Cross-dressing doctor who killed wife found hanged

"...pursuit to department police" makes no sense. Shouldn't thet be "pursuant to department policy"?

Just like all the others, this was NO suicide.

"...hanging by a bed sheet by his cellmate..."
What does this mean? Was he found "next to" his cellmate? Was he hung "by" his cellmate (ie. the cellmate did the hanging). Poor writing and unclear reporting!

One less thug to have to support.

I wish he'd done it before he murdered his wife.

A.....Bub-bye

one of Mellissa's customers?

This guy was obviously very very sick.. And I am truly sorry, that he felt he had to take his own life.
But as a tax payer I am contend, that I do not have to pay our state's upkeep of him any longer. Seems to me justice is working.

So there really is a God in heaven.

Justice served nice and cold like the cell he now no longer vacates. His poor wife lost her life and then this worthless man hires a hit on the district attorney. Why would anyone here with blood flowing in their veins feel sorry for this cold blooded murderer? Those out here who do feel remorse need their head checked!

"Was he hung "by" his cellmate (ie. the cellmate did the hanging). Poor writing and unclear reporting!"

Well, since you're talking about poor writing, you should know the sentence above should read: Was he hanged "by" his cellmate (ie. the cellmate did the hanging)? 'Hung' is the wrong word and you are asking a question which necessitates a question mark at the end. ;-) Anyway, just teasing.

Regarding the doc, I'd prefer he had lived longer and suffered in prison for a while.

good. one less scumbag to waste my tax money on.

bring the death penalty back to massachusetts!!

Okay, now that I've read the article, I can say it wasn't poor writing. Poor reading, more like it. lol

He was "discovered....by his cellmate." In other words, the cellmate is the one who found him hanged.

Ciao, scumbag

Finally some good news......................

the IPS either did it themselves, or let it happen.

But he looked gorgeous!

WOW another "dog bites man" story from the Globe

"...hanging by a bed sheet by his cellmate..."
What does this mean? Was he found "next to" his cellmate? Was he hung "by" his cellmate (ie. the cellmate did the hanging). Poor writing and unclear reporting!

It took me a minute, too. The part you misinterpreted, I think, is that he was DISCOVERED...by his cellmate. Hope that clears things up! =)

Pingo said: But as a tax payer I am contend, that I do not have to pay our state's upkeep of him any longer. Seems to me justice is working.

Thank you. You said it before I did.

Really, Boston.com? Really? You allow comments on a story like this when you know all the responses you will get will be from aholes saying good riddance? This paper is disgusting and so are these people. This is not justice.

no god but sometimes fate works

This is a huge loss for the prison-industrial complex.

As I recall this Doctor has children and my thoughts and prayers are with them.
I never knew the man but remember that tragic event several years ago. A poor tormented soul. R.I.P.

It is difficult for me to see how his cross-dressing has to do with any thing other than to add sensational and slanted reporting. It has nothing to do with the actual event or Dr. Sharpe's ability to perform the act of murder. All of the cross-dressers that I have known are wonderful folks who obey the law.

Why do you say it wasn't a suicide? Just curious.

Steven Tyler

So, one way or another, he got the Death Penalty. Fine with me.

"...hanging by a bed sheet by his cell mate..."
What does this mean? Was he found "next to" his cellmate? Was he hung "by" his cellmate (ie. the cellmate did the hanging). Poor writing and unclear reporting!"

Could also have been found next to the bed sheet. Also, what does "found by his cellmate" mean? Are we to believe that the cellmate was in another part of the cell, walked back to the other side of the cell and discovered a body? Or was the cellmate outside his cell and when he came back and found the body? If so- what was he doing outside the cell?

"...pursuit to department police" makes no sense. Shouldn't thet be "pursuant to department policy"?

You have to wonder how something so stupid makes it out there. "Department police" would never have made it to print just a couple of years ago.

It really would seem that in the most recent round of layoffs, the Globe did away with all the copy editors. Perhaps they have been replaced by spellcheck software under some wacky cost-saving scheme. (A mis-spelled word like "polic", when it's supposed to be "policy", is turned into "police" by the spell check- and there's nobody on the payroll to catch it from there.) Hardly a story finds it's way to the public these days without awkward wording, meaningless phrases, or confusing sentences.

It's sad to see what was so recently a solid journalistic venue turned into a blog with wire stories and poor copy editing.

What gets me is that the guy will still run up one last taxpayer bill to investigate and autopsy him.

Pine box, shallow grave, case closed.

And this is a newsworthy articale because...?

Another one bites the dust.

Sounds fishy to me. His cell mate found him dead? Cells are quite small. If your cell mate didn't wake up during a hanging, well, then he's an awfully good sleeper.

Sounds like a hit by the staff or the inmates, perhaps funded by someone on the outside.

RE: Comment number 1: Yes, thet should.

You have to feel, bad for the Children, A mother thats dead and a father that murderd their Mother, is now Dead. What a sad story !!!

God has nothing to do with Suicide. Grow up, bless this man in his misery and invest in your sprituality.

