Cornell doctoral student from New Zealand to be sentenced for wife’s murder, could face life

Cornell doctoral student faces life for murder

ITHACA, N.Y. — A Cornell University doctoral student from New Zealand is facing a possible sentence of life in prison for fatally slashing his wife’s throat on a park trail last year.

A jury convicted Blazej (BLAH’-zay) Kot in April of killing 28-year-old Caroline Coffey, a postdoctoral researcher at the Ivy League school in Ithaca.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday morning in Ithaca on murder, arson and tampering with evidence counts.

Prosecutors said the 25-year-old from Auckland plotted the killing and set fire to the couple’s apartment to cover up the crime.

Kot’s lawyer said he suffered from a mental disorder that made him think his wife had been replaced by an impostor.

The murder charge carries a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.