JUSTICE

Rod Covlin Found Guilty of Murdering Estranged Wife in 2009

His wealthy wife, Shele Danishefsky, was reportedly about to write him out of her will.

A Manhattan jury found failed stockbroker Rod Covlin guilty of “one count of second-degree murder” in the death of his wealthy wife, Shele Danishefsky, in 2009, the New York Post reports. The jury reportedly took about a week to find the 45-year-old guilty of snapping Danishefsky’s neck in order to get a hold of her $5.2 million on New Year’s Eve. During the seven-week trial, Assistant District Attorney Mathew Bogdanos made the case that Covlin snuck into Danishefsky’s apartment, used a chokehold to kill her, and staged the scene to make it look like an accident. Covlin and Danishefsky were reportedly in the midst of a “brutal divorce” and custody battle, and she was about to write Covlin out of her will. The prosecution also alleged that Covlin plotted the murders of four other people, including his own parents. Covlin’s lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, reportedly told the jury there was a lack of evidence in the case, and that the facts, not his “character,” should be taken into account. In a statement, District Attorney CY Vance said Danishefsky was being “psychologically tortured” by Covlin and she “suffered at the hands” of Colvin for months. “[W]hile this guilty verdict cannot undo the trauma of Ms. Danishefsky’s loved ones, I hope that it helps them as they continue to heal from their painful loss,” Vance wrote.

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