Millionaire Bob Ward, Killer or Loving Husband? by Burden of Proof

[00:00:00] Listener discretion is advised. Hello and welcome to True Crime. The podcast that helps you find new, emerging and undiscovered True Crime podcasts.

[00:00:09] I'm Greg, the host and curator of True Crime. Today's episode is from Birdon of Proof.

[00:00:15] Birdon of Proof is a True Crime podcast ran by two paralegals with a generation gap.

[00:00:21] If you like today's episode, make sure to check out the episode description for links to subscribe.

[00:00:26] Alright, let's get this show started.

[00:00:28] Begin.

[00:00:43] It's Saturday or Thursday.

[00:00:47] Or Thursday. Hello, hello.

[00:00:50] I'm Alicia and this is Birdon of Proof.

[00:00:53] One day I'm going to figure out something to say consistently.

[00:00:57] I mean, it doesn't have to be complicated.

[00:01:00] Yeah, I can at least get the day right. I mean, it's Saturday for us but it's Thursday for you guys.

[00:01:04] Hopefully you're listening on Thursday.

[00:01:06] But you're probably not. You can listen any day of the week that you'd like.

[00:01:09] We'll take lessons any day.

[00:01:11] We, uh, we will.

[00:01:13] Um, I was just trying to explain to Alicia who the Migos are.

[00:01:17] I have no idea.

[00:01:20] Stay tuned on Patreon because I'm going to show her Migos that you're going to listen to.

[00:01:24] Am I reacting to Migos?

[00:01:29] Nice.

[00:01:31] Oh, I have something to share.

[00:01:33] Should we share this here or page?

[00:01:35] No, let's share here.

[00:01:37] Okay.

[00:01:38] It's about Patreon.

[00:01:39] Okay.

[00:01:40] See, it's a trade off.

[00:01:41] It is a trade off because I don't know who this wrap group is.

[00:01:46] But Savannah sent me a text when she was preparing, you know, setting up our Patreon site.

[00:01:53] And said, oh, I did a cute thing with our audio video for the outtakes.

[00:02:00] And it has a VHS tape on it.

[00:02:03] And then when I went to the Patreon page and looked at it, it was delightful.

[00:02:09] I don't know what else to say.

[00:02:12] It was delightful because it was not in fact a VHS tape.

[00:02:16] It was a cassette tape in a Walkman.

[00:02:19] But just in the window part.

[00:02:21] So those, you know, all this old...

[00:02:23] I didn't look at it very closely and I just thought it was a VHS tape.

[00:02:27] And I was like, yeah, that works.

[00:02:29] It's cute.

[00:02:30] I mean, it still works because it is just an audio.

[00:02:32] No, it actually works better as a Walkman than it is.

[00:02:35] Sure.

[00:02:36] As a VHS tape.

[00:02:37] I just thought, God, I'm old.

[00:02:40] I have to explain to this 20 something.

[00:02:43] What a cassette tape.

[00:02:44] I know what a cassette tape is.

[00:02:46] I just didn't know what it looked like.

[00:02:48] I mean, I don't want to cassette tape looks like...

[00:02:51] I just...

[00:02:52] You look at it.

[00:02:53] I didn't notice the difference.

[00:02:55] I wasn't looking.

[00:02:57] Okay, I was busy.

[00:02:59] Listen.

[00:03:01] Listen, Linda.

[00:03:02] Listen, Linda.

[00:03:03] It's fine.

[00:03:04] It was wonderful.

[00:03:05] It made my day.

[00:03:06] It was funny.

[00:03:07] The highlight of my day.

[00:03:08] It was good.

[00:03:09] Yeah.

[00:03:10] Even though it also made me feel old, it was hilarious.

[00:03:12] I loved it.

[00:03:13] Well, it's my thought I'd share.

[00:03:15] There we go.

[00:03:17] Thank you to everybody that joined our Patreon.

[00:03:19] Yes!

[00:03:20] Thank you.

[00:03:21] You guys are awesome.

[00:03:22] And stay tuned because again, like I said,

[00:03:24] I'm going to show a least of them you go.

[00:03:26] So you'll have that to look forward to.

[00:03:28] This week, I don't think we have any upfront business.

[00:03:32] Nope.

[00:03:33] So...

[00:03:34] Yeah, I think we can jump right in.

[00:03:37] Sounds good.

[00:03:38] We have another Florida case today.

[00:03:42] This was not listened or recommended.

[00:03:43] This was Savannah recommended.

[00:03:45] I wanted to, so I did it.

[00:03:49] This case tends to kind of get forgotten about

[00:03:51] because it was really close to the Casey Anthony trial

[00:03:54] and it happened in the same county

[00:03:56] and it happened in the same courtroom as the Casey Anthony trial.

[00:03:59] So...

[00:04:00] Wow.

[00:04:01] We will talk at the end of the episode

[00:04:05] about how the two were kind of connected in my opinion.

[00:04:11] Okay.

[00:04:12] But throughout the episode, I want you, Alicia,

[00:04:16] and you as the listeners to keep a really open mind.

[00:04:20] I am going to try and tell this tale

[00:04:22] as neutrally as possible.

[00:04:24] I am going to try and be Switzerland

[00:04:26] because a lot of the coverage of this case

[00:04:28] is biased one way or the other.

[00:04:31] Okay.

[00:04:32] And if we want to at the end,

[00:04:33] I can tell you my opinion, but not until the very end.

[00:04:36] You have to listen to it.

[00:04:37] I mean, we usually try to do that

[00:04:39] except in extreme cases.

[00:04:41] Right.

[00:04:42] So that makes sense.

[00:04:43] I just want you to be able to form your own opinion

[00:04:46] as we go through this.

[00:04:48] I also hope that this is a case

[00:04:50] that people haven't heard of before

[00:04:51] because I hadn't heard of it and it's fun.

[00:04:53] I have not,

[00:04:55] and I love to form opinions.

[00:04:57] So...

[00:04:58] Oh yeah!

[00:04:59] We're really opinionated people.

[00:05:01] I think it's fun when we do cases people haven't heard of.

[00:05:03] So I like doing that.

[00:05:05] So...

