Attorney for Phillip Martin who is facing charges of murder and concealment of a human corpse contend that his late wife attacked first: “She stabbed him in each hand, he has scars from the defensive wounds,” Walesnky said of his client, who was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and concealment of a human corpse before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic Thursday.

Defense claim Diana Rodriguez-Martin had a violent streak, too

Martin entered a “not guilty” to the crimes, despite previously telling cops he beat his wife to death around his Jan. 14 birthday, and then kept her brutalized body propped up in the living room of their Prospect-Lefferts Gardens apartment for nearly a week.
The 42-year-old man then took a wooden saw and hammer to his dead wife, chopping her up and transporting her body parts to a nearby dumpster in garbage bags stuffed into a laundry cart, according to court documents.
The victim was last seen alive January 16th, according to a missing persons report her aunt filed a few days later.
Initially Martin had claimed his wife packed a bag, grabbed the dog and left their Linden Boulevard home Jan. 16, sources said.
Cops say Martin later admitted that he beat his wife to death with his bare hands. He  told investigators he then cut her into pieces and sent them out with the trash. However the trial is proceeding even though police are still working to recover the victim’s remains, but so far have not been able to locate them.

Phillip Martin seen arriving at the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn, has recanted his confession to cops that he killed his wife Diana Rodriguez-Martin [right]

Rodriguez-Martin’s family and friends packed the courtroom Thursday, calling the accused killer a “coward” and imploring him to reveal the location of her body.
“We anticipate having this coward prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Rodriguez-Martin’s cousin, Valerie Reyes Jimenez, told a reporter as ADA Joanna Lettieri consoled sobbing family in the courthouse halls. “It is still our hope that we are able to recover Diana’s body so that she may be put to rest with dignity.”
“Words cannot adequately express the way Diana’s death has affected our family,” Jimenez said. “She was a beautiful and loving woman.”
Martin remains held without bail, and will return to in May. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.