Horsham Mom Guilty Of First-Degree Murder Of Son: DA

Updated: 11:45 a.m. Thursday

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The trial of a Horsham mother in the strangulation death of her 11-year-old son ended Thursday with a guilty verdict of first-degree murder, authorities said.

The trial of Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead, 51, on first-degree murder and third-degree murder charges and a charge of possessing an instrument of crime began Monday before Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter in the death of her son last April.

Authorities said she was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday morning in the bench trial that went before a judge and not a jury. Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead was also found guilty of possessing an instrument of crime.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead is expected to be sentenced Friday, the Montgomery District Attorney's Office said. She faces life in prison.

Victim impact statements are also expected to be read in court on Friday, authorities said.

On Wednesday, the Montgomery District Attorney's Office wrapped up its presentation, and then the defense called its witnesses. The trial was delayed for a day by Tuesday's storm.

In mid-November, the Philadelphia lawyer representing Dirienzo-Whitehead filed a court motion for an insanity defense.

Attorney Eugene Tinari had told Patch that "there's just no explanation for it." Following the incident, Tineri called his client "delusional."

Dirienzo-Whitehead said that she strangled her son with her husband's belt at the family's Privet Road home after he had been "upset and crying off and on all day" over the family's financial difficulties, according to an affidavit.

Authorities said after DiRienzo-Whitehead left her home, she drove the family’s SUV to Cape May, N.J. There, she proceeded to drive the vehicle into the ocean just off Beach Avenue, where Cape May Police found it. She then walked to Wildwood Crest, where she was taken into custody by Wildwood Crest Police.