State briefs

Man sentenced in wife’s death

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)— A 69-year-old centralNewYork man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his wife and stashing her body in a storage unit.

In December, a Syracuse jury found Pande “Pete” Trifunovski guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Snezana “Suzie” Trifunovski. He testified in his own defense that he beat his wife with a wooden rail as she tried to flee inside their home in the town of Lysander during an argument. He then suffocated her.

He testified that she died within 30 seconds because his arms are “very strong” from years of stone carving.

Police later found the body in a storage facility.

The couple, who emigrated fromMacedonia, had been married for 25 years.

Trifunovski was sentenced on Friday.

Waterlooman sentenced in killings

WATERLOO, N.Y. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and a man and wounding a second woman in an upstate New York village.

Emerson Tohafjian of Varick was sentenced Friday for the triple shooting last July in Waterloo.

He was convicted last year on 18 counts for shooting 45-year-old Charlie Andrus of Seneca Falls, 53-yearold Lori McConnell and 50-year-old Karen Zdunko at Zdunko’s Waterloo apartment. Andrus and McConnell, Tohafjian’s former girlfriend, were killed. Zdunko, Andrus’ girlfriend, survived.

McConnell’s family members asked the judge to put Tohafjian away “forever.”

Protesters arrested

NEWYORK (AP) — Some people have been arrested while protesting President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration outside a New York City hotel that bears his name.

The NYPD wasn’t imme- diately able to say howmany people were taken into custody Friday night outside the Trump InternationalHotel& Tower in Manhattan.

Video shows protesters going peacefully with their hands zip-tied behind their backs as officers lead them to police vans. They’ll likely be charged with disorderly conduct and blocking traffic.

Trump declared a national emergency at theU.S.-Mexico border on Friday in a move tosecuremoremoney for his long-promised wall.

Protesters outside the Columbus Circle hotel held signs with slogans such as “Abolish I.C.E.” and ‘Trump Is The Emergency.”

Trump developed the 44-story hotel, but it is owned by other investors.

Family killed in house fire

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Four children and their father were killed in a fire that ripped through their northern New York home.

Hundreds of people gathered inWatertown for a vigil Friday night to Aaron Bodah and daughters Skylar, Erin, Alexa and Merissa.

The girls ranged in age from 4 to 14.

Investigators say it appears the fire started in the kitchen around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. They said pots were left on the electric stove and smoke detectors had no batteries.

A fifth daughter escaped and ran to neighbors for help. She was taken to a hospital. WWNY-TV reported Friday that she was back in Watertown.

Authorities say Aaron Bodah’s brother lived in the house andwas at workwhen the fire started.

Mourners placed flowers at amakeshiftmemorial and released balloons.

Met to return stolen coffin

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art says it’s returning a prized artifact to Egypt after learning it was stolen from the country in 2011.

The Met said Friday that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office found evidence that the museum was given a false ownership history for the gilded Coffin of Nedjemankh.

The Met bought the piece from a Paris art dealer in 2017 and displayed it until this week. Nedjemankh was a high-ranking first century BC priest.

Investigators say the Met was given fraudulent documents, including a forged 1971 Egyptian export license.

Met president Daniel Weiss apologized to Egypt. He said the museum was a fraud victim and unwitting participant in the illegal trade of antiquities.

TheMet says it’s cooperating with the DA’s investigation and revising its acquisitions process.