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Death by Cyanide: The Murder of Dr. Autumn Klein
At just forty-one years old, Dr. Autumn Klein, a neurologist specializing in seizure disorders in pregnant women, had already been named chief of women’s neurology at Pittsburgh’s largest health system. More than just successful in her field, Dr. Klein was beloved―by her patients, colleagues, family, and friends. She collapsed suddenly on April 17, 2013, writhing in agony on her kitchen floor, and died three days later. The police said her husband, Dr. Robert Ferrante, twenty-three years Klein’s senior, killed her through cyanide poisoning. Though Ferrante left a clear trail of circumstantial evidence, Klein’s death from cyanide might have been overlooked if not for the investigators who were able to use Ferrante’s computer, statements from the staff at his lab, and his own seemingly odd actions at the hospital during his wife’s treatment to piece together what appeared to be a long-term plan to end his wife’s life. In Death by Cyanide, Paula Reed Ward, reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, describes the murder investigation and the trial in this sensational case, taking us from the poisoning and the medical staff’s heroic measures to save Klein’s life to the investigation of Ferrante and the emotion and drama inside the courtroom.
250 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
June 3, 2019
3.5 stars
September 22, 2016
This is a top-notch, gripping real life crime book, documenting one of the nowadays rare cases of deliberate poisoning in America. What gave it such high visibility in Pittsburgh, where it occurred, is that the victim and the perpetrator were not only wife and husband, but top-ranked neurologists and brain researchers.
In April 2013, Autumn Klein, an expert on treating pregnant women with epilepsy, came home after a long day at the hospital, where she met her husband, Robert Ferrante, a well known researcher on Huntington's disease and ALS. They had both been recruited to come to UPMC in Pittsburgh. They had a young daughter. It was his second marriage, her first, and she was desperately trying to become pregnant again.
Before the night was done, Autumn had collapsed on the kitchen floor, moaning horribly, and a few days later, after valiant efforts to save her, she was taken off life support. Only the sharp eyed observance of an emergency room doctor, who saw that blood from her vein was unexpectedly bright red, led to him sending a sample out to be tested for the deadly poison cyanide. When the test came back positive, police and prosecutors began to focus on Ferrante, especially after finding out their marriage was troubled, he had ordered cyanide not long before the death, and he had done a slew of Google searches with terms like "how a coroner detects cyanide."
This book was written by Paula Reed Ward, the reporter who covered the case for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In the course of her work, she covered the investigation, the arrest, trial and conviction of Ferrante, and now the aftermath and his appeals.
It is still hard to believe that a top notch neurological researcher who had practically raised his older two children by himself would go so far off the deep end that he would poison his wife and leave so many clues behind, but that is exactly what a jury concluded he had done.
Told with vivid detail and admirably clear explanations of the science of poisoning, this book is a galloping and disturbing ride.
In April 2013, Autumn Klein, an expert on treating pregnant women with epilepsy, came home after a long day at the hospital, where she met her husband, Robert Ferrante, a well known researcher on Huntington's disease and ALS. They had both been recruited to come to UPMC in Pittsburgh. They had a young daughter. It was his second marriage, her first, and she was desperately trying to become pregnant again.
Before the night was done, Autumn had collapsed on the kitchen floor, moaning horribly, and a few days later, after valiant efforts to save her, she was taken off life support. Only the sharp eyed observance of an emergency room doctor, who saw that blood from her vein was unexpectedly bright red, led to him sending a sample out to be tested for the deadly poison cyanide. When the test came back positive, police and prosecutors began to focus on Ferrante, especially after finding out their marriage was troubled, he had ordered cyanide not long before the death, and he had done a slew of Google searches with terms like "how a coroner detects cyanide."
This book was written by Paula Reed Ward, the reporter who covered the case for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In the course of her work, she covered the investigation, the arrest, trial and conviction of Ferrante, and now the aftermath and his appeals.
It is still hard to believe that a top notch neurological researcher who had practically raised his older two children by himself would go so far off the deep end that he would poison his wife and leave so many clues behind, but that is exactly what a jury concluded he had done.
Told with vivid detail and admirably clear explanations of the science of poisoning, this book is a galloping and disturbing ride.
