Gaming the games player in murder case

The shocking murder in 2006 of Ellen Robb, a stay-at-home mother, triggered Montgomery County law enforcement to begin an intense search for her killer. In ths second of three exclusive excerpts from "Cruel Games," a book by Inquirer staff writer Rose Ciotta that St. Martin's Press will publish Feb. 3, District Attorney Bruce Castor enlists narcotics detectives to gather information in a daring undercover ruse. Read the first excerpt here.
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Dec. 27, 2006

While the detectives were meeting with District Attorney Bruce Castor on Dec. 27, a call came in from the Upper Merion police. Rafael Robb, the victim's husband, had hired a glazier and a locksmith to replace the glass and change the lock on the house's back door - the same door that Robb had told police had been broken into by a burglar. Was it OK for them to do the work?

Castor grinned. "Sure, but they're going to have an assistant."

Castor knew just the pair who could do the job. He called Detectives Tony Spagnoletti and Stephen Forzato. Between them, the veteran officers had logged 39 years working undercover in narcotics.

For Spagnoletti, the Robb assignment would be a finale to a 34-year career. During his 14 years in narcotics, he had often teamed up with Forzato, a 21-year police veteran. For the last three years, Spagnoletti had been running the unit. Jan. 12 would be his last day.

Castor gave them a brief overview, followed by Drew Marino, the lead Montgomery County detective, along with John Finor, the ballistics expert, and Mike Santarelli, the crime scene specialist. Getting Robb to confess would be the frosting on the cake, but anything else could help shoot more holes into his alibi. "Just get him talking and let's see where it goes." The plan was for Spagnoletti to go in with the glazier and Forzato to follow with the locksmith.

Det. Christopher Kuklentz, who knew Robb better than any of them after questioning him for more than 12 hours on the day of the murder, described him as liking to control the conversation and tight-lipped. "Was Robb streetwise?" Forzato asked. "Would he have had any dealings with street people?"

"Not at all," said Kuklentz. Robb was an intellectual, a university professor who did math for a hobby.

"Damn," said Spagnoletti as the Burhans Glass Company truck drove past the Robb residence. Spagnoletti could see that three television vans were parked outside.

Both officers were well known among reporters and TV camera techs. The last thing the detectives needed was for any of the reporters to recognize them or for Francis J. Genovese, Robb's attorney, to spot them.

Spagnoletti called Castor for help. "I'll take care of it," he said, reaching for his contacts at the television stations. Castor asked the vans to pull back from the house.

Castor came up with another way to make sure Genovese didn't drop in. Genovese represented a defendant whose trial was scheduled to start on Jan. 8. A prosecutor in the case called Genovese and asked him to come review the exhibits that would be submitted at trial.

As Castor teased Genovese weeks later: "You don't think it was an accident that Jim McGowan and Steve Latzer kept running out of the room that day, do you?" Det. McGowan and Assistant District Attorney Latzer deliberately took their time coming up with the documents by taking turns leaving the room as if to search for yet another folder.

Dressed in a Burhans Glass Co. hoodie, Spagnoletti accompanied Bob Rath, a company field supervisor. They knocked on the front door, and Robb led them through the house to the back laundry room where there was a door with a shattered window.

"This is tragic. Sorry to hear about your loss," said Spagnoletti, who had taken on his undercover persona of Tony Corelli.

"Yeah," said Robb.

The worker explained that he would put something temporary in for today so the door would be secure, and they would return in a few days with the full glass. Spagnoletti wanted to make sure he could get a second try at Robb if he needed it.

With that, Tony slipped away to check out the house with Robb following him. He stopped when he got to the family room, which had boxes stacked from floor to ceiling, covering most of the floor.

"What the hell is this all about?" Tony demanded.

"My wife liked to buy things."

"If that was my wife, she'd be buried in the middle of all of that rubble."

Robb said nothing but gave Tony a knowing smile.

"So, what the hell happened here?"

Robb told him the whole story, the same he had told the detectives five days ago, how he had come home from Penn and found his wife dead on the kitchen floor.

