NBC’s “Dateline: Lethal Weapon” details how Dr. Autumn Klein, 41, passed away in her Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home in April 2013 amid a mystery. The medical community lamented the passing of the talented physician and researcher, but the murderer was quickly found and apprehended by the Pittsburgh Police. If you’re curious to learn more, such as how she passed away and who killed her, we have the information you need. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Dr. Autumn Klein Die?
Lois Cook and Charles William Klein welcomed Autumn Marie Klein into the world on November 30, 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from Amherst College with a BA in neuroscience and women’s studies in 1993, and Boston University School of Medicine awarded her an MD and a PhD in neuroscience in 2001. She did her internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital from 2002 to 2005 after interning there from 2001 to 2002.
Autumn was the Chief Resident from 2004 to 2005, and she later earned a fellowship in neurophysiology/epilepsy. She earned a clinical neurology residency at Harvard Medical School, where she also taught for two years starting in 2007. In 2004, Harvard Medical School gave her the Excellence in Teaching Neuroanatomy Award. As of July 1, 2011, she had a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine as an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences.
Dr. Karen Rouse, one of her coworkers, said of Autumn, “Autumn was not only a rising star. She was like a meteor. At a very young age, she was already regarded as a leader in her area on a national level. Dr. Maria Baldwin, a different colleague, continued, “She had this tremendous zeal for her work. It inspired individuals to work hard and made them eager to collaborate with her. In all honesty, it inspired others to put in more effort. Patients who received care from her simply adored her and had enormous faith in her.
The show claims that Dr. Robert “Bob” Joseph Ferrante and Autumn first spoke in 1995, when Autumn was a PhD student working in the lab at the Bedford Veterans Administration Medical Centre. At the request of her boss, they started working together and grew close. She had been drawn to him for a while, said Karen Rouse. It took some time to happen. It was time-consuming. She continued to express her scepticism over the age gap between Autumn and Bob (he was 23 years older than Autumn).
Autumn claimed that despite being well aware of their power dynamics, she continued to find him to be both attractive and intellectual. Her family noted that she was fully aware of Bob’s background, including the fact that he had raised two children by himself, and she had a higher regard for him as a result. With Bob, it seemed very different from anyone she had previously dated, Karen recalled. He challenged her in a mental sense. She respected his way of thinking. I believe she hoped to achieve that level of success in her industry.
On May 18, 2001, Bob and Autumn exchanged vows at Boston, Massachusetts’ revered Old North Church. The home where Bob had raised his first family in Canton, Massachusetts, was still their home after the wedding. In January 2007, Autumn gave birth to Cianna Sophia Marie Ferrante. She was prepared to become pregnant again by August 2008, but her husband preferred to delay. He had been reluctant to have Cianna, and according to Autumn’s family, he was annoyed by the age gap, which led some people to wonder if he was actually the girl’s grandfather.
In the middle of 2010, Autumn and Bob started thinking about moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Autumn was invited to join the neurology department at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC) in order to establish a women’s programme. Bob was requested by the University of Pittsburgh to relocate his Boston lab to Scaife Hall. On January 25, 2011, he agreed to transfer his $3 million lab and nine awards under his name to the university. In May 2011, the couple spent $500,000 on a grand house at 219 Lytton Avenue, just steps from their new workplaces.
Consequently, it came as a shock when Autumn passed out in her kitchen at around 11:52 p.m. on April 17, 2013, just after getting home. Bob, who was in a panic, called 911 and said he believed she was having a stroke. According to journalist Alan Jennings, “She had this blank stare in her eyes, barely a pulse.” She was placed on a ventilator as soon as she was admitted to the hospital with respiratory problems. Over the next two days, the physicians anxiously sought a diagnosis as she lost brain function. Three days later, on April 20, the 41-year-old died in agony.
Who Killed Dr. Autumn Klein?
The 2012 summer reportedly caused problems in Autumn and Bob’s marriage, according to the show. Her inability to conceive and Bob’s lack of assistance demoralised her. She had intramuscular injections in the stomach, buttocks, and thigh at least once every day while undergoing numerous in vitro fertilisation rounds. The couple, who were still unable to conceive, considered adoption, but Autumn had said that most agencies turned them down due to their age gap. She had already begun to consider leaving him by the end of 2012.
According to reports, Bob also believed his wife was having a relationship with a man coworker she met at a convention. Although Autumn’s cousin Sharon King refuted the accusations, the prosecution contended that Bob had found certain texts and emails that were sufficient to cause him to feel strong jealously. Autumn’s mother requested an autopsy after she passed away, but Bob declined. She said, “I said, ‘I’m her mother, and I want an autopsy.'” Lois said. The post-mortem was carried out by an associate medical examiner for Allegheny County.
Dr. Todd Luckasevic, the coroner, originally did not discover any obvious clues pointing to the cause of Autumn’s death until the toxicology reports from her blood work arrived. The tests revealed that her blood contained the same poison employed in Nazi death camps, cyanide, in lethal concentrations of 2.2–3.4 milligrammes per litre. The police ruled out suicide, despite Bob’s suggestion that his wife may have done so on purpose. Court records state that on April 15, Bob ordered cyanide from his lab after searching for the poison on Google.
According to the prosecution, he pretended to give Autumn creatine, a substance he recommended to aid in her struggle with infertility, while actually giving her poison. They supported their claim with a text message Bob and Autumn exchanged just before Autumn passed away on April 17. She texted Bob that she would be ovulating the next day, and Bob responded, “Perfect timing,” according to court records. Creatine.” They asserted that he put the cyanide-laced creatine into a beverage that Autumn drank after getting home.
According to court testimony, Bob’s fingerprints were detected on the cyanide container, and a teaspoon (equal to 8.3 grammes) was allegedly found missing. Bob’s defence attorney asserted during his murder trial in late 2014 that “there is no evidence that my client had anything to do with her death, let alone her death caused by cyanide.” Bob had bought the deadly chemical, according to the defence, for his studies. His defence failed to convince the jury, and he was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a life sentence without the possibility of release.
