Man Serving Life Sentence Is Back In Court, Accused Of Another Murder

This archive entry contains the excerpt published on Frank’s original website.

MARCH 12, 2012 / 9:31 PM / CBS

NEW YORK (CBS NewYork) -- A New York man convicted of murder was back in court on Monday, accused once again of murder.

Detectives say that Phillip Ward stabbed the mother of his children in 1989. He allegedly went on to cut her head off on the roof of their Riverside Drive home before putting her bloodied clothing in trash bags and watching a garbage truck take it away.

Ward's attorney Frank Rothman told CBS 2's Pablo Guzman that this is "One of the more remarkable cases that I've been involved in."

Ward is presently doing a life sentence for killing his second wife, five years after allegedly killing the first. Over the years, his children convinced him to confess. Ward's son told detectives that he regularly visited his father in prison and begged him to confess because, "this is my father, the only father that I have."

Rothman told CBS 2 that Ward and his children had an emotional closed-door meeting with the District Attorney. Ward attempted to lead police to where he dumped his wife's head, but they were unable to locate it.