GUILTY PA - Husband charged in cyanide poisoning death of Dr. Autumn Klein

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May 15, 2013

Police say she ingested toxic amounts of cyanide...Police have removed cyanide from a lab at Pitt where Dr. Ferrante works. They also traveled to Boston and Baltimore to speak with family and friends about the couple

Dr. Ferrante – a professor at the University of Pittsburgh – has not talked to police detectives, but called 911 the night of his wife’s death, telling 911 dispatchers it appeared she had a stroke.

...Sources confirm this is now a homicide investigation.

....KDKA tried to talk with Dr. Robert Ferrante about his wife’s death two weeks ago. He had nothing to say.

Now, he’s hired criminal defense lawyer Bill Difenderfer.

Difenderfer: “We don’t even know if he’s going to be charged with anything at this point. Hopefully, he won’t be.”
Griffin: “But he has been described as a suspect?”
Difenderfer: “Well, you know, you know that.”
Griffin: “Your client is a suspect in this case?”
Difenderfer: “I’m sure, what do they call that, person of interest or suspect. Yeah, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”
Pittsburgh Police and the FBI removed a significant amount of evidence from the couple’s home. In that evidence there was what are described as a number of emails that may have relevance in the case.
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http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/05/15/husband-of-doctor-poisoned-by-cyanide-hires-defense-lawyer/
 
Sounds like hubby needs this criminal defense lawyer, considering he reportedly purchased cyanide and it was shipped to his lab.

"Channel 11’s Alan Jennings reported that the supplier of the cyanide is unknown, but it was shipped to his lab. Jennings said homicide detectives will test the samples removed from Ferrante’s lab against the cyanide found in Klein’s body."

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/investigators-still-looking-upmc-doctors-cyanide-d/nXscf/
 
Based on the new news, it sounds like he is definitely a strong suspect and just ordered cyanide a few days before her death. Then there seems to be interesting emails.
 
I already posted this link above, but I think this part of the article is interesting since we had a conversation about the issues of acquiring cyanide ... and the article somewhat deals with it's current use in labs.
Pitt officials have declined to discuss the case.

Jennings talked to Duquesne University professor Dr. Fred Fochtman who said cyanide suppliers won’t send it to a home address. They’ll only send shipments to legitimate labs they know and trust.

Ferrante could not be reached for comment. His attorney William Difenderfer declined to comment.

Dr. Benjamin Rix Brooks, medical director of Carolinas HealthCare System's Carolinas Neuromuscular/ALS-MDA Center, said it's possible that an ALS researcher might use cyanide, especially if the person is studying the effects of upper motor neuron degeneration, which is when nerve cells in the brain no longer function properly.

“If it's related to ALS, it is probably how cyanide can produce upper motor neuron system degeneration,” Brooks said. “The cyanide replicates that effect in animal models.”

Brooks said his lab does not use cyanide, but he has been in labs that do, especially if the lab is studying the effects of vitamin B12, which is the antidote for cyanide poisoning.

Dr. Robert Bowser, former director of the Center for ALS Research at Pitt, said he had no firsthand knowledge of cyanide use in the research labs while he was there. He said cyanide is not one of the commonly used toxins in research studies.

Bowser left Pitt in 2011 to become director of the ALS Research Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

“If you're trying to find things that protect cells, in those experiments you expose cells to different toxins, then see how well your drug works to protect them,” Bowser said.
Dr. J. Douglas Bricker, dean of the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy, said cyanide was commonly used in laboratory research years ago.

“There would be a tracking of where it was ordered, who it was ordered from and whose hands it exchanged,” Bricker said. “It falls under other dangerous chemicals that are typically monitored when they are purchased.”
The FBI does not track the sale of cyanide but does work with suppliers informally, spokeswoman Kelly Kochamba said.
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http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/investigators-still-looking-upmc-doctors-cyanide-d/nXscf/
 
