Killer Says Daughter Better Off With Him Judge Agreed To Remove Girl From Custody Of Lesbian Mom

A killer who won custody of his 11-year-old daughter because his former wife is a lesbian said Friday he can give the girl a better home.

John A. Ward, who murdered his first wife, won custody of his daughter in August from a judge who wanted to give the girl a chance to live in “a non-lesbian world.”

His second wife, Mary Ward, last week asked a state appeals court to return their daughter, Cassey, to her, contending that her sexual orientation is irrelevant.

“Her home life since we separated changed a lot and I feel I can give her a better environment,” John Ward, 44, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I can give my baby a home, and I think she deserves that.”

Also Friday, Ward’s daughter from his first marriage, Michelle McInnes, 24, said he fondled her at age 14.

Mary Ward, 46, has refused interviews. She was represented on the program by Kathryn Kendell, legal director for the San Franciscobased National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Cassey had been in Mary Ward’s custody since their divorce in 1992. Shannon Minter, a lawyer for the lesbian-rights center, said laws in Florida and most other states clearly say evidence must show a child has been harmed to change a custody order.

“It presents a very stark example of how irrational it is to take a child away from a stable, committed parent because of sexual orientation,” Minter said. “The fact that the father in this case has a demonstrated history of violent and abusive behavior is outrageous.”

John Ward’s lawyer, Ted Stokes, said Thursday that his client has been rehabilitated since he fatally shot his first wife, Judy, in 1974. He served eight years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

But McInnes said she would testify for Mary Ward that her father had fondled her and should not have custody of her stepsister.

“My father was convicted of killing my mother,” she told WEAR-TV in Pensacola. “And the one thing a lot of people don’t know is my dad tried to molest me and I know my dad tried to molest other children and he does not deserve to have her or any child.”

Others also criticized the decision.

“This ruling is based on ignorance and hateful bigotry at worst,” said Brother Rick Garcia, director of Chicago-based Catholic Advocates for Lesbian & Gay Rights. “The judge should be ashamed.”

Circuit Judge Joseph Tarbuck granted the father’s request for a custody change, citing the mother’s lesbianism. He gave Mary Ward standard visiting privileges. The girl has lived with John Ward and his third wife, Rita, since Aug. 28.