Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘Endgame’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ all the intricate details about the homicide of 47-year-old mother of two, Shele Covlin, in her NYC home in late 2009, are explored, along with the years-long investigation that followed. As the news of her passing broke out, the entire community was shell-shocked. With not many leads or physical evidence, the detectives relied mostly on witness statements and circumstantial evidence to build a case against the perpetrator, who was eventually apprehended and brought to justice.
Shele Covlin Was Reportedly Found Dead in the Bathtub by Her Daughter
Born on July 13, 1962, in New York, to Elaine Danishefsky, Shele Minna Danishefsky Covlin grew up in a loving and stable household with her sister, Eve Danishefsky, and brother, Philip Danishefsky. After graduating with a marketing degree, she joined his father at Merrill Lynch, where she served as a private wealth manager. In February 1998, she went to a Jewish singles mixer in Manhattan, where she met Roderick “Rod” Covlin, a stock trader with a passion for martial arts and Backgammon. That same night, she decided to elope with him, but was stopped by her sister. However, as the two grew closer, they eventually tied the knot six months later.
After 2 years of marriage, Shele became a mother for the first time as she gave birth to their daughter, Anna. Not long after, she became pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, they were born prematurely and died soon after birth. Shele and Rod then welcomed a baby boy into the world in 2006 and named him Myles. Shele was described as a doting mother who never left her children’s side. However, she couldn’t see her children grow up, as on the fateful New Year’s Eve of 2009, the 47-year-old woman was found unconscious in the bathtub of her home on West 68th Street. Around 7 am on December 31, 2009, Rod called 911 and told the dispatcher that his daughter, Anna, had found Shele, after which he had pulled her out and performed CPR.
Within a few minutes, the EMTs arrived and pronounced her dead. As the detectives inspected the crime scene, they noticed the bathtub full of bloody water and a cabinet door above the tub that had been pulled off the hinge. Initially, the religious family buried her remains without an autopsy. However, a couple of months later, when the family was told that Shele might be a victim of foul play, her remains were exhumed so that a full autopsy could be conducted. The medical examiner concluded that she had a broken hyoid bone, and she had died of strangulation, making it a homicide.
Shele Covlin’s Killer Was Brought to Justice Nearly a Decade Later
Initially, Rod Covlin told the detectives on the scene that Anna had called him, and he rushed to the apartment, where he found Shele Covlin lying in the bathtub. He theorized that she had likely slipped and fallen inside the bathtub. Not long after, Rod allegedly started talking about how Shele wanted to be buried in Israel, something that her family heard of for the first time. Less than a week later, the family hired a private investigator, who thoroughly checked the crime scene and determined that she could not have pulled the cabinet door above the tub off its hinge herself. The investigator suspected foul play. As part of the investigation, the detectives also talked to Shele’s family and friends. Her sister, Eve, claimed that Shele had confided in her about her broken marriage in 2009.
It turned out that Rod had allegedly been having numerous extra-marital affairs and wanted to have an open marriage. He also allegedly grew obsessed with Backgammon, something that Shele complained about. By June 2009, Rod reportedly moved out of the apartment, but only to an apartment right across the hall so that the children would have access to both parents. Having filed for divorce, she dipped her toes back into the world of dating by the fall of the same year. As per reports, while the couple was separated, Rod tried to sabotage her at her workplace by telling her employer that she was unstable and on drugs. Rod and Shele also squabbled over child support. In one instance, he accused her of sexually abusing their son, Myles.
It is alleged that all this time, he had been keeping close tabs on her online activities and reading her emails. A few days prior to her murder, she talked to her lawyer via email about removing him from her will. At the time, she also had a restraining order against him. In November 2015, armed with enough circumstantial evidence against him, the police finally charged Rod Covlin with the killing of his wife, Shele Covlin. About three years later, his trial began. The prosecution’s star witness, Debra Oles, with whom he had an affair, testified against him. Meanwhile, the defense argued that no direct evidence linked the defendant to the crime. Finally, in March 2019, the jury deliberated for a day after eight weeks of testimony and found him guilty of second-degree murder. On April 10, 2019, Rod was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the homicide.
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