Man Accused of Drowning Wife: I Don't Know Why Daughter Said She Saw Us Fight

State Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan watched tape Tuesday of an interrogation that took place May 10, 2008 of Kleber Cordova, during which Cordoba discussed finding his wife, dead and naked, in his apartment at 85 Western Avenue the morning of May 9.

But prosecutors have said Cordova has confessed to killing his wife, Eliana Torres. In the tape, played during a hearing concerning Cordova's Miranda rights, however, Cordova repeatedly said he came home from his cleaning job at Pazzo Pazzo May 9 to find his wife in the apartment's bathtub with water covering her face.

When he tried to lift her out of the bathtub, he said in the recording, he realized her body was limp. He then said in the recording he did not lift her body entirely out of the tub.

He was interviewed by Morristown Police Detective Daniel Widdis and Morris County Prosecutor's Office Detective David Frisk in the tape. Manahan said the court would continue to watch the tape, which runs more than three hours, at a further hearing on Thursday.

At issue in the hearing is whether Cordova knowingly waived his right to an attorney. His side has said his statements to Frisk and Widdis should not be used against him during a trial.

During earlier testimony, Morris County Prosecutor's Office Detective Julio Torres said he had spoken to Cordova on May 9, 2008. He had asked Cordova whether he had wanted to submit to a polygraph test, and Cordova had declined, saying he was not feeling well. After that, Cordova said he wanted to speak to a lawyer before talking to Torres, and Torres stopped the discussion.

At that point, Cordova had not been arrested—he had merely been a person of interest.

Defense Attorney Jessica Moses asked questions of Torres that suggested he had continually attempted to persuade Cordova to take the test.

"You go over this nine times, asking him why he doesn't want to take the test," Moses said.

Later, the tape was played while Frisk was on the stand as the prosecution's witness. Investigators in the video said they were attempting to make sense of inconsistencies in Torres' story.

The May 10 interview was the second detectives had conducted. They had interviewed Cordova—again as a person of interest—the day earlier, on May 9, just several hours after Eliana Torres was found dead.

The interview was translated by Marly Arturo from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. Cordova only speaks Spanish, and an interpreter was present in the courtroom Tuesday.

Frisk said to Cordova he had spoken with Cordova's 8-year old daughter, Kelly, who had told him she had witnessed a fight between her parents. Frisk said his daughter had told him her mother's hands were at one point clawing at Cordova's face. That story did not match up with Cordova's.

"Why would Kelly say that?" Frisk asked in the video.

Cordova said he did not know.

Further testimony will be heard Thursday.