Police want records of slain therapist's patients

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Investigators in the grisly slaying of a New York therapist are going to court to request access to the records of her patients and those of the therapist who tried to come to her aid, police said Friday.

Kathryn Faughey, 56, was slashed and stabbed to death Tuesday night in her Upper East Side office.

The other therapist, Kent Shinbach, 70, was seriously injured. Police said two knives and a meat cleaver were used in the attack.

Federal medical privacy law restricts access to patient records, and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the scope of what would be released to them it is not clear.

Kelly said police are working through the district attorney in an attempt to get a court order allowing access.

On Thursday evening, police in Pennsylvania questioned a man whose photo, according to a police source, had been identified by Shinbach as a possible suspect.

The man, William Kunsman, told CNN he was released after 10 hours of questioning once police confirmed that he had been with his wife at their home in Coplay, Pennsylvania, at the time of the slaying.

"I hadn't even known what happened before I went in this morning," he said, standing outside his home. "Through the questioning I kind of pieced the puzzle together, and I realized they were talking about Kathryn. Later on, at one point, they let me know that she was murdered."

He said his only contact with Faughey lately had been through phone calls, and he last spoke to her on Tuesday, the day she died.

Police have said they have a surveillance video showing the attacker, and described him as a man in his 40s wearing a three-quarter-length green coat, a baseball cap and sneakers. He carried two bags that he left in the building's basement, through which he left after the attack. Watch video of the suspect walking into the therapist's building »

One bag held nine knives and the other contained women's clothing, slippers and adult disposable diapers, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

Faughey's 20-year-old practice focused on relationships, depression and anxiety. E-mail to a friend

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