Robert Ferrante, guilty of killing his wife with cyanide, wants new trial
Attorneys will argue Wednesday over whether former University of Pittsburgh neurology researcher Dr. Robert Ferrante deserves a new trial after he was convicted in 2014 of fatally poisoning his wife with cyanide in their Oakland home.
Ferrante, 69, is asking the Pennsylvania Superior Court to overturn his conviction for the first-degree murder of his wife, UPMC neurologist Autumn Klein, 41, arguing that the evidence didn't sufficiently point to him, the investigators' search warrants were too broad and the laboratory that concluded Klein had cyanide in her blood wasn't credible.
Ferrante is serving a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Ferrante laced his wife's energy drink with cyanide that he ordered through his laboratory at UPMC, where he was a researcher. Searches conducted on his laptop and Internet history turned up evidence that he suspected his wife of having an affair, along with searches for information on cyanide poisoning before investigators told him they were looking into cyanide.
Klein collapsed at their home April 17, 2013, and died at UPMC Presbyterian three days later. A jury found Ferrante guilty Nov. 17, 2014 after 15 1⁄2 hours of deliberations.
In his written brief, defense attorney Chris Rand Eyster noted that jurors weren't told about a 2009 settlement to resolve criminal and civil claims against the Nichols Institute, a Quest subsidiary that the witnesses worked for, which could have been used to undermine the lab company's credibility. He also wrote that the lab didn't follow the proper procedures for testing Klein's blood, but produced the only result that pointed to cyanide poisoning.
In their reply, prosecutors wrote that the 2009 settlement and the subsidiary's relationship to Quest were irrelevant to the murder investigation. The evidence, they wrote, included Ferrante's jealousy of Klein's relationship with a colleague, the unusual order for cyanide through his lab, and the Internet search history.
Arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724 836 6660, msantoni@tribweb.com or on Twitter @msantoni.
