Preview: A Moment In Crime - Two weddings and a murder. Full podcast is now available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
It took less than two hours for Auckland man Blazej Kot to go from doting newlywed to blood soaked prime suspect in his wife's brutal murder.
At 8.02pm on June 2, 2009 the 24-year-old computer science student was helping Caroline Coffey load their wedding photos on to Facebook in their New York State apartment.
At 9.47pm police found Kot sitting in his car in a park 350m from their Ithaca home.
Covered in dried blood, Kot led police and state troopers on a high speed 8km chase that ended when his car slammed into trees.
He was found slumped over the steering wheel bleeding profusely from a self-inflicted gash to the front of his neck.
The next morning Coffey's body was found, brutalised and bloody, on a trail in a park near the couple's home.
Blazej Kot, his father Leszak and new wife Caroline Coffey at their Costa Rica wedding in 2009. Kot killed Coffey about a month later. Photo / Supplied
Today we look back at the grisly and bizarre crim in the Herald podcast A Moment in Crime.
This episode of A Moment In Crime contains material including references to violence, sexual assault and murder and might be distressing for some listeners.
Soon after his move to the United States Kot met Caroline Coffey.
She too was born overseas - in Ireland - but had been raised in the US from childhood.
The pair married in a civil ceremony in 2008 and headed to Costa Rica for a second wedding with family and friends in 2009.
Just over a month later, Kot beat his wife with a metal pipe and slit her throat.
Early coverage of the Kot case in the Herald on Sunday in 2009. Photo / NZME
A Moment In Crime is written and hosted by Anna Leask, senior crime reporter for the Herald. The podcast is produced by Chris Tarpey. Frances Cook is the executive producer.
Leask has been covering crime and justice for the Herald for more than a decade and has reported on most of the major incidents and events over that time.
"Each month I'll take you inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders and behind the scenes of high profile trials and events to show you what's really happening in your backyard," she said.
"Heroes and villains battle for justice to be done, and it seems no matter how horrifying the story, we always want to know more.
"If you want to know more about the cases that have shocked and shaped our nation - from murders and massacres to violent villains and the utterly unbelievable - join me for A Moment In Crime."
A Herald on Sunday story about the outcome of Kot's trial and appeal details. Photo / NZME
In our first episode we looked back at the Christchurch terror attack - what unfolded on March 15 and how it changed New Zealand.
The podcast has also delved into the death of West Auckland toddler Aisling Symes, the cold case murder of Kayo Matsuzawa and double killer Jason Somerville, infamous for the Christchurch House of Horrors.
In 2017 Leask wrote and hosted Chasing Ghosts - a six-part podcast series on the Amber-Lee Cruickshank case.
Despite exhaustive and repeated searches, there has never been any sign of the little girl.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Amber-Lee's disappearance, Leask investigated the famous cold case in a bid to generate some answers for the toddler's family.
