Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi pled guilty on Monday,
March 11, after being arrested in February 2018 over the death of her husband
Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, 84, Hartford Judicial District State’s Attorney Sharmese
L. Walcott announced in a press release.
The wife of the University of Connecticut
professor was initially charged with murder after her husband was found dead by
police at their Burlington home during a visit on Feb. 5, 2018.
Police suspected Dr. Bigazzi's body was
stored in the basement of the couple's home for months,
According to the release, “police
discovered the body while responding to a call for a welfare check at the home
from the victim’s employer who had not heard from the victim for several
months.”
The victim is believed to have died
sometime in July 2017. A medical examiner previously determined the cause of
death was blunt force trauma to the head.
“An investigation showed paychecks from the
victim’s employer continued to be deposited into the couple’s joint checking
account from the time of his death, which authorities believe to be sometime in
July 2017, until his body was discovered in early February 2018,” the release
continued.
Kosuda-Bigazzi pled guilty to a charge of
manslaughter in the first degree and larceny in the first degree.
Her sentencing is scheduled for June 28 in
Hartford Superior Court.
“This case has been pending for six years
so we are thankful we were able to reach a resolution today,” Walcott said in
the release following the plea.
In February 2018, Kosuda-Bigazzi was
charged with one count of murder and one count of tampering with physical
evidence, according to online court records. After posting $1.5 million bail,
she was put under house arrest and the affidavit in support of the arrest
warrant was sealed by order of the court.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the
passing of our longtime faculty member Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, professor in the
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UConn School of Medicine,”
UConn Health said in a statement in 2018 obtained by the Hartford Courant
newspaper.
“After being unable to reach Bigazzi,
concerned departmental leadership contacted UConn Police who visited his home.
UConn Police immediately contacted the local police department who is
investigating the death in collaboration with the State Police.”
0 Comments