Former Penn. Professor Rafael Robb Pleads Guilty to Killing Wife

In a shocking case for the academic community, former University of Penn. Economics professor Rafael Robb has entered a guilty plea in the murder of his wife, Ellen, shortly before Christmas. Ellen Robb, 49, was beaten to death in the kitchen of their home in Upper Merion Township, outside Philadelphia.Robb, an expert in game theory, now admits that they had an argument over an upcoming trip, she pushed him, and he beat her to death in the kitchen. The prosecutors are treating the matter as a heat of passion killing and have given him a pretty good deal: manslaughter with a prison term of 4 1/2 to seven years.

A former Ivy League professor pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter for killing his wife as she wrapped Christmas presents last year.

 
Rafael Robb, once a tenured economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, faces a prison sentence of no more than seven years for bludgeoning his wife, Ellen, on Dec. 22.

 
Robb, 57, said Monday that he got into an argument with his wife about a trip she was taking with their daughter and whether they would be returning in time for the daughter to return to school.

 
"We started a discussion about that. The discussion was tense," Robb said. "We were both anxious about it. We both got angry. At one point, Ellen pushed me. ... I just lost it."