By JINJOO LEE
Former Cornell graduate student Blazej Kot, who was convicted of murdering his wife in 2010, was re-sentenced on charges of arson and tampering with evidence Friday, the Ithaca Journal reported.
The 29-year-old was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife Caroline Coffey’s throat in June 2009, The Sun previously reported. Coffrey was found dead in Taughannock Falls State Park. Prosecutors successfully argued at the time that Kot set fire to the couple’s apartment to destroy the evidence.
On April 20, 2010, a jury convicted Kot of three felony charges: a second-degree murder, third-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence, The Sun previously reported. In June 2010, Kot received 25 years to life in prison.
At the county court on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Andrew McElwee proposed maximum re-sentences, while Kot’s attorneys asked for the minimum sentence of one to three years, according to The Ithaca Journal.
Tompkins County Judge John C. Rowley ruled in favor of the lesser sentences on both of the charges, according to The Ithaca Journal. Kot will serve those sentences concurrently with his murder sentence at the maximum-security Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg.
“I am astounded at the pain and anguish I caused. … I see [the murder] was because of my mental health concerns,” Kot said at Tompkins County Court on Friday, according to the Ithaca Journal.