A woman found dead in her Burlington home last month, hours before she was scheduled to be sentenced in the death of her husband, died by suicide after ingesting antifreeze, an autopsy showed.
Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, died by ethylene glycol toxicity, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She was found dead July 24 in her Smith Lane home after Connecticut State Police responded to the residence at 10:37 a.m. after receiving a report that someone who had gone to the home was unable to make contact with Kosuda-Bigazzi.
Kosuda-Bigazzi was pronounced dead at the scene after state police were assisted by local firefighters in forcing their way into the home. She was scheduled to be sentenced to 13 years in prison during a hearing at 2 p.m. in Hartford Superior Court in the death of her husband, 84-year-old University of Connecticut Health professor Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi.
Kosuda-Bigazzi in March pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and first-degree larceny in connection with her husband’s death. Prosecutors believe she killed him sometime around July 2017 and continued to collect his paychecks before university officials knew he was dead.
Bigazzi was found dead in February 2018 after going months without contacting UConn officials, leading to a welfare check when authorities discovered his remains wrapped in plastic trash bags and duct tape in the basement of the couple’s home. State police also found blood spatter on the kitchen floor, ceiling and cabinets, court records show.
According to court records, Kosuda-Bigazzi reportedly wrote in a journal that she killed her husband with a hammer in self defense. In the note, she describes striking her husband with a hammer during a brawl after he came at her with the hammer while they were fighting about work she wanted him to do on their deck.
The case against Kosuda-Bigazzi had been pending for six years and was initially expected to go to trial before her defense team and prosecutors reached a plea deal.
Source Agencies
