Sources: More search warrants signed relative to doctor's cyanide death

PITTSBURGH — Channel 11’s Alan Jennings has confirmed that the husband of a prominent UPMC doctor who ingested a lethal dose of cyanide last month is no longer welcome on UPMC property.

Dr. Autumn Marie Klein, 41, died on April 20, three days after she collapsed at her Schenley Farms home. The medical examiner's office has not determined if her death was a homicide, suicide or accident.

Sources confirmed to Jennings Friday that more search warrants have been signed relative to the case.

According to investigators, Klein walked home from work on April 17 and collapsed at the home she shared with her husband, Dr. Robert Ferrante, 64. Three days later, Klein died.

Previously, Pittsburgh police took a computer, cellphones, vacuum cleaners and other items from the home. Detectives traveled to Boston, where Klein and Ferrante lived before moving to Pittsburgh.

Jennings reported that homicide detectives also recently made a trip to Massachusetts to talk to Ferrant’s ex-wife. The details of that conversation are unknown.

Earlier this month, police learned that Ferrante, co-director of the Center for ALS Research and a visiting professor of neurological surgery at Pitt, bought cyanide using a university discretionary funds account in the days before his wife's collapse.

Jennings reported that the supplier of the cyanide is unknown, but it was shipped to Ferrant’s lab. Jennings said homicide detectives will test the samples removed from Ferrante’s lab against the cyanide found in Klein’s body.

It's unknown whether Ferrante used the substance for his research.

When Jennings attempted to reach Ferrante for comment, no one answered the door of the house he shared with Klein.

A spokesperson from UPMC also declined to comment on Ferrante’s status as an employee, responding to Jennings in a text message saying, “This is an ongoing investigation. I can’t comment.”

Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams also told Jennings on Friday that the results of toxicology tests are not yet complete.

WPXI