"They think I did it," Robb said to Tony.

Just that morning, The Philadelphia Inquirer had reported that the police believed Robb had faked the burglary of his home. What led them to that conclusion was that the burglar never stepped on the glass after opening the door.

"Let me tell you about Castor," Tony said. "If Castor is after you, he's going to get you one way or another."

Tony stepped closer to Robb.

"Here's my deal. I don't know anything about setting glass and windows. My friend is the manager there. . . . I'm on parole, work release . . . so he gave me a job."

Tony let that set in before going at Robb again.

"Hey, Doc, who's your lawyer?"

"Genovese."

"Listen Doc, I don't know who that is. (He actually did. Genovese, a former Montgomery County assistant district attorney, is a respected criminal defense attorney.)

"Listen, Doc . . . you need a high-powered guy. Castor is ruthless. He's a no-good bastard."

Robb wanted to know more, about Tony's situation and the crime that had landed him in jail. Robb started showing him around the house.

After checking it all out, Tony continued his ruse.

"What was missing?"

"Nothing."

"Doc, something is missing. People don't break into a freakin' house and kill your wife and nothing is missing. Are you saying someone had something against her?"

"No," Robb said.

"Doc, you are not understanding me. You've got a lot of stuff missing here. You need to re-evaluate and find stuff that are missing. You get my drift? . . ."

He hadn't been able to find his wife's purse, but he didn't think any valuables were missing, Robb told him. With that, Tony left.

On the driveway, he passed his colleague, Steve, who was wearing a dark blue Dayton Lock Co. shirt with the name "Joshua" embroidered over the right side pocket. "You won't have any problem," Tony whispered to Steve. "He'll be easy."

Robb showed the locksmiths the lock on the back door that needed replacing.

While Kevin Traylor, Steve's co-worker, went to the truck, Robb led Steve to the kitchen.

"Why did police take the doorknobs and locks?" Steve asked.

"Oh, didn't you hear what happened here?"

"I did read something in the newspaper but didn't realize this was the house."

"Well," Robb continued, "the police believe I am the prime suspect."

Steve said, "Well, whether you did or didn't do that is no business of mine. We're here to provide you with a service and to make you feel more secure."

Robb nodded, but never asked for better locks or heightened security. Even when Steve flatly asked, "Do you want to feel more secure in your house?" Robb said nothing and just nodded.

Robb said he had been living in a hotel and had just moved back that day. His 12-year-old daughter, Olivia, would be returning today or tomorrow.

"You don't want them to get this done tonight?"

Robb answered: "No, that's not necessary"

While in the kitchen, as they stood in the same spot where Ellen Robb had been found brutally beaten, her husband offered Steve a soda. "No, thanks," he said as Robb led him to the laundry room to show him the door with the broken glass and how it had allowed the burglar to unlock the door and get into the house.

Steve told him he'd replaced a lot of locks due to burglaries because the burglar prefers to pry open the door at the deadbolt rather than break the glass.

"Really?" Robb said. "Why?"

"Because it is very loud when glass breaks, and you have neighbors around here." With that they looked for evidence that a burglar had pried open the door and found none.

"It's obvious no one tried to pry the door," Steve told him.

As they walked back into the kitchen, Steve also mentioned that he was divorced and his girlfriend's brother worked at the Upper Merion Township Police Department.

"Hey, I think it would look good for your situation if there were a lot of break-ins in your neighborhood recently. Do you want me to check with her to see if she can find out if there were burglaries in your area?"

Robb responded, "Yeah, that might be good."

They left, but returned about 10 minutes later to give Robb his new keys.

Steve again asked Robb if he was serious about wanting him to find out more about the burglaries in the area.

"Sure," he said, "but I think the horse is already out of the barn."

"What do you mean by that?" Steve asked.

"Well. The police already think I did it."

Tomorrow: Police close in on an arrest.

Original publication from Cruel Games: A Brilliant Professor, a Loving Mother, a Brutal Murder, by Rose Ciotta, copyright 2009. Published by St. Martin's True Crime Library.