Murrysville lawyer accused of bilking elderly client dies from self-inflicted gunshot

A suspended Murrysville attorney who was accused of stealing $312,000 from a client died Wednesday, four days after authorities said he sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound as they tried to arrest him on theft charges.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Robert C. Klingensmith, 61, of Murrysville died just before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at AHN Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville. He died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner.

Klingensmith was charged last Thursday by Westmoreland County detectives with three counts of theft and a single count of financial exploitation of an older adult. An arrest warrant was issued and police spent the next couple days searching for him.

On Saturday, they got a tip Klingensmith was at his Murrysville law office, just outside Export. Members of the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office’s fugitive apprehension unit initially tried to go inside around 5:30 p.m. with help from a Murrysville police drone, but pulled out when they heard a single gunshot, according to the sheriff’s office.

After a brief standoff, Klingensmith emerged, shirtless and bloodied, and walked toward three sheriff’s deputies who had their guns drawn and were yelling at him to stop, according to a video obtained by TribLive. One of the deputies subdued him with a Taser. Klingensmith was taken to a hospital.

His license to practice law was placed on temporary suspension May 13 by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, according to a court order.

State investigators began looking into him last October after being notified a bank account Klingensmith used to hold client funds was overdrawn. Documentation of his handling of the estate of Anne Marie Wiley was shared last month with Westmoreland County detectives, according to court papers.

In September 2021, he was appointed as an agent under Wiley’s power of attorney, which authorities said allowed him access to her financial accounts. Klingensmith was accused of writing checks to the law practice and making ATM withdrawals from her accounts between September 2021 and August 2022, according to court papers.

Wiley died in April 2022 at 90, according to her obituary.

Police said Klingensmith sold Wiley’s share in a Washington County apartment building in March 2024 and deposited $131,500 in proceeds into a trust account with the law firm. Checks totaling the same amount were written to Klingensmith and the law firm between March and October 2024, according to court papers.

No disbursements were made to Wiley’s four heirs under her will, police said. The case was closed, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

Detectives were investigating additional similar allegations against Klingensmith that came to light after the charges were filed.

Klingensmith unsuccessfully ran for an open district judge seat in Export in 2023. He was licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania in 2001, according to disciplinary board records.