See ya

Later, Doc. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya.

Pingo - Do you not see the hypocracy of your post? What you are suggesting is that it is just to put to death people who are sick. You are right that he was obviously sick. However, had the resources been more accessible to him he could have gotten help before he murdered his wife. Society would say he belongs in jail because he committed a crime, but what if they only reason he committed that crime was because of his illness? Would society not be better off to treat those illnesses BEFORE the tragedy, or should we just continue to allow the "Justice System" to clean up the aftermath by imprisoning people because they are sick? Why don't we look at mental illnesses the same way as physical diseases? Many are much more tragic than any physical disease you can imagine. Cases like Richard Sharpe, Virginia Tech, and Columbine could be avoided if treated mental illnesses as vigorously as we treat Cancer, kidney disease, etc. Until then, we will have tragedies like murders compounded by further tragedies like suicides. And then we'll say, "Seems like justice is working." Am I the only one that sees the hypocracy?

Let's not forget that he tried the keep the oldest daughter from her inheritance, because he was angry with her for not supporting him.

However, I don't understand what transvestism has to do with the murder and suicide. Sensationalism, I suppose.

It would be interesting were the Globe to find out who the cellmate was and what his crime was.

to the points about poor writing - I would argue that since in many cases the reader was compelled to re-read the article for clarity, the unstated goal of keeping a reader on a particular page for an extended period of time was accomplished. Can't be certain, but I bet the advertisers are not complaining :)

what happened to the 5 Million?

The Grammar Police are out in force!!! Don't have anything better to do than complain about the wording of the story? Just in case you didn't understand the basic point of the story, here it is. The guy is dead. He may have killed himself, he may have been killed. Who cares!?!? No one is going to miss him.

Regarding comment number 1: Yes, thet should be.

Was he was wearing his best dress?

If he had only held off killing his wife until now, his $5 million would have shrunk to where he'd have had no motive, and the poor woman might have been spared.

Good riddance.

Oh, by the way, did you know he was also a.... cross-dresser?!?!?! In other words, he wasn't just a "Gloucester dermatologist serving life in prison for killing his estranged wife", but he was also a "cross-dressing Gloucester dermatologist serving life in prison for killing his estranged wife"? Did that mean he was wearing clothes tailored for women when he fired that fatal bullet? Or is this just a "by-the-way" factoid? Hmmmm.

I do feel badly for his kids, as I recall the couple had 2 children in their teens. All the money he tried to protect probably went for his lame defense. I wonder how they feel.

I feel a lot of pity for them.

For the "Skank Princess"--not so much.

That stinks. I really like "The Cars". Was hoping they would make a comeback.

Im surprised Cadiilac Deval didn't pardon him?

Good, he should have done it (or been allowed to do it) a long time ago. I must say the comments about poor writing are uncalled for - don't you people have anything better to do than proof read - get a life!

Although I am not saddened by this man's suicide, I am saddened by the Media Hype! "The cross-dressing doctor"! Why is it that whenever someone who doesn't "conform" is found murdered, killed, is the murdder or killer, etc, the media turns their non-conformity into an "Ugly Label"?

I have lived in the Greater Boston Area for over 50 years, and consider myself to be conservative, but open minded. Not only to I have many aquantances who would be labeled "conformists", I have met and are friends with many others.

This includes several male-to-female cross-dressers, and I must say that in many ways, they are better persons for this additonal piece of their overall personae! Of the six or seven I know, only one could be classified as "gay". The others are either happily married to lovely women or have been happily dating them.

Believe it or not, the women they are with not only know about the cross-dressing, but belive this additional part of their males partner';s personality enhances and has created a much stronger relationship.

In any event, I am continually saddened whenever I see the Media, or just people in general, assigned labels in this fashion, and then make it a point to use that label in a negative way.

Milo,

Oh yes, he was a CROSS-DRESSER.

You know, like they all have murder in their hearts (not!)

Mae - The oldest daughter was the heir to much of that. She sided with her mother, and he cut her off. Yes, to pay for defense, but for revenge, too.

i agree with you, nunya; this story should not have had a comments section. reading thru these, you can see it is an invitation for crass comments.

#2 - Take a hike with your comment. Takeno prisoners is married to a con and thinks they are all innocent. WAKE UP!

#32 - Inmates at MCI Norfolk are not confined to their cells 24/7. His cellmate could have been out of the cell for a long period of time, which is very common at MCI-N. Norfolk is not set up like the other prisons in the system. Your comments are uneducated and way off the mark.

They should start handing out rope to all of the inmates. Think of all the money we would save as well as the jobs that wouldn't get cut under Gov. Patricks plan.

You would have to be naive to believe this was suicide...now he can join Father Geoghan, and John Salvi in hell.

Hold on to your hats. The family will dial 1-800-CALL JIM and sue for wrongful death. Isn't that the great American past time?

Less Money out of all our pockets. We should be standing up applauding him.

