Keith Ablow Comments on Dr. Richard Sharpe’s ‘Tragic’ Suicide
Few stories have titillated Boston’s baser instincts more than the case of Dr. Richard Sharpe. Throw together the various conditions—an eccentric cross-dressing doctor, a multi-million dollar laser company, a small fishing town, a murdered wife—and you have the perfect media storm. Last night, the saga of Dr. Sharpe ended in a purported suicide in his cell at MCI-Norfolk. He was serving a life sentence without parole for murdering his wife, Karen Sharpe, in 2000. The Boston Herald reported that a prison guard found him last night hanging from his bedsheet.
In January 2001, Boston magazine’s Gretchen Voss covered Sharpe’s murder of his wife. She vividly describes him: “He stole underwear from his wife, zapped every hair from his pasty body, and painted his skin whorishly—red lipstick, blue shadow, and streaky blusher.” Even Court TV picked up on the case of the oddball, wife-murdering doctor for an episode.
John Glatt penned a true crime book about Sharpe in 2003, Twisted: The secret desires and bizarre double life of Dr. Richard Sharpe. Glatt’s book chronicles some of Sharpe’s more eccentric behavior: “The 45-year old doctor was also a transvestite, who got turned on by dressing in his daughter’s underwear, even swallowing Karen’s birth control pills to sprout womanly breasts on his slender body.”
Glatt speculated to Boston Daily that perhaps Sharpe’s timing had to do with some “sentimental love for the holidays.” After studying the man and his behavior, Glatt characterized him as definitely unhinged.
Dr. Keith Ablow of FOX’s The Dr. Keith Ablow Show served as the defense’s expert psychiatric witness during Sharpe’s trial, in which Sharpe pled insanity. Ablow diagnosed Sharpe with depression and dissociative disorder and suggested Sharpe be committed to a psychiatric ward. Dr. Ablow told Boston Daily that he was “not surprised that he [Dr. Sharpe] would come to this untimely end.”
Dr. Ablow traces much of Sharpe’s mental illness back to his physically and psychologically violent father. “The roots of his cross-dressing were from posing in bed in his sister’s nightgown with his long hair in order to avoid abuse,” says Ablow. “In an odd way, cross-dressing was a sense of comfort for him.”
When Karen moved out and filed for divorce from Sharpe, he finally snapped, shooting her in the living room in front of the children. “He had a very frail sense of self,” says Ablow. “As the divorce took shape it was too much for his imperfect psychological structure.” Ablow notes that his suicide is a tragedy as well for a man who Ablow believes was neverly properly diagnosed in his life.
Ablow adds, “It’s like I always say. The truth always wins.”
January 9th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
[...] A sordid end to a sordid tale: Keith Ablow comments on Richard Sharpe’s prison suicide. [...]
January 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
This was such a tragic story of a good woman that died. I know stories get out about cases like this to make better headlines. All that has come out about the doctor are untrue. He did none of these things. He was a man that snapped and killed his ex wife by accident. If anyone knew what really happened they would not be sensationalized by all these stories.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
if the jury had done the right thing by finding him not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have gotten the help he needed and might still be alive. it is tragic when people don’t care about the living and only want revenge for the deadl
June 18th, 2009 at 8:24 am
So Sue,basically his daughter lied under oath,and everyone else as well? If you read the book you will understand what drove him to cross dressing.Let us assume he did kill her by accident-he still needed to be charged didnt he?seeing as a person can get charged for waving a gun around and shooting somebody
November 6th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I grew up with Richie from early childhood.
His parents were nice people and tried their best to raise a “Wide Child”.
I can tell you HE was very abusive to them.
Examples: He would scream “fuck you” to his mom when she announced dinner was ready.
He took his dad’s car without asking (under 16 YO) and drove it around the property.
He made and exploded Bolt-Bombs that could have hurt people.
We were just kids but we all knew he was very different, very smart but very mean.
We lost touch by high school, as we were just too different people.
Rest in peace my old friend.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
As my name indicates I’m fedup!
I was a juror on this trial and i take great offense to the comments made by ofelia marino above. You would have had to sit in the court room everyday with us and hear ALL of the testimony. You would have had to sit next to her bloody dress every day like we did. Only then could you possible be allowed to comment as to what was the right thing to do.
The prosecutor explained it best, this was a simple case of spousal abuse! The man was weird yes but I assure you he was not crazy.
To make matters worse, each and everyone of us did not believe a word out of the “psychiatrist for hire’s voice” Dr. Ablow. He was condecending, arrogant, disingenuous and totally unbelievable!
Trust me I was in the room for those very long emotional weeks and we did the right thing.