A western Pennsylvania judge says he'll rule in about a week whether to unfreeze the financial assets of a University of Pittsburgh medical researcher jailed on charges he fatally poisoned his neurologist wife with cyanide.
The attorney for 65-year-old Dr. Robert Ferrante wants about $2.2 million in several bank accounts made available to pay for Ferrante's defense. But Allegheny County prosecutors are arguing the money should remain frozen, unless the court specifically approves defense expenditures, so Ferrante will be able to pay restitution or a civil court settlement if he's convicted or sued in the April death of his wife, Dr. Autumn Klein.
Ferrante is charged with spiking his 41-year-old wife's energy drink with the fast-acting poison.
Ferrante has denied that. The defense says keeping Ferrante's assets frozen so he may eventually pay restitution is premature.
