Man pleads guilty to manslaughter for strangling New York U. teachers’ daughter in 2007
By APWednesday, April 7, 2010
Guilty plea in 2007 NYU apartment killing
NEW YORK — A man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2007 strangling of his former girlfriend, the daughter of two New York University teachers.
Michael Cordero pleaded guilty Wednesday in exchange for a promise of a 25-year sentence.
He apologized in Manhattan court to the family of Boitumelo (BOY’-toh-meh-loh) McCallum, saying: “If I could take it back, I would.”
McCallum attended Mills College in Oakland, Calif.
Cordero admitted strangling McCallum in her mother’s NYU apartment in August 2007.
Prosecutors said the victim and defendant had argued. They had resumed an on-again, off-again relationship shortly before the killing.
McCallum was born in South Africa. She was the daughter of NYU art teacher Robert McCallum and Teboho Moja, an NYU education professor and South African activist.
