Cornell grad student from New Zealand on trial in wife’s slaying

Cornell student from NZ on trial in wife’s murder

ITHACA, N.Y. — A prosecutor says a Cornell University doctoral student charged with cutting his wife’s throat on a jogging trail in central New York plotted the killing and tried to destroy evidence by setting their apartment on fire.

Testimony began Thursday in the murder trial of Blazej (BLAH’-zay) Kot. The 25-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, is accused of killing 28-year-old Caroline Coffey, a postdoctoral researcher at the Ivy League school. Kot was studying for a doctorate in information science at the time of the slaying.

The defense doesn’t dispute that Kot killed his wife June 2 on a nature trail that runs between two parks outside Ithaca. But his lawyer is arguing Kot suffered from a psychiatric disorder that made him delusional and prone to extreme emotional disturbances.