The Gloucester City man argues he had nothing to do with his wife's fatal neck injury.
CAMDEN -- A former Gloucester City man appealing his 22-year prison term on a aggravated manslaughter conviction as a result of his wife's fatal neck injury saw portions of his effort progress in state Superior Court.
David Henry, who avoided a murder charge but was convicted in 2007 of wife Jacqueline Henry's death, claims ineffective counsel and seeks a new trial as part of his post-conviction relief petition.
According to previous reports, authorities argued in court that David Henry strangled his wife with a never-recovered binding object while at home in March 2005. Further, Jacqueline Henry had scratches on her hand, broken fingernails and clothing fibers underneath her fingernails.
Court documents say David Henry, who was 42 at the time, was in a bedroom and called 911 after hearing a "loud crash" and finding his wife with a bruise on her throat. A medical examiner later found that the woman died as a result of "ligature strangulation."
According to a May 2005 philly.com article, Henry's attorney argued the "circumstantial" case was an "unexplained incident in which the prosecutor has strung together circumstantial evidence based on a bruise on the neck."
In court, David Henry called Dr. Karl O. Schwarz as an expert who testified that the cause of death was "self-inflicted hanging" with a "woven belt."
"He opined that Jacqueline had a condition known as 'autoerotic death asphyxiophilia,' in which a person 'enhance[s] sexual feeling by depriving themselves of oxygen,'" according to court documents. "Unlike suicide, the person is not seeking to die, but rather seeking sexual gratification."
Schwarz -- who said he was suffering from depression during the trial -- would later go on to contend that the woman hid the belt before her death. He also continued to discuss the case with colleagues at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in Israel, and later conclude the death was accidental, caused by Jacqueline Henry fainting and collapsing "into the sharp end of a bookcase."
Despite a June 2014 appeal largely failing before Camden County Superior Court Judge Edward J. McBride, David Henry re-asserted three ineffective counsel claims, the "abysmal incompetence" of Schwarz and the fact that his affidavit should have come before McBride as it pertains to Henry's ineffective counsel claims.
According to the opinion rendered Tuesday from state Superior Court judges Carmen Messano and Marie Simonelli, "Schwarz's affidavit contains important information regarding defendant's (ineffective counsel) claim as it relates to the decision to call Schwarz as an expert witness, and the soundness of Schwarz's unusual forensic opinion at trial."
The opinion further orders an evidentiary hearing to consider the merits of Henry's petition and claims of "newly-discovered evidence."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.