Court of Appeal Upholds Conviction of ‘Fatal Attraction’ Killer

Linda Ricchio, the so-called “Fatal Attraction” killer who last week announced plans to wed her former prison guard, was properly convicted in the 1987 slaying of her estranged boyfriend, a state appeal court in San Diego ruled Monday.

The 4th District Court of Appeal rejected Ricchio’s claims that there had not been enough evidence to convict her of planning and executing the shooting death of her ex-boyfriend, Ronald Ruse Jr. She was found guilty in 1989 of first-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.

A three-judge panel of the court said unanimously that there was ample evidence of planning. Angered that her lover of seven years had ended their relationship and had begun seeing another woman, she simply killed him, Justice William L. Todd Jr. said, calling the case a portrait of a “rejected lover whose jealousy became an overwhelming obsession.”

“Indeed, if one were writing a Hollywood screenplay about a spurned lover who kills out of jealousy, it would be difficult to conjure up more dramatic conduct than Ricchio’s relentless stalking of Ruse and harassment of him and those close to him,” Todd said.

The stalking, Todd said, involved following Ruse and eavesdropping on him repeatedly. For months beforehand, Todd said, Ricchio made repeated threats to kill Ruse.

Then, he said, she rented the apartment next door to his, practiced target shooting and, after calling to arrange a Dec. 14, 1987, meeting at his Carlsbad apartment, confronted him with a loaded .38-caliber handgun as he walked up the stairs.

Todd said there was some merit to one of Ricchio’s claims on appeal. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Miller, who presided over Ricchio’s murder trial, should not have mentioned the technical, legal concept of “implied malice” when giving instructions to the jury. “Implied malice” means an intent to kill that jurors infer from circumstances.

The case, defense lawyers claimed, was about “express malice,” meaning a clearly demonstrated intent to kill. Todd agreed but said the other instructions were so clear on that point that Miller’s error was harmless.