The man allegedly took officers to the grisly scene — where they reported finding a hammer and various cutting instruments including knives, razor blades and box cutters — and detailed how he killed his wife and then made sure she was dead.
A 57-year-old Pennsylvania man was taken into custody for the alleged murder of his wife of more than a decade after she was found with her throat cut and multiple stab wounds in her chest.
According to a press release from the Northampton County District Attorney, Stephen G. Baratta, the Bethlehem Township Police Department responded to a welfare check on the early morning of Tuesday, March 11.
Officers arrived at approximately 8:30 a.m., per the release, and were finally to make contact with suspect James Christopher Frank.
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According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Lehigh Valley Live, police did not get a response when they knocked on the doors and windows of the home, and so they resorted to using a ladder. They spotted Frank through a second-story window, at which point he agreed to open the front door.
Once they made contact, Frank reportedly told first responders that his wife Deborah Glaser, 55, was dead, per the DA’s office.
Investigators found the victim with “multiple stab wounds,” alongside what was described in the press release as “various cutting instruments, including knives, razor blades, and box cutters.” There was also a hammer and a mallet present, per authorities.
The suspect admitted to the crime, according to the DA’s Office release, telling police “he used a steak knife to cut Glaser’s throat in the trachea area while she was still alive.”
“He admitted to having sliced her neck open. It was a pretty gruesome injury,” Baratta told local news station WFMZ. “I don’t want to call it a confession, but he made admissions after his participation in the death of his wife.”
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After allegedly cutting her throat, Frank also admitted to then “using a knife and hammer to puncture Glaser’s chest and heart … approximately ten times,” per the DA’s release, allegedly telling police he did this to make sure his wife was dead.
As investigators continue to try and nail down both a motive and exact timeline for the killing, Baratta told WFMZ that that Frank had not showed up for work on Monday or Tuesday of this week. “The employer came to the house, knocked on the door, didn’t receive any response,” he said.
While investigators have not been able to determine when Glaser was killed, Baretta did say, “It was pretty clear that it was many hours prior to the police response.”
Frank has no criminal history nor any reported incident of domestic violence, according to local newspaper The Morning Call. A neighbor told the paper the couple had lived in the quiet neighborhood for years without incident.
On Monday, Frank appeared in court where he was charged with criminal homicide. He is being held at the Northampton County prison without bail. A preliminary hearing is set for March 25.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.
