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

[jjenny]

All these details are not going to be exactly the same for every university. At some Universities credit cards are issued to researchers in their names, to purchase lab supplies, etc.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

He had to use the university card and the university address to get it. So he apparently was smart enough to know that. But where did his thinking go after that?

I think he likely relied on the idea that 1.) Poisoning would not be suspected due to cyanide not showing up on normal tox screens 2.) A quick death would ensue 3.) His input as to what had happened to his wife 4.) Planned cremation immediately after death

What likely screwed him up 1.) She didn't die immediately 2.) She was a listed organ donor (Wonder if he even knew this?) thus despite being "brain dead" according to her mother, she was "kept alive" on life support for several days. No unusual in the case of an organ donor.

If this ever gets to trial - which I surely hope it will - it will be an interesting trial. Thankfully, the Pittsburgh Homicide Division was smart enough to call upon the FBI very early in the game.

And we still don't know what led who to decide to test for cyanide!

 

[jjenny]

They have to keep an organ donor on life support until organ removal, otherwise most organs will be no good for transplantation.
Which is what I think happened here.
As hospital testing for cyanide-either they run out of all the natural causes and decided to test her for poisons. Or something made them suspicious that this was not a natural death, IMO.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Here is Autumn's obituary, published on 4/24/13:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...seases-during-pregnancy-caring-doctor-684721/

2001- Marriage to Robert J. Ferrante at Christ Church, Boston MA

4/17/13 - 11:30PM Call by husband to 911
4/18/13 - 5:30AM After being called by husband "close to midnight" (later listed as at 12:20AM) her parents arrive in Pittsburgh, PA after driving from Towson, Maryland. Mother states she was "flatlined".
4/20/13 - Death
Organ removal
Cremation - date unknown
4/24/13 - Memorial service in Pittsburgh, PA

5/1/13 - First article revealing high level of cyanide involved in death
Cyril Wecht approached for info for this article, states he cannot comment because he has been approached
(presumably on a professional basis) about the case.

5/3/14 - Article stating death being investigated as either homicide or suicide.
Also states search warrants issued for their home and both his and her
laboratories the day before (5/2/13)

5/4/13 - Articles state husband is represented by lawyer named "Jerry Johnson"

5/17/13 - William Difenderfer, a criminal defense attorney who has been retained by Mr. Ferrante, said he and his client are in a waiting period and hope charges will not be filed against Mr. Ferrante


Ferrante has two adult children from a prior marriage. We are not allowed to list research about family members on websleuths. The step children of Autumn are listed in her obituary. The names can be googled.

The obituary published in the Boston Globe has almost 90 messages of condolence. She was obviously a compassionate and concerned physician, much loved by both her patients, her friends and her colleagues. So very sad.

 

[time]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...ordered-cyanide-before-her-death-sources-say/

Not much new, but this

"Ferrante's attorney, Bill Difenderfer, told CBS Pittsburgh that his client used cyanide as part of his teaching."

Maybe this was said before, but it says the cyanide was ordered two days before her death probably meaning it arrived a day before her death.

 

[1&2&3]

It looks like this husband is getting pushed further into the guilty corner all by himself, IMO! He used cyanide in his teaching, he ordered a new supply two days before wife's death, hmmm??

And how much has been used out of the new order? That would be the magic question as it is doubtful he has returned to teaching with his wife's death and the ongoing investigation.

 

[Skagirl]

He had to use the university card and the university address to get it. So he apparently was smart enough to know that. But where did his thinking go after that?

I think he likely relied on the idea that 1.) Poisoning would not be suspected due to cyanide not showing up on normal tox screens 2.) A quick death would ensue 3.) His input as to what had happened to his wife 4.) Planned cremation immediately after death

What likely screwed him up 1.) She didn't die immediately 2.) She was a listed organ donor (Wonder if he even knew this?) thus despite being "brain dead" according to her mother, she was "kept alive" on life support for several days. No unusual in the case of an organ donor.

If this ever gets to trial - which I surely hope it will - it will be an interesting trial. Thankfully, the Pittsburgh Homicide Division was smart enough to call upon the FBI very early in the game.

And we still don't know what led who to decide to test for cyanide!

BBM

I'm not sure if it's a different policy state-to-state, but I always thought even if a person is on the organ donor registry, can't their family still refuse to donate the organs?

I know I've seen public service announcements about making sure your family knows that you want your organs donated even if you're on the organ donor registry. Although in this case, I would think that'd make her husband look more suspicious if he suddenly said he didn't want her organs donated.

 

[SophieRose]

BBM

I'm not sure if it's a different policy state-to-state, but I always thought even if a person is on the organ donor registry, can't their family still refuse to donate the organs?

I know I've seen public service announcements about making sure your family knows that you want your organs donated even if you're on the organ donor registry. Although in this case, I would think that'd make her husband look more suspicious if he suddenly said he didn't want her organs donated.

I tried to find out about family approval on organ donation and found that Washington state finds the DMV card that one signs to be a binding contract and no family approval needed. Couldn't find California.

 

[jjenny]

If she were an organ donor, then it obviously wouldn't look good if her husband tried to deny the donation (assuming he had any legal right to do so).

 

[toscaxyz]

Good point, I would expect the lab supplies to be requisitioned, not purchased on an individuals credit card. This does seem to be the most suspicious thing at this point... the way it was acquired/paid for and that it was only purchased two days before. I guess that begs the question, was it delivered quickly or picked up - I'm a little confused on ordering vs receiving the cyanide.

