NY appeals court cites ‘overwhelming evidence’ that gambling addict killed rich wife before she removed him from will
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A New York appeals court Tuesday upheld the murder conviction of an online gambling addict who killed his estranged wife in her Upper West Side apartment the night before she was set to cut him out of her will.
In his March 2021 appeal, Roderick Covlin accused lead prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos of presenting fake evidence at trial and inventing a new case theory during his closing argument. But the Appellate Division, 1st Department, found there was no truth to the claims and that prosecutors easily proved Covlin strangled Shele Danishefsky in her luxury W. 68th St. apartment on New Year’s Eve 2009.
“[We] find that there was overwhelming evidence of [Covlin’s] guilt of intentionally killing his wife. There was ample evidence that the victim’s death was a homicide that had been disguised as an accident,” the appeals court ruling stated.
Covlin and Danishefsky, who were in the midst of a divorce, had two young kids and lived as neighbors in same-floor apartments. Danishefsky, a UBS wealth manager, was to meet with a will planner the day after her death to remove Covlin as a beneficiary of her $5.2 million will, trial evidence showed.
Motivated by his wife’s wealth and regaining control of the children’s inheritance, the jobless Covlin, blowing what money he had while “obsessed with the game of backgammon” online, tried to prevent anyone from depriving him of access to his wife’s fortune, the appellate court found.
The couple’s children said they believed their father was innocent when he went on trial and advocated for him at his April 2019 sentencing to 25 years in prison. The Daily News could not reach them for comment.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said the decision underscored the “overwhelming evidence” of Covlin’s guilt.
“This office has long been committed to securing justice for Shele’s family, and I hope this decision helps give them closure as they continue to navigate through the grief surrounding her death,” he said in a statement.
Covlin’s lawyer, Seth Zuckerman, said in a statement: “We are disappointed by the appellate court’s decision. Rod Covlin remains one of many wrongfully convicted individuals. We will continue to fight this unjust conviction and implore District Attorney Bragg to examine Rod’s case closely.”
