Ex-Manhattan restaurateur charged with attempted murder after allegedly slipping girlfriend an abortion drug

Ex-Manhattan restaurateur charged with attempted murder after allegedly slipping girlfriend an abortion drug
Joshua Woodward, one-time partner in the Table 8 chain that graced the Cooper Square Hotel, pleads not guilty to four counts in Los Angeles. Authorities say he tried to induce a miscarriage in his girlfriend in fall 2009 with misoprostol. She ultimately lost the baby.

By Nancy Dillon / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 10:25 PM
Updated: Friday, October 19, 2012, 10:26 AM





A former Manhattan restaurant owner was arraigned in Los Angeles on Wednesday on charges he secretly slipped his girlfriend an abortion drug during foreplay.

Joshua Woodward, a partner in the Table 8 restaurant chain that graced the Cooper Square Hotel before it changed to Standard Hotel East Village, pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder.

He was held on $4 million bail.

"The evidence against him is weak and speculative at best. It's a mystery to us why they're charging this now. Nothing has changed over the three years since he originally was arrested," Woodward's lawyer Mark Werksman told the Daily News. "The evidence doesn’t justify or warrant prosecution. Josh Woodward is innocent of these charges."

Authorities claim Woodward, 40, tried to induce a miscarriage in his girlfriend, who was 13 weeks pregnant, in fall 2009, using a topical application of the early-stage abortion drug misoprostol while the couple engaged in foreplay.

The former girlfriend, 42, who declined to comment when reached by the Daily News on Wednesday, miscarried the baby Oct. 18, 2009, after one of the encounters with Woodward, a search warrant affidavit obtained by The News states.

The devastated lover told police Woodward didn't want the baby from the moment he learned of the pregnancy and immediately asked her to get an abortion.

He became clearly upset when she told him she wanted to keep the baby, leading to a "bitter" breakup, the affidavit states.

Woodward eventually claimed he wanted to be involved, the girlfriend told police, and the pair resumed an intimate relationship.

But on multiple occasions, Woodward dipped his hand into his backpack before touching her sexually, the police affidavit states. Hours after an encounter on Oct. 18, the girlfriend felt severe cramping and miscarried the fetus, according to the affidavit.

She later realized a white powdery substance she noticed in her underwear might be connected to the incident and contacted police. Authorities identified the substance Wednesday as misoprostol.

Cops on the case back in 2009 told the girlfriend to keep the loss of the fetus a secret and invite Woodward back over.

A week after the miscarriage, police arrested Woodward outside the girlfriend's apartment after he allegedly pulled a plastic patch of cellophane out of his pocket.

"With his right hand he pulled out a small piece of clear plastic with a white powdery substance from his right front pocket and started grinding the item on his pants just below the pocket," a Los Angeles Police detective wrote in the 2009 court paperwork.

Woodward's former celebrity chef partner, Govind Armstrong, distanced himself from the attempted murder suspect after his arrest.

"They are no longer partners," Armstrong's publicist told The News.

Woodward, a Florida resident, faces up to life in state prison if convicted.

"The evidence against him is weak and speculative at best. It's a mystery to us why they're charging this now. Nothing has changed over the three years since he originally was arrested," Woodward's lawyer Mark Werksman told the Daily News. "The evidence doesn’t justify or warrant prosecution. Josh Woodward is innocent of these charges."

Tony Marino wrote:She didn't think it was strange he was dipping his hand into his bag before touching her? Come on.

Nystyle709 wrote:Um, okay

Alan Smithee wrote:The charge is attempted murder? He's being charged with trying to kill her? If the fetus died, I could see some over zealous prosecutor charging him with murder but even that's a stretch. What a world what a world.