Wife-Killing Penn Professor Faces Civil Suit Over Remaining Assets
By Brad Segall
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Jury selection was quickly completed and testimony got underway today in a civil trial involving former University of Pennsylvania economics professor Rafael Robb, who was convicted of killing his wife in Montgomery County several years ago.
The estate of Ellen Gregory Robb is suing the former educator for substantial compensatory and punitive damages under Pennsylvania's Wrongful Death and Survival Act.
Robb is currently serving a five-to-ten year prison sentence after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in November 2007.
Robb bludgeoned his wife to death while she was wrapping presents inside their Upper Merion home three days before Christmas, 2006. He then staged the scene to make it look like a burglary.
Robb reportedly has significant assets the civil suit seeks to recover before he is released from prison.
According to court documents, the plaintiff's witnesses will include Robb himself, plus the victim's family and friends, along with several law enforcement personnel who investigated the case.