April 11, 2023
Talk about a power couple. Autumn Klein was a brilliant doctor with a specialty in neurological diseases and her husband, Robert Ferrante, a research scientist working on ALS. She was a former student of his and twenty-four-years his junior. He was divorced with two children when they married.
At forty-one, Dr. Klein collapsed on the kitchen floor of her home and her beloved husband called 911 in an Oscar worthy performance as he pleaded for medical assistance. At the hospital, Robert requested that an autopsy not be performed on his spouse but Pennsylvania law mandated that it must be done on an individual with no previous medical issues.
A blood test revealed a high level of potassium cyanide in Autumn's system and Dr. Ferrante was immediately suspect number one. He had ordered the chemical only days before his wife's untimely death. Further evidence was uncovered on his Macbook, which showed Google searches for cyanide poisoning. A brilliant scientist was undone by the stupidity of his internet searches.
The courtroom portion slows the overall flow of the book with chemists debating the possibility of cyanide poisoning. As usual, the prosecution and defense had experts give conflicting testimony on Autumn's cause of death, with cardiac arrhythmia being one given by Dr. Cyril Wecht. His fee is $500 per hour as an expert witness. The deceased medical bill for three days of intensive treatment, was $400,000.
Death by Cyanide is a good read but a bit too technical.
At forty-one, Dr. Klein collapsed on the kitchen floor of her home and her beloved husband called 911 in an Oscar worthy performance as he pleaded for medical assistance. At the hospital, Robert requested that an autopsy not be performed on his spouse but Pennsylvania law mandated that it must be done on an individual with no previous medical issues.
A blood test revealed a high level of potassium cyanide in Autumn's system and Dr. Ferrante was immediately suspect number one. He had ordered the chemical only days before his wife's untimely death. Further evidence was uncovered on his Macbook, which showed Google searches for cyanide poisoning. A brilliant scientist was undone by the stupidity of his internet searches.
The courtroom portion slows the overall flow of the book with chemists debating the possibility of cyanide poisoning. As usual, the prosecution and defense had experts give conflicting testimony on Autumn's cause of death, with cardiac arrhythmia being one given by Dr. Cyril Wecht. His fee is $500 per hour as an expert witness. The deceased medical bill for three days of intensive treatment, was $400,000.
Death by Cyanide is a good read but a bit too technical.
November 9, 2017
Top notch journalist Paula Ward's "ripped from the headlines" true story about a notorious murder reads much like her reporting for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Brisk, compelling and thought-provoking. I already knew about the case and details of the crime, but what the book provides in addition to the reporting is an emotional element. The author helps the reader see the victim and accused, their families, attorneys and co-workers as painfully human and emotionally invested in this tragedy. It fascinated me. I felt like I was on a behind-the-scenes tour of a public, yet deeply personal drama. Well done.
October 24, 2018
Not my typical genre but I enjoyed this book. Interesting and since I am from PGH that was neat too.
May 23, 2024
An interesting and detailed profile of a local murder trial.
May 19, 2020
Living in Pittsburgh I remember following this story on the local news. Recognizing the places and names made it even more interesting reading this novel. Very well written true story.
October 2, 2022
I was a little disappointed in this novel of true crime. It opens with the death of Dr Autumn Klein and then proceeds to the investigation of her manner of death. Then, in stepwise fashion, goes into the investigation of her murder and subsequent trial of her husband Bob Ferrante who was ultimately deemed guilty of the crime. I found the writing to be a little bit 'matter of fact' and most of it read like a court transcript, to be quite honest. I had immense sympathy for the victim Dr Klein as I agree with the overall theme of her life being cut short much too early and before she had the opportunity to help innumerable patients with her research and women's neurology clinic. But I am not sure the novel was able to truly portray Bob as the embodiment of evil which I suppose one must be if he truly was reportedly feeding her 3-NMP (as that was never definitively proven) and later cyanide as a mode of death. I had heard of the crime by a colleague and was looking forward to the novel for some time but in the end I had to admit to myself that I have many other books of true crime which were much more engaging than this. One benefit - it is not that lengthy so it definitely can be finished in a short time, for better or worse.
May 15, 2017
A look inside of a little-publicized murder case that will leave you reeling.
Imagine a woman dead and her pathology reports show ti was cyanide. Now imagine said woman's husband...being found to be the murderer....
