Carl Ruskamp, 31, of Wisner is currently facing charges in both Wayne County Court and District Court.
On Oct. 5 Wayne County Attorney Amy Miller filed charges of first degree murder, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and possession of a deadly weapon by a felon.
The charges come after Ruskamp's father, Gerald Ruskamp, 65, was found on Sept. 7, 2022 with gunshot wounds to his head. He was taken to Providence Medical Center in Wayne where he later died.
Cuming County Dispatch received a call during which the caller immediately hung up, according to court documents When dispatch called the number belonging to Ruskamp back, Ruskamp stated someone had shot his father.
When authorities arrived on the scene, Ruskamp further explained he was outside the home when he heard a gunshot and saw a masked person, wearing all black, running northbound. Ruskamp said when he went inside, he found his father lying facedown bleeding on the living room couch.
During a search of the Ruskamp property at 320 Y Road, north of Wisner, Nebraska State Patrol troopers and deputies from Wayne and Cuming counties worked to secure the scene and surrounding area. A marijuana grow operation was discovered on the property.
A .22 caliber rifle, one .22 caliber casing and several live .22 caliber rounds were also found at the residence.
During an interview with Duane Ruskamp, Ruskamp's uncle, Duane stated he remembered Ruskamp saying something similar to "Kill Ger" earlier that day. Duane then described an argument between Ruskamp and his father over money. Ruskamp allegedly wanted Gerald to give him money so he could rent an apartment elsewhere.
Duane then left to tend to the animals north of the house, coming back when he saw authorities arriving at the property. During his interview, he told police he did not see anyone running north and that only he, Carl and Gerald had been there at that time.
Text messages seized from Ruskamp's cellphone, according to court documents, showed Ruskamp sending his father text messages on Sept. 6 at 3 a.m. which read, "your going to wish you would've never did what you did my whole entire life and then some" and "not after all this."
Court documents also reveal Ruskamp made several Google searches in the days leading up to the death of his father. These included "headshot to the head," "headshot to the head from a gun," "front of brain damage inside" and more.
Authorities sent the gun found inside the home and Ruskamp's T-shirt he wore at the time to a lab to undergo testing. These tests reportedly concluded the gun was used to shoot Gerald. Gerald's DNA was also found on Ruskamp's T-shirt and they believe to have found Ruskamp's DNA on the gun.
Carl Ruskamp and Duane Ruskamp were both arrested on charges related to the grow operation. Ruskamp's charges on this part of the investigation were transfered to District Court and currently await a final outcome.
Ruskamp has an arraignment hearing on the charges related to the death of his father scheduled for Nov. 20, 2023.
