Margaret Ann Hooper Kokoth, a 75-year-old Caucasian female from New Canaan, Connecticut, died on May 6, 2021, in what was later determined to be a homicide. On that day, police received a 911 call from her husband, Albert Kokoth, 77, claiming he had accidentally shot his wife at their Down River Road home. Officers arrived to find Margaret deceased and Albert covered in blood.
He told them he had been showing his wife a shotgun before a planned trip to a gun range when it accidentally discharged.
However, the investigation soon cast doubt on his account. The state's chief medical examiner ruled Margaret's death a homicide, revealing she had suffered shotgun wounds to both her head and torso. A neighbor reported hearing two distinct gunshots about 15 minutes apart. This evidence contradicted Albert Kokoth's claim of a single accidental shot. Prosecutors stated that evidence suggested he had fired the shotgun, emptied the cartridges, reloaded, and fired again. Concerns about Albert's mental state had reportedly been raised by his daughters prior to the incident, with one fearing he might harm her mother.
Albert Kokoth was arrested and initially charged with assault and illegal discharge of a firearm. These charges were later upgraded to murder in July 2021. His bond was set at $2 million. In the subsequent legal proceedings, his mental competency to stand trial became a central issue. He was found not competent to stand trial on multiple occasions after being diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Due to this diagnosis, a state expert testified that there was no substantial probability he could be restored to competency. As a result, it is considered unlikely that he will ever stand trial for the murder of his wife. He was transferred to the custody of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for civil commitment proceedings.