[00:05:07] Let's go to Brighton,

[00:05:09] sunny Orlando, Florida,

[00:05:11] which is where I will be tomorrow.

[00:05:13] James Robert Ward,

[00:05:15] who we will call Bob,

[00:05:17] was a self-made millionaire.

[00:05:19] He made his wealth in land development and real estate.

[00:05:22] And he and his family had it made.

[00:05:25] I mean, they had more money than anybody needs, like, rich, rich.

[00:05:29] They had multiple homes across the country

[00:05:32] and the home that's in question in today's case is,

[00:05:35] like, the piece of resistance.

[00:05:37] It's like the holy grail.

[00:05:39] It's...

[00:05:40] This beautiful estate in Isleworth,

[00:05:42] which in Orlando

[00:05:44] is a big deal.

[00:05:46] It's a very exclusive community.

[00:05:49] It's most known for being the community

[00:05:52] that Tiger Woods had his famous car accident.

[00:05:55] Or he was found to be having his affair kind of thing.

[00:05:58] Yes.

[00:05:59] There are so many rich and famous people that live there.

[00:06:02] I think Shaq has a house there.

[00:06:05] I heard that, but it's in fact check it.

[00:06:07] So, you know, don't take me to the bank on that one.

[00:06:09] But we get the idea.

[00:06:11] Right.

[00:06:12] So they had a beautiful

[00:06:14] 8,800 square foot.

[00:06:17] I was going to call it a mansion.

[00:06:19] It was a mansion.

[00:06:20] Yeah.

[00:06:21] I mean, it had an elevator.

[00:06:22] So it was...

[00:06:23] I think you can classify it as a mansion.

[00:06:25] They had their home there.

[00:06:27] They had a private plane, which I don't know if they chartered or if they owned it.

[00:06:31] But they regularly took private flights.

[00:06:33] They had horses.

[00:06:34] The girls were in college.

[00:06:36] At like big colleges.

[00:06:37] They were living it up.

[00:06:40] Okay.

[00:06:41] Bob had been married to his wife Diane for quite a long time.

[00:06:44] And they had two beautiful daughters Sarah and Mallory,

[00:06:47] who were both athletes in college.

[00:06:49] Growing up, the girls were very close with their father.

[00:06:51] And one of their daughters had bonded with their mother over horses.

[00:06:54] Like they were a really tight knit family.

[00:06:56] Everything was perfect.

[00:06:59] Until it wasn't.

[00:07:02] Until the great recession.

[00:07:04] So, yep.

[00:07:06] A lot of you know I'm sure that in 2008 we had a lovely little real estate market crash.

[00:07:13] And as I mentioned, Bob and Diane had a lot of their money and a lot of their investments

[00:07:18] in real estate and land development and all of that fun stuff.

[00:07:23] So that was not good for them.

[00:07:25] Of course.

[00:07:26] Yeah.

[00:07:27] The wealthiest loss was people like myself gain because that's when my husband and I

[00:07:34] could afford to buy our first house because of the recession.

[00:07:40] So we're you know, sorry Bob.

[00:07:42] Sorry Bob.

[00:07:43] Unfortunately Bob sat his family down and explained to them that things were probably going to change a little bit.

[00:07:49] His company had filed for bankruptcy and then it was announced that Bob and Diane were named in a lawsuit.

[00:07:56] So basically what happened was, what happened was Bob's company was called land resource

[00:08:03] and it filed for bankruptcy about a year before the incident will call it.

[00:08:08] He was being sued by an insurance company that accused him of taking $20 million or more than $20 million

[00:08:14] from the sale of a lot of subdivisions that he was developing.

[00:08:19] The buildings were in Tennessee where he was building was in Tennessee and this was all in 2007.

[00:08:25] The insurance company had issued bonds for the subdivision to be built and Ward was supposed to be using the money

[00:08:31] to improve the subdivision or build it I'm not sure exactly.

[00:08:35] Okay.

[00:08:36] But instead they alleged that he used the money to pay off his personal debts and went on a spending spree

[00:08:42] and that's when they are allegedly saying that he bought this $8800 square foot mansion

[00:08:49] and I'll wear it with this money.

[00:08:51] They say that he allegedly they say that he paid off loans of nearly two and a half million dollars for two houses in Georgia,

[00:08:58] bought a house another house in Georgia which was a $750,000 home in Georgia

[00:09:04] and he purchased several vehicles including a 140,000 Mercedes Benz sedan.

[00:09:11] I just saw a lot of money.

[00:09:14] So again this lawsuit eventually gets dropped because of the kerfuffle but I love that word so much.

[00:09:25] You know what other word I've been liking a lot recently?

[00:09:28] A little balloon.

[00:09:29] Yes!

[00:09:30] Yes, I've noticed that.

[00:09:33] I love that word.

[00:09:34] That's goofy we should bring back funny silly words like her waffle and hollable.

[00:09:40] Anyway.

[00:09:41] I agree.

[00:09:42] Anyway so that's kind of where they were that's what they were dealing with.

[00:09:46] They were going through a bankruptcy case, they were dealing with this lawsuit

[00:09:49] and Diane was about to be deposed.

[00:09:53] That means that they were going to take her deposition.

[00:09:56] And the deposition is basically asking her questions under a very loosey goosey definition.

[00:10:01] Yeah.

[00:10:02] And they can then take those answers to a trial as evidence.

[00:10:06] So like I said she was going to be deposed soon and as they got closer and more involved in this lawsuit,

[00:10:11] Diane's daughter's noticed a big change in her.

[00:10:15] She was increasingly distraught over the prospect of losing their privileged lifestyle that she had grown accustomed to

[00:10:21] and despite Bob's optimism that they would land on her feet, she was really struggling with it.

[00:10:26] She relied heavily on prescription drugs and alcohol, particularly on wine and she would mix the two.

[00:10:32] According to Sarah and Mallory, she sometimes got violent when she got drunk at one point she threw a suitcase at one of her daughters

[00:10:40] and she turned into a completely different person when she was intoxicated.

[00:10:45] It's...

[00:10:46] This is not a good reminder.

[00:10:49] I shouldn't say it.

[00:10:50] Just between us girlfriends.

[00:10:53] Listen, I say this having lived as a child, I lived in a trailer park.

[00:11:00] So I feel like...

