https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7 Murder by poison en-us 2016-11-27 23:08:06 UTC 2026-02-26 15:03:21 UTC hello@padlet.com tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140059974 2016-11-27 23:11:08 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140059974 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140059992 2016-11-27 23:11:26 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140059992 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140060103

Autumn Klein was born in Baltimore.

She went to Boston University for Medical school in 1993 and met Dr. Robert Ferrante in 1995. 

Robert is a researcher and neuropsychologist 

By then, Dr. Ferrante was divorced with two kids. 

There was an age difference of 23 years between Autumn and Robert.

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Robert and Autumn got married in 2001.

She gave birth to their only daughter in 2007.

A few years later Autumn wanted another child 

They moved to Pittsburgh as  Autumn became of the head of Women's neurology in UPMC and Robert moved his lab to the University of Pittsburgh.

 They were both successful in their careers, however it was apparent that their marriage was in trouble.

By 2012, she was struggling to get pregnant, and with little support from her husband, she took medicine

]]> 2016-11-27 23:29:23 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061329 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061521 2016-11-27 23:32:34 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061521 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061527 2016-11-27 23:32:41 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061527 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061537 2016-11-27 23:32:48 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061537 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061547 2016-11-27 23:33:00 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061547 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061571 2016-11-27 23:33:22 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061571 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061580 2016-11-27 23:33:29 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061580 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061586 "I'm sorry sweetie... I guess I was not thinking...I am obviously missing something here."]]> 2016-11-27 23:33:35 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061586 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061592 "I just feel like something is missing in my life. I think that thing missing is love."]]> 2016-11-27 23:33:40 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061592 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061610 Autumn's email to Robert: February 18, 2013
"I have tried to talk to you but I can't... and you may not like what you hear, but I think it is about time we talked."]]> 2016-11-27 23:33:55 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140061610 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140063465 2016-11-28 00:06:52 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140063465 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140063679

At one point, other aspects such as financial issues came into consideration when Autumn was questioning her marriage. She did not want to be the only income to her family when Robert retires.

There was a lack of closeness between the couple as they communicated through email about their problems. 

They both did not trust each other and at one point Robert thought Autumn was having an affair

About a month before her death, she fainted in church and said to have complained of headaches. 

]]> 2016-11-28 00:10:33 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140063679 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140064407 Autumn's email to Robert: February 9, 2013
"You have not been there for me...I am angry about all of this- both not having another kid and your lack of interest...I realize now I have been alone in this entire emotional journey"]]> 2016-11-28 00:19:02 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140064407 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140065421 2016-11-28 00:37:31 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140065421 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140067973

On April 17, 2013 Autumn arrived home and after drinking one of her energy drinks, she collapsed and was said to have stroke like symptoms. Robert then called 911 and Autumn was rushed to the hospital. Robert explained that he gave her one of her usual energy drinks and after drinking it she collapsed in pain. As doctors tried their best to save her, Autumn died 3 days later.

The paramedics noticed a bag of white powder next to Autumn's body that was later found to be a nutritional supplement- creatine. When Autumn was in the hospital the blood tests revealed high levels of acid which prompted doctors to order toxicological tests. 

Robert had requested that Autumn's body be cremated. 

However, after further analysis of Autumn's blood that was taken from the duration of her hospital stay, it was found that there was a lethal amount of  cyanide in her bloodstream. 

This was questionable, and by then an investigation began although Autumn's body had been cremated. 

Police found that there was a charge to Robert's university funded credit card, ordering half a pound of the chemical: Cyanide- which is a salt of hydrocyanic acid that is very toxic. 

Robert only responded that the toxic chemical was for his experiments with ALS disease- which kills off the neurological cells mimicking what the chemical does. 

Cyanide is life threatening because even at a dose of 200 milligrams it is lethal because it deprives the cells of oxygen  which is necessary in order to live. 

When investigators looked through his search history, they found that he searched if it could be detected if someone was poisoned, and he also searched how to clear his search history. 

Robert was arrested and chargers with the murder of Autumn a week later. 

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The trial began in November 2014 in Pennsylvania.

The jurors were exposed to the 911 call and other  evidence. 

The defense attorney argued that Autumn blood test that idetinfied the cyanide could have been discredited or inconclusive.

The defense even brought forensic experts that said that she may not have been poisoned in the first place which raised reasonable doubt. 

The defense attorney- also said that with the absence of an autopsy and the inconsistent toxicology reports, the evidence was circumstantial- evidence that does not directly connect the suspect to the victim. 

Defense attorney also said that Autumn could have been victim of suicide or of a mysterious illness from previous illness.

The jury also noticed a change in Robert's story.

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The jury was split with the verdict, however after 15 hours, on November 7th, 2014, the jury found Robert guilty of first degree murder with a mandatory sentence of life without parole. 

Robert's legal team wanted to launch an appeal and his attorney argued that there was no proof that Robert was the one that  poisoned Autumn, and that "there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Dr. Klein even died from cyanide poisoning" (Ward).

]]> 2016-11-28 05:23:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140086237 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087037

Robert Ferrante's sentence remains. 

I believe that the evidence they had was enough especially when incorporating information about their marriage and past events leading up to Autumn's death.

Robert's unwillingness to support his wife, and his jealousy caused a separation that could have leaded to divorce- which I suspect Robert did not want. 

Through several of the emails they exchanged there was a lack of understanding between the two that was obvious if they could not have the conversation live. 

I also think that the age difference was a significant factor in the events that played out. Robert was 64 when Autumn was 41. He already had 3 kids and she had one. Although they may have loved each other at first, the difference in age separated them more as they wanted different things in life, in addition Robert did not want to have a divorce and he did not want to have another child so he made the decision to kill her.

]]> 2016-11-28 05:42:00 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087037 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087473 2016-11-28 05:54:55 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087473 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087479 2016-11-28 05:55:00 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087479 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087483 2016-11-28 05:55:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087483 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087511 2016-11-28 05:55:48 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140087511 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140158463 2016-11-28 13:36:27 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/140158463 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908465 2016-12-06 00:27:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908465 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908488 http://www.wpxi.com/news/local/jury-selection-begins-tuesday-cyanide-case/139624738]]> 2016-12-06 00:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908488 tghandour https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908533 2016-12-06 00:28:35 UTC https://padlet.com/tghandour/izocsgrmt2f7/wish/141908533