Gary Gregory is talking about his former brother-in-law, ex-Penn professor Rafael Robb. Robb remains in prison for slaying his wife, Ellen. He bludgeoned her to death with a chin-up bar right before Christmas in 2006.
Ellen Robb was about to take their then-13-year-old daughter and leave him. Rafael Robb staged an elaborate cover-up, then pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter to avoid a possible life sentence.
He wound up getting a sentence of only 5 to10 years. He's eligible for parole this year and is applying for pre-release to halfway housing in the Philadelphia area.
"There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of Ellen and miss her and know how much we loved her and others loved her. And that is our lifelong sadness," said Gregory.
Women abuse activists say there is no way Robb should be getting out of jail after only five years.
"It sends a scary message to our victims, to the victims we work with, that somebody could have such a short sentence for doing such a horrendous act," said Janine Kelly of the Women's Center of Montgomery County.
The murder scene, the Robb's house here in a quiet section of Wayne, still sits empty. Dr. Robb remains the owner. Neighbors are not anxious to see him return. In fact they say he should be doing the maximum time."
It's terrible," neighbor Kent Miller told Action News. "I can't believe that after basically admitting to killing his wife it's only five short years. It doesn't seem like it's justice."
Ellen Robb's daughter is being raised by her uncles. She is getting set to go off to college. Robb's immediate fate is now in the hands of state corrections officials.
