Parole Denied for Rafael Robb, Penn Professor Who Killed Wife

Rafael Robb pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2007, and was sentenced to 10 years. After parole denial, he'll serve his full sentence.

Rafael Robb, 56, is escorted from court to a waiting car in King of Prussia Pa., Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007.

Rafael Robb, 56, is escorted from court to a waiting car in King of Prussia Pa., Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007.

The parole board refused Penn professor Rafael Robb‘s attempt for early release, it was announced today.

Robb pleaded guilty in 2007 to strangling his wife, Ellen Robb, in a fit of rage, then staging the scene to make it look like an attempted burglary gone awry. At the time, then-Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor said Ellen had signed a lease on an apartment and had spoken to a divorce attorney.

“The District Attorney’s Office is dedicated to achieving justice and protecting the safety of our community,” Montgomery County DA Kevin Steel said in a release. “Justice was served by declining this inmate’s request for an early release and keeping Rafael Robb behind bars until 2017.”

Robb was set to be paroled in 2013, but Ellen’s family successfully protested and forced the the parole board to rescind its decision.

“We will collectively show that Robb remains controlling, manipulative, and unremorseful for his horrific actions,” Gary Gregory, Ellen’s brother, said at the time. “On behalf of Ellen and all victims of domestic violence, we will vigorously assert he doesn’t qualify for early parole.”

Robb will be released next year, and will have a decade of supervised probation. He lost a civil trial in 2014 and was ordered to pay $124 million.

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