Crime & Safety

Officials: Retired Nassau Cop Killed Wife Upstate, Lived With Body for Days

Charles L. Wilkinson, 69, faces a second-degree murder charge.

A retired Nassau County police officer killed his wife last week and then continued to live in the upstate home they shared for days while his wife's dead body was on a bedroom floor, officials said Monday. 

Charles L. Wilkinson, 69, is charged with second-degree murder following his arrest on Sunday, according to Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III. 

A sheriff's deputy went to a home on Meadow Rue Place in the town of Malta on Sunday to check on the welfare of Kathleen Wilkinson, 65, who had not been heard from for several days, Murphy said in a news release.  

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The deputy was greeted by Charles Wilkinson at the door and following a "period of discussion," Wilkinson let the deputy inside, Murphy said. 

The deputy found the body of Kathleen Wilkinson on the floor of a first-floor bedroom and an investigation revealed that Charles Wilkinson had killed his wife during a physical domestic dispute, Murphy said. 

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No immediate cause of death was obvious, Murphy said, but the Daily Gazette has reported that Kathleen Wilkinson was choked to death at about 10 p.m. Friday. 

Charles Wilkinson continued to live in the house over the weekend until his arrest, Murphy said. 

Charles Wilkinson spent 13 years as a Nassau cop and he and his wife moved to Malta, 20 miles north of Albany, about 10 years ago, according to an AP report

Wilkinson retired from the Nassau County Police Department in 1984, WGY News Radio reported

Wilkinson is being held without bail following his arraignment on the murder charge. 

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