DA: Retired NY police officer confessed to killing wife
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — Prosecutors say a retired New York City transit police officer has confessed to killing his wife in their Long Island home.
Paul Leitgeb pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Wednesday.
Authorities say Leitgeb killed his wife, Tricia Odierna, in the bedroom of their Lake Grove home on Oct. 1.
Suffolk County prosecutors say the 42-year-old died of blunt force trauma and neck compressions.
Leitgeb was arrested days later after state police found him hiding in a wooded area off the Appalachian Trial in the town of Pawling.
Leitgeb threatened to kill himself during a standoff with police. They say he cut his neck and wrists with a box cutter.