HERKIMER, N.Y. (AP) - State police say a Utica school teacher fatally shot herself at an Adirondack motel in August, but it isn't clear if her death was a suicide or accident.
The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports that a medical examiner has classified the manner of 30-year-old Catherine Koestner's death as undetermined.
Authorities released the results of their investigation Tuesday. They say the Utica woman died from a single shot to the head from a handgun licensed to her boyfriend, 50-year-old Joseph Moore of Clinton.
Investigators say the couple was at the Forge Motel in the Herkimer County village of Old Forge on Aug. 25 and had been drinking and argued shortly before the shooting. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter says Koestner's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit for driving.