[00:11:03] I feel like it's okay for me to say it but my brain immediately went to...

[00:11:08] It sounds like she's preparing to lose all the money and to live in a trailer park.

[00:11:15] I'm like she'll fit right in.

[00:11:18] So the girls were... they were off at college, living it up.

[00:11:22] Like I said, they were both college athletes.

[00:11:24] One of them played squash.

[00:11:25] I don't know what the other one did.

[00:11:26] Of course they did.

[00:11:28] Right.

[00:11:29] Squash.

[00:11:30] Yeah.

[00:11:31] And one night and nine-one-one operator got the following phone call.

[00:11:36] Take a listen.

[00:11:38] Okay.

[00:11:40] Are you talking about why?

[00:11:43] You just left?

[00:11:45] Are you talking about why?

[00:11:48] Where's your wife?

[00:11:50] She's right here on the floor.

[00:11:52] Wait until the morning.

[00:11:54] If I can set her up on...

[00:11:56] I'll work at the club drive.

[00:11:59] Okay, let's go in there.

[00:12:01] I just shot my wife.

[00:12:03] You just shot your wife?

[00:12:05] I shot my wife, yes, please.

[00:12:07] Since my neighbor.

[00:12:08] Where is she grieving?

[00:12:10] No, she's dead.

[00:12:12] Do you know that for sure?

[00:12:14] I think so, yes.

[00:12:16] Okay, sir.

[00:12:17] Where is the weapon?

[00:12:18] It's in the nice stand next to the bed.

[00:12:21] We have some veterans.

[00:12:22] Now they go out and meet the officer that runs off.

[00:12:25] Where is your wife right now, sir?

[00:12:27] She's in the floor.

[00:12:28] You're not sure about her?

[00:12:29] How old is she?

[00:12:30] More than 1950.

[00:12:31] You're sure they're...

[00:12:33] She's not breathing or...?

[00:12:35] She's dead.

[00:12:36] She's done.

[00:12:37] I'm sorry.

[00:12:39] What in the world?

[00:12:41] So he's so...

[00:12:42] I mean, he has COPD and Gurd to his voice, his very gravely.

[00:12:47] Well, yeah, no, that's not the part that gets me.

[00:12:51] I know, I'm just explaining.

[00:12:52] The part that gets me...

[00:12:55] I mean, some of it's the accent, but his tone and inflection was like...

[00:13:01] Mama said.

[00:13:03] My mouth is like box and chocolates.

[00:13:07] Well, they lived in Atlanta.

[00:13:09] Well, yeah.

[00:13:10] No, I know, but it's the combination of the accent...

[00:13:14] Right.

[00:13:15] Couple with like...

[00:13:16] It's just so...

[00:13:17] Right.

[00:13:18] Like, he was very calm.

[00:13:20] Calm, but like...

[00:13:22] That's wild.

[00:13:23] Yeah.

[00:13:24] And a lot of people had a lot of problems with that.

[00:13:27] Yeah.

[00:13:28] Now, allegedly, I couldn't find anything to back this up, but Bob's daughter, Sarah, I'm

[00:13:37] talking about Sarah, said that originally, Bob accidentally called 411 and not 911.

[00:13:44] And so when he got the non-emergency line, there, he had a very normal reaction.

[00:13:49] He was much more...

[00:13:51] Yeah.

[00:13:52] So, okay.

[00:13:53] Not frantic, but because he's not a frantic guy.

[00:13:55] He's a very...

[00:13:56] Yeah.

[00:13:57] But he had a more...

[00:13:59] A quote unquote normal reaction.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:03] And then by the time that they were like, okay, you called the wrong number.

[00:14:05] We need to redirect you and he got to 911.

[00:14:09] Yeah.

[00:14:10] Calm down.

[00:14:11] Right.

[00:14:12] So, again, I couldn't confirm that.

[00:14:14] But it does track for me.

[00:14:16] Yeah.

[00:14:17] I mean, that would make sense.

[00:14:19] Regardless, police arrive on scene and they do in fact find a deceased Diane Ward and a

[00:14:26] magnum gun sitting on the nightstand.

[00:14:28] She had been shot in the face one time.

[00:14:31] Now, the police on the scene, again, they...

[00:14:34] Like he said, he met them out on the porch and they noted how calm he was the whole time.

[00:14:39] And this is something that they would continue to see over the next few years at this case.

[00:14:44] He calmly explained that Diane was in the master bedroom.

[00:14:48] Well, it's kind of weird.

[00:14:50] He like told him it was an accident and then he eventually like because you know how these

[00:14:54] things are, it's not always the same story right away when you're processed everything.

[00:14:58] Yes.

[00:14:59] But actually what he says is that and this is once he says the story, he sticks to it.

[00:15:04] This is it.

[00:15:05] He calmly explained to the officers that Diane was in the master bedroom on the floor and

[00:15:09] that there was nobody else in the home.

[00:15:11] They took him away in handcuffs because they said that his story wasn't matching up.

[00:15:15] At first, he said that he shot her over the 911 call and now he was saying that it was

[00:15:19] an accident.

[00:15:20] He explained that he walked into their bedroom to find Diane on his side of the bed standing

[00:15:25] up heavily intoxicated with his gun in her hand.

[00:15:30] He would later recall that he knew he had a split second to get the gun away from her

[00:15:34] before she shot herself or him.

[00:15:38] And so he took his moment of opportunity and then the process, the gun went off shooting

[00:15:42] Diane in the face and killing her.

[00:15:44] So the police were upset because not upset.

[00:15:48] They were upset.

[00:15:51] They were saying the story didn't match so they arrested not arrested but they took him

[00:15:55] into police custody because he said he shot her and then now he's saying it was an accident

[00:16:00] and like it was just right kind of weird.

[00:16:03] So when he gets into police custody, several things kind of happened.

[00:16:06] At first, he vaguely talks with them, reiterating that it was an accident and kind of reiterating

[00:16:12] their story, his story.

[00:16:13] But he doesn't does not give a lot of details and I'll give my opinion as to why but well,

[00:16:18] okay.

[00:16:19] They ran tests on his skin because he had some red marks and some liquid on the back of

[00:16:25] a shirt.

