Man uses steak knife and hammer to puncture wife’s heart 10 times, PA officials say
A Pennsylvania man is accused of using “various cutting instruments” to kill his wife in a “gruesome” fashion, officials said.
At the request of a concerned family member, the Bethlehem Township Police Department conducted a welfare check at 8:30 a.m. March 11 at an Easton residence, according to a news release from Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta.
As authorities entered the home, 57-year-old James Christopher Frank told them his wife, Deborah Glaser, was dead in the bathroom, according to the district attorney’s office.
Police found “various cutting instruments, including knives, razor blades, and box cutters, along with a hammer and a mallet,” officials said.
Glaser was found face down in the bathtub, WCAU reported citing court records.
Frank told police he cut his wife’s trachea with a steak knife “while she was still alive,” then used a knife and hammer to puncture her chest and heart, estimating he stabbed her about 10 times, the attorney’s office said.
“We can’t confirm how long she had been dead, but it was pretty clear that it was many hours prior to the police response,” Baratta told WFMZ.
“It was gruesome and on a very human level, upsetting,” he told the outlet.
Frank is charged with criminal homicide, a non-bailable offense, and is booked at the Northampton County Prison, according to court records. Attorney information was not listed for Frank.
Easton is about a 75-mile drive north from Philadelphia.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Man uses steak knife and hammer to puncture wife’s heart 10 times, PA officials say."
