Convicted UWS Wife-Strangler Fails To Overturn Murder Charge, DA Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A man found guilty of murdering his estranged wife in her Upper West Side luxury apartment — in an attempt to repay online backgammon debts — failed this week to get the conviction overturned, prosecutors said.

Rocerick Covlin, who prosecutors say strangled Shele Danishefsky in 2009 to stop her from disinheriting him, could not convince New York's Appellate court that inadmissible evidence had been used against him in his 2019 trial, court records show.

“Today's Appellate Division ruling underscores what a Manhattan jury affirmed three years ago," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

"This Office has long been committed to securing justice for Shele’s family, and I hope this decision helps give them closure."

The Appellate court denied Covlin's claim that he had been convicted on hearsay evidence, ruling there was ample proof to convict him.

As an example, the court cited evidence that Covlin was trained in Taekwondo and therefore knew how to perform a lethal chokehold.

"Any error in admitting hearsay evidence was harmless," the ruling states. "There was overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt."

Colvin's journey through the criminal court system began in 2009 when he found himself addicted to online backgammon and facing removal from Danishefsky's $5.2 million will, prosecutors said.

Mounting gambling debts spurred Covlin to choke Danishefsky inside their West 68th Street apartment then sneak her body into the bathtub in an attempt to cover his tracks, trial evidence showed and the appellate court found.

Danishefsky's death was initially ruled an accident, but new evidence surfaced in 2010 and her body was exhumed an autopsy performed.

Her death was then ruled a homicide and five years later Covlin was arrested in Scarsdale, prosecutors said.

Covlin was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 2019 then filed an appeal in March 2021, according to Patch reporting and court records.

Whether or not this ruling will put the case to rest remains unclear as Colvin's lawyer, Seth Zuckerman, told the Daily News he would continue to go to bat for his client.

"We will continue to fight this unjust conviction and implore District Attorney Bragg to examine Rod’s case closely," Zuckerman reportedly said.

“Rod Covlin remains one of many wrongfully convicted individuals."