Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Pittsburgh Brain Surgeon Gets Life for Poisoning Wife With Cyanide-Spiked Diet Drink

(Reuters) — A University of Pittsburgh neurological surgery professor was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after his first-degree murder conviction in the poisoning death of his wife, who was also a doctor.

Dr. Robert Ferrante, 66, appeared before Judge Jeffrey Manning at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pennsylvania but did not speak on his own behalf, according to one of his lawyers, Wendy Williams.

His lawyer’s request for a new trial was not granted, but could be considered as a post-sentencing motion once supplementary material was added.

“All the evidence against him was circumstantial,” Williams said. “It’s just sad,” she added.

Ferrante was accused of poisoning his wife, Dr. Autumn Klein, 41, by lacing her dietary supplement drink with cyanide ordered through his research lab at the university.

A Pittsburgh jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in November, making him subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shortly after his conviction, a second woman, who like Klein was an employee of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, was found dead of cyanide poisoning. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner recently ruled that the death of Nicole Kotchey, 35, was a suicide.

Before the sentencing, Prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini read victim impact statements on behalf of Autumn Klein’s family, including her parents.

Her mother, Lois Klein, who is caring for Ferrante’s daughter, Cianna, 8, wrote: “This child now, is not only without a mother – she is also without a father.”

During the trial, Pellegrini told jurors that the couple’s marriage was troubled and that Klein may have been about to leave her husband.

Ferrante “wanted her dead, dead, dead” and felt that if he could not have Klein, then “no one will,” Pellegrini said in her closing arguments.

Ferrante’s other lawyer, William Difenderfer, argued that Klein did not die of cyanide poisoning and contended Ferrante ordered the substance for clinical research purposes.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.