A Pennsylvania man admitted to stabbing his wife in the throat with a steak knife before using a hammer to puncture her in the chest and heart to make sure she was dead, authorities said Wednesday.
James Christopher Frank, 57, was arrested Tuesday and charged with felony criminal homicide in the death of his 55-year-old wife, Deborah Glaser.
The victim was found dead early Tuesday morning at the couple’s home in Bethlehem Township.
Investigators were called to a residence on the 2100 block of Third St. at approximately 8:30 a.m. after a family member asked Bethlehem Police to conduct a welfare check on the couple.
After knocks on the door went unanswered, officers used a ladder to gain access to the residence through a second-floor window. That’s when they encountered Frank, who said Glaser was dead in their bathroom.
“My wife is dead in the bathtub,” Frank reportedly said according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by LeighValleyLive.com.
The victim was found with “multiple stab wounds,” the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday in a news release.
A hammer and a mallet, as well as different cutting instruments, “including knives, razor blades and box cutters” were also found in the bathroom, officials said.
According to police, Frank admitted to using a steak knife to cut his wife’s throat “in the trachea area while she was still alive.”
He also told investigators he used “a knife and a hammer to puncture Glaser’s chest and heart” approximately 10 times to make sure she was dead, officials said.
“It was gruesome and on a very human level, upsetting, especially given that it’s a domestic situation,” District Attorney Stephen Baratta said according to local television station WFMZ.
Frank was arraigned Tuesday evening. He’s being held without bail at the Northampton County Prison.
He’s expected back in court on March 25.
