Slain bride put photos on Facebook just before death

Blazej Kot is accused of killing Caroline Coffey a month after he married her. Photo / Supplied

Less than two hours before Blazej Kot allegedly slashed his new wife's throat in New York state, the couple were on Facebook uploading their wedding photos.

The 24-year-old Auckland man has told his lawyer he cannot remember what happened the night his wife Caroline Coffey, 28, died on June 2.

Kot was charged with second-degree murder.

The pair had married in a civil ceremony in October and had a second wedding with family and friends in Costa Rica on May 2.

Coffey's friend Dimitra Livanos Hollows said this week that the couple were uploading their wedding photos to their Facebook pages at 8.04pm the night of the murder.

Hollows said: "They were both very much in love with one another, and nobody had any reservations about Blazej.

"I don't know of any fighting or arguments which they had. They both seemed to really be excited for one another's success and they had lots in common. Their wedding was the happiest I had ever seen them."

At 9.50pm Kot was seen driving into Taughannock Falls State Park about 350m from the apartment he shared with Coffey in Ithaca, New York.

A park police officer approached the car and saw Kot covered in blood.

Kot took off and led police on an 8km chase before crashing into trees. Captain Lawrence Jackmin said Kot had been found with an apparent self-inflicted injury to his neck and an "edged weapon". He was airlifted to a hospital in Pennsylvania and underwent emergency surgery.

Police mounted a large scale search for Coffey after finding the couple's apartment on fire. A jogger found her body on a trail the next day and Kot was charged with her murder.

Kot was transferred from hospital to Bradford County Jail and initially refused to go back to New York State voluntarily.

Police began extradition proceedings. But on Wednesday Kot, on the advice of his lawyer Joseph Joch, agreed to return to his home state.

Joch expected him to be taken back this weekend. He said Kot's wounds were healing "very well".

"I can't discuss what he tells me, but what I can certainly tell you is he has a great deal of difficulty remembering anything about that night," he said.

"I find it very difficult to understand the whole thing. We are still planning to defend the charge... I have no confidence that he is the proper suspect."

Kot was upset he had not been able to attend Coffey's memorial service.

"He knew he wasn't going to be able to go. He never even asked about it," Joch said.

Kot's parents Leszek and Barbara flew to the US after hearing the news of Caroline's death. They joined his sister Lucja who also lives in Ithaca. Both Kot and his sister are University of Auckland graduates who were studying computer science at the prestigious Cornell University.

Joch said police initially refused to let them see Kot, but they were allowed to visit him twice before returning to Auckland. They also visited Caroline's family.

Devastated friends said Caroline seemed to be very proud of the man she married. "When he proposed, all of us were so excited," said Hollows. "I am very glad that she was able to experience the joys of celebrating her love for someone and feel like the princess she was, before her life was so brutally taken."

Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson said evidence regarding other charges relating to Coffey's death was still being examined.

She would not be drawn on details of that evidence.

The Herald on Sunday has also learned Kot is no longer registered as a student at Cornell. Spokeswoman Claudia Wheatley would not say why.