A woman and her brother have each been sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1996 murder of her wealthy husband to get their hands on his $1.2M life insurance – despite her son’s pleas for leniency following the stabbing death of his dad.
Roslyn Pilmar, 61, and her brother, Evan Wald, 45, were found guilty of the second-degree murder of 40-year-old Howard Pilmar by a jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan in March.
Judge Gilbert Hong had been told by the Pilmar’s son Philip – now a federal prosecutor – that his mom is ‘kind’ and his uncle ‘always showed him love’.
But Hong handed the pair the maximum sentence on Monday, noting the ‘viciousness’ and ‘brutality’ of the crime, The New York Post reports.
Prosecutors spent more than two decades trying to find suspects in the 1996 murder of wealthy businessman Howard.
Pilmar, a successful entrepreneur who owned an office supply store and a coffee shop, was stabbed 40 times just outside his New York City office.
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Roslyn Pilmar, second right, 61, and her brother, Evan Wald, second left, 45, were found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. They were each sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1996 murder of her wealthy husband on Monday
The verdict was a victory for prosecutors, who for more than two decades had not been able to find suspects in the 1996 murder of 40-year-old Howard Pilmar after he was stabbed 40 times
Howard Pilmar’s son Philip – now a federal prosecutor – asked for leniency in the sentencing saying that his mom is ‘kind’ and his uncle ‘always showed him love’
In a victim statement assistant US attorney Philip Pilmar, who was 10-years-old when his dad died, said: ‘I struggled for years, then came to accept things and move on.’
He said the murder was an ‘unimaginable horror’ but added of his mother: ‘She taught me to be kind and to value education. Every step of the way, she helped me.’
Of his uncle Evan Wald he said ‘has been a good and kind person to me. He always showed me love’, adding: ‘Vengeance is not justice.’
Prosecutors had said Roslyn Pilmar and Wald plotted the murder of Howard Pilmar in order to inherit a $1.2million life insurance policy.
They alleged that Pilmar fell into debt after she was caught stealing $160,000 from the dentist’s office where she worked as a dental hygienist.
She then promised to pay the money back, though she did not tell her husband about it and kept it a secret.
Prosecutors say that in the days leading up to the murder, Pilmar was receiving frequent telephone calls about her debt, including from the IRS, which was demanding $14,000 in unpaid taxes.
The government threatened to shut down one of her husband’s coffee bars, which she was running.
Howard Pilmar was found dead in a pool of blood outside his office on East 33rd Street (above) near the Empire State Building on March 28, 1996
Of his uncle Evan Wald, center, Philip Pilmar said ‘has been a good and kind person to me. He always showed me love’, adding: ‘Vengeance is not justice’
Frank Pilmar, pictured center, called the sentencing ‘perfect’, admitting he ‘does not know’ the last time he spoke to his grandson Philip
Frank Pilmar, 90 – Philip’s grandfather and Howard’s father – called the sentencing Monday ‘perfect’.
He added: ‘I was hoping for the maximum sentence because Howard was brutalized, slaughtered. The terror that must have gone through Howard’s mind in those few seconds while his life was leaving him, I cannot imagine.
‘In truth, I go to bed every night and I try to close my eyes but I think about Howard’s murder.’
Elderly Frank said he ‘does not know’ the last time he spoke to his grandson Philip, admitting: ‘He wouldn’t even look at me.
‘As a matter of fact, at the trial, I was going into the men’s room, and he was leaving the men’s room, and I thought it was Howard because he and Howard have one face.
‘But we never spoke a word. But I won’t give up. None of us will give up. [Philip] has Pilmar blood in him, and no matter what he does, he can’t get rid of it.
‘The whole family loves him, and we have no hard feelings about him.’
Following the sentencing Roslyn’s lawyer, Sam Talkin, said: ‘We’re going to vigorously pursue an appeal, and we hope and expect to be back here and able to try this case again and prove that Ms. Pilmar is not guilty of this crime.’
The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, said in a statement in March: ‘For nearly 23 years, Roslyn Pilmar and Evan Wald evaded justice for their gruesome crime and thought they would get away with it.’
But Pilmar’s lawyer said: ‘We’re disappointed in the verdict, of course, but the battle is far from over.’
Roslyn Pilmar (left), 61, and her brother, Evan Wald (right), 45, pictured after they were found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan in March
‘She owed the money, and she had to pay it back,’ Elizabeth Lederer, the lead prosecutor in the case, said of Pilmar.
‘She had to find it quickly.’
Lederer alleged that Pilmar and her brother ‘planned [the murder] as a trap.’
Prosecutors also said that the Pilmars’ marriage was crumbling, and that Howard Pilmar contacted a divorce lawyer.
But Roslyn Pilmar is said to have complained that her husband was verbally abusive, according to witnesses.
After Howard Pilmar’s death, Roslyn Pilmar inherited more than $1million on two life insurance policies as well as his businesses, which she sold months later.
Roslyn Pilmar also inherited an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and a summer home.
Three years after the murder, Pilmar pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the embezzlement case, repaid the money she stole, and was sentenced to probation.
Prosecutors said that the relationship began to grow tense between Wald and his brother-in-law, for whom he worked.
They alleged that Wald began to resent Howard Pilmar for being too critical of him. Wald also was protective of his sister and was aware of her deteriorating marriage.
Lederer said that Wald threatened to kill Howard Pilmar if he ever harmed his sister.
But Wald’s lawyer, Daniel Gotlin, ridiculed the idea that Wald would announce beforehand plans to kill his brother-in-law.
‘If you were planning something, why would you make that statement?’ Gotlin said on Monday.
‘It’s like announcing, I’m going to kill the guy.’
Evan Wald, Roslyn Pilmar’s brother, is seen above after his arrest in October 2017. Prosecutors say Wald’s blood was found at the crime scene and that he had a cut on his left hand
Howard Pilmar was found dead in a pool of blood outside his office on East 33rd Street near the Empire State Building on March 28, 1996.
Authorities said that night before, he was stabbed 40 times in his neck, chest, and back – with a number of stab wounds inflicted after he had drawn his last breath.
Investigators believed that someone he knew was responsible, since there were no signs of forced entry.
Pilmar was killed after the building security guard went home for the night – which detectives believed was a clue that the killer was familiar with his normal routine.
Officers also did not believe it was a burglary since Pilmar still had his wallet with $200 on him at the time he was killed.
Authorities said DNA tests proved Wald’s blood was at the crime scene. Police officers interviewed him and noticed a cut on his left hand.
Prosecutors allege the cut was sustained while he stabbed Pilmar.
Wald’s lawyer, Gotlin, said that the cut on his client’s hand did not prove that he was guilty. ‘His hand was cut. So what?’ Gotlin said during closing arguments to the jury.
‘That doesn’t mean he killed anyone with a knife.’
Gotlin also claimed that the police focus on Wald prevented them from pursuing other leads.
Howard Pilmar was the owner King Office Supply, a family-owned office supply business which had a coffee bar in the front of the store – an innovation at the time.
The business had 50 employees and was generating some $14million a year.