Cold Blood, Cold Case: How Lt. Joe Clark's Killer Hid in Plain Sight for over Three Decades.

Lt. Joe Clark Killer

It was an ordinary March night in 1981 when Washington County, Ohio, lost one of its finest. Lieutenant Ray Richard “Joe” Clark was standing in the kitchen of his Marietta home, probably thinking about the Ohio State Buckeyes as they played Michigan State—when a bullet shattered his kitchen window.

Lt. Joe Clark Killer

Joe was dead before he hit the floor.

He wasn’t just any lawman. Joe Clark was a respected veteran, a stand-up cop known for doing the hard right over the easy wrong. But that March night, standing in his own home, none of it mattered. One bullet ended it all.

And with that, the case iced over faster than an Ohio winter.

The Long, Cold Silence

For 31 years, Joe’s murder haunted Marietta like an unfinished sentence. Deputies changed. Leads dried up. Files gathered dust. Locals gossiped about suspects and there was lots of speculation, but no real wins.

In a town where everybody eventually knows everything, somehow no one could—or would—crack the silence.

That was, until a new Cold Case Unit and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) stepped in, ready to dig up leads buried deep.

Digging Up the Dirt—and a Canary

While revisiting the evidence, investigators could prove what earlier generations couldn't—or quietly avoided: a grudge deeper than the Grand Canyon.

The grudge belonged to Mitchell Ruble, a former Washington County deputy who had once been fired by Joe Clark for police brutality. In the ‘80s, getting fired for excessive force was like getting kicked out of a biker gang for bad language. You had to earn it.

Ruble, furious and humiliated, apparently decided that termination wasn’t enough closure for him. Revenge, on the other hand, was a dish best served from behind a shotgun.

But Ruble wasn’t alone that night.

Meet Bob Smithberger, Ruble’s friend, loyal wingman, and getaway driver. Bob wasn’t just along for the ride—he literally drove Mitch’s wife's blue Pinto to the scene of the crime, playing chauffeur to murder. It's not exactly the kind of favor you ask of someone if you're planning to keep things casual.

After Joe Clark was gunned down, Ruble didn’t thank Bob. He threatened him—held a knife to his throat and told him if he ever ratted, they’d both end up in jail. (Because nothing says “lifelong friendship” like felonious intimidation.)

For three decades, Ruble kept Bob under his thumb, reminding him that loyalty wasn’t optional—it was a death pact.

When the Canary Sang

When the Cold Case Unit finally cornered Bob Smithberger decades later, they had something Mitch Ruble didn’t: an offer too good to refuse. Immunity.

With the threat of prison lifted off his back, Bob did what any reasonable man would do: he sang like a canary.

Bob spilled everything—how he drove the Pinto, how Ruble pulled the trigger, and how the knife at his throat kept him silent all those years. He didn’t just nudge Ruble toward guilt. He pushed him over the cliff.

Bob’s testimony was the final nail in Mitch Ruble’s coffin.

In 2013, Ruble was arrested and finally charged with the murder of Lt. Joe Clark. At trial, prosecutors painted the picture clearly: a disgraced deputy’s rage, a cowardly ambush, and three decades of manipulated silence. But it would take two trials, one hung jury and a prosecutor who wasn't going to go quietly.

During the second trial, the jury didn’t need long. Ruble was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he didn’t last very long. In 2017, Ruble died behind bars. No fanfare. No last-minute appeals. Just another inmate number that quietly disappeared.

Closing Thoughts

Lt. Joe Clark deserved so much better—a longer life, a swifter justice, a town unburdened by fear. But in the end, the truth won.

And Bob Smithberger proved something too: even the darkest secrets eventually crawl into the light, especially when you offer them immunity and a microphone.

The lesson here? If your "friend" asks you to drive a getaway car—especially a blue Pinto—maybe it's time to find a new hobby. Like gardening. Or competitive knitting. Or literally anything that doesn't end with a life sentence.

Because as Marietta learned the hard way, justice may be slow...but it sure as hell has good aim.

Sources used for this podcast and the YouTube Video:

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·       WTAP. (2023, February 8). Solving murder Lieutenant Clark: How cold case team found his killer. https://www.wtap.com/2023/02/08/solving-murder-lieutenant-clark-how-cold-case-team-found-his-killer/

·       Marietta Times. (2016, March). Jury convicts ex-deputy in 1981 murder of lieutenant. https://www.mariettatimes.com/news/local-news/2016/03/jury-convicts-ex-deputy-in-1981-murder-of-lieutenant/

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Photos

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