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Eddy Coello Charged With Murder On Day Of Slain Wife's Funeral

NEW YORK (CBS NewYork/AP) -- On the same day his murdered wife was laid to rest, former NYPD Officer Eddy Coello was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.

Coello was stoic Tuesday night as he walked through a gauntlet of cameras and profanities outside the 45th Precinct, where he was booked.  He is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday at Bronx Criminal Court. His attorney, Renee Hill, said he maintains his innocence.

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1010 WINS' Al Jones reports from the 45th Precinct, where Coello was booked Tuesday night

"Maybe he wasn't as cooperative with them as they wanted him to be, but he was cooperative with them.  He went in, they questioned him extensively in the beginning," Hill told CBS 2's Pablo Guzman. She added that the case was "not going to be tried in the media."

Earlier Tuesday, mourners bid a final farewell to Tina Adovasio, the Bronx nurse and mother of four whose body was found last week in Westchester.

Friends and family packed the St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac during the 9:45 a.m. funeral Mass.

Adovasio, 40, disappeared from her home in Throgs Neck on March 11. Her body was discovered the following Wednesday by a person riding an ATV in a wooded near the Taconic Parkway in Yorktown Heights.

The NYPD said Adovasio was suffocated. She also suffered blunt trauma to the head and chest.

Investigators said Coello reported his wife's disappearance to the police, and turned himself in at the precinct last Thursday. He was not charged at the time and was released.

"He was asked if he would give a DNA sample. He was asked if he would look at certain pictures. He refused," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Police suspect Coello strangled his wife in their apartment and then carried her body out in a large duffel bag before dumping her in Yorktown Heights. Coello left the NYPD in 2000 during a domestic violence investigation.

"My heart goes out to the children obviously. How they're going to live their life? How's this going to affect them going forward? So I mean it's a tragic thing," neighbor Al Miranda told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.

Is enough done to protect spouses from domestic violence? Leave a comment below…

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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