A lot of university labs do small purchases of supplies via a university credit card, and the head of the lab may have direct control of it. It saves tiem and vendors will often fill credit card orders faster than they fill things via purchase requistion because they get paid faster. Charges to the card would eventually be reviewed by an administrator, but often administrators don't know what kinds of things are or are not needed for current research. If the head of the lab ordered it and it was delivered to the university (rather than, say, to someone's home), it's not likely that anyone would have thought it strange.

 

[toscaxyz]

If she were an organ donor, then it obviously wouldn't look good if her husband tried to deny the donation (assuming he had any legal right to do so).

Has it been reported that her organs were actually used for recipients? If I understand cyanide poisoning, it causes massive organ failure due to hypoxia, so they might not have been able to use much from her. Certainly if they had known at the time of death that she died of cyanide poisoning, they're not likely to have used her organs.

 

[time]

Has it been reported that her organs were actually used for recipients? If I understand cyanide poisoning, it causes massive organ failure due to hypoxia, so they might not have been able to use much from her. Certainly if they had known at the time of death that she died of cyanide poisoning, they're not likely to have used her organs.

I believe, when asked, no one would answer that question citing confidentiality. I think an article by an ethicist said that was ridiculous because they did not have to reveal who the organs went to

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...n-donor-brings-calls-for-transparency-686692/

Following standard privacy guidelines for organ transplants, both UPMC, where Dr. Klein worked and died, and the Center for Organ Recovery & Education, or CORE, which coordinates transplants in this region, have declined to comment about her case.

But a leading medical ethicist said the highly unusual nature of her death might make it worthwhile to at least say whether any transplants occurred and whether patients who received tissue from Dr. Klein have been notified about the cyanide findings.

 

[toscaxyz]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...n-donor-brings-calls-for-transparency-686692/[/QUOTE]

Another quote from the article that time linked above:

"It's known that cyanide disintegrates rapidly in the body," she said, "and studies have documented successful transplants from donors exposed to cyanide."
​

So it seems that if the organs were otherwise working, they could have transplanted them safely even though they didn't know about the cyanide at the time. And they would not have been able to detect cyanide in them by that time.

So that brings up another question: How did they detect the cyanide if it had disintegrated by the time they began to suspect that she'd been poisoned?

 

[time]

I wonder if it is because they drew blood samples early on or if it stays longer in certain tissue?

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Certainly not a chemist here, but I'm thinking cyanide within the blood or organ of a deceased person doesn't just evaporate. If it did, they would not have been able to get the measurement that she had 30 times the lethal dose in her body.

I think what happens is that after exposure to cyanide, a living body will quickly metabolize it. The liver detoxifies poisons and the kidneys excrete them. This is the basis for all urine drug tests. That there are metabolites of a certain substance excreted in the urine.

But if the dose is massive, obviously the body cannot process the massive amount. Which is where "toxic dose" comes into play - on any substance that is toxic to the human body. Remember, Tylenol is toxic at a high enough dose.

I haven't seen any new articles in the Pittsburgh papers about this. They are likely awaiting testing results on the cyanide found in her body compared with the cyanide the husband purchased. In reading about cyanide I was amazed at how many different forms of it there are.

And I'd be willing to bet that the form found in Autumn Klein was the same form the husband purchased.

Has anyone heard or read anything more about "emails found"?

 

[AlwaysShocked]

From an article in the Pittsburgh PostGazette on May 17, 2013:

"Officials have released few details about their probe into the death of Dr. Klein, chief of women's neurology at UPMC, except to say that they were looking at it as either a homicide or a suicide. Dr. Klein died in UPMC Presbyterian on April 20, three days after she collapsed inside the family home.

In addition to Mr. Claus, 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.

Pittsburgh homicide detectives requested documents pertaining to both Dr. Klein's private practice and cyanide at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, which employs her husband, Robert J. Ferrante. They also searched the couple's home and removed a computer and vacuum cleaners and they towed away cars.

William Difenderfer, a criminal defense attorney who has been retained by Mr. Ferrante, said he and his client are in a waiting period and hope charges will not be filed against Mr. Ferrante.

The presence of white-collar crime investigators in a death investigation is somewhat unusual, said those familiar with the mechanics of such cases....

"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."

Documents might provide investigators with clues as to who had access to certain substances or about the backgrounds, financial or otherwise, of those associated with a case....

"I think in almost every case that you can imagine," he said, "that the purpose for bringing in a white-collar investigator has something to do with motive."


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...te-collar-crime-experts-687952/#ixzz2U9ePpJRF


It sounds like there is a very thorough investigation taking place.

 

[time]

Shocked... I agree, they seem to be conducting a very thorough investigation. I haven't seen any new info, nothing about the emails - intrigued to know though!

Thank you once again for your posts.

 

[colette]

CNN has a good video out about the case from May 17.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2013/05/18/ac-pkg-savidge-poisoning-death.cnn.html

 

[jjenny]

I wonder if it is because they drew blood samples early on or if it stays longer in certain tissue?

Blood can be stored frozen, unlike the organs being prepared for a transplant.

 

[time]

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/sources-more-search-warrants-signed-relative-docto/nX7zk/

"Channel 11’s Alan Jennings has confirmed that the husband of a prominent UPMC doctor who ingested a lethal dose of cyanide last month is no longer welcome on UPMC property.

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

It's unknown whether Ferrante used the substance for his research.

...Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams also told Jennings on Friday that the results of toxicology tests are not yet complete."