Ellen Robb's death was a personal attack made by someone who wanted her face bludgeoned so badly that she became "hardly recognizable as a human being," according to two mental-health professionals.
But Frank DeSimone, the lawyer for Rafael Robb, the Economics professor who will face trial this fall in connection with the death of Ellen, his wife, wants to bar that expert testimony from court.
On Aug. 27, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paul Tressler scheduled an Oct. 12 hearing for the defense and prosecution to argue about that issue.
Robb, 56, has been charged with first-degree murder in Ellen Robb's Dec. 22, 2006, death. Ellen Robb was bludgeoned to death in the couple's Wayne, Pa. home. Rafael Robb's trial is set for Nov. 26.
In the affidavit of probable cause for Robb's arrest, a psychologist and a psychiatrist who examined photographs of the victim and crime scene stated that the "obsessive intensity of force used against Mrs. Robb went beyond that necessary to cause her death" and the killer demonstrated a "need to depersonalize" Ellen Robb.
The testimony also asserts that the killing was done in a manner that would make it unlikely that a burglar was the culprit, implying that Ellen Robb's killer was instead probably someone who knew her and wanted to see her suffer.
Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said he wants the mental-health experts to testify on the pattern of rage exhibited in a "killer who was specifically trying to remove that person's identity from the face of the earth."
But DeSimone wants to exclude that evidence, citing a 1995 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision rejecting expert testimony. That case barred the testimony because it would "intrude upon the jury's basic function of deciding credibility."
Also under discussion will be a motion filed by DeSimone to quash, or throw out, the case based on insufficient evidence presented at Robb's preliminary hearing.
DeSimone would not comment further on the motions to quash and bar expert-opinion testimony because the court proceedings are pending.
"It's all going to come out on the 12th," he said.
Castor said he believes the defense wants the expert testimony excluded because "it really hurts." He added that there is little chance the case will be dismissed entirely, saying that he has "never seen a case thrown out" in 21 years of trying murder cases.
Robb has been placed on indefinite administrative leave from Penn. He could face life in prison if convicted.
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