruggles had threatened a second victim with a machete at the same Millers Run Fallen Timber address, although conflicting accounts at the time led to no arrests being made. Ruggles then showed up at a family member’s home in Portsmouth later that afternoon demanding his children be returned to him, resulting in Portsmouth Police responding to the scene. Ruggles admitted to a recent relapse on methamphetamine and was taken via a response team to a local drug treatment facility. He exited the transport vehicle before it even arrived at the facility, however.
Ruggles was ultimately apprehended and questioned on Sept. 2, 2025. Initially he denied being in the Lucasville area on the day of the murder, later changing his story and acknowledging being present, but he claimed he left without any issues and denied the murder. He was confrontational with Scioto County detectives when they attempted to obtain DNA swabs from his person, leading to a struggle in which Ruggles briefly grabbed one of the detective’s sidearm. He was ultimately subdued, and the firearm was found to be slightly dislodged from the detective’s holster. He later ran from the interview room in an ill-fated escape attempt and was quickly restrained.
The murder victim’s was sent to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office for autopsy. Dr. Lee Lehman, an expert forensic pathologist with 37 years of experience in his field, encountered injuries that he had only observed in three prior cases. The victim suffered at least seven chop wounds with a machete to his face, head, neck and skull. These wounds were so violent that any one of them could have been fatal on their own.
Expert forensic analysis found that Ruggles’ was a major contributor to the touch DNA on the handle of the machete used in the murder. Further expert analysis found that Ruggles’ palm print was on the bottle of hand sanitizer used to start the fire in the victim’s room. Ruggles had three prior convictions for domestic violence, including two felonies which resulted in prison time. Ruggles had an additional felony conviction for illegal of conveyance of drugs into a detention facility.
County Prosecutor Shane Tieman stated, “James Ruggles is a violent, sociopathic individual who deserves every bit of the sentence he was given. This was a brutal, horrific crime which is among the worst that I have encountered in my career. My office hopes that this sentence and the knowledge that Mr. Ruggles will never see the light of day provides some amount of comfort to the victim’s family and friends. We thank them for their support during the litigation of this case.”
Mr. Tieman and the Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office extend its deepest thanks to the citizens of the county who served as jurors in the trial. Mr. Tieman and the Prosecutor’s Office also thank the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and the Portsmouth Police Department for their assistance in this matter.
Mr. Tieman concluded by stating that, “This investigation in this case was tremendous and justice could not have been obtained without the efforts of the agencies involved.”