Wife Killer, Ex-Penn Prof. Rafael Robb on Trial in Civil Case Starting Monday in Montgomery County

Norristown, PA (November 1, 2014) – Former University of Pennsylvania economics Prof. Rafael Robb, who in 2006 fatally bludgeoned his wife, Ellen Gregory Robb, in their King of Prussia home, stands trial starting Monday in the civil case resulting from the horrific killing.

A Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas jury will be selected and then hear the case (Estate of Ellen Gregory Robb vs. Rafael Robb 2008-36401) that seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Robb, who in November 2007 pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Ms. Robb, 49 at the time of her killing, was home wrapping holiday presents, including for the couple’s 12-year-old daughter. The daughter will be testifying at the trial, the Hon. Thomas M. Del Ricci presiding, with opening statements scheduled for Monday morning.

“The family of Ellen Gregory Robb has waited eight years to have its day in court,” said Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of Saltz, Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, P.C. Along with his co-counsel John E. Savoth, Andrew R. Duffy, and Robert W. Zimmerman, he said they will illustrate, starting with the testimony of Rafael Robb, that the victim’s death, and the botched cover up by Robb, was “so brutal, so heinous, it is beyond human comprehension.” However, Mr. Mongeluzzi said that Ms. Robb’s family could find no closure, no justice, until the circumstances of the killing and the facts of the case have finally been presented to a jury.

Gary Gregory, the brother of Ms. Robb and Administrator of her estate, stated, “We have never lost faith in the American justice system and while we know the trial will be terribly painful, especially for my niece, this is what our beloved Ellen would have wanted.”

Claims against Robb, who is serving a 5-10 year sentence in state prison, were brought under Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death and Survival Acts. He will be incarcerated locally during the trial.