GUILTY PA - Ellen Robb, 49, beaten to death, Montgomery County, 22 Dec 2006

[Hedidit]

When justice is served, hopefully more friends of Ellen's will come forward and share with you all her wonderful attributes.....her humor.........her hospitality...........her funny stories!! She could have a room in stitches just with her random comments. She was a fine human being

 

[Hedidit]

I heard he has a LOT of money. May not be true...but I heard that. During the times that I talked with him, before all of this, I always left feeling weird. He is odd and pretty much anyone you talk to that ever had a convo with him says the same thing. I don't think it is due to his being from another country either as I know other people born and bred in Israel.

Yes, he has lots of money. Money in Israel and money at home (I've heard).

 

[Neighbor2]

Great commentary, Jesstexas. I think you are right on all accounts. All accounts.

Yes, I agree, JessTexas is right on all the reasons he would have touched her face. He's covering his bases in the event they found blood evidence elsewhere in the house. ALSO, I had thought he came home at 1:45 becuase he didn't wnat Olivia to find body but now I also believe the timing was more specific than that and also quite deliberate. He wanted to come home close enough to the time Olivia would get home (early dismissal that day because of holiday), so that he could say tell LE he thought she might be home and might have been harmed as well -- that's his excuse for going up to her room before calling 911. I heard his lawyer give this reason on N Grace last night.

Obviously he thought through all these details very carefully. IMO, Murder 1 here, premeditated all the way. The problem for the good college prof is he didn't think about how these neat little logistics would fit into the real world! How they are so cruel and calculated, and evil.

 

[Hedidit]

According to the Montco report, there was blood EVERYWHERE....floor, walls, ceiling. He must have had to hop-scotch his way out of the kitchen in order not to get blood on his shoes. "Hop hop hop....upstairs....etc." He sickens me.

 

[luthersmama]

Ellen told the realtor that she could expect to receive $4,000 per month in support from her husband. This would include both alimony and child support. She would have received that figure from a lawyer based on financial information Ellen had given him/her. In order to have moved into an apartment by January, Ellen must have been near the finalizing stages of implementing an order to receive that money - or she must have had reliable access to other funds in the interim. However, the real point is that to be paying out $4,000 per month, he has to be earning a LOT more than the average Joe!

Based on the compensation schedule on the UPenn website, I estimate that he is making about $150,000 per annum. He also gets generous benefits.

 

[ohdear]

he would have been in the Israli Army- it is a requirement.

 

[kahskye]

Can't an estimated time of death be made to prove she was murdered prior to the time he said he left the house to create his allibi?

 

[luthersmama]

Yes, and considering that he's somewhat of a spendthrift, that is all the more implausible. Speaking as one myself, you buy your soda wherever it's cheapest (I imagine the machines are cheaper than the store) and you certainly wouldn't park at an expired meter to get one.

For being such an "educated" man, his alibi seems very poorly thought out.

The Wawa sodas are inexpensive, but he also could have gone to one of the lunch trucks that park around the Penn campus. Looks to me like he picked the Wawa he did in order to get the ticket, though. Most Wawas have their own lots so no meter is involved.

 

[luthersmama]

Can't an estimated time of death be made to prove she was murdered prior to the time he said he left the house to create his allibi?

The range for the time of death is 8:15 to 10:30 IIRC. It would be unusual to be able to narrow it further based just on the corpse.

 

[englishleigh]

Wondering if there will be a special forum for this case, like Michelle Young has? Sounds like it's going to be a similar kind of story, except that Ellen wasn't pregnant.

 

[misterallgood]

he would have been in the Israli Army- it is a requirement.

This occurred to me yesterday too. Every able-bodied Israeli is required to do this in their youth. So he would have learned all the things they teach soldiers to do the world over -- including kill in close quarters.

Steve

 

[fran]

This occurred to me yesterday too. Every able-bodied Israeli is required to do this in their youth. So he would have learned all the things they teach soldiers to do the world over -- including kill in close quarters.
Steve

It seems he learned that lesson well!

It's a good thing he didn't take any courses in criminal justice.

The devil's in the details.

No grade for him in this,..... only :behindbar

JMHO
fran

 

[lisafremont]

He might not have tracked blood at 1:45 because most likely it would have been pretty dry. Certainly the cast-off and spattered blood if not the pool of blood by her head.

The sloppiness of the cover-up reflects it being thought-up and executed after the fact.

IMO the murder was premeditated but not planned.

 

[Hedidit]

He might not have tracked blood at 1:45 because most likely it would have been pretty dry. Certainly the cast-off and spattered blood if not the pool of blood by her head.

The sloppiness of the cover-up reflects it being thought-up and executed after the fact.

IMO the murder was premeditated but not planned.

I agree. Hopefully this will do him more damage in his sentencing.