Ward takes us behind the scenes of a plot of betrayal in a concise and flowing narrative, detailing all the turn of events deeper in to the rabbit hole. The book opens up with the doctor wife dead and we retrace the steps backwards to reveal the scheming husband, his plans and motives. It's hard to talk about this piece without spoilers so I won't say too much more other than you would do well to read it. Wonderfully in depth without the sluggish pull much crime writing tends to have. Riveting and accessible at the same time.
Imagine a woman dead and her pathology reports show ti was cyanide. Now imagine said woman's husband...being found to be the murderer....
Ward takes us behind the scenes of a plot of betrayal in a concise and flowing narrative, detailing all the turn of events deeper in to the rabbit hole. The book opens up with the doctor wife dead and we retrace the steps backwards to reveal the scheming husband, his plans and motives. It's hard to talk about this piece without spoilers so I won't say too much more other than you would do well to read it. Wonderfully in depth without the sluggish pull much crime writing tends to have. Riveting and accessible at the same time.
October 17, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. And if you like to learn, this book will teach.
It is amazing to me that a man who appears, on the outside, to be such an upstanding father and husband, to have such a black center.
I feel like I’ve kind of gotten to know Autumn through this book and the world is so very much poorer for her absence. My heart goes out to the child. And, God bless the grandparents. My grandparents took me in when I was only my mother died and I was less than two years old. She was about 50. I pray that that they win their suit against Bob so that they can have all the money needed to take care of Ciana and more.
It is amazing to me that a man who appears, on the outside, to be such an upstanding father and husband, to have such a black center.
I feel like I’ve kind of gotten to know Autumn through this book and the world is so very much poorer for her absence. My heart goes out to the child. And, God bless the grandparents. My grandparents took me in when I was only my mother died and I was less than two years old. She was about 50. I pray that that they win their suit against Bob so that they can have all the money needed to take care of Ciana and more.
December 13, 2017
I was disappointed that there weren't more details in the time line explaining why the marriage fell apart. It seemed like one minute they were soul mates and partners in everything and the next, Dr. Klein was emailing her friends about her dissatisfaction with Ferrante. Because of this I found it hard to understand what pushed Dr. Ferrante over the edge, even though his behavior after the death was suspicious.
November 6, 2016
A very well written account of true events. Reed accurately captured the facts of the case, the key figures and personalities involved, and the suspense and drama of the courtroom. Her style of writing makes you feel like you are right in the courtroom watching the events unfold in front of your eyes which makes this book hard to put down. Great writing, and more importantly, excellent reporting, with this debut book by a solid journalist. Well done!
January 7, 2022
Knocking out the oldest book on my GR TBR with this one. It was a fascinating case, but the delivery was a bit dry. It was pretty clear straight from the beginning who the main suspect was, but I can’t tell if that’s bias or just he did too many suspicious things to ignore and no one else did? This was clear to follow, and I didn’t think it went too deeply into the complex medicine that might make it hard to understand.
May 24, 2017
Even though I live in Pittsburgh and followed the story as it happened, I found the book to be very interesting. Such a tragic story. This young, brilliant doctor who is murdered by her husband. She had so much to contribute to society not to mention raising her precious daughter. So many lives ruined.
November 6, 2018
3.5-4 stars. Highly recommended for true crime fans, especially those with a connection to Pittsburgh or an interest in medicine. My only complaint was the occasional inclusion of details that didn't matter or seemed out of place (in other words, very slightly padded). Otherwise, a solid first book from a great journalist and writer.
July 23, 2019
The story was interesting and I was happy with the Pittsburgh connections but man did it start to drag and it was so incredibly one-sided. As soon as the book opened it was HE DID IT!!! and left little to the imagination or to find out later. I'm sure that this was just the style of the book and not the writing.
January 6, 2017
This is a well written non-fiction narrative centering on a riveting murder case. This was a smooth read detailing the events leading up to the trial and a detailed account of the court proceedings. Well done and worth the read.
August 2, 2018
The mystery and intrigue of this story writes itself, to which the author respectfully filled in the blanks. The lack of leading presumptions allowed you the chance to read the facts and follow your instincts.
