Hospital mourns slain woman
Police: Husband shot wife, then himself in their Colonie home
Police said Marek Kokoszko shot and killed his wife, Dorota, a respiratory therapist at Ellis Medicine, on Friday in their Boght Road home. He then killed himself.
Colonie police released details this week to update the public on the case. Initially, police said they found two people dead from gunshot wounds early Saturday morning at 520 Boght Road.
As a registered respiratory therapist, Dorota Kokoszko, 54, was trained to work with people suffering from cardiac and pulmonary issues. Her Linkedin page says that she received a master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Bialystok in Poland in 1990. In the Capital Region, she attended Hudson Valley Community College between 2008 and 2010 to get her associate of science degree in respiratory therapy. In June 2010 she went to work for Ellis.
A Gofundme established to help with funeral expenses said Dorota was “a beloved member of the Ellis Hospital Respiratory Care department,” and “also a valued member of the Hudson Valley Respiratory Care Faculty, but most importantly she was a loving mother to her daughter.”
“She was so helpful, always. It was a pleasure to see her working with us. She always had a smile and laugh that I will never forget,” wrote a co-worker who donated to the Gofundme site.
Police said a family member had trouble getting in touch with one of the residents at the address, and asked police to check the home.
Police said their investigation determined that Marek, 57, killed his wife with what appears to be a legally owned rifle. There were other firearms in the home, which also appear to have been owned legally by Marek, a mason.
An investigation revealed “recent domestic issues that have been escalating over the past few months,” Colonie police said, though the department added officers had not been called to the residence since 2016. In that instance, no charges were filed.
“We have not yet determined what may have led to this incident, but there were many factors that likely played a role in the event,” Colonie police wrote in a prepared statement, adding “including mental health issues for Marek.”