NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The trial of an Upper West Side man who allegedly strangled his wife and tried to pin it on his 9-year-old daughter begins Tuesday.
The murder case against Rod Covlin reads like a crime drama, with a myriad of sinister and bizarre plots alleged by prosecutors.
The 45-year-old is accused of breaking his estranged wife’s neck with a martial arts move after prosecutors say he likely hacked her email and saw he was being cut out of her will.
Prosecutors say Covlin, who lived off his wife Shele Danishefsky’s fortune and cheated throughout their marriage, left her body in a bathtub for his 9-year-old daughter to find. They say he even tried to pin the killing on the young girl.
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Ten years later, Covlin is on trial for her murder. Prosecutors say he devised several plans to get rid of his parents, who had gained custody of his kids, so he could grab his children’s vast inheritance.
The DA office alleges one planned involved using his 9-year-old daughter to poison his parents – a plot purportedly recorded by his ex-girlfriend, who is a star witness in the trial.
Another plan involved disguising himself as a black man door-knocking for an election so he could attack his mom and dad, court papers show.
He also allegedly accused his own mother of sexually abusing his son, even taking the 3-year-old boy to an emergency room to report it.
In court papers, prosecutors also say he planned to kidnap his teenage daughter and marry her off in Mexico.