Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Manhattan, NY: Shele Danishefsky Covlin's Estranged Husband Sued for Wrongful Death

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Close to two years after Upper West Side mom and UBS banker Shele Danishefsky Covlin was found strangled to death in her bathtub, her estranged husband has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit even though he has yet to face criminal charges.

Roderick Covlin, 38, who was embroiled in a bitter divorce with his wife and had allegedly threatened to kill her prior to her death in Dec. 2009, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by the public administrator, an independent office that handles estates that are in dispute.

An attorney for the office said the lawsuit had to be filed prior to the two-year statute of limitations deadline.

While Roderick Covlin has not been criminally charged with his wife's murder, the Manhattan District Attorney's office continues to maintain an open investigation into her death and it has no other suspects. An office spokesman declined to comment further.

Covlin was served with the civil lawsuit papers Wednesday morning at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y., according to Mitchell Studley, the attorney appointed by the public administrator's office to oversee the estate of the deceased UBS wealth manager.

Danishefsky Covlin was discovered dead by her then 9-year-old daughter Anna inside their 155 West 68th Street apartment on Dec. 31, 2009. The couple also had a son, Myles, who was 3-years-old at the time of the incident. Her estranged husband lived down the hall.

According to Studley, the couple's children remain with Covlin and his family in their Westchester home, although the victim's brother has been trying to get custody of them since her death.

Police initially ruled Danishefsky Covlin's death was "accidental" because her Orthodox Jewish family initially declined to have them conduct an autopsy for religious reasons. But after the family eventually agreed to allow her body to be exhumed for an autopsy, the city's medical examiner ruled that she was strangled.

The lawsuit says Covlin strangled his wife after the two became "embroiled in contentious divorce proceedings" and the wife "expressed fears" that her husband "intended to kill her."

Her husband was named in her will as the executor of her estate, but Covlin planned to meet with a lawyer to revise it to remove him from the will prior to her death, court documents show. Her family quickly moved to take control of the estate and an administrator was appointed by Surrogate's Court. A divorce and custody proceeding is also still pending.

Studley said if Covlin is ever convicted of murdering Danishefsky Covlin, he will automatically lose any future share of her estate.

"If he is ultimately indicted and he's convicted, under New York law he does not share in any aspect of her estate," Studley said.

Attempts to contact Covlin were unsuccessful.

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