A.C. Cop Pleads Not Guilty

MAYS LANDING, N.J. — The lawyer for an Atlantic City police officer accused in the suffocation death of his wife contends that the victim had a respiratory ailment and died naturally.

James Andros III, 32, of Pleasantville pleaded innocent Tuesday in the death of Ellen Andros, 31, who was found dead on the floor of a bedroom in her home on March 31, next to her two sleeping daughters.

There was no sign of forced entry or a struggle, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz. Andros told investigators he had been out with friends and returned home at 4:30 a.m. to find his wife dead.

He was being held Tuesday on $500,000 bail.

John Bjorklund, Andros` attorney, said Andros is grieving the loss of his wife of six years. The two were happily married, he said.

"She has a significant medical history, which may lead us to the cause of her death," Bjorklund said.

Dr. Elliott Gross, the medical examiner in the case, determined that Mrs. Andros was suffocated.

In an affidavit filed in Family Court by the victim`s parents, Andros was described as a hard drinker who beat his wife. She moved in with her parents last summer, citing Andros` "habitual excessive drinking and abusive nature," according to the affidavit.

Once, he clasped her mouth and nose simultaneously, as if to try and smother her, and he often threatened her with a gun, according to the affidavit.

In an affidavit filed in response, Andros admitted sometimes getting intoxicated but denied being an alcoholic.

The couple`s daughters _ Meghan, 5, and Elizabeth, 3 _ are now living with maternal grandparents, Bette Ann and James Clark Sr.

The Clarks took custody of the girls after the killing, but a judge later awarded custody to Andros. After his arrest Monday, they were turned back over to the grandparents.

"They know their mother is in heaven," said Marissa Costello, lawyer for the Clarks.

She said prosecutors do not plan to use the girls as witnesses.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)