Dateline NBC: Why did Rod Covlin try to kill his parents? $5.4 million fortune and other details explored

The former New York stockbroker, Rod Covlin, was convicted for killing his wife, a business executive and mother of two, Shele Danishefsky, through strangulation on New Year's Eve in 2009. Covlin was found floating face down in a bathtub full of bloody water in her Manhattan apartment by her nine-year-old daughter, Anna Covlin.

With the persuasion of Danishefsky's parents, Rod Covlin, Shele's estranged husband, was convicted in November 2015 - allegedly two months before he was set to inherit over $1.6 million from his dead wife’s trust, per New York Post. However, as the trial hearings went on, Covlin's parents, along with his ex-partner Debra Oles, took the stand to reveal darker secrets - his plans to murder them and possibly entangle Anna in the legal mess.

The upcoming Dateline NBC titled Secrets from the Grave showcases Covlin's struggle to inherit Danishefsky's $5.4 million fortune as it re-airs on December 22, 2023, at 10 p.m. EST. The synopsis reads,

"Key players in the case of Rod Covlin, a New York man who is found guilty of murdering his wife for her $5.3 million fortune and attempting to frame his then-teenage daughter, share their stories."

---

Why did Rod Covlin try to kill his parents? Details explored

After his arrest on November 1, 2015, Roderick Covlin was convicted on April 10, 2019, at the State Supreme Court in New York and charged with the second-degree murder of his estranged wife, Shele Danishefsky. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison - a decision that came after over ten years since the overlooked homicide.

Following the discovery of Danishefsky's body in the bathtub of her Upper West Side home on the morning of December 31, 2009, Anna and her brother Myles were moved into Rod's parents's place in Scarsdale, New York. Per the New York Times, Rod's parents, David and Carol, accused him of being a deadbeat who stole from his children.

The custody of the children went on to David and Carol right after Shele's death. To gain access to the $5.4 million inheritance, Rod allegedly came up with vicious plans influenced by Breaking Bad and Dexter.

---

What murder plans did Rod Covlin have for his parents, David and Carol Covlin?

According to Oxygen, Roderick Covlin was evicted from his parents' house, after which he hatched plans to have them murdered. In a call secretly recorded by Rod's former girlfriend, Debra Oles Campbell, the Covlins accused Rod of stealing his children's college money. He threatened to move out with his children when Carol gave him three days to leave the house.

According to Debra's statement, with an eviction slated for October 1, 2012, Rod tried to access the Scarsdale house on October 3. She eventually became the prosecution's key witness in a case based mostly on circumstantial evidence.

Per Oxygen, Debra revealed to the jurors,

"As his anger with his parents grew, Covlin started dreaming up ways to kill them, including one plan to break in through a basement window, murder them, and then set their home on fire. In another plot, she said he wanted to enlist the help of his daughter to put rat poison in their food."

According to the New York Post, he considered poisoning David and Carol Covlin with ricin and aconite before he decided upon rat poison. However, as Assistant DA Matthew Bogdanos mentioned during his trial, he refrained from doing so as he would land his daughter in trouble.

Rod Covlin remains incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility and will be eligible for parole on October 28, 2040.