Death of New Canaan woman was homicide, medical examiner says

STAMFORD — The death of a 75-year-old woman who police say was shot by her husband has been ruled a homicide, the state’s chief medical examiner said Saturday.

Margaret Kokoth suffered shotgun wounds to the head and torso, according to Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill.

Her husband, Albert Kokoth, 77, told police his wife died Thursday in an “accidental” shooting, according to a report of the incident, but prosecutors said Friday there was evidence that refuted his claims.

Police said Margaret Kokoth was found dead when they arrived around noon Thursday at the couple’s Down River Road home.

According to the police report, Albert Kokoth — who was covered in blood — told responding officers that he had been showing his wife a shotgun ahead of a planned trip to a nearby gun range when, he claimed, he “accidentally shot her.”

Officers asked Kokoth if his wife was still breathing, and he responded by “chuckling slightly,” and saying, “Uh, no I don’t think she’s breathing,” the police report said.

Marie Caruso, who lives directly opposite the Kokoth’s home, said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media that she did not hear a gunshot on Thursday, but saw several police cars and two EMS vehicles arrive.

The neighbors on the dead-end road off Main Street have been “in shock” because the tragedy happened “so close to home,” Caruso said.

Caruso said the Kokoths were a “cordial elderly couple,” but they rarely participated in neighborhood events like block parties.

Lisa Palamente lives a few doors down from the couple and often returns home from work around noon. She said she heard an ambulance going toward her street around that time.

Palamente said she often spoke with the Kokoths when she would see them walking their dog. She described them as a quiet couple on a street where other families with young children tend to socialize.

Kokoth’s daughter and son-inlaw both spoke to police after the incident.

Their daughter said her “mother already knew of the shotgun,” which her father had owned for years, the police report said.

The son-in-law told police he believed Albert Kokoth has “a lot of mental issues,” the report said. The man said his wife became increasingly concerned about her father in recent months due to his dementia, the report said.

Police had not been previously called to the home and Albert Kokoth was not known to them, New Canaan Lt. Jason Ferraro said Saturday. Ferraro said he did not know if the family had applied for a risk warrant under the state’s red flag law prior to the shooting, which would allow police to hold any guns Kokoth owned.