“That lady. They made her into a machine kind of thing.”
That was one of the bizarre comments the 54-year-old suspect in the slaying of his mother made the day the body of 77-year-old Dianne Rupp was discovered on Feb. 16, 2021.
Now the trial of her son, Andrew Rupp, continues in Scott County Court.
A video recording from Feb. 16, 2021, shows Andrew Rupp in an interview room. Although the room is empty, Rupp appears to carry on a conversation.
“I told you it was true,” he says in the video. “She was trying to dominate the town altogether and leave.”
In the video, Andrew Rupp says a lot of other things that don’t make sense, along with “I’m pretty sick,” and also “We need to get to a safer location.” He also can be heard saying “She was dead already.” And “The brain’s made out of metal and computerized stuff.”
Later he says “Half her brain’s still working.” Toward the end of the video he tells someone who comes into the room he wants to go to a hospital.
A witness who took the stand Tuesday said he and Andrew Rupp had done meth together.
Dianne Rupp was the proprietor of Mama Bahama’s, one of the longest-running stores inside of NorthPark Mall, Davenport. Police found her dead in an apartment on West Central Park Avenue.
The courtroom was quiet, with only six people attending early today. Andrew Rupp sat quietly and listened to the video and witnesses, who included Davenport Police Corp. Richard Niesen, who is assigned to the major case unit.
Niesen said he reviewed phone evidence and surveillance video in connection with the case.
The case, which is a bench trial, is set to continue Thursday in Scott County Court. In a jury trial, the jury makes the decision whether to convict a defendant; in a bench trial, the judge makes the decision.