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Police Arrest University of Pennsylvania Professor In Gruesome Main Line Murder

By Chuck Hustmyre

(Continued)

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Monday, police arrested Rafael Robb for the beating death of his wife. Prosecutors charged him with first and third-degree murder, tampering with evidence, lying to police, and a weapons violation.

In a recently released affidavit, a detective said the apparent break-in "appears staged." The affidavit also quoted a friend of Ellen Robb's who said Ellen refused to go to a birthday party in October because her husband had hit her in the face and given her a black eye.

According to authorities, the Robbs, who were married in 1990, had been living in separate bedrooms for several years. The couple was on the verge of separating. Ellen Robb had recently hired a divorce attorney and was planning on moving into a $1,500-a-month apartment by the first of the year. She also told a real estate agent that her husband was going to have to pay her $4,000 a month in spousal and child support.

Ellen Robb (Victim)
Ellen Robb (Victim)

Two mental health experts quoted in a police affidavit said Ellen Robb's death was the result of a "blitz attack that occurred without warning," committed by someone with "a need to depersonalize Ms. Robb such that she is hardly recognizable as a human being."

Nothing in the house was stolen and police speculated that a daytime burglar would not have taken the time to lock the Robbs' dog in an upstairs bedroom after beating Ellen Robb to death. The position of Ellen Robb's body also suggested to police that she had been attacked while wrapping Christmas presents, something she would not likely have still been doing had she heard someone shatter the glass in the back door.

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Contact Chuck Hustmyre at
chuck3174@yahoo.com

Chuck Hustmyre

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