Skull with snake and butterfly by James Ruzicka

12×9 in pen.

This is a unique piece in deed.  It shows what was on Ruzicka’s mind at the time of this drawing. Each piece is signed by the artist. James Ruzicka is known for his crimes and subsequent murders in the Spokane, WA area in the 1970’s. He committed crimes between Seattle, WA and Spokane. There is also some speculation that he went to Oregon as well.  In the end he was convicted of the murder and rape of 2 teenaged girls. The odd part of this story is that he escaped a mental institution and fled to his ex-wife’s home. Her and her new husband housed Ruzicka and hid him from the authorities. He then committed his crimes using a knife that belonged to his ex-wife’s new husband.