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Cops Keep Close Eye On Murdered Therapist's Friend

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Cops Keep Close Eye On Murdered Therapist's Friend

Investigators Want Look At Confidential Doctor-Patient Records

NEW YORK (CBS) ― The NYPD released new details Friday about the moments leading up to the butchering of an Upper East Side psychologist. Detectives are purshing what Commissioner Raymond Kelly calls an "aggressive" investigation into the gruesome murder of Kathryn Faughey.

At William Kunsman's home in Coplay, Pa., NYPD detectives continued to watch the friend of Faughey, hacked to death on Tuesday in her office on East 79th Street. Sources say Kunsman is bipolar and had not been taking his medication.

Police sources say on Thursday, when detectives asked Kunsman to come to New York to view evidence, he asked for a lawyer and all questioning stopped. Kunsman met Faughey in a guitar camp six years ago and had recently engaged in personal e-mail conversations with the doctor.

When asked if Kunsman was considered a suspect in the case, Kelly said he wasn't going to say who was ruled a suspect and who wasn't. But Kelly did say forensic evidence plays an important role in the investigation. There was blood on the scene and on the killer, who was seen in building surveillance video leaving behind a suitcase with women's clothes, duct tape, and knives. The killer wore gloves, but he may have left fingerprints, hair fiber or blood.

Police are also viewing surveillance video from other area buildings to find more pictures of the middle-aged killer.

Because of doctor-client privacy laws, police are not able to access Faughey's records to find out which patients may have has a history or to figure out someone who could be a killer. But that could change with a court ruling.

"We are asking the district attorney's office to petition the court to access the doctor's records," Kelly said.

Kelly says the killer entered the building around 8 p.m. Tuesday and went to the victim's office waiting area, which she shared with psychiatrist Kent Shinbach. Around 8:30, a female patient entered Shimbach's office. At 8:50, Shimbach heard a commotion and went into Faughey's office, where he found her on the floor in a pool of blood.

Shinbach told police he then saw the killer, who looked at him and said, "I killed her, and I'm going to kill you."

The killer then hacked at Shinbach and tried to force his female patient into a bathroom. She kicked the killer, however, and locked the door. The killer then fled the scene around 8:59.

Police are providing security to Shinbach because the killer did grab the doctor's driver's license and told him, "I know where you live." They have asked the doctor's assistant to contact all his patients to make sure they are safe as well.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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