'Death By Cyanide' Author Talks Ferrante Murder Case

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Doctor Robert Ferrante is serving life in prison for spiking his wife's drink with a fatal dose of cyanide, killing 41-year-old Autumn Klein. Through the case, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette court reporter Paula Reed Ward followed every detail closely.

"It was just so compelling. You don't ever have poisonings. I've been doing this 20 years and it's my first one," she told KDKA.

Ward wrote a book on the murder, called "Death By Cyanide." She said as she learned more about the case and the victim, she wanted to write more than just an article in the paper.

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"She was 41. She had a 6-year-old daughter at the time she died. She was a marathon runner and loved to bake and I felt a connection to her," Ward said.

Ward explained the book reads like a novel, that she wanted it to be as compelling as the case itself. Some of the evidence presented throughout the case was damning.

"When they got to the laptop that they discovered in his safe in his office and revealed the google searches he had done it was just amazing," she said.

She explained that there were searches about cyanide and how a coroner would detect it. As part of the research, Ward actually interviewed Ferrante in prison.

"He was very personable and charming. He denies having committed the crime and still does and says that he misses Autumn and his family very much," she said.

The former Pitt researcher recently lost an initial appeal.