[00:16:27] At one point, he asks the officer who's taking the swabs if it was wine or blood and she

[00:16:32] says it might be wine and I think it's wine.

[00:16:34] It's really pink.

[00:16:36] They tested his hands for gunshot residue, etc., etc.

[00:16:41] And some people say that he behaves really callously.

[00:16:44] Other people say that he's in shock.

[00:16:46] That's kind of up for interpretation how you want to think about it.

[00:16:51] He tells the officers, he says I'm trying like kind of semi-quote him because I think

[00:16:55] it's important that you kind of understand his tone.

[00:16:57] He's like, I'm going to have to do some damage control with the children.

[00:17:01] Like my main concern is, is Mallory and Sarah.

[00:17:05] So yeah.

[00:17:06] And then he says and I think we need to get a lawyer, we need to get my lawyer in here.

[00:17:10] You know, this was a horrible accident but we need to get my lawyer in here basically.

[00:17:16] I mean, yeah.

[00:17:18] And I think the reason that he's so vague is because this is a wealthy, wealthy man.

[00:17:25] Wealthy people know to shut up and to talk to put their attorneys first.

[00:17:30] They're not going to be super, you know, they know.

[00:17:33] Yeah.

[00:17:34] And he doesn't want to come across as uncooperative and he takes off look guilty but at the same time

[00:17:39] he's not going to just spill his guts.

[00:17:42] Right.

[00:17:43] And he told them what happened and he, of course they're listening to him on a camera and

[00:17:47] he calls his family a couple different people to kind of fill them in and tell them.

[00:17:51] And at one point he tells somebody like, I need you to go take care of the dogs because

[00:17:55] I'm not going to be able to go home.

[00:17:57] Like, they're not going to let me go home.

[00:17:59] I need you to go take care of her pets.

[00:18:01] Like could you go pop by there?

[00:18:03] Whatever.

[00:18:04] Talking to his sister and he tells them all it was a horrible tragic accident.

[00:18:08] It was an accident.

[00:18:09] Like he never once changes it.

[00:18:11] He calls the sister.

[00:18:13] He says, I don't know how many tell the girls and his sister, the girls and ultimately

[00:18:18] tells the children, the children they're in their 20s.

[00:18:20] But yeah.

[00:18:22] When they first heard at least one of the word daughters thought that the crime may have

[00:18:25] been committed by one of her father's competitors thinking that these are unprecedented business

[00:18:30] times for them.

[00:18:31] They don't really know what's going on.

[00:18:32] Did somebody come in and shoot mom because of like bankruptcy?

[00:18:37] Like what's going on?

[00:18:40] She never in a million years would have thought that her father was involved in the death of

[00:18:44] her mother.

[00:18:45] So the police get a search warrant on the home and they begin at the same time Bob calls

[00:18:52] his attorney, which is actually his bankruptcy attorney but that's who he calls first.

[00:18:57] Which I mean, yeah, fair.

[00:18:59] Yeah.

[00:19:00] I mean, if I had some regular attorney, that would be probably my first go to, like, who

[00:19:06] do you recommend?

[00:19:07] And you know, that's a good attorney.

[00:19:10] Right.

[00:19:11] And I work with some bankruptcy cases and they touch elbows with these really big other

[00:19:16] attorneys.

[00:19:17] So yeah, makes sense.

[00:19:18] So he's talking with his attorney.

[00:19:20] The police get the search warrant on the home and they start and they were in the home

[00:19:24] for a long time.

[00:19:26] I heard reports of several weeks and during that time, they allegedly did some interesting

[00:19:32] things in the home.

[00:19:34] Allegedly.

[00:19:36] Police have not been proven in a court of law.

[00:19:39] Okay.

[00:19:40] Time stamp.

[00:19:43] The investigators or police or whoever, the crime scene whoever was in the house rented

[00:19:47] porn on their television.

[00:19:50] What?

[00:19:51] Yep.

[00:19:52] They stole jewelry, thousands of dollars of jewelry.

[00:19:56] They stole purses.

[00:19:57] They stole shoes.

[00:19:59] They also stole cash from the home.

[00:20:02] So the daughters say they're like, we can't prove this because nobody is going to,

[00:20:06] like, we can't prove it.

[00:20:07] But my mom kept up to $10,000 in cash with her.

[00:20:12] She traveled a lot.

[00:20:13] It was a convenience thing rather than dealing with banks.

[00:20:16] She always had a ton, like way too much at least that we don't understand why she keeps

[00:20:20] so much cash.

[00:20:21] It's not necessary.

[00:20:22] It's stupid.

[00:20:23] It's not safe.

[00:20:24] They know all of that.

[00:20:25] But it doesn't change the fact that it's true.

[00:20:27] Their mom kept upwards of $10,000 in her purse at all times.

[00:20:30] Like she had that much cash with her.

[00:20:32] Oh my God.

[00:20:33] And that was gone.

[00:20:34] They know they stole so much stuff.

[00:20:36] Like we had the jewelry appraised, so we went through with their insurance company and

[00:20:40] we told them what was missing.

[00:20:41] We know that stuff was stolen.

[00:20:44] Wow.

[00:20:45] But they didn't care really.

[00:20:47] I mean, that's not really what they care about right now.

[00:20:51] They took a hammer to their grill outside.

[00:20:54] They trashed the house.

[00:20:56] They broke the elevator.

[00:20:58] Like this house was destroyed.

[00:21:01] And they said that they did it all in the name of looking for drugs in the home, but

[00:21:05] there was no indication to support that there were any drugs involved in the case.

[00:21:10] Other than the drugs, the prescription drugs that we that Diane was prescribed and was

[00:21:15] was abusing.

[00:21:16] So I don't really know why they would do that.

[00:21:21] But again, allegedly, they got back to the home a few weeks later and it was trashed.

[00:21:29] We're listening to Birdon of Proof on True Crime by Indy Drop-In.

[00:21:33] We're going to take a quick break.

[00:21:36] And now back to this episode of Birdon of Proof.

[00:21:40] The thing that frustrated me the most was that they wouldn't let their animals be released.

[00:21:47] So they had four dogs, a cat and a parrot in this house.

[00:21:52] And at one point, they were like, hey, the girls were trying to come home from college.

