A Montgomery County judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a Horsham mother charged with murder in the death of her son, 11-year-old Matthew Whitehead.
According to a report by Carl Hessler Jr. at the Pottstown Mercury, Common Pleas Judge Wendy Rothstein ordered that 50-year-old Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead undergo the evaluation prior to her preliminary hearing on first- and third-degree murder charges. The report states the evaluation will be conducted by Dr. Pogos Voskanian, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist, however the nature of the evaluation wasn’t detailed, and it is unclear if it will include a determination of competency.
Dirienzo-Whitehead’s attorney, Eugene Tinari, raised the issue of mental illness contributing to the incident in an interview with FOX29 in the days following Matthew’s death.
"I am now fully convinced that this is a tragedy solely as a result of her mental health and illness," Defense Attorney Eugene Tinari said, in the FOX29 report. "There is no other explanation, a sane person would never do this."
The report did not mention a specific mental illness, or whether Dirienzo-Whitehead has any prior history of mental illness.
The father of the victim discovered Matthew’s body inside of the master bedroom of their home around 7 a.m. on April 11. The door to the bedroom had been locked, and his wife — identified as Dirienzo-Whitehead — was no longer on location and her vehicle was missing, according to investigators.
Police said the body of the boy showed ligature marks on the front and rear of his neck, indicating he had been strangled to death. An autopsy listed the boy’s cause of death as ligature strangulation and his manner of death as homicide, according to officials.
The investigation revealed the boy had gone to bed with his mother around 9:30 p.m. on April 10, which the father noted was not an uncommon occurrence, police said. Once the boy fell asleep, Dirienzo-Whitehead allegedly strangled him to death then drove her SUV to Cape May, NJ, where she proceeded to drive the vehicle into the ocean just off Beach Avenue, according to investigators.
Dirienzo-Whitehead then began walking towards Wildwood Crest, where she was taken into custody and interviewed by police, according to officials.
In an interview with Montgomery County Detectives, Dirienzo-Whitehead stated her son had been crying off and on all day over financial difficulties that their family was facing. She then allegedly confessed to strangling him with her husband’s belt in order to spare him from growing up with financial struggles, according to charging documents.
Dirienzo-Whitehead remains in custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
See also:
Mother Accused of Killing Son in Horsham was Suffering from Mental Illness, Attorney Says
Horsham Mother Charged with Murder in Death of 11-Year-Old Son
Police Investigating After Father Finds 11-Year-Old Son Dead in Horsham Tuesday Morning
