A man accused of killing his former girlfriend, the daughter of two New York University teachers, pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder.
Michael Cordero, 23, is charged in the death of Boitumelo McCallum, 20, whose body was found strangled at her mother's apartment Aug. 5. Police arrested Cordero two days later and said that shortly beforehand he had slit his wrists.
"I tried to kill myself because I killed my girlfriend," Cordero is alleged to have told a nurse in the presence of police, according to court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
A judge scheduled Cordero's next court appearance for late October. He is being held without bail in a jail's psychiatric unit.
Cordero's lawyer, Eric Sears, has said he will probably try to prevent his client's admissions to police from being used against him because of Cordero's medical condition after the suicide attempt.
McCallum, born in South Africa, was a student at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. She was the daughter of Robert McCallum, an NYU art teacher, and Teboho Moja, an NYU education professor and South African activist.
Source: AP Features