[00:21:57] They were stuck.

[00:21:58] They hadn't gotten to Orlando yet.

[00:22:00] And they were like, hey, we have a friend who's coming to pick up the dogs and they were

[00:22:03] like, no, they can't be released to you.

[00:22:07] So they had all of these, I don't know.

[00:22:11] You scared they put drugs in the dog?

[00:22:15] I don't know.

[00:22:16] So they wouldn't let the dogs or the animals be released to their friend.

[00:22:21] They wouldn't let them be released to the family.

[00:22:23] The friend was able to put eyes on the dog through the garage.

[00:22:27] I guess so who's taking care of these dogs?

[00:22:30] I guess the investigators, I don't know.

[00:22:34] And again, this is alleged because I'm hearing all of this from, I believe that it's Sarah.

[00:22:40] Okay.

[00:22:41] One of the dogs.

[00:22:42] One of the dogs.

[00:22:43] They look really similar.

[00:22:44] So anyway, it's one of the dogs.

[00:22:46] One of the daughters.

[00:22:47] So and again, wasn't proven.

[00:22:50] I'm just, yeah, I'm just telling you what I heard.

[00:22:53] Yeah.

[00:22:54] Okay.

[00:22:55] And it doesn't really get brought up in the trial because they didn't find any substantial

[00:22:59] evidence that really would have pointed to anything worthwhile of them saying like,

[00:23:02] well, it wasn't, didn't matter because the investigation was horrible.

[00:23:06] It didn't find any drugs in the dogs but right there were no drugs in the dogs,

[00:23:10] but what they did find was stuff that they already knew, which was that Diane had been drinking

[00:23:15] heavily and there was a broken glass and there was wine.

[00:23:19] There were a bunch of empty wine bottles and we already knew that so yeah, so yeah, thoughts

[00:23:24] feelings while I get smarter?

[00:23:26] I don't know.

[00:23:29] This is wild.

[00:23:31] Now, we have a long legal battle ahead.

[00:23:35] So let's get into the evidence presented by the prosecution because they have decided

[00:23:39] they are going to charge Bob with the murder of his wife.

[00:23:43] I figured they don't believe his story that it was an accident.

[00:23:45] They think they shot that he shot her because of her deposition coming up.

[00:23:50] They thought that for some reason she was going to be a liability for this case and they

[00:23:56] also speculated that he was going to benefit from her death via a life insurance policy.

[00:24:01] Hmm.

[00:24:02] Okay.

[00:24:03] The prosecution relied heavily on Bob's words during the 911 call, his calmed demeanor

[00:24:07] in police custody.

[00:24:09] And the fact that there was some evidence that could have potentially pointed to a fight

[00:24:14] prior to her being shot.

[00:24:18] There were wine stains broken glass and the prosecution alleged that the wine glass had been

[00:24:22] thrown at Diane by Bob in a fit of rage.

[00:24:26] The defense brings some tangible evidence to the table looking at the fingerprints on

[00:24:29] the gun and looking at the gunshot residue.

[00:24:32] So like I said, they ran testing on his hands.

[00:24:36] There was no gunshot residue on Bob's hands at all.

[00:24:40] The only fingerprints that were remotely on the trigger were Diane's and Bob's fingerprints

[00:24:44] were only on the barrel of the gun, which would match with the story of him wrestling the

[00:24:49] gun away from her and accidentally being shot in the kerfuffle.

[00:24:52] Yeah.

[00:24:53] He placed the gun at the bedside table holding it by the barrel, which would explain his

[00:24:57] fingerprints there.

[00:24:59] That is what the defense says.

[00:25:03] Both of his daughters testified coming to his aid saying their father would never hurt

[00:25:07] their mother, along with a myriad of other witnesses and experts over the trial.

[00:25:13] Right.

[00:25:14] In 2011, the jury took 12 hours to deliberate over two days, requesting forms like transcripts,

[00:25:22] other various things from the case.

[00:25:25] They wanted at some point they asked for an unloaded version of the gun and they came

[00:25:30] back with a guilty verdict, convicting Bob Ward of second-degree murder with a potential

[00:25:34] life sentence.

[00:25:36] Wow.

[00:25:38] Yeah.

[00:25:39] Now, he does appeal and it takes a while but eventually he does get somewhere with the

[00:25:44] judge overturning his case with the basis of improper counsel and incompetent attorneys.

[00:25:50] Because of this, he was allowed to go home with his daughters briefly.

[00:25:54] The prosecution however insisted on retrying him for his wife's death.

[00:25:59] They are determined that he shot her.

[00:26:03] I'm in a loss.

[00:26:06] We'll talk about why at the end.

[00:26:12] His defense attorney's this time focused on the amount of drugs and alcohol in Diane's

[00:26:16] system at the time of the crime.

[00:26:18] The fact that the gunshot residue was again not on Bob's hands but on Diane's and a myriad

[00:26:22] of other things.

[00:26:23] I like that word today, myriad.

[00:26:26] At the end, the jury believed that he accidentally killed his wife but still found him guilty

[00:26:31] of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

[00:26:34] That's more what I expected.

[00:26:36] Yes.

[00:26:37] Now, things are about to get spicier.

[00:26:39] Oh boy.

[00:26:40] Prior to his sentencing hearing, his attorneys pushed for him to be sentenced to time served,

[00:26:46] considering that he had already served six years in jail.

[00:26:48] They cited the fact that he was getting up there in age and he had a bunch of health

[00:26:52] issues and they were hoping the judge would sentence him to either the shortest possible

[00:26:56] sentence which was 124.4 months, which I think is like 10 years.

[00:27:02] Or they were really hoping that he would be able to use his time served.

[00:27:06] Yeah.

[00:27:07] For a manslaughter charge.

[00:27:10] Yeah.

[00:27:12] In the process of waiting on the sentencing, the family hired and estate professional

[00:27:17] to help them move their mother's belongings out of one of their Atlanta homes which also

[00:27:21] fascinating job.

[00:27:22] Like when I say estate professional, I mean this woman's entire job was like taking dead

[00:27:27] people's things and like helping people sort through sentimental value and like sort

[00:27:31] of through their stuff.

[00:27:32] Yeah.

