Richard Rosenthal

Diagnoses

Passions

Family

American homicide; a white male, dark haired and serious looking, who strangled and bludgeoned his wife Laura Jane on 8/28/1995, cut out her heart and lungs and impaled them on a stick in the back yard of their Framingham home. A John Hancock insurance executive, Rosenthal says that he began a mental decline when his infant son, Reese, was born with a terminal condition on 2/18/1994 and died within the day. He began to have delusions that he was being persecuted by doctors and was chosen as a messenger of God. His wife was turning into a hostile space alien. Their marriage had a long history of spousal abuse and marital discord. On the day of Laura's death, Richard had called home nine times. That night, their tension reached a head. About 8:00 PM, Laura angrily confronted him and began pummeling him after he let a dish of ziti overcook. He strangled her until she blacked out, then he got a rock from the back yard and bludgeoned her to death. He cut out her organs and impaled them on a stick in their back yard. In spite of an attempt to convince the jury of an insanity defense, Rosenthal was convicted of homicide on 11/07/1996 and given a mandatory life sentence. Laura Jane Russell Rosenthal was born 5/03/1961, Highland Park, IL; time unknown.