The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office has dropped a second-degree murder charge against the Metairie man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend, according to court records.
Chad Ortolano, 35, had been jailed since June 28 when Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives booked him in connection with the death of 53-year-old Kathleen Cook.
Investigators had alleged that Cook’s extensive injuries — brain bleeds and fractured ribs — didn’t match Ortolano’s explanation of a fall…