Woman who pleaded guilty to killing husband found dead hours before she was sentenced

BURLINGTON, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - A woman in Connecticut was found dead hours before she was to be sentenced in the death of her husband.

Connecticut State Police confirmed they found the body of 76-year-old Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi at her home in Burlington Wednesday morning.

Troopers were called to conduct a welfare check at her home Wednesday at about 10:30 a.m., according to the Associated Press. Attempts by responding troopers to make contact with Kosuda-Bigazzi were unsuccessful.

State police were eventually able to enter the home with the help of the fire department and found Kosuda-Bigazzi, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kosuda-Bigazzi was scheduled under a plea deal to be sentenced on Wednesday in the death of her husband, Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, according to an Associated Press report. She was to be sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Bigazzi was a pathology professor at the University of Connecticut when he was killed by his wife in 2017. He was 84 years old.

Police reported that Kosuda-Bigazzi killed her husband in their home and kept his body in the basement while she collected his paychecks from the university.

His body was found during a welfare check after the University of Connecticut reported they had not heard from him in a while.

Kosuda-Bigazzi pleaded guilty to manslaughter and larceny charges in March. She claimed she killed her husband in self-defense, the Associated Press reported. The Associated Press also she was freed after posting more than $1.5 million for bail.

In a statement, Kosuda-Bigazzi’s attorney, Patrick Tomasiewicz, said her death was “not anticipated” and that his team did their best to serve as her counsel during the case. He called Kosuda-Bigazzi an independent woman who “was always in control of her own destiny.”

Kosuda-Bigazzi’s death remains under investigation. Further details such as her cause of death have not been disclosed at this time.

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