Opening statements expected in NY murder trial of New Zealand man charged with killing wife

Opening statements for NZ man in wife-murder trial

ITHACA, N.Y. — Jury selection has wrapped up in the murder trial of a New Zealand man charged with stabbing his wife to death last year on a central New York park trail.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Thursday morning in the trial of Blazej (BLAH’-zay) Kot. The 25-year-old from Auckland is accused of killing 28-year-old Caroline Coffey, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University. Kot was a graduate student at the Ivy League school at the time.

Authorities say Kot cut Coffey’s throat June 2 on a trail in a state park near Ithaca and set fire to the couple’s apartment to cover up the crime. He was later found by state park police bleeding from a cut to his throat.