Naman Shrestha
NBC’s ‘Dateline: Endgame’ chronicles the tragic and untimely demise of Shele Covlin, a doting mother of two, in her New York City home in late December 2009 in a detailed manner. Despite there being initial suspicion about her husband, Roderick “Rod” Covlin’s involvement in the homicide, he wasn’t apprehended until more than half a decade later. During the investigation, the detectives uncovered a series of abuse and adultery committed by Rod, who was eventually brought to justice.
Rod Covlin Killed Shele Covlin and Staged it as an Accident
Born on July 28, 1973, to Dave and Carol Covlin, Roderick Covlin worked as a stock trader of middling success in his 20s. Also known as “Rod,” he was passionate about martial arts and Backgammon. In February 1998, he met with Shele Minna Danishefsky, a prominent wealth manager, at a Jewish singles mixer in Manhattan, New York City. As sparks flew, they almost eloped that same night before her sister, Eve Danishefsky, talked her out of it. However, they continued dating and made their relationship official after six months. In the years that followed, the couple had a daughter, Anna, and a son, Myles. In between, they lost a set of twins, who were born prematurely and passed away. Rod’s passion for Backgammon turned into an obsession, as he became a founding member of the US Backgammon Federation in 2009.
Around the same time, cracks began to appear in the marriage, to the point that Rod moved out and began staying at an apartment across the hall in the same Upper West Side building as Shele’s. Reports suggest that he began having affairs with multiple women and demanded an open marriage. On November 24, 2009, Shele got a protective order against Rod, who allegedly became violent and threatening towards her. It is also alleged that he even called her company and told them that she was addicted to drugs and was unstable. He even accused Shele of sexually abusing their son, Myles. As per investigative reports, the stock trader also kept tabs on her online activities through a computer software, giving him access to her emails. When he learned that she was going to cut him from her will, he snapped and choked her to death on December 31, 2009, the day before she was going to alter her will. He had staged the scene as an accident.
Rod Covlin Allegedly Tried to Kill His Parents Too
After Anna found Shele dead in the bathtub of her home, she called Rod from across the hall, and he called 911, claiming that he had been performing CPR on her. Initially, he claimed that it was her desire that her remains be buried in Israel. However, none of the family members knew about it, and he stopped insisting. Although she was buried without an autopsy, her remains were exhumed later, and the autopsy revealed that the cause of her death was strangulation. Following the murder, he maintained a long-distance online relationship with Debra Oles, a fellow Backgammon player. By 2012, Rod and his children began living at his parents’ house in a New York City suburb. According to Debra, he got into fights and arguments with his parents frequently, until they evicted him but kept his kids.
She also alleged that he hatched multiple plots to kill his parents. One of his alleged plans was to break into their house, kill them, and set the house on fire. Another alleged plot was to poison them with the help of his daughter. After Debra and Rod broke up, she called the investigators and told them everything about him in August 2014. Finally, after nearly six years of investigation, the police gathered enough evidence against Rod and arrested him on November 1, 2015, at the MTA station in Scarsdale, New York, while he was trying to board a train. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder — felony murder and intentional murder.
Rod Covlin is Serving His Sentence at a New York State Prison Today
On November 2, 2015, Rod Covlin pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and decided to take matters into court. More than three years later, his homicide trial began. The prosecution’s star witness, Debra Oles, testified against Rod. Meanwhile, the defense argued that no physical evidence linked the defendant to the murder. They claimed that there was no sign of a struggle or foul play in the house and there was no evidence that Rod had a key to her house.
Finally, after more than eight weeks of testimony, in March 2019, the jury deliberated for a day and found Rod Covlin guilty of second-degree murder in connection with Shele Danishefsky Covlin’s killing. A few weeks later, on April 10, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The 52-year-old killer is currently incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, with his parole eligibility date scheduled for October 2040.
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