TOMS RIVER – A plea offer was put on the table for the first time in the case against William Garvin, the 67-year-old Barnegat man accused of killing his wife. Prosecutors offered a plea to first-degree murder with a 30-year period before parole eligibility, a term that would put Garvin at about 97 before he could first be considered for release, absent applicable jail credits.
Wearing green-and-white jail clothing and shackles, Garvin stood in the jury box during the hearing. He did not accept the offer or enter a plea. His defense attorney, Thomas H. Martin, told Superior Court Judge Kenneth Palmer that he had only learned of the offer that day and needed to review the remaining evidence before advising his client.
The early disposition hearing focused on the material still outstanding in the case. Assistant Prosecutor Alyssa Mandara said the detective’s main report, an interview conducted recently, the medical examiner’s autopsy report and crime scene investigation reports had not yet been provided.
Mandara also told the judge that investigators had extracted data from cell phones and the state could provide it on a hard drive. Martin said he needed the discovery (a formal process where both attorneys share information about evidence and testimony), including the autopsy report, before deciding whether to seek expert evaluations.
Asked whether the defense anticipated using experts, Martin said he might consider “possibly a forensic examiner to flesh out” issues related to “diminished capacity.” He said he could not make that decision until he had reviewed the full discovery.
Palmer scheduled the next court date for November 30. The case remains pending, and Garvin is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Garvin is charged with killing Eileen Garvin, 69, a longtime Barnegat school bus driver. Police found her dead on September 7 at the couple’s Windward Drive home after responding to a request to do a welfare check.
According to court records detailed in earlier reporting, Garvin told an officer while being transported for medical treatment that he had killed his wife at about 11 a.m. Police had been called to the home at approximately 4:26 p.m. Investigators also said he yelled to neighbors outside the house, “I killed my wife.”
Police found Garvin inside the home with a knife protruding from his chest, according to court documents. Eileen was found unresponsive on the living room floor, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died from asphyxia by manual strangulation and smothering.
The couple were going through a divorce but continued living in the same home, court records say. One of their daughters told investigators that Eileen had filed for divorce in July and that arguments between her parents were frequent, though mostly verbal.
For about 14 years, Eileen drove Barnegat children to and from school. After her death, Bus 38 became a gathering place for flowers and tributes from families who knew her as the familiar face behind the wheel.
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