Port Salerno man who fatally shot pregnant wife believing her to be an intruder spared prison
STUART — A Port Salerno man who in 2020 told authorities he mistakenly shot and killed his pregnant wife in their home was spared a prison term Wednesday after he pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge, according to a prosecutor and defense attorney.
Alex Rupp, 34, who was arrested Feb. 21 on one count of manslaughter with a firearm, had faced a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison, if convicted.
The charge indicates killing a person with a firearm without intention in circumstances not amounting to murder.
On Nov. 4, 2020, Rupp shot his wife Nicole Rupp in the head thinking she was an intruder at their home on Southeast Bollard Avenue because it was dark, according to a complaint affidavit.
Alex Rupp case: 'I just shot my wife. My life is over,' Martin County man tells deputies
Southeast Bollard Avenue shooting: Infant of Port Salerno woman, mistakenly fatally shot by husband, dies
Their unborn daughter was delivered via caesarean section from her deceased mother, according to Martin County sheriff’s officials. The infant girl had massive brain bleeds and respiratory distress and died after the family chose to take her off life support.
During Wednesday’s hearing, a judge sentenced Rupp to time served for the 52 days he spent at the Martin County Jail as part of a negotiated plea bargain with state prosecutors. He also will serve one year of community control followed by four years of probation, said Assistant State Attorney David Dodd.
Rupp was further ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and follow any recommended treatment. And as a convicted felon, he won’t be allowed to own a firearm.
The shooting was under investigation for more than a year before Rupp was charged.
The delay in Rupp’s arrest, according to Dodd, was to give investigators time to properly investigate and evaluate the evidence before charging him with manslaughter.
“We just took our time to make sure that we looked at it from every angle and we determined that all the evidence points towards the fact this was a horrible accident,” Dodd said. “That it was a mistake in identity of who was in the house, which, of course, is partially how we ended up with the sentence (imposed).”
What deputies found
A 911 call from the residence came in around 1:22 a.m. the night of the shooting, court records show.
When deputies entered the home, Nicole Rupp was on the floor with a severe head injury. Investigators found a handgun with a light attached. The light was turned on. In the master bedroom officials found another handgun on a dresser. Two dogs were in the home.
Rupp told investigators he drank a vodka with orange juice and beer before going to sleep the night before. He patted a mound next to him on his bed and thought it was his wife, but it turned out to be one of their dogs.
He woke up and thought an intruder was in his home. After he observed “some type of light” through the bedroom door, which was cracked open, he got up and retrieved his firearm, a Glock 23 with a loaded magazine, from the top of a nearby dresser.
“He chambered an ammunition round into the firearm,” an arrest report stated.
From his position inside the room, he “observed a figure pass by a blue microwave light in the kitchen, so he believed a criminal was inside the house,” investigators reported.
He said “he fired the firearm as the person entered his bedroom through the door.”
After he fired, he could see he’d shot his wife who fell to the floor.
"Not once did I think it was my wife, that she'd gotten out of bed," Rupp told investigators.
Investigators noted Rupp said his wife was normally pretty loud when getting out of bed and both of them went to the bathroom frequently throughout the night.
Detectives tested visibility in the house at night and found that only a person's silhouette could be seen by the naked eye.
‘Culpable negligence’ manslaughter
Investigators concluded there was probable cause that Rupp "exhibited culpable negligence" when he fired at someone in the dark in their home knowing he lived with his wife and young son.
Under Florida Law, culpable negligence assigns criminal liability for "gross acts of negligence" that expose others to harm or the threat of harm.
Dodd said while the evidenced pointed to a mistake in identity in believing an intruder was in Rupp’s house, “it truly is a reminder of safe gun handling practices to make sure that tragedies like this don't occur in the future.”
While on community control, Rupp will be allowed to care for his young son, who was a toddler at the time of the fatal shooting, Dodd said.
After court, Rupp’s Stuart attorney Robert Watson commended prosecutors for taking a careful look at the incident before filing a charge.
“They took the time to find out if his (Rupp’s) account was accurate, and they concluded that it was,” Watson said. “That there were no indicators that anything happened other than what he described.”
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The fatal shooting, Watson said, was “a tragedy that occurred within a very good, very close family.”
“It does serve as a reminder that guns can be very destructive devices,” he said. “But it was a fair outcome and Alex is just very happy that this can be put behind him, and he can concentrate on taking care of his son.”
He was released Wednesday from the Martin County Jail, Watson said.
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida man who fatally shot pregnant wife avoids prison