Not so sure he was sick, but I'm positive he was evil What a horror of a thing. He was hardly a man and he didn't act like a human.
Just more cowardice on his part..

#26 is the only comment on this story worth reading...the only one with any accuracy or truth.

Nunya..If you need a ride to the wake let me know

Hmph, Looks like he was hung after all.

Isn't this the same whack-job that was suing the Commonwealth to pay for his sex-change operation? This guy was SERIOUSLY conflicted... To kill his ex-wife because of money while going through divorce - IN FRONT OF HIS KIDS, no less (read the stories on the case from 2000), this guy was a sociopath... In his mind he did nothing wrong. Same reason why he tried to put out a hit on the Essex County DA - nothing he did was wrong, he was being 'done to'... People like that can sometimes be helped by psychological intervention but for that to work, as in all psychological interventions, the person HAS TO WANT TO BE HELPED. It is obvious from this guy's actions that he felt he didn't need help, and that it was the world around him that was wrong. People with that mindset - and have proven they are capable of capital murder - should be sentenced to life. The fact that he finally realized the life sentence meant LIFE, and he decided he couldn't take it anymore and ended up doing himself in, oh well...

As a family member of someone who committed suicide in prision - all while the guards encouraged him to do so - TakeNoPrisioners has a point. This guy is clearly a scumbag and should pay for his crime which ever way the State sees fit. If the authorities allowed this, and I bet they did, shame on thier souls.

I beg your pardon, Another View! There are lots of people out there being treated for mental illnesses of one kind or another. They aren't all murderers or doing other criminal things. Some are just "ordinary" every day citizens who need a little help with their mental illness and are getting treatment for them. The reason you may not hear about it is because not everyone who is mentally ill is a knife wielding murderer!! Mental illness, in and of ITSELF, is not terminal like some forms of cancer, AIDS, or emphysema. Someone with mental illness actually has to do something to end their lives, whereas someone CAN DIE of a TERMINAL ILLNESS! Furthermore, people with mental illness who CHOOSE TO COMMIT CRIMES give people with mental illnesses WHO CHOOSE NOT TO COMMIT CRIMES a bad name.

Mae,
just to correct you... they had two children under 10 at the time and an older daughter that was 27.

reindeergirl, your posts make it seem like you know the family personally... do you? If not then you probably shouldn't be commenting on who got how much of the estate left to them and what not as if it were fact.

I've known the family for a long time and all 3 of their children are doing very well. No doubt the coming days will be hard for them because it's bringing back all that they went through. When it's over though, they'll finally be able to move on!

He should have done it before he killed his wife and the state spent a ton of money on him. Save everyone time, emotion and money.

PS- Are any of the articles posted here ever proof read? The globe keeps having mistake after mistake. Its embarrassing.

Does his cellmate get an automatic 4.0 for the semester now?

I went to Ithaca Colege with Dr. Richard Sharpe's daughter Shannon. She was gorgeous, intelligent and super nice! She deserves none of this! Please have a bit of respect for the children.

His roommate was at church - not joking.

Now the state doesn't have to pay for his Avon makeup!

Sad to read the sick comments wishing death upon so they can save their tax dollars. If the court did not see it fit to take his life, is it ok for anyone else to murder a person? Regardless of the crimes he committed, isn't it sad you wish the opportunity to kill him yourself passed by? Pathetic fools, and then we wonder what happened to America. You can't get the kids to stop reproducing like rabbits, can't see reason in having a better social structure, and then wonder why the hell the world hates this country and scoffs at its complete inability to keep up with the rest of the world.

Guarantee he requested (and gets) a casket festooned with sequins.

Some people earn whatever happen to them. I am not saying he earned
his death but, It hurt like hell when the court system screw you over. This man
love his children more than himself and I don't think he earned his death that.
how I see it.

I did know Dr. Sharpe and he was a good person and a great doctor prior to everything that happened. What he did by taking his wife's life was horrible and unforgivable, but people don't have the right to judge someone on what they see on t.v. and in the papers. Facts go deeper than that. I am sad that he had to end his life alone. I do have some great memories of him and will think of those only. One song that played on the radio, seemed like every time I went up to Gloucester was "Spirit in the Sky". That is how I now have to think of him. Makes me smile but also very sad that this is how his life ended up. I do wish his children all the best in life.

Sure, this guy was a scoundrel for having killed someone, but why does your paper have to link the cross-dressing with the murder? I've seen titles like this before in your paper: "Anti-depressants found in murderer's apartment", for instance.

If I recall correctly, he had attempted suicide in jail before this incident. Sad, but it can bring some closure to those he caused so much pain.

I reckon THET should, indeed, be "pursuant to department policy." :)

...or, "Milk and orange juice found in murderer's refrigerator!"

Comments #67 and #76 ...thank you. I too know the family and it is true that the "facts go deeper" than the way the media presented the story. Karen was a caring and loving woman and Rick was a great physician and a good person. What he did is unforgiveable. Remembering this case brings me so much sadness as I realize the grief and horror that will be stirred up among their children, relatives and friends...