Boyfriend of slain designer on trial

The boyfriend of a Manhattan fashion designer is on trial in her slaying.

Sylvie Cachay was found Dec. 9, 2010, in a swanky hotel room in an overflowing bathtub. She had been strangled.

Her boyfriend, Nicholas Brooks, has pleaded not guilty to murder. Brooks is the son of Joseph Brooks, an Oscar-winning composer who wrote "You Light up My Life." The elder Brooks was arrested in 2009 on rape charges and killed himself in 2011 after his son was arrested.

Brooks' defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman suggested Cachay drowned accidentally, passing out from an overdose of prescription pills she took to treat migraines and fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes widespread pain in the body.

He said investigators rushed to arrest Brooks because they needed a fast suspect in the high-profile killing that became national news.

Prosecutors allege Brooks strangled Cachay when she tried to end their relationship. The trial is expected to continue until early July. -- AP