commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Halloween is coming and we can expect a certain amount of ghoulish behavior from celebrants. In fact, Eric Badia and Larry McShane of the New York Daily News write that Dale Silverman, 59, thought it was some sort of Halloween prank when she spied a woman’s body lying on one side of a Farmingdale. Long Island street, and a head lying on the other side on Tuesday evening just before 8 pm.
“I saw the head first — long black straight hair and a partial face,” said Silverman. “I did a double-take, thinking it was a stupid little shrunken head you would hang as a Halloween thing.”
To her dismay, Ms. Silverman looked closer and discovered it was not a prank at all; rather it was a real woman’s body on one side of the street and her severed head on the other.
The body and head belonged to Patricia Ward, a highly respected retired college professor who had taught at Farmingdale State College, a branch of the New York State University system, for the better part of three decades. It turned out that she had been brutally murdered and decapitated for unknown reasons by her son, Derek Ward.
Derek, who was 35, had only a minimal rap sheet (45 days behind bars after a 2006 conviction for possession of 100 Valium pills and a 9-mm. Smith & Wesson handgun.) He did, however, have a psychiatric record dating back a decade, which suggests that he could have been in the throes of some sort of psychotic episode when he used a knife to kill and then behead his mother. After completing the grisly act, he dragged Patricia’s head and body outside depositing them on either side of the street.
It is frightening to speculate on what horrific thoughts were circulating in Derek’s mind both during and after the murder. It appears however, that he may have regretted his actions — as I suspect killers often do — once it was too late, although we have no way of knowing for sure.
What is known is that Derek Ward stepped in front of a LIRR Ronkonkoma-bound train near the Clinton St. crossing, less than a mile away from where his mother’s remains were found, a fact confirmed by MTA police 20 minutes after the body was found.
In an odd twist, Ms. Ward met her tragic fate in her luxury apartment on Secatogue Ave., which she and Derek had just moved into three months earlier. As a respected professor for many years, she probably earned a decent income and may also have had other monetary sources, thus allowing her to live comfortably. None of this did her any good, however, when Derek ran amuck.
According to neighbors, Patricia Ward was a quiet person who was often seen walking a small white dog down the street. She and her son moved into the building about three months ago.
“She would sometimes give me a half-a-smile, but she was like very serious,” said a neighbor.
More and more my heart goes out to well-meaning mothers who have the incomprehensibly bad luck to give birth to children who, for whatever reason, suffer from severe mental disorders. I know my limits and my weaknesses and every day I thank the powers that be that my three kids do not suffer from any serious mental disorders. If any of them did I fear I would have a devilishly hard time adjusting to that cruel fate and I have the greatest respect for every mother (and father) who does his or her best to care for a highly unbalanced child.
“Patricia Ward was a member of the campus for 28 years,” Farmingdale State College announced in a statement. “She was well-known, well-liked and well-respected. The campus is a very sad place today.”
The police report that Derek’s already unstable mental health took a turn for the worse last year after his paternal grandfather died, which suggests that his grandfather may have exercised a calming influence over the troubled young man.
It is entirely possible that Derek suffered from delusions in which he somehow saw his mother as an agent of evil, which in turn triggered his horrific act, although we have no way of knowing for sure. The fact that he was once arrested with a bottle of valium could suggest that he was prone to intense anxiety, which, of course, is common in individuals suffering from serious mental disorder. The three months that he had been living with his mother could have been sufficient time for him to convince himself that she was either “after him” or was somehow responsible for his problems/condition. But, the issue of Derek’s motivation is unlikely to ever be answered with any certainty.