Relatives of Woman Slain by Ex-Penn Prof Seek Damages

Jury selection began Monday morning in the Montgomery County civil trial of Rafael Robb, a former professor convicted of killing his wife in their Upper Merion home just before Christmas 2006.

Convicted in 2007, Robb is serving a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter in his wife’s murder. He admitted to beating 49-year-old Ellen Robb to death with a metal bar while she was wrapping Christmas presents in their kitchen.

Attorneys representing the estate of Ellen Robb are asking for punitive and compensatory damages for her relatives and the couple’s only daughter.

Robb, formerly an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was escorted into the courtroom in Norristown Monday morning, hands cuffed behind his back, dressed in a sport coat and collared shirt.’

Opening arguments are expected to take place today before Judge Thomas M. Del Ricci.