Isleworth millionaire Bob Ward found guilty of manslaughter

An Orange County jury found James “Bob” Ward guilty of manslaughter Thursday in the 2009 killing of his wife Diane Ward in their Isleworth home.

The couple has two adult daughters, Mallory and Sarah, both of whom testified in their father’s defense. After the clerk read the guilty verdict, Mallory Ward stormed out of the courtroom.

“It’s not fair,” she screamed outside the doors.

Sarah Ward sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery until court adjourned and quietly cried.

“I told the jury that the nightmare for the Ward family began on Sept. 21, 2009,” defense attorney Craig Gillen said, citing the date of Diane Ward’s death. “I asked the jury to let the nightmare end. Sadly, the nightmare for the Ward family continues.”

Prosecutors said Ward shot Diane in their master bedroom after an argument, possibly over financial problems or fraud allegations at his real estate business. He called authorities — accidentally dialing 411 instead of 911 — and said “I just shot my wife.”

“She’s dead,” he said. “She’s done. I’m sorry.”

Ward’s attorneys presented a different case, saying Diane Ward became aggressive because she took too much of her anti-depressant, Citalopram, and drank red wine. Ward told a Channel 13 reporter in a 2011 jailhouse interview that he walked into the bedroom and suddenly noticed his wife behind him with a gun. He was trying to take it from her when it fired, he said.

Six jurors deliberated for 9½ hours, starting Wednesday afternoon.

Ward was charged with second-degree murder, but jurors had the option of finding him guilty of manslaughter with a firearm instead. Florida law defines second-degree murder as an intentional but not premeditated killing. Manslaughter is an unintentional killing.

He was convicted of second-degree murder in 2011 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the trial judge overturned the verdict because his lawyer didn’t object when prosecutors presented evidence and asked questions pertaining to his right to remain silent. Ward was released on a $1 million bond last year as he waited for his retrial.

“My office invested a lot of time, hard work and commitment to reach a guilty verdict, that we believe was warranted based upon the evidence and facts of the case,” Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala said in a written statement. “We are pleased with the jury’s verdict and satisfied justice was served.”

Circuit Judge Leticia Marques set Ward’s sentencing for Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. He will be held in the Orange County Jail until then. He faces between 13 and 30 years in prison, said Eryka Washington, spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office.

glotan@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5774

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