Ripic, Thomas

Graduated St. Mary's School for the Deaf. Won two gold medals for the U.S. in the 1961 World Games for the Deaf. Worked for IBM in an Endicott, NY factory. Married four different deaf women, the last of them, Joann, beginning in 1982. He severely abused her and their three children physically, sexually and emotionally. One night, Ripic was found dead on his front porch, shot twice as he returned from his night shift job. Both Joann and Roy Rowe, Ripic's hearing stepson, came under suspicion of the murder, and they were tried separately, a process that took three years. It was marred by the use of incompetent interpreters by the police, other errors by the police, and her languishing in jail for 2 1/2 years in jail because she could not afford the bail before her trial finally began. Both Rowe and Joann were finally found guilty, Rowe for the actual killing and Joann for directing and supporting it. Rowe was sentenced to 4 to 12 years, and Joann to 17 years to life.