NYPD probes slaying of ex-cop's wife

An ex-NYPD housing officer has refused to give investigators a DNA sample or any other assistance after the body of his estranged wife was found in a wooded area of Westchester County, police said.

Edwin Coello, 38, accompanied by two lawyers, talked with detectives briefly Thursday at the 45th Precinct but refused to help them, said a spokeswoman for the NYPD. Coello also refused to allow police to photograph scratches on his face or his home in Throgs Neck, in the Bronx, where he had been living with Tina Adovasio, police said.

An autopsy by the New York City medical examiner determined that Adovasio, 40, a nurse, had been strangled, police said. Her body was discovered late Wednesday by teenagers riding ATVs in a wooded area close to the Taconic State Parkway. Adovasio had last been seen on Friday, when she reportedly left her Bronx home after an argument with her husband.

"She was a wonderful, wonderful woman," said Adovasio's divorce attorney, Michael Lease of Oceanside, who has offices in Westchester.

Coello was with the NYPD from 1995 to 2000 when he resigned, reportedly in the midst of an investigation of domestic violence involving his previous wife. Lease said Adovasio filed for divorce about four weeks ago on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment, but wanted to try and reconcile with Coello. He believed the couple was living apart but that Coello was around the house.

NYPD officials said Coello has not been arrested and hasn't been named a suspect in his wife's killing. He explained marks on his face by saying Adovasio scratched him during their fight, according to investigators. Defense attorney Renee Hill couldn't be reached.

Coello and Adovasio had one child, a 5-year-old daughter, and Adovasio had three children from a previous marriage.