Murder Trial For Former Police Officer Has A Rocky Start

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Opening statements began Monday in the trial of a former police officer charged with murdering his wife in their Bronx home and dumping her body miles away. NY1's Criminal Justice reporter Dean Meminger filed the following report.

Sitting in the courtroom at State Supreme Court in the Bronx was almost unbearable for the Abrienne Susco, the heartbroken mother of Tina Adovasio.

Adovasio was killed last year, and her widower, Eddy Coello, is accused of her murder.

"I can't even describe what I'm feeling inside," Susco said. "I don't have anything but memories left of my daughter. That's the only thing that's left, and pictures."

Adovasio went missing on March 11, 2011. Coello told police she stormed out of their Throgs Neck home after an argument.

Her body was found several days later off of the Taconic parkway in Yorktown, N.Y., about 30 to 40 minutes away from the Bronx.

In opening statements, prosecutors said Coello beat and strangled his wife. Assistant District Attorney Edward Talty told the jury, "You are entering the mind of a murderer and you have to evaluate it very closely."

Defense attorney Renee Hill told jurors Coello and his wife loved each other, although she admitted they had problems.

"It was a tumultuous relationship that they had. It wasn't a normal type of relationship these individuals had. They had a strange relationship," Hill said.

Hill said her client is not guilty of intentionally murdering his wife. She would not explain what she meant by that but said all the details would come out in the course of the trial.

On the first day of the trial there was some courtroom drama, with the judge reprimanding Bronx prosecutors and the defense calling for a mistrial.

While Adovasio's son Joseph was testifying about video surveillance that showed Coello carrying a bundle out of their house, he said the video showed "Eddy walking out with my mom."

The assistant district attorney replied, "You saw Eddy carrying your mother's body?"

The judge said that amounted to testimony from the prosecutor and had jurors leave the courtroom for more than a half-hour.

While a mistrial was not declared, the judge said this could cause a problem if there is a conviction.