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Officials say details on Old Forge shooting to be released Tuesday

By JOLEEN FERRIS

Story Created: Sep 28, 2012 at 4:00 PM EDT

Story Updated: Sep 28, 2012 at 5:06 PM EDT

OLD FORGE, N.Y. (WKTV) - More than a month after a single gunshot wound to the head claimed the life of a 30-year-old local teacher, answers about why she died will finally be forthcoming.

Proctor High School math teacher Catherine Koestner was shot to death August 25 in an Old Forge hotel room she was sharing with her boyfriend. An autopsy was performed within two days of her death. Yet her death certificate was still marked, "pending further investigation" under 'manner of death', which denotes whether someone's death is due to suicide, homicide, accidental, etc..

Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter announced on Friday that he and NY State Police will hold a news conference Tuesday at 3:30 in Herkimer, at which time they will release new information, new answers, about why Catherine Koestner died.

Koestner was shot around 1 a.m. On August 25 at the Forge Motel. A motel employee heard people arguing prior to the shooting and some of Koestner's personal belongings were found scattered in the roadway several hundred feet from where she died.

Police took into custody a legally-possessed weapon but did not confirm to whom it belonged.

Officials interviewed Koestner's boyfriend, whom they declined to name, and said the man was being treated as a witness.

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