The estranged husband of murdered Staten Island schoolteacher Jeanine Cammarata made a cryptic, possibly incriminating statement after his April arrest, it was revealed in court Friday — tearfully telling a cop: “That’s why it’s cheaper to keep her.”

Michael Cammarata was in an interrogation room when Officer Genea Parker asked him if he wanted something to eat, according to testimony in Staten ­Island Supreme Court.

“That’s when he teared up, and I walked out to get him a tissue,” Parker testified. “When I handed it to him, he said, ‘That’s why they say it’s cheaper to keep her.’ ”

The phrase — more common to divorce court than criminal court — is among the statements Michael Cammarata is trying to get suppressed should he go on trial for his wife’s murder.

Hearings are set to continue Oct. 15.