  • Dr. Robert Ferrante told police his wife had suffered a stroke
  • But Dr. Autumn Marie Klein's body was found to contain more than 30 times the lethal level of cyanide
  • Ferrante is alleged to have used his work credit card to buy cyanide just days before her death
  • His attorney claims his client uses the poison as part of his job as a university professor
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2326163/Husband-highly-respected-doctor-fantastic-mother-purchased-cyanide-just-TWO-days-poisoned-death.html
Sources say 'extremely high levels of cyanide' were found in Dr. Klein’s blood. The type of levels that would have “knocked her to the floor” in 30 seconds sources say.
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The one thing I don't understand is how she lived for 3 days.
..police say the purchase of the poison so close to Klein's death is part of their investigation and they are preparing to execute several more warrants in the case, as they look for further evidence.
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[/quote]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sed-cyanide-just-TWO-days-poisoned-death.html
 
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...h-includes-white-collar-crime-experts-687952/

...the FBI has provided at least one agent who works in its weapons of mass destruction program, the same group that proactively contacts universities, labs and private companies in hopes that they will learn to report suspicious attempts to buy dangerous chemicals, such as cyanide.

...The presence of white-collar crime investigators in a death investigation is somewhat unusual, said those familiar with the mechanics of such cases, because homicide detectives tend to be some of the more veteran members of a police force and tend to have skills in many areas.

"The people who do white-collar crime investigations are typically following some kind of paper trail," said University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris. "This is a type of forensic work that is not always about lab forensics, but it's about following the evidence and knowing how to follow the activity of a business or an organization or a person through documents and accounts and pluses and minuses."
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time said:
"Sources said Ferrante never administered CPR and didn’t call police to ask about what happened to her."

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/10010648964965/husband-may-have-poisoned-former-ma-doctor/

The article also claims an autopsy was not conducted?
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That doesn't suprise me. They didn't do an autopsy on Uroj Khan, who was also poisoned by cyanide, either (and still no arrests in that case). I presume that by the time they run tests on cyanide it was too late. Organs were removed and body was cremated. If they haven't transplanted any of the organs maybe they could test them?
 
You do not perform CPR on someone who has a heartbeat or is breathing. She was alive and "groaning" when paramedics arrived. She would have been breathing and had a heart beat. Thus, CPR was not indicated.
 
How horrible. The article posted above mentions vitamin B12 as an antidote. I'd have thought there was no antidote at all for something so lethal.
 
I stumbled across this story just last night. I am in shock. I've met Dr. Ferrante. I often write about medical research and have written about his work and talked to him or exchanged e-mails with him on a number of occasions although not in the last couple of years.
 
LynnM said:
I stumbled across this story just last night. I am in shock. I've met Dr. Ferrante. I often write about medical research and have written about his work and talked to him or exchanged e-mails with him on a number of occasions although not in the last couple of years.
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It is quite shocking, isn't it?
 
I'm not ready to jump on the guilty husband train yet, even though it appears suspicious. I have questions.

I'm mostly interested in her research pertaining to postpartum headaches. Did she suffer from headaches and was she taking anything 'experimental' for them?
 
LadyL said:
I'm not ready to jump on the guilty husband train yet, even though it appears suspicious. I have questions.

I'm mostly interested in her research pertaining to postpartum headaches. Did she suffer from headaches and was she taking anything 'experimental' for them?
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Her child was six years old. But even if she had headaches and was taking anything for them, I really don't think it would be cyanide.
 
LadyL said:
I'm not ready to jump on the guilty husband train yet, even though it appears suspicious. I have questions.

I'm mostly interested in her research pertaining to postpartum headaches. Did she suffer from headaches and was she taking anything 'experimental' for them?
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Evidently she was a practicing Dr. One can read the Guest Book contributions from her friends and patients, many describe her practice and all are glowing with love and thankfulness. Doesn't appear that she had headaches, but she did treat patients for migraines.

Does anyone know her husbands birth date? I can't find it anywhere. TIA

http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/postgazette/guestbook.aspx?n=autumn-klein&pid=164395318&cid=full
 
Paulette said:
Evidently she was a practicing Dr. One can read the Guest Book contributions from her friends and patients, many describe her practice and all are glowing with love and thankfulness. Doesn't appear that she had headaches, but she did treat patients for migraines.

Does anyone know her husbands birth date? I can't find it anywhere. TIA

http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/postgazette/guestbook.aspx?n=autumn-klein&pid=164395318&cid=full
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I don't know husband's birthday but he is much older than she was. I've seen it reported that he is 64.
 
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