[00:27:33] It's a cool job.

[00:27:34] It would be a very interesting job, very emotional I think but it would be good.

[00:27:39] So it had been several years at this point, almost nine years, I think since their mom's

[00:27:43] death and they they've hired this woman to help them process and move through everything.

[00:27:48] In Diane's belongings, this estate professional found a suicide note allegedly a suicide

[00:27:54] note.

[00:27:55] I'm going to read it to you so you'll know what I'm talking about.

[00:27:57] Now.

[00:27:58] Okay.

[00:27:59] I was in there at Atlanta home, not in Orlando.

[00:28:02] Yeah.

[00:28:03] They don't know for sure when it was written but the girls believe that this proved their

[00:28:07] mother's intentions as they think it was written around the same time period of her death

[00:28:13] and they have several handwriting experts prove that yes Diane wrote this it's on Diane's

[00:28:18] stationary.

[00:28:19] It says Diane Ward at the top but they looked at a ton of handwriting samples because

[00:28:24] this is a Florida case and I have access to the Florida docket.

[00:28:27] I mean, everybody does its public record.

[00:28:30] I went through and I looked and I looked at what the handwriting expert looked at.

[00:28:33] I went down a rabbit hole.

[00:28:34] It was really interesting but it was clearly her writing.

[00:28:38] And the note reads, dear Mallory and Sarah, please know how much I love you.

[00:28:44] I don't know how it happened for me to end up like this.

[00:28:47] I want you to have wonderful lives and I know that I will always watch out for you both.

[00:28:51] Take care of Daddy.

[00:28:52] I love you more than you will ever know.

[00:28:54] Take care of the dogs they will need you.

[00:28:56] I mean, that's a suicide note.

[00:28:59] Yeah, that's suicide note.

[00:29:02] That's sad.

[00:29:03] I got nothing.

[00:29:05] Yeah, that's just sad.

[00:29:07] Yeah.

[00:29:08] So they entered this into evidence hoping that it would matter when the sentencing time came

[00:29:13] because like I said, the jury already convicted him of manslaughter but they were awaiting sentencing.

[00:29:18] Yeah.

[00:29:19] Diane's family is still coming to Bob Ward's defense after two of his convictions.

[00:29:24] Their sister Paula testified that Bob could they were trying to try and take the judge

[00:29:29] to be like, yes, you can go stay at home while you await sentencing rather than go back

[00:29:32] to jail.

[00:29:33] They were like, he's not a flight risk.

[00:29:34] He's never been a flight risk.

[00:29:36] And she says, not only can he come stay with me at my home in Camden County, Georgia, I

[00:29:42] will verify that he will stay with me but I will also put my house up for collateral

[00:29:47] because at this point in time, he's now broke.

[00:29:49] Like, he doesn't have much money according to his attorneys.

[00:29:53] The prosecution doesn't believe that.

[00:29:56] He says, I think the question of the day is what's he actually worth?

[00:30:00] What corporations does he actually control?

[00:30:02] Who knows?

[00:30:03] Your honor we're asking you to deny their request.

[00:30:06] He can't control many organizations from jail but whatever.

[00:30:09] Not directly anyway.

[00:30:13] So the judge did not let him go home and one of the prosecuting attorneys on the case,

[00:30:21] I think it was an associate.

[00:30:22] I don't think it was like the prosecuting attorney but he was fired because he was caught

[00:30:28] sending inappropriate texts to one of the ward daughters.

[00:30:31] Oh, Lord.

[00:30:33] Now I didn't look super far into this but I don't think that it went in both ways.

[00:30:37] It wasn't like that.

[00:30:38] I think that they were talking about something completely different and he said you're just

[00:30:42] saying that to see me naked or something like that.

[00:30:45] And it was a whole thing and he did get fired because of that because why would you do

[00:30:50] that?

[00:30:51] You idiot.

[00:30:53] But again, didn't get a chance to look too far into it.

[00:30:57] I...

[00:30:58] Okay.

[00:30:59] Nobody wants to hear that tangent.

[00:31:04] Yeah.

[00:31:05] Not yeah.

[00:31:06] I just...

[00:31:07] I was just saying that and then he was not that...

[00:31:09] Anyway, the judge came back with sentencing and Bob Ward was sentenced to 30 years in prison

[00:31:16] for manslaughter in his wife's killing in June of 2018.

[00:31:20] The judge also ordered for Ward to reimburse the state for the cost of his incarceration,

[00:31:26] ruling that he pay $50 per day in restitution which is a total of $547,500.

[00:31:34] Excluding leaf days.

[00:31:35] Excluding leaf days?

[00:31:37] He will get credit for the six years he's already served in his 30-year sentence.

[00:31:42] The judge declined the request to release him from the Orange County jail on bond while

[00:31:46] he appeals his manslaughter conviction.

[00:31:50] And the judge said, quote, he has now been convicted twice of killing his wife and

[00:31:53] has little to lose by fleeing.

[00:31:57] That's what she called it.

[00:31:58] What she said.

[00:31:59] So...

[00:32:00] This is wild.

[00:32:01] I don't know what to think of this.

[00:32:04] Right.

[00:32:05] Let's talk about it.

[00:32:07] So, I tried to present the case as neutral but as I'm reading it, I'm realizing that

[00:32:11] it does kind of sound biased in the sense that it sounds like I don't think he shot her

[00:32:15] intentionally.

[00:32:16] I'm not going on record.

[00:32:17] I don't think he did.

[00:32:18] I don't think that he murdered his wife.

[00:32:21] I think that it wasn't accident and I think he's telling the truth.

[00:32:24] I mean, how else would you explain that the only...

[00:32:27] Right.

[00:32:28] For me, it's the gun stuff.

[00:32:31] Right.

[00:32:32] I get that you would question if he did it intentionally and that he might look like

[00:32:38] he has motive but...

[00:32:41] How...

[00:32:41] Right.

[00:32:42] Would he have put her finger on the trigger and only his hand print is on the thing and

[00:32:48] he has no gun residue?

[00:32:49] I don't know.

[00:32:50] That doesn't...

[00:32:51] Right.

[00:32:52] And not an expert though.

[00:32:53] So, the family says that he...

[00:32:55] First of all, there was no life insurance policy so there was nothing to gain.