 

[Neighbor2]

He might not have tracked blood at 1:45 because most likely it would have been pretty dry. Certainly the cast-off and spattered blood if not the pool of blood by her head.

The sloppiness of the cover-up reflects it being thought-up and executed after the fact.

IMO the murder was premeditated but not planned.

Actually, I disagree. I think it was planned to the day and the hour. I think he did scpoe everything out in advnace -- otherwise just way too many coincidences (like getting that parking ticket). Ellen was planning to leave next day to drive to Boston with Olivia to visit her brother. Also, then Olivia was off from school until 1/3. By that time, Ellen would have been all but moved out of the house. Olivia made the trip to Boston anyway and sepnt X-mas there. Maybe he even thought that out -- best for her to be away rather than in hotel with him for 5 days. Also, it's my understanding that Olivia asked to be reunited with her father. He could probably care less -- so self-centered.

 

[lisafremont]

You may be right, Neighbor2. But the ticket could be a last minute thing to establish an alibi. But the timing does sound premeditated. It's just that everything else is so sloppy that to my eyes it looks ad hoc. <shrug> We shall see, perhaps, when more facts emerge.

 

[fran]

The range for the time of death is 8:15 to 10:30 IIRC. It would be unusual to be able to narrow it further based just on the corpse.

I believe that I read that her body temperature had already started to drop and rigor mortis had already begun.

JMHO
fran

http://www.deathonline.net/decomposition/forensic/timing.htm

Temperature
The temperature of a body can be used to estimate time of death during the first 24 hours. Core temperature falls gradually with time since death, and depends on body mass, fat distribution and ambient temperature. If the body is discovered before the body temperature has come into equilibrium with the ambient temperature, forensic scientists can estimate the time of death by measuring core temperature of the body.

Rigor mortis
The presence of rigor mortis also assists forensic scientists in determining the time of death. The body muscles will normally be in a relaxed state for the first three hours after death, stiffening between 3 hours and 36 hours, and then becoming relaxed again. However, there is considerable uncertainty in estimates derived from rigor mortis, because the time of onset is highly dependent on the amount of work the muscles had done immediately before death.

 

[5bigfish5]

In the video it appears Robb has an unusual gait. His right foot turns outward. I am wondering if the bloody footprints were clear enough to tell if both feet pointed forward or if one foot turned out.

Interesting that he is taking the dog for a nice long walk. So considerate ……….like someone who cares enough to put the dog in the bedroom……..

EXCELLENT catch Jade!,

Or he is trying to make it look like he walks that way now, thereby the perfectly aligned footprints couldn't be his.

Hmmm.

 

[LTUlegal]

I believe that I read that her body temperature had already started to drop and rigor mortis had already begun.

JMHO
fran

http://www.deathonline.net/decomposition/forensic/timing.htm

Temperature
The temperature of a body can be used to estimate time of death during the first 24 hours. Core temperature falls gradually with time since death, and depends on body mass, fat distribution and ambient temperature. If the body is discovered before the body temperature has come into equilibrium with the ambient temperature, forensic scientists can estimate the time of death by measuring core temperature of the body.

Rigor mortis
The presence of rigor mortis also assists forensic scientists in determining the time of death. The body muscles will normally be in a relaxed state for the first three hours after death, stiffening between 3 hours and 36 hours, and then becoming relaxed again. However, there is considerable uncertainty in estimates derived from rigor mortis, because the time of onset is highly dependent on the amount of work the muscles had done immediately before death.

We've had this discussion over at the Janet Abaroa forum and IIRC, t.o.d. is usually noted with a 2 hour window because there are so many factors involved. The temperature in the home is a major factor.

 

[LTUlegal]

Actually, I disagree. I think it was planned to the day and the hour. I think he did scpoe everything out in advnace -- otherwise just way too many coincidences (like getting that parking ticket). Ellen was planning to leave next day to drive to Boston with Olivia to visit her brother. Also, then Olivia was off from school until 1/3. By that time, Ellen would have been all but moved out of the house. Olivia made the trip to Boston anyway and sepnt X-mas there. Maybe he even thought that out -- best for her to be away rather than in hotel with him for 5 days. Also, it's my understanding that Olivia asked to be reunited with her father. He could probably care less -- so self-centered.

I agree. He was premeditating his alibis: wanting le to look at the fruit he purchased (from a cash store so there's no time-stamped receipt!) And I truly believe he KNEW he'd get a ticket and "camped out" there, specifically to get said ticket.
I agree, as well, about the timing with Olivia coming home. I believe that he didn't want her to see what he'd done, (compassionate enough about his daughter not to traumatize her in that way?)
There are so many things & I just haven't had enough coffee yet.
So nice to see those close to this case...we appreciate your insight into this case!