Mom who said a psychotic break caused her to strangle her son with a belt convicted of murder after prosecutors say she did it to spite her husband

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead murdered her son, Matthew Whitehead, a judge determined. (Mug shot: Montgomery County District Attorney

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead murdered her son, Matthew Whitehead, a judge determined. (Mug shot: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)

A Pennsylvania judge did not buy a mother’s mental health defense, instead convicting her on Thursday of murdering her 11-year-old son.

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 51, strangled young Matthew Whitehead by using his father’s belt at their home in Horsham Township on April 10, 2023. She then took her Toyota Highlander SUV some 120 miles south to the shoreline of Cape May, New Jersey, leaving it partially submerged. She was arrested in nearby Wildwood Crest, also on the Jersey Shore.

Her ostensible motive at the time: She did not want Matthew to grow up with money problems.

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