Daniel Coppola, charged with double homicide, attends court in hospital bed following suicide attempt

A Long Island double homicide suspect returned to court in a hospital bed Monday after he was paralyzed during a suicide attempt at the Suffolk County jail in September 2024.

Daniel Coppola, 51, of St. James, made a brief appearance before acting State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft as the court considers the significant coordination required to move the nearly 2-year-old case forward following the defendant’s injuries from a second-story fall at the Yaphank jail.

“Today was about figuring out the logistics of how we’re going to get him into court and how we’re going to move him around the courtroom and make sure he gets the care that he needs,” defense attorney Steven Politi, of Central Islip, said outside the courtroom.

Court officers closed the courtroom as Coppola, charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of his ex-wife, Kelly Coppola, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Pohlman Jr., was brought into the courtroom in a hospital bed and positioned at the defense table. He appeared in a hospital gown and was assisted by nurses from Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, who sat in the front row of the courtroom.

Senft declined a request by the defense to order that nurses be assigned to the courtroom for future appearances and to allow for them to reposition Coppola every hour. The judge said he didn’t believe a court order was necessary, noting that significant planning had already taken place to ensure the presence of nurses and he vowed to follow their advice regarding Coppola's care.

“The court is not going to put itself in the place of the medical professionals,” Senft said.

Monday marked just the second time Coppola appeared in court since his suicide attempt days after the Aug. 28, 2024, killings. Senft granted a hearing last year on the admissibility of alleged statements the accused killer made to police, but those proceedings have not yet taken place due to the unusual circumstances of his injuries.

Politi said Coppola had been until recently housed at the Mohawk Correctional Facility medical unit in upstate Rome, typically reserved for convicted inmates, due to his condition. He has since been returned to the hospital in Riverhead to move the case forward.

Senft said the next step will be for Coppola to be evaluated by a doctor at the request of the defense, before the hearing is held and the case is moved to the trial calendar. Politi said the doctor, who will meet with Coppola this week, is evaluating his client to determine his psychiatric state at the time of the alleged killings.

Prosecutors have said Coppola texted his daughter — who was staying with his ex-wife and Pohlman, 53, in their home on Brasswood Road in St. James — and beckoned her to come out of the house shortly before midnight on Aug. 28. He then shot his way through the lock on the front door and went upstairs, where he "ambushed and executed" the couple in the hallway, Assistant District Attorney Eric Aboulafia said at Coppola’s September 2024 arraignment.

The teen placed a 911 call saying she was being taken from her mother’s home, officials said. Coppola then drove the teen to his Harbor Road address, where he threatened to take his own life with the gun, police said.

The girl again called 911 for help over her father’s suicidal threats, prompting officers to respond to Harbor Road, where, according to police, he was recorded on a body camera admitting to the killings.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.