WRAL.com Archive: Robert Petrick


Robert Petrick was arrested in 2003 for the death of his wife, Janine Sutphen, who was found wrapped in a tarp, tied in duct tape and floating in Raleigh's Falls Lake. The medical examiner concluded she had been suffocated and wrapped in sleeping bags with her legs chained.

Sutphen, 57, a cellist with the Durham Symphony, was reported missing by her husband Jan. 22, 2003, after she failed to show up for a rehearsal. Police later found her car, along with her keys and cello, inside a downtown Durham parking garage across the street from where rehearsal had been held.

Petrick, who represented himself in his murder trial, was found guilty of first-degree murder in November 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.