Police on Tuesday brought a charge of murder against the 77-year-old man who fatally shot his wife at their Down River Road home in May.
Albert Kokoth. New Canaan Police Department booking photo
Albert Kokoth already was in jail on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree assault with a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm in connection with the May 6 shooting of Margaret Kokoth.
During their investigation, authorities recovered three separate gunshot slugs—two found during an autopsy, in the victim’s torso and head, and a third in the ceiling of the Kokoths’ home, according to a press release issued by the New Canaan Police Department’s public information officer, Lt. Jason Ferraro.As
“Based on this evidence and additional information gathered during the investigation it was determined initial claims by Kokoth of an accidental shooting were not supported,” the press release said.
Asked about the case, Kokoth’s lawyer, Stamford criminal defense attorney Mark Sherman declined to comment on case specifics but said in an email that “this is a very tragic and sensitive case which is only in its beginning stages.”
Sherman said he expects to make a decision on whether to go forward with a probable cause hearing by the next court date in September.
The New Canaan Police Investigative Section is leading the Kokoth investigation, with assistance from the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, who processed the crime scene. Representatives of both agencies were present during the autopsy at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington, according to the press release.
Kokoth, already held at Bridgeport Correctional Facility on $2 million bond, was charged with murder at about 8:25 a.m. Tuesday and processed at state Superior Court in Stamford, Ferraro said in the press release. His next court appearance has not yet been scheduled, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch Records.
Police received a 911 call at about 12:02 p.m. on the day of the shooting, a Thursday. Kokoth in making the call from the family’s split-level home described the shooting as accidental, police said. Running east off of Main Street and perched above the Fivemile RIver, Down River Road is a short dead-end street of nine modest single- and multi-family homes built in the 1950s and ‘60s. The Kokoths purchased their home in 1994, tax records show.
[Editor: This article has been updated with comments from Kokoth’s attorney.]