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Artist
Robert Alberg
12+ albums
outsidersinger-songwritermentally challenged artistcreepycreepy dudes
about
Robert Alberg wanted just one thing in life: a girlfriend. Shy, slight and forever single, the 37-year-old son of a local multi-millionaire dreamed of love, of being noticed, of sharing walks on sandy beaches. When the love of his life failed to materialize, Alberg came up with another obsession: making deadly ricin. He was much more successful at that. Arrested last April with jars of home-brewed poison in his Kirkland apartment, he seemed destined not for warm sandy beaches but for cold cell blocks. Yet today, when Alberg is sentenced, he will face a U.S. District Court judge less as a would-be killer than as a man with a serious mental illness. "This case arose as a desperate cry for help from a profoundly depressed man who, through no fault of his own and as a result of mental illness overlaid with autism, had alienated himself from society," his lawyer, David B. Bukey, wrote in court papers describing Alberg's descent. Records show Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Blackstone agrees with Bukey. Both attorneys declined comment. Alberg was born with substantial advantages. His father, Tom Alberg, is managing director of Madrona Venture Group, and was an early investor in Amazon.com and executive vice president of McCaw Cellular. His mother, Mary, is a university professor. Robert Alberg was eventually diagnosed with autism, major depression, Pervasive Development Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. His disabilities made him awkward and distant, and unable to easi
