DANISHEFSKY
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Even his own mom fears him now.
The backgammon whiz suspected of strangling his Manhattan money-manager wife “severely assaulted” his young son and, in a recent attack, also went after his own dad, a police report claims.
Rod Covlin, 39, also threatened to move with his two kids to North Carolina despite a court order that they remain in New York, according to the report.
Covlin’s daughter, Anna, 11, will be a key witness if he is prosecuted for killing his estranged wife, Shele Danishefsky, 47, whom Anna found dead in the bathroom of her mom’s Upper West Side apartment on Dec. 31, 2009. He is the sole suspect in Danishefsky’s murder.
The suspect’s mother made the call to the slain woman’s family — with whom she has shared an icy relationship since their daughter’s murder — that prompted the police to be called.
Covlin “has a history of violence and has been diagnosed as bipolar,” said the New Rochelle police report, citing witnesses.
And his parents, Carol and John Covlin, on Oct. 8 told cops “they were concerned for their grandchildren’s safety because their son has been acting strange in the past month,” the report said.
Covlin, Anna and his son, Myles, 5, had been living in his parents’ New Rochelle house for several years — until Oct. 1 when he abruptly moved out with the kids, the report said.
On Oct. 9, an emergency hearing was held on a request for a protective order involving bodily injury in a Manhattan Supreme Court custody case over the kids.
Hours after that closed-door hearing, Covlin’s children were dropped off at his parents’ home by the North Carolina woman he is dating.
The report reveals that it was Carol Covlin who sparked the police probe that led to her grandchildren being returned to her home by calling Danishefksy’s clan on Oct. 7 with her shocking concerns.
“Carol stated that Roderick had severely assaulted his son, Myles, and had also assaulted his own father, John Covlin,” the report said. “Carol then advised that Roderick then claimed he was moving the two children to North Carolina.”
After Carol’s call, Danishefsky’s brother-in-law and the family’s lawyer, Marilyn Chinitz, called cops, the report said.
When cops went to the home of Covlin’s parents Oct. 8, they admitted being worried “for their grandchildren’s safety” because of Covlin’s recent odd behavior — and also “stated he is a good father, but that he has a temper,” the report said.
Covlin showed up hours later with the kids at New Rochelle police headquarters, where Child Protective Service workers interviewed them and found “no visible signs of abuse on either child,” the report said.
Covlin, who is the ex-president of the US Backgammon Federation, was not criminally charged in the alleged incidents.
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton, Frank Rosario and Joe Tacopino