Prosecutors say quarrel
By Gregg K. Kakesako
led to wife’s murder
Star-BulletinArmy Staff Sgt. Timothy Ward was considered a "hard charger" and "an outstanding squad leader," and a devoted father and a regular Sunday morning churchgoer.
But on Aug. 26, Sgt. John Orr, a fellow soldier from the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry at Schofield Barracks, described Ward as "smiling to hold back from crying" after losing custody of his nearly 2-year-old son, Damian, to his German-born wife, Bianca.
Military prosecutors maintain that Ward, 33, during a domestic quarrel with his nearly nine-month pregnant 26-year-old wife, hit her on the head several times with a blunt instrument. They also say Ward, a 13-year Army veteran from Georgia, stabbed her repeatedly in the chest in the couple's second-floor apartment at Helemano Military Reservation.
But Ward's defense attorneys during yesterday's Article 32 hearing at Schofield Barracks tried to paint a different picture.
After losing a Family Court battle for custody of Damian, Ward, separated from his wife and living at Schofield Barracks, went to his 2900 Akoaakoa Court home to pick up his son to take him to McDonald's for dinner just before 6 p.m.Jennifer Trident, an Army criminal investigator, said Ward during a four-hour interview told her that the couple got into a fight where Ward alleged that his wife bit his finger and at one point hit him as he bent over to pick up Damian's diaper bag.
During the argument, Ward maintained that he was carrying Damian in his arms. He told military investigators that the fight began in the living room and progressed through the hallway of the couple's home, ending up in the master bedroom.
But several military policemen testified that when they arrived at Helemano, it appeared that all of the fight had occurred in the master bedroom where there was blood on a wall and a metal closet door had been crushed.
Trident said Ward admitted to shoving his wife hard and said "he heard a loud noise and thought she hit her head" in the bedroom.
Trident added that Ward said, "I hurt my wife, but I didn't kill her."
But Trident testified that there were inconsistencies in Ward's story.
Trident said Ward also acknowledged that one of the reasons for the argument was that his wife was never going to allow him to see their son again since she had planned to return to Germany on Sept. 12.
Two of Bianca Ward's Helemano neighbors testified that they heard screams and "thuds" coming from the apartment around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Military police finally had to break into the couple's apartment at 7:30 p.m. after Ward and another soldier reported that a domestic dispute had taken place. Police found Bianca Ward lying on her side in a pool of blood.
The Army's Article 32 hearing, the military's equivalent of a civilian grand jury and preliminary hearing, is being conducted by Maj. Wally Clark, who will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with a court-martial.
Trident testified that during the four hours she interviewed Ward on Aug. 26, the 25th Division soldier at one point noted that the death of his wife meant that he had lost his chance for promotion to sergeant first class.
She also said Ward related to her the problems he had undergone with his marriage and the bitter custody and divorce battle that began last year when his wife flew to Germany with his son, taking money from their bank accounts.
Ward told Trident that he filed charges with the international court at the Hague and in Germany charging his wife with abduction and custodial interference and finally dropped the charges when she agreed to return home.
