BY PEGGY WRIGHT • STAFF WRITER • AUGUST 24, 2010
Accused killer Kleber Cordova at first told police he found his naked wife submerged in the bathtub of their Morristown apartment and tried futilely to lift her from the water.
Authorities say that Cordova, a now-31-year-old chef and maintenance man, ultimately confessed to drowning Eliana Torres, 26, on May 9, 2008, during an early-morning argument about her suspected infidelity.
A Superior Court hearing started Monday and will continue Tuesday on whether Cordova voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to remain silent or to consult a lawyer when he spoke to Morristown Detective Daniel Widdis and Morris County Prosecutor's Office Detective David Frisk.
As of Monday, Judge Thomas V. Manahan heard testimony from Frisk and watched a 90-minute videotaped interrogation of Cordova that started less than three hours after he called 911 at 7:19 a.m. on May 9, 2008, to report his wife unconscious in the bathtub. During this first interview, Cordova stuck to his story of discovering his wife.
The judge also heard testimony from Morristown Officer Michael Andrisano, who as the first responder on the scene saw Torres nude and staring up with her head under water. When other officers and paramedics arrived to try to save Torres, Andrisano said, he took Cordova aside to try to understand what occurred.
Andrisano said that Cordova — whose first language is Spanish — told him in English that he entered the bathroom of his Western Avenue apartment and saw his wife lying in the tub with water from the shower pouring down on her. Andrisano said that Cordova minutes later told him that water was pouring into his wife's open mouth from the bathtub faucet.
"I clearly understood it was a different statement and that he was telling me something different," Andrisano said under questioning by county Assistant Prosecutor Brian DiGiacomo.
Defense attorney Jessica Moses asked questions that suggested police should have called an interpreter before asking Cordova questions.
Cordova told Andrisano that he pulled his wife's arms to lift her from the tub but she went limp and fell backward, hitting her head on a tub nozzle. The officer also said that Cordova told him his wife knocked his arms aside when he tried to lift her.
The videotaped interview conducted a few hours later was done with a Spanish-speaking detective translating Cordova's words in response to questions from Frisk and Widdis. Cordova told these detectives he tried to pull Torres from the tub but let go because he didn't think she was breathing. He said he wasn't sure who to call for help, but ultimately called 911 and his cousin.
"While your wife's in the tub you call your cousin?" Widdis asked incredulously.
The couple had two children, an infant and an 8-year-old girl, who told police she saw her father fighting with her mother in the bathroom and that her father told her to leave the room. Further taped interrogations of Cordova will be played as the hearing progresses.
Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@gannett.com.
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