April 28, 2020
I'm from Pittsburgh so it was nice to read about the places I'm familiar with. I enjoyed the book and learned some things about murder trials. Hard to believe this is real! I remember when the story was on the local news, but I was unfamiliar with the details until now.
June 21, 2025
It doesn’t feel right giving a rating to a book about someone’s life, but this was a well written piece about a true tragedy. I was happy to see them highlight Autumn’s accolades because she was truly amazing and such a trailblazer for women in medicine.
March 9, 2017
Compelling story due local news; fair storytelling that may have had a bias towards the prosecution
March 23, 2017
This was very sad story.
January 9, 2019
Probably would not have been interested enough to finish if the events were not local.
May 30, 2019
It is what it is.
February 20, 2020
True crime with a Pittsburgh local theme. The author was a speaker at our book club, really enjoyed hearing the details of her extensive research of the case.
March 29, 2022
Love true crime but this book was boring for me. Couldn't even finish.
March 13, 2017
I was interested in this because it was a high profile Pittsburgh murder trial. It strangely held my interest, even during the highly technical sections, so kudos to Paula Reed Ward.
December 26, 2016
OK writing, albeit biased (appropriately , I guess, given Ferrante was found guilty).
Alas, this slightly-too-long book offered nothing that was not already presented in a Dateline episode.
Alas, this slightly-too-long book offered nothing that was not already presented in a Dateline episode.
October 21, 2016
Death by Cyanide: The Murder of Dr. Autumn Klein by Paula Reed Ward
A true crime story about Dr. Autumn Klein who was murdered by Cyanide poisoning. She was healthy , smart and the Chief of Women's Neurology at a Pittsburgh Hospital. Her husband Dr. Robert Ferrante, a respected research scientist was charged with the murder of his wife.
The story was well written with detailed accounts of her tragic, painful death and the ongoing investigation. With documented court papers from the investigation and trial, we learn of the step by step accounts of what happened and how Dr Ferrante was found guilty of this heinous crime.
Overall I found Death by Cyanide: The Murder of Dr. Autumn Klein very informative, emotional and compelling read. I highly recommend to those who love True Crime Stories.
* I received this book from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review.
A true crime story about Dr. Autumn Klein who was murdered by Cyanide poisoning. She was healthy , smart and the Chief of Women's Neurology at a Pittsburgh Hospital. Her husband Dr. Robert Ferrante, a respected research scientist was charged with the murder of his wife.
The story was well written with detailed accounts of her tragic, painful death and the ongoing investigation. With documented court papers from the investigation and trial, we learn of the step by step accounts of what happened and how Dr Ferrante was found guilty of this heinous crime.
Overall I found Death by Cyanide: The Murder of Dr. Autumn Klein very informative, emotional and compelling read. I highly recommend to those who love True Crime Stories.
* I received this book from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2017
I live in Pittsburgh, and since I followed this story in the newspaper from the beginning, I wondered if this book, by the main reporter who covered the story and the trial, would be repetitive. It is not. I learned many, many more details not covered in the newspaper, and I thought the author gave a very interesting, very detailed account of the trial. I was also a bit hesitant to read it because, though it may read like fiction, it is an account of a real tragedy.
I feel heartbroken for Dr. Klein's daughter and her parents. The fact that Dr. Klein is no longer with us is also a tremendous loss to a much wider circle. As one of Dr. Klein's colleagues said, "[o]ne of the tragic things about losing Autumn is the opportunity cost to the patients, particularly women with epilepsy, that she would have seen over the next twenty years of her practice." Or, as Autumn's mother put more simply, "[a]ll she ever wanted to do as help people. People all over the world are now losers." It's the truth. I hope Robert Ferrante has a long and terrible experience in prison.
I feel heartbroken for Dr. Klein's daughter and her parents. The fact that Dr. Klein is no longer with us is also a tremendous loss to a much wider circle. As one of Dr. Klein's colleagues said, "[o]ne of the tragic things about losing Autumn is the opportunity cost to the patients, particularly women with epilepsy, that she would have seen over the next twenty years of her practice." Or, as Autumn's mother put more simply, "[a]ll she ever wanted to do as help people. People all over the world are now losers." It's the truth. I hope Robert Ferrante has a long and terrible experience in prison.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews