NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Jury selection was underway Monday, in the second degree murder trial of Rod Covlin, the man accused of strangling his estranged wife almost 10 years ago in her Upper West Side apartment.
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The couple was involved in a bitter divorce, and the victim Shele Covlin -- a successful money manager at UBS -- was planning to rewrite her will to cut her husband out of her $4 million estate.
"The totality of the defendant's conduct, before and after the death of Shele Covlin, shows that his primary motive to kill her was pure, unadulterated greed," Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos wrote, "When his marriage deteriorated to the point of losing Shele's financial support for his playboy lifestyle, he faced the prospect of something inimical to him: becoming gainfully employed, living within his means, and supporting his family."
She was killed the day before she was to meet with her attorney to change the will.
"She was fearful for her life, believed Rod intended to kill her, and there was some urgency to make changes in her will," according to court documents.
Shele's father referred to Covlin as 'an animal.' Her family fought him for custody of their kids until his guardianship was eventually suspended.
The couple's 9-year-old daughter was the one who found her body in the tub.
Investigators first believed that Shele had slipped and fallen in the tub -- the only sign of trauma was a cut to the back of her head.
Her orthodox family initially refused an autopsy, but she was eventually exhumed and autopsied. Her husband, described by the Post as a 'mooching man child playboy', was arrested.