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 The jury of eight men and four women rendered its verdict in the
trial of Dr. Robert Ferrante, 66, after 15 hours of deliberations,
said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Alleghany County District
Attorney's Office.
Ferrante was accused of killing his wife, Dr. Autumn Klein, 41, by
lacing her dietary supplement drink with cyanide ordered through his
research lab at the university.
He called 911 on April 17, 2013, to report Klein was ill, and she
was taken to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian
where she worked as chief of women's neurology. Klein died there
days later.
 Medical tests sent out before she died and returned after she was
cremated showed lethal levels of cyanide in her blood, prompting an
investigation.
Prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini had told jurors during the trial, which
began on Oct. 23, that the couple's marriage was troubled and Klein
may have been about to leave.
Ferrante "wanted her dead, dead, dead" and felt that if he could not
have Klein "no one will," Pellegrini said in closing arguments on
Thursday.
Ferrante's lawyer, William Difenderfer, argued Klein did not die of
cyanide poisoning and contended Ferrante ordered the substance for
clinical research purposes.
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During their deliberation, jurors listened to a recording of the 911
call Ferrante made to emergency dispatchers, which has the sound of
his wife groaning in the background, Manko said.
Ferrante, who has been in jail since his arrest in July 2013, under
Pennsylvania law faces a mandatory prison sentence of life without
parole.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Daley in Pittsburgh, Editing by Alex
Dobuzinskis and Sandra Maler)
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Pittsburgh
researcher found guilty in wife's cyanide poisoning death
