A Connecticut widow who killed her husband was found dead while awaiting sentencing on murder charges for the brutal slaying of her doctor husband.
Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, admitted beating her husband, Dr Pierluigi Bigazzi, 84, to death in 2017.
He then wrapped her body in a rug and left it in the basement of his Burlington home, before continuing to collect paychecks from his job at UConn Health.
Kosuda-Bigazzi faced up to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree larceny.
But in a shocking development, the elderly woman was found dead just hours before she was due to be sentenced on Wednesday.
Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, who killed her husband, was found dead while awaiting sentencing on murder charges.
His lawyer, Patrick Tomasiewicz, said his death was unexpected and did not specify the cause.
“It was an honor for us to serve as her legal counsel and we did everything we could to defend her in a complex case over the past six years,” he said in a statement.
‘She was a very independent woman who always had control of her own destiny.’
The coroner has not yet revealed the exact cause of death.
However, a neighbor interviewed by the outlet said Kosuda-Bigazzi had taken his own life.
“We wanted her punished if she really did that, which she admitted to,” the neighbor said. fox61 while expressing his shock at the news.
“If I was walking to get the mail, she would turn around and go back into the house (…) there was no interaction after the fact.”
Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, admitted beating her husband, Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, 84, to death in 2017.
She was found dead at her former shared home in Burlington, Connecticut, on Wednesday, hours before she was to be sentenced.
Kosuda-Bigazzi was arrested in February 2018 in connection with the death of her husband, a professor of laboratory sciences and pathology at UConn Health. Pictured: Police at their Burlington home
Kosuda-Bigazzi was arrested in February 2018 in connection with the death of her husband, a professor of laboratory sciences and pathology at UConn Health.
His body was discovered in the basement after police were called to check on him. Bigazzi died from blunt force trauma to the head sometime in July 2017, according to the medical examiner.
Investigators said his wife continued to collect his wages from then until his arrest and had requested a murder charge. In writings found in her home, Kosuda-Bigazzi said she killed her husband with a hammer in self-defense, state police said.
Kosuda-Bigazzi wrote that she and her husband had a fight after she told him that repairs were needed on the deck in their backyard.
She wrote that he attacked her with a hammer and that she managed to take it from him after a long struggle, authorities said.
“I hit him by simply moving the hammer in any direction + then he went silent for a few seconds + then he stopped breathing,” he wrote, according to investigators.
Investigators said Kosuda-Bigazzi wrapped her body in a rug and left it in the basement of his home (pictured) before continuing to collect her wages until his arrest in February 2018.
The coroner has not yet revealed the exact cause of death, but at least one neighbor has declared it was suicide.
“I just wanted him to slow down. I sat on the floor, next to the kitchen cabinets, in front of the stove, next to him, for a long time.”
She was released after posting bail of more than $1.5 million.
An internal UConn investigation resulted in the discipline of a school medical official who was supposed to oversee Bigazzi’s work but had no contact with him in the months before his body was found.
According to those living nearby, Kosuda-Bigazzi was portrayed as the leader of the relationship.
“She seemed the dominant one,” the neighbor said. “He was a quieter little Italian guy. She was headstrong.”
Others said frightened families had moved out of the area after learning the killer was out on bail.