Freed from prison, killer Rafael Robb called to court for questions by judge, lawyers

A month after his release from prison, wife-killer Rafael Robb was back in court Tuesday morning, scolded by a judge who ordered him to turn over more information about his assets.

Montgomery County prosecutors are still investigating whether Robb lied about his finances -- and if that amounts to criminal perjury -- during a civil case brought by his late wife's relatives. That ended with a $128 million judgment against the former University of Pennsylvania professor.

But lawyers for Ellen Gregory Robb's family on Tuesday withdrew their request to have Robb sent back to jail for those alleged lies. Montgomery County Court Judge Thomas M. DelRicci said he would appoint a third party to manage the trust that holds Robb's assets.

Robb, 66, was freed last month after a 10-year term for fatally bludgeoning his wife in their Upper Merion home just before Christmas in 2006.

Dressed in loose-fitting khaki pants and a wrinkled button-down shirt, Robb took the witness stand in Norristown and testified that he has spent the weeks since his release seeking welfare payments and treatment for cancer.

"I've been in prison for 10 years," he said. "The world has changed."

Robb and his lawyer declined to comment as they left court. Robb said at a December hearing that he planned to live in Pittsburgh after his release, and he has agreed to give his wife's family advance notice if he needs to enter the home in Upper Merion where he killed her.

The $128 million judgment against him is unlikely to ever be paid in full. Robb has previously claimed he has roughly $3 million to his name. Any money he does surrender would go to the couple's daughter, Olivia, but none has been transferred yet as lawyers for his wife's estate seek more information about his assets.

The lawyers wanted the judge to hold Robb in contempt of court after he disclosed during testimony in December that he had $5,000 in a bank account in France. That account wasn't listed in sworn affidavits Robb had previously signed outlining his assets.

DelRicci asked Robb why he has not used his computer to research how to access that French account since his release from prison last month.

"I have many other things to do to set myself up in life after being in prison for 10 years. ... I didn't get around to it," Robb said.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office has said it is investigating Robb for potential perjury related to his admission of the bank account. Any crime could be a violation of his parole and send him back to prison.

Deputy District Attorney Thomas McGoldrick and a county detective sat in the front row of Tuesday's hearing, listening and sorting through paperwork and files. McGoldrick declined to comment, referring instead to a previous comment from a spokeswoman that the office was reviewing the matter.

Robb, a former economics professor and leading expert in game theory, testified that he is good at working with finances and often received his bank statements and financial information in prison.

Andrew Duffy, a lawyer for Ellen Gregory Robb's estate, questioned Robb about those financial statements, attempting to prove that he repeatedly lied about his money.

DelRicci appeared to have the same skepticism, telling Robb that not working to find that French account could violate a court order that requires him to find and disclose financial information.

"I'm confused," DelRicci told him. "Any reason you can't access the internet to look up a bank account in France?"

After Robb's testimony, DelRicci met with lawyers from both sides and decided a third-party trustee would oversee the account holding Robb's money. Robb must give the trustee complete information about his assets, DelRicci said. Both sides also agreed that some money from the trust would go toward Olivia Robb's college education, and that Robb would sit for a deposition about his finances.

As the hearing ended Tuesday and Robb offered conflicting statements about whether he understood the judge's order, DelRicci gave him a stern warning.

"It is important not to misspeak in a court," the judge said. "I would've thought you would have learned that lesson by now."