MAHONING COUNTY TRIAL Wife of victim recalls day husband was killed

The Struthers woman identified her purse and her husband's clothing.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Instead of celebrating her 69th birthday June 1, 2002, Louise Ruble had to begin planning her husband's funeral.
The Struthers woman closed her eyes, lowered her head and cried as she recounted that day from the witness stand in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Mrs. Ruble, now 70, testified for prosecutors in the trial of Michael Hogan of Boardman, who is charged with her husband's murder.
Prosecutors say Hogan was the driver of a car that ran over John K. Ruble Sr. twice, dragging him and killing him May 31, 2002.
The couple had gone to a recycling drop-off site behind the Boardman Township fire station on South Avenue early that afternoon.
What she saw
Just as they finished unloading the items, Mrs. Ruble looked up and saw her husband clinging to the door of another car and being dragged through the parking lot. She watched as her 71-year-old husband fell from the car and was run over.
The driver of the other car had just snatched Mrs. Ruble's purse from the front seat of their car. She said her husband was trying to get it back.
She identified the purse in court Thursday after it was handed to her by assistant prosecutor Jeffrey Limbian. She also identified the T-shirt and shorts her husband was wearing that day.
Mrs. Ruble said she ran to her husband's side after he was thrown from under the car, which fled north on South Avenue.
"His legs looked like a dog had bit a chunk out of them," she said. His mouth was open but he was unable to speak. A passer-by stopped and called 911 from a cellular telephone.
Didn't see driver
Mrs. Ruble said she didn't see the driver of the car, which was later identified as a navy blue 1987 Cadillac Fleetwood.
The vehicle was found the next day on East Myrtle Avenue in Youngstown. Patrolman Mark Jacobs of the Boardman police department said dents and scrapes were consistent with a flagpole and mailbox post that were hit as the car sped away from the fire station.
He also testified that he looked under the car and found clothing fabric. Defense attorney James T. Hartford pointed out, though, that Jacobs didn't mention the fabric in his written report.
Testimony was to continue today in the courtroom of Judge James C. Evans.
bjackson@vindy.com