US medical researcher convicted of murder in his wife’s cyanide poisoning death
Posted November 8, 2014 12:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PITTSBURGH (NEWS1130) – A University of Pittsburgh researcher charged in the cyanide poisoning death of his wife last year has been convicted of first-degree murder.
Jurors say they found 66-year-old Dr. Robert Ferrante’s explanations unbelievable, and they were moved by a recording of an emergency call he made while his wife was groaning, moaning and gasping for air in the background.
Friday’s verdict means Ferrante faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison in the April 2013 death of 41-year-old neurologist Dr. Autumn Klein.
The jury agreed with prosecutors who accused Ferrante of lacing his wife’s energy drink with cyanide. Authorities say he bought the poison with a university-issued credit card.
Ferrante denied poisoning his wife. He said the cyanide he bought was for stem cell experiments he was conducting on Lou Gehrig’s disease.
