According to Rose Ciotta, author of Cruel Games: A Brilliant Professor, A Loving Mother, A Brutal Murder, the Rafael Robb case intrigued her because "it wasn't one of those neat, clean CSI cases."
Ciotta, The Philadelphia Inquirer deputy city editor and investigative reporter, held a book signing of Cruel Games last night at the Penn Bookstore. The book details the proceedings of the 2006 case involving former Penn Economics professor Rafael Robb.
Robb pleaded guilty in November 2007 to beating his wife to death with a chin-up bar. In November 2008, he was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison and 10 years of probation. He appealed the sentence last December, but the judge denied his appeal.
Ciotta opened with a reading of the first chapter of the book, which provides the reader with a glimpse into the Robbs' disintegrating marriage shortly before the homicide.
"What domestic violence experts will tell you," she said, "is that breakups are when lethal events are most likely to occur."
She also described the investigation process as a "cat and mouse game" in which Robb attempted to outwit the prosecution.
Prior to his conviction, Robb took detectives on a tour of the house, re-enacted discovering the body of his wife in the kitchen and even agreed to participate in 12 hours of voluntary questioning conducted by the police.
"Before he was arrested, the police and district attorney felt he was toying with them," she said.
While Ciotta said she wanted the book to portray "who Robb was" before the incident, she was unable to interview many of Robb's colleagues at Penn. "They weren't eager to talk about him or be in a book" about the murder, Ciotta said.
Robb's attorney had also discouraged him from speaking with Ciotta. Consequently, all of the quotes in Cruel Games attributed to Robb were obtained either from police and court statements or conversations recalled by acquaintances.
Robb is currently serving his sentence for voluntary manslaughter at the Philadelphia state prison awaiting the possibility of parole in 2012.
"He was a brilliant guy, very well-known and in demand," Ciotta said of Robb in closing. "But as his career was taking off, his marriage was falling apart."
