'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
A business executive and mother of two, Shele Danishefsky, was found dead face-down in the bathtub of her Upper West Side apartment on New Year's Eve in 2009. When the first responders arrived at the scene, her husband, Rod Covlin, had already pulled her out of the bloody water and tried to resuscitate her.
Shele Danishefsky and Rod Covlin had a turbulent marriage. Rod Covlin was a stockbroker when the two met but devoted most of his time to pursuing professional backgammon. As a result, his financial dependence on Danishefsky, along with other reasons, became the reason behind their ongoing divorce and custody battle.
The Dateline NBC titled Secrets from the Grave delves into Covlin's struggle with Danishefsky's fortune, as she tried to remove him from her $5 million will.
Rod Covlin and Shele Danishefsky had decided to elope after meeting at a Jewish singles party
According to the New York Times, Shele Danishefsky met Rod Covlin at a Jewish singles mixer at Le Bar Bat, a bar in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, in February 1998. Covlin, an engineering graduate and stockbroker, and Danishefsky, an investment banker, had an age difference of 11 years and wanted to elope the same day they met. However, Eve Karstaedt, Danishefsky’s sister, talked them out of it.
The pair got married six months later and welcomed two children, Anna and Myles Covlin. However, their marriage started to fall apart slowly, with frustration surrounding Covlin's poor temperament and lack of ambition. Additionally, Danishefsky discovered Rod Covlin's affair with fellow backgammon enthusiast, Debra Olsen.
Shele Danishefsky’s divorce lawyer, Lance Meyer, spoke to Dateline, saying,
“He would belittle her, he would yell at her, he would call her ugly, he would make fun of her looks, so he was a demeaning person. He would go low."
According to court documents, Rod had allegedly asked Shele for an open marriage on their 10th wedding anniversary. Shele Danishefsky wrote in an affidavit filed to prevent paying $50,000 in maintenance to Covlin three months before her murder, saying,
“I had absolutely no interest in such a sick and twisted concept, and no longer wanted to share a bed with the defendant.”
Covlin had also allegedly called Danishefsky's workplace to report her as a drug addict.
Rod Covlin's disturbing relationship with his children
Rod Covlin allegedly took drastic measures to get back at Shele Danishefsky's decision to cut him out of her fortune. He reportedly coached his 2-year-old son, Myles, to report molestation by his mother at the Columbia Presbyterian on July 8, 2009. He refused to return the children to their mother the day, and the unfounded claims backfired as his visitation became supervised by court orders.
Covlin allegedly attempted to marry off his 13-year-old daughter to a Mexican man for $10,000 so that he could dip into her funds once she was not a minor after marriage. An audio recording of the diabolical plot from 2013 was played during his hearing.
Following these events, Rod Covlin's parents took custody of the children, Anna and Myles, and the couple reported Covlin assaulting the children as well. He dipped into their college funds to pay for his life with his new girlfriend and schemed to murder his parents by framing Anna.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos revealed that Rod Covlin had “poked” several young girls on Facebook in 2012.
Danishefsky was found dead in her bathtub on New Year's Eve 2009
Coming from an orthodox Jewish family, Shele Danishefsky received a funeral after her death, as the death was initially ruled as suicide. Her body was exhumed when suspicions about Rod Covlin's involvement in her death began to rise. Her autopsy reports came back with strangulation as the possible cause of death as her hyoid bone was broken.
Prosecutors believed that Roderick "Rod" Covlin, Danishefsky's estranged wife who lived across the hall, had used a lethal martial arts chokehold to strangle her and then staged a crime scene to confuse authorities. He had attempted to frame 9-year-old, Anna, who had discovered her mother in the bathtub, per the Washington Post.
Rod Covlin is presently serving his 25 years to life sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility. He maintains his innocence to date.