[00:32:59] It was...

[00:33:00] That was a thing that they assumed but the life insurance policy hadn't been getting paid

[00:33:04] so it had been canceled because they were going bankrupt.

[00:33:06] Yeah.

[00:33:07] There wasn't anything there and the daughters say, well, Diane didn't know anything about

[00:33:12] the business.

[00:33:13] So her being deposed really wasn't going to make her break anything.

[00:33:16] Hmm.

[00:33:17] So they also said...

[00:33:19] I've heard them say a couple in a couple different interviews that like their dad wasn't

[00:33:22] super concerned.

[00:33:23] Like, yeah, he knew they were going to be broke but he didn't...

[00:33:26] He knew they were going to be fine.

[00:33:27] They were going to be happy.

[00:33:28] Like, it wasn't going to matter.

[00:33:29] It wasn't bothering him.

[00:33:31] It was bothering Diane.

[00:33:34] My opinion, this case is a combination of a couple things.

[00:33:39] I mentioned at the beginning that it got tried in the same court as Casey Anthony.

[00:33:45] Pretty close to Casey Anthony.

[00:33:49] And this case may have had a different outcome if it had been in a different time and place

[00:33:54] because...

[00:33:55] I can see that.

[00:33:56] I think people were concerned especially the jury was concerned about giving and not guilty

[00:34:02] verdict after Casey Anthony was given a not guilty verdict and seeing how the public

[00:34:06] reacted to that.

[00:34:08] Yeah, I could see that.

[00:34:10] Yeah.

[00:34:12] You know, it was also a really highly publicized case at the time and they originally were

[00:34:18] trying to paint the family out as really spoiled as this rich family, this rich man shot

[00:34:24] his wife and it was a trial by media first before he actually was tried.

[00:34:31] And so I think that after Casey Anthony, they were a little bit concerned about rendering

[00:34:37] a verdict of not guilty.

[00:34:40] Now I am not...

[00:34:41] I was not on the jury.

[00:34:43] I'm not going to pretend to know what the jurors thought.

[00:34:47] Just know that that is my objective opinion.

[00:34:51] I don't disagree with your opinion honestly because...

[00:34:57] What would be the point?

[00:35:00] I don't know.

[00:35:02] People were put off by his behavior.

[00:35:05] They were put off by the fact that he was joking around with his daughters in the courtroom

[00:35:09] that he...

[00:35:10] Oh, well that's just a stupid thing to do.

[00:35:13] Well, he was just being a dad.

[00:35:16] Like I know.

[00:35:17] No, I understand like he's just being but you are on trial so maybe...

[00:35:23] Maybe they'll be yourself too much.

[00:35:25] I don't even know if it was necessarily in the courtroom.

[00:35:27] I know that like the story that comes to mind is they were talking to him in jail and

[00:35:31] they were telling him like we put money in your account and the one of the daughters

[00:35:34] says so you can buy bras and stuff.

[00:35:36] He says, oh yeah, you know all love that.

[00:35:38] Like they're making jokes with him and it just really stands out to me that nobody

[00:35:43] in his...

[00:35:44] In Diane's family thinks that he shot her.

[00:35:47] Oh absolutely.

[00:35:49] Everybody thinks that it was an accident except where...

[00:35:53] Even if his...

[00:35:54] Even if his daughters were on his side and believed him innocent but her family was like

[00:36:01] we don't know because they've had these problems.

[00:36:05] We don't know about this.

[00:36:06] I might lean towards...

[00:36:07] Well, I don't know.

[00:36:09] But from the sound of it.

[00:36:12] Right.

[00:36:13] And so now that we're talking about opinions, I'll talk about, you know, I'm always here

[00:36:17] to share my opinion but I'll share my opinion on this.

[00:36:20] In hindsight, after the fact the daughters have done interviews and they...

[00:36:26] Especially in this 2018 conviction I think it was Mallory that had an outburst in the courtroom

[00:36:32] screaming like she tried to kill my dad and now my dad's going to jail for killing her.

[00:36:36] Like this is ridiculous because they think that it could have been going that direction

[00:36:40] that she was that intoxicated.

[00:36:42] She was...

[00:36:43] I mean she had taken a lethal dose of her anti-depressants and drank four bottles of wine

[00:36:47] that night.

[00:36:48] And four empty bottles of wine.

[00:36:51] Yeah.

[00:36:52] And so the daughters were basically like she was going to die anyway and now we're also

[00:36:57] losing our father in this process.

[00:36:59] And a lot of people were very turned off by their phrasing of that of her saying like well

[00:37:05] she was going to die anyway and now we're losing our dad and like they were very put off...

[00:37:10] I feel like people who get put off by stuff like that have never actually experienced

[00:37:15] or lived with any of those things.

[00:37:21] They've never really experienced what it's like to live with somebody who is in active

[00:37:27] addiction and acting out and how toxic it can be and how it wears you down.

[00:37:33] Right.

[00:37:34] And regardless I think it may just be a personality thing and like when she said it...

[00:37:41] It didn't faze me at all.

[00:37:42] I was just like oh no, I get what you're saying now you're losing your dad.

[00:37:45] Yeah.

[00:37:46] You know to me I don't think that that's being cold, I think it's just being...

[00:37:52] They've accepted the reality of it is what it sounds like to me.

[00:37:56] They accepted the reality that their mom was likely trying to kill herself with the

[00:38:04] pills and alcohol not necessarily the gun.

[00:38:07] Maybe she maybe she was going to use the gun or maybe she picked up the gun because she

[00:38:10] was mad at him and like I'll take you out with me.

[00:38:13] Who knows?

[00:38:14] We don't know and that is upsetting.

[00:38:17] So I was fascinated by this case because I read the headline Florida Millionaire Kills

[00:38:22] Wife and I was like oh tell me more.

[00:38:25] And then I just fell down this rabbit hole and looking at these like handwriting experts

[00:38:29] and all these people and I...

[00:38:31] Yeah, you know he's at Suffer Hills Correctional Facility still serving time.

[00:38:37] It's interesting for sure.

[00:38:39] I hate this case.

[00:38:41] I like it but it's interesting.

[00:38:44] I'm always interested in cases that...

