Horsham Woman Accused of Killing Son will Use Insanity Defense in February Trial

Tony Di Domizio | North Penn Now•

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 51, of Horsham.

A Horsham Township mom who allegedly strangled her sleeping 11-year-old son to death in April will use an insanity or mental infirmity defense at her February 2024 trial on charges of first- and third-degree murder,according to The Reporter.

Through lawyer Eugene P. Tinari, Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead filed paperwork last week entitled "Notice of Defense of Insanity or Mental Infirmity and Notice of Expert Evidence of Mental Condition” in Montgomery County Court, according to The Reporter.

At her arraignment last year, Tinari told Fox29 that his client "snapped under the weight of mental illness” when she allegedly killed her son Matthew on April 11.

"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."

In an interview with Montgomery County Detectives last April, Dirienzo-Whitehead, 51, 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.

Tinari told FOX29 that there was no history of child abuse or neglect, and he believed his client had snapped.

"If she were not mentally ill, you and I would not be having this discussion right now,” Tinari said in the FOX29 interview.

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 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 killed him then drove her SUV to Cape May, NJ, where she proceeded to drive her 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 the release.

In the eyes of the Commonwealth, someone is diagnosed insane when that person suffers from "a mental defect that prevents them from knowing right from wrong” or not realizing the consequences of their actions:
A person who is determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity at trial initially would be committed to a mental health facility for treatment and receive periodic evaluations.

Once that person is deemed "cured” of mental illness they would be released from supervision with no requirement to serve any jail time. Under state law, a person found guilty but mentally ill at a trial lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law as a result of a mental disease. Such a conviction recognizes the incident was a product of criminality but also serious mental illness.

A person found guilty but mentally ill is sentenced to prison but is evaluated to determine if they suffer from mental illness and, if so, the offender receives treatment. When that person is deemed to have the mental illness under control, the offender must serve the balance of any sentence in prison in the general population.

According to the report, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty if DiRienzo-Whitehead is convicted of first-degree intentional murder, as confirmed by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Marvel.

The accused faces life in prison if convicted at trial of first-degree murder; if convicted of third-degree murder, she faces 20 to 40 years in prison.