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NORRISTOWN — A Montgomery County judge began hearing dueling testimony from two psychiatrists who evaluated a Horsham Township woman accused of using a belt to strangle her 11-year-old son.
Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead’s mental state at the time she killed her son, Matthew, is in dispute at her trial. Judge William R. Carpenter must decide her fate at the nonjury trial.
DiRienzo-Whitehead, 51, of the 500 block of Privet Road, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the alleged April 11, 2023, strangulation death of her son.
Dr. Kenneth Weiss, an expert in forensic psychiatry who interviewed and evaluated DiRienzo-Whitehead for the defense, concluded that at the time of the incident she was suffering from “a major depressive disorder” with psychotic and suicidal features.
DiRienzo-Whitehead suffered mood swings associated with menopause and suffered psychosocial stressors, including financial worries and fatigue from caring for her mother who had dementia, Weiss testified for defense lawyer Eugene Tinari on Wednesday.
Weiss maintained DiRienzo-Whitehead developed psychotic features including “coming to the conclusion that her son was already suffering, that her son was depressed…that she herself was worthless.”
“She felt she was a worthless person, had nothing to live for,” Weiss testified.
Weiss concluded DiRienzo-Whitehead formulated a plan to kill herself and believed that her husband would not be able to take care of their son after her death. Weiss testified DiRienzo-Whitehead killed her son under a delusional, psychotic belief that there was “the need to spare her son from the downstream consequences of her death.”
Weiss testified such delusional beliefs or psychotic motives are known as “altruistic maternal filicide.”
“These were unshakable beliefs. Her reasoning became defective. She lost touch with reality. It flies in the face of reality,” Weiss said.
DiRienzo-Whitehead considered what she had done as “a mercy killing,” according to Weiss.
“She regarded it as an act of kindness,” Weiss testified.
Supporting DiRienzo-Whitehead’s insanity defense strategy, Weiss opined that DiRienzo-Whitehead did not know the nature and quality of her act and didn’t know, at the time she strangled her son, that it was wrong.
Testimony revealed that between March 24 and April 11, DiRienzo-Whitehead had conducted more than 100 internet searches about suicide.
During the trial, Tinari argued DiRienzo-Whitehead was severely mentally ill and was suffering from depression as a result of several stressors. Specifically, Tinari argued DiRienzo-Whitehead had been the sole caretaker for her mother who suffered from dementia, was stressed about financial pressures and having to recently sell her family home in Wildwood Crest, N.J., and was entering menopause.
During cross-examination of Weiss, Assistant District Attorney Lauren Marvel implied DiRienzo-Whitehead over-reported her symptoms and engaged in manipulative behavior when being interviewed by the psychiatrist.
Dr. John O’Brien, a psychiatrist retained by prosecutors to evaluate DiRienzo-Whitehead, refuted Weiss’ findings, suggesting DiRienzo-Whitehead’s actions were a manifestation of her anger toward her husband.
“It’s my opinion she was aware of what she had done. She was aware of the wrongfulness,” O’Brien testified for Marvel, adding he didn’t believe DiRienzo-Whitehead suffered from a major depressive disorder. “It’s my opinion she’s never been psychotic.”
Marvel and co-prosecutor Gwendolyn Kull have argued that Matthew’s death was premeditated and that DiRienzo-Whitehead knew what she did was wrong.
DiRienzo-Whitehead faces life imprisonment if she’s convicted of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, at trial.
A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20-to-40-years in prison.
Under state law, a person who is diagnosed as insane suffers from a mental defect that prevents them from knowing right from wrong or from realizing the nature and quality of their actions.
A person who is determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity at trial initially would be committed to a mental health facility for treatment and receive periodic evaluations. Once that person is deemed “cured” of mental illness they would be released from supervision with no requirement to serve any jail time.
Under Pennsylvania law, a person found guilty but mentally ill at a trial lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law as a result of a mental disease. Such a conviction recognizes the incident was a product of criminality but also serious mental illness.
A person found guilty but mentally ill is sentenced to prison but is evaluated to determine if they suffer from mental illness and if so the offender receives treatment. When that person is deemed to have the mental illness under control, the offender must serve the balance of any sentence in prison in general population.
Relatives and friends of DiRienzo-Whitehead testified for the defense on Wednesday that she was a “compassionate, loving” woman and a doting mother who loved her son but that the once “easy going and happy” woman appeared “overwhelmed and to be spiraling” in the weeks and days leading up to Matthew’s death.
“Ruth was an amazing mother. Ruth was a very loving mother. She and Matthew had an amazing bond,” Deborah Serbin, DiRienzo-Whitehead’s stepsister testified.
DiRienzo-Whitehead used a tissue to wipe tears from her eyes as loved ones testified on her behalf.
The investigation began about 7:06 a.m. April 11 when Horsham police responded to the Privet Road home for a report of an unresponsive child. Daniel Whitehead, the boy’s father, called 911 to report that his wife had killed the boy, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives found the deceased child in the master bedroom of the home.
An autopsy determined that the cause of the boy’s death was ligature strangulation and the manner of death was ruled homicide.
DiRienzo-Whitehead allegedly told detectives she fatally strangled her son with a belt as he slept because she didn’t want him to grow up having to struggle with the family’s financial difficulties, according to court documents.
When detectives interviewed DiRienzo-Whitehead, she told them that she and Matthew went to bed at about 9:30 p.m. on April 10 and she “described that Matthew had been upset and crying off and on all day over the family’s financial difficulties,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective Heather Long and Horsham Township Detective Michael Peter.
“DiRienzo-Whitehead explained that she did not want Matthew to grow up with these struggles so she strangled him with her husband’s belt as he slept,” Long and Peter wrote in the arrest affidavit.
After killing the boy, DiRienzo-Whitehead drove the family vehicle to Cape May County, N.J., where she drove the vehicle onto Cove Beach and into the ocean, according to testimony. Once the vehicle was no longer operable, DiRienzo-Whitehead walked to Wildwood Crest where she was located by police and taken into custody.
Prosecutors showed the judge police body cam footage of DiRienzo-Whitehead’s apprehension during which she uttered, “I know what I did.”
Detectives subsequently searched the Toyota Highlander after it was retrieved from the ocean.
“On the front driver’s side floor of the vehicle, they recovered a black men’s dress belt,” Long and Peter wrote in the criminal complaint.
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