Ex-trooper threatened wife before slaying
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Friday, January 2, 2009 3:06 AM EST
By Kyle WindFreeman staff
The retired state trooper who police believe shot and killed his estranged wife Wednesday at her Stone Ridge home before turning the gun on himself had been jailed on charges related to threatening her the previous day — until he paid his own bail and was re-leased under 90 minutes before the killing.State Police Capt. Patrick Regan on Thursday said William Cotto, 53, of Accord, who was a state trooper from September 1985 through May 2008 and was most recently stationed at the Kingston Thruway barracks, had been arrested Tuesday as the “result of a domestic dispute” with his wife Isol Cotto, 49.Cotto was arrested Tuesday morning on misdemeanor charges of unlawful imprisonment and menacing, as well as harassment, a violation, for “veiled threats he made” during that dispute, said Regan, and police were also concerned when the victim told them about “nonspecific threats” about which they were not previously aware that Cotto had made during previous arguments.An order of protection was issued against Cotto stemming from Tuesday’s arrest, of which he was in violation at the time of the shooting, and police said they had confiscated all weapons known to be in his possession at the time of the arrest, including a shotgun, knives, billy clubs, and ammunition.
Regan said police were able to retrace Cotto’s steps easily, but they are still investigating his mindset and the motive for the murder.After being arrested at 9:16 a.m. Tuesday, Cotto was arraigned in Marbletown Town Court before Justice Mark Glick and ordered held at the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.According to jail personnel, he bailed himself out at about 2:24 a.m. Wednesday using a credit card.His wife’s body was found in the bedroom of her home at 3657 Main Street/U.S. Route 209 in the heart of the Stone Ridge commercial district at 3:58 a.m., police said.Regan said police believe Cotto took a taxi to Stone Ridge from the jail, which is located off of state Route 32 in Kingston.It would be “speculative” to say how he gained entry into the house, said Regan.There were “other occupants in the house” at the time of the murder, he said, but they were in a different part of the house than Cotto’s wife, and there was no confrontation between them and Cotto.Regan would not say who else was in the house with Mrs. Cotto, but a woman who works nearby and did not want to be identified said Mrs. Cotto’s grown daughter was there.No one else was injured during the incident, police said.Police said Wednesday that state police and Ulster County sheriff’s deputies found Mrs. Cotto dead when they responded to a report of a man with a gun.They found she had been killed by a single shotgun blast.Regan said police believe that following the murder Cotto walked under 200 yards to the parking lot of the nearby Exxon Mobil station at the intersection of Leggett Road and Main Street/Route 209 and shot himself between the gasoline pumps and the front of the station’s closed mini mart. Regan said he believes the weapon was the same gun used to kill Mrs. Cotto, but said that had not yet been confirmed through an autopsy report.Police are still trying to determine where Cotto got the shotgun, said Regan.As for the motive, “As of now I couldn’t speak to why he did it, but it obviously wasn’t rational,” he said.Regan said, “It was probably born of tension” over the couple’s marriage, noting they kept separate residences, but it was unknown what the specific disagreement was about.He would not say if Cotto left a suicide note.He said he does not know at what legal point the couple’s separation was or if divorce proceedings had been initiated.Regan said the fact that the crime was apparently committed by a former state trooper did not make it more bothersome to him because “domestic violence is always tragic” and that “you don’t want to see it happen to anyone.”
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of DailyFreeman.com.

ulsterhome wrote on Jan 2, 2009 8:37 AM:
" This is very sad for the community. For the family.For society overall. It is also unfortunate that this is increasingly 'typical' of the "do-it-your-self" approach to violence and intimidation that seems to be fairly common in our area - specifically the "Accord Mob" - a group of our local men who have in recent years taken the "law" into their own hands on many issues from politics and zoning to domestic disputes. People Must Know This Is No Longer The Rule Here In Ulster or Accord!!! We are taking it back into the hands of law abiding responsible citizens and folks who are considering actions like "The Trooper" had best realize their days are in deed numbered. Our good citizens are not taking it any more. "
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THIS WAS COPIED FROM THE DALIY FREEMAN NEWSPAPER LOCATED IN KINGSTON N.Y AND WRITEN BY KYLE WIND ALL RIGHTS ARE OF THIS ARTICLE ARE OWNED BY THE DALIY FREEMAN!