Man who decapitated common-law wife sentenced 18 years to life

Philip Ward was convicted of brutally killing and decapitating Veronica Bowen in 1989 and was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

A two-time wife slayer was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison Friday for the horrific bludgeoning, slashing and beheading of the mother of his two kids.
Monster Philip Ward, 46, decapitated his common-law wife, Veronica Bowen, in 1989 and left her nude body on the roof of his Harlem building for nearly three weeks before it was found, according to prosecutors and his confession. He buried her head in Riverside Park, but it was never found.
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Bowen’s sister, Laura, wrote the court that there was “deafening silence” as her family saw “gruesome photos of a naked, headless woman lying on a wet rooftop.”
“I imagined that I could almost hear her screams as her body was assaulted and her life was brutally cut from her,” her sister wrote.
Ward pleaded guilty to murder March 22. Lawyer Frank Rothman said he’s “horribly remorseful.” The killer fatally shot another common-law wife in 1994