Killing of Sharon Lopatka
1996 consensual homicide incident
Sharon Rina Lopatka (née Denburg; September 20, 1961 – October 16, 1996) was an Internet entrepreneur in Hampstead, Maryland, United States, who was killed in a case of apparent consensual homicide. Lopatka was tortured and strangled to death on October 16, 1996, by Robert "Bobby" Frederick Glass, a computer analyst from North Carolina. The apparent purpose was mutual sexual gratification.
The case was reportedly the first in which a police department arrested a murder suspect with evidence gathered primarily from email messages. While Lopatka and Glass had initially planned a consensual homicide, Glass maintained that the death was an accident, which was corroborated by Lopatka's autopsy. However, police contended that the death was intentional. Glass pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to serve 36–53 months in state prison, as well as 27 months in federal prison for unrelated charges of possession of child sexual exploitation material, to be served consecutively. He died before his scheduled release from state prison.
Background
Sharon Rina Denburg was the first of four daughters born to Orthodox Jewish parents Mr. and Mrs.
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