[00:38:47] Right, I don't think I would have been so upset by the manslaughter conviction if it didn't

[00:38:52] have such a heavy sentence on it when I truly do think that it was an accident.

[00:38:57] After he served six years I was thinking like okay well if you don't feel comfortable

[00:39:02] saying not guilty, say guilty and then he's served six years so like he's done or almost

[00:39:08] done.

[00:39:09] Right, if you count time served and while that still sucks if indeed it was an accident

[00:39:17] like what's done is done.

[00:39:19] Right, it also sucks because the family wasn't pushing for the prosecution to go after him.

[00:39:23] They didn't want this, the prosecution decided this and again I think a lot of it has

[00:39:29] to do with the time and the circumstances.

[00:39:31] You know, a perception of the public.

[00:39:34] This area at that time.

[00:39:37] Which I understand after I've done a lot of research on the case in Anthony Drial,

[00:39:41] you won't catch us talking about it.

[00:39:43] We're not going to cover it other than to say it happened.

[00:39:46] Other than to say it happened and this was the outcome because we don't want to get

[00:39:50] to soon but I can totally see how they wouldn't want to be caught in a situation similar.

[00:40:00] I can't get over the house.

[00:40:04] The house being trashed is one thing if you're searching for stuff but stuff being stolen

[00:40:11] and the pornography thing.

[00:40:12] It's too much for me.

[00:40:13] Even one of the daughters is just like, I mean, I guess you're there late at night killing

[00:40:18] time but don't do it on our TV.

[00:40:20] Did you do that in front of the dog?

[00:40:22] Did you do it in front of the parent?

[00:40:25] Like, can you imagine if they came in and the parent started like, this isn't a beach

[00:40:32] to the bathtub.

[00:40:33] Wow, wow!

[00:40:34] The parent is saying, this isn't a beach, it's a bathtub.

[00:40:40] Not a lifeguard.

[00:40:44] Help my stuck.

[00:40:49] No.

[00:40:50] No.

[00:40:51] Terrible.

[00:40:58] Oh my gosh, so that is the Bob Ward story.

[00:41:11] You know, have your opinions.

[00:41:15] Yeah.

[00:41:16] I have mine.

[00:41:17] I know that this has been rambly at the end but it's a lot of opinions.

[00:41:22] I tried so hard to find unbiased sources because they was either, he killed his wife and

[00:41:28] cold blood or he's completely innocent.

[00:41:31] He did nothing.

[00:41:32] You can't find something in between.

[00:41:34] So please know that I did my best to find and read both sides of everything.

[00:41:42] I don't know if I'm going to have all my sources listed because I went through a lot.

[00:41:45] I have a lot of them listed but I went through a lot and there's a couple that I'm not going

[00:41:49] to list because I didn't use anything from them because they were so biased one way

[00:41:53] or the other.

[00:41:55] But, just know that I tried to give it to you as plainly as possible.

[00:42:00] Fair.

[00:42:01] So whatever your opinion is after this, you can probably go on that.

[00:42:06] And Cher.

[00:42:07] Yes.

[00:42:08] So let's do this.

[00:42:10] I think the emoji should be a parrot.

[00:42:12] Yeah.

[00:42:13] Regardless of what you think, I just think that it should be a parrot.

[00:42:17] I just think that's funny.

[00:42:18] Yeah.

[00:42:19] But if you want to let us know what you think, feel free.

[00:42:21] You can do it in comments.

[00:42:22] You can message us.

[00:42:23] You can do whatever.

[00:42:24] You want to hear some of the tangents that Alicia cut out about her talking to a door

[00:42:28] to door salesman.

[00:42:29] You can check us out on Patreon.

[00:42:32] This episode is coming out halfway through February which means we are gearing up for our

[00:42:36] February live stream on Patreon.

[00:42:40] So if you're interested in that, check us out there.

[00:42:44] Yeah.

[00:42:45] And if you haven't already, we always appreciate the reviews ratings, etc. on Apple and

[00:42:55] Spotify especially because those are the two big guys.

[00:42:59] Yes.

[00:43:00] It helps us a lot.

[00:43:01] I wanted to say, and this is not in self-promotion, we had a hate comment a couple weeks ago on a

[00:43:05] YouTube video and they called our music sexy.

[00:43:08] And I think they meant it in like a derogatory way, but I am taking that in full confidence.

[00:43:13] We have very sexy music so sexy.

[00:43:15] So sexy for my meal today.

[00:43:17] I didn't in fairness though.

[00:43:19] That person did not realize that we aren't like a news podcast or podcast podcast.

[00:43:28] So once they were corrected by a very nice, and if you're listening, if you're the person

[00:43:33] who came to our defense on that, shout out to you.

[00:43:38] That warmed our hearts.

[00:43:39] You don't have a name on your YouTube primer.

[00:43:42] Like I can't or we would have shouted you out but it's just a series of letters and numbers

[00:43:46] so we didn't do that.

[00:43:47] Because you did it in a very specific way without name calling or being overly hateful.

[00:43:55] And we appreciate that.

[00:43:57] But yeah, that person who initially was hating on us, they changed their tune very quickly

[00:44:03] once they were corrected and they understood the difference that we are not a new spot.

[00:44:09] Yeah, we do present facts but we are going to give commentary and such.

[00:44:14] Right.

[00:44:15] And thank you for calling our music sexy.

[00:44:17] For those of you who don't know who haven't been listening for a long time, I'm sure

[00:44:20] we've talked about it.

[00:44:21] It took Alicia and I forever to pick music.

[00:44:24] And so finding it, I was so happy.

[00:44:28] And thank you for calling it sexy.

[00:44:29] I think it's pretty sexy too.

[00:44:31] I think that that is all.

[00:44:34] We hope you guys enjoyed.

[00:44:36] Yeah, until next time.

[00:44:39] Till next week.

[00:44:40] Bye.

[00:44:41] Bye.

[00:44:42] Thanks for listening guys.

[00:44:43] Find us on Instagram and TikTok at burden of proof pod and email us at burden of proof

[00:44:48] pod at gmail.com.

[00:44:49] Thanks again for listening to True Crime by Indie Drop-in Network.

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[00:45:05] at Indie Drop-in.

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