The wife of a Nassau County judge says he was stressed out and seemed paranoid and delusional before he was charged with stabbing her in the back – and maintains he should not have been busted, papers show.
Judge Paul Kowtna “has had problems with stress” related to their learning-disabled teenage daughter, was suffering from insomnia, and hadn’t slept a wink the night before the attack, his wife, Mary Kowtna, told police in court documents filed yesterday.
“In the morning, he appeared to be delusional and was rambling about people watching him,” she said.
The judge allegedly stabbed his wife last week while the two struggled for the phone in their New Hyde Park home. She told police she wanted to take her husband to a hospital but he kept calling people to tell them about his suspicions.
“Paul picked up a knife and told me to get away from the phone,” she said in court documents. “We struggled and fought, trying to get possession of the knife. During the struggle, I was injured.
“I do not want Paul arrested for assaulting me,” she told police. “I do not think he intentionally hurt me but needs medical care.”
The judge dialed 911, rambled incoherently that “a conspiracy was involved,” but said he should be arrested, court papers reveal.
Kowtna, who handles criminal cases, was charged with assault. He has pleaded not guilty and is undergoing a court-ordered psychiatric exam.
“I stabbed her in the back with a steak knife,” Kowtna, 51, told arriving cops, according to the court papers.
“It was just enough to draw blood, so it would look like a serious stabbing.”
In fact, the two stab wounds collapsed one of Mary Kowtna’s lungs, police said. She was released from North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset earlier this week, after being treated for her injuries.
Court documents show her husband told police: “I’m not crazy, but I’m insane.”