A former Long Island police officer has pleaded guilty to killing his wife inside their upstate home, where he spent two days with her body before the slaying was discovered.
Charles Wilkinson pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in a plea deal with Saratoga County prosecutors.
The 69-year-old retired Nassau County cop initially was charged with second-degree murder after sheriff's deputies found his wife Kathleen's body inside the couple's home in Malta on June 1. Police were sent to the home after her son said he had not heard from his 65-year-old mother in several days.
Police said Wilkinson had strangled her.
Prosecutors say they offered Wilkinson the plea deal because psychiatrists determined he was emotionally disturbed.
Wilkinson will be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and post-release supervision for five years.
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