Wife pleads guilty in killing of UConn professor, whose body was left in basement for months

A woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Hartford, Connecticut on Monday after state prosecutors accused the 76-year-old of killing her husband, hiding his body in the basement for months and collecting his paychecks.

Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, of Burlington, was arrested in 2018 after her husband, 84-year-old Pierluigi Bigazzi, was found dead in the basement of the couple's home, Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott's office said in a news release.

In addition to the first-degree manslaughter plea, Kosuda-Bigazzi pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny, Walcott's office said.

"Professor Bigazzi decided that she did not want to go to trial and elected to enter a plea of guilty to reduced charges," Patrick Tomasiewicz, Kosuda-Bigazzi's defense attorney, said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The death of her husband was a tragedy and Professor Bigazzi wanted the book closed on her case. We fought a six-year battle for her on a variety of constitutional issues and although we wanted to continue to trial our client instructed otherwise."

How did Burlington police find Bigazzi's body?

Burlington police found Kosuda-Bigazzi's husband, a professor of laboratory science and pathology at UConn Health, during a welfare check at the home, according to the release. UConn Health called police for the welfare check after not hearing from Bigazzi for months, Walcott's office said.

Investigators determined that paychecks from UConn Health continued to be deposited into the couple's joint checking account after Bigazzi's death, the release said. Authorities believe he died sometime in July 2017, and his body wasn't found until early February 2018, according to Walcott's office.

The medical examiner in Connecticut said Dr. Bigazzi died of blunt trauma to the head, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors who wanted to convict Kosuda-Bigazzi of murder believe she left her husband's body wrapped in plastic for months and collected his salary, the outlet reported.

Kosuda-Bigazzi initially claimed self-defense

Kosuda-Bigazzi allegedly wrote in a journal how she killed her elderly husband with a hammer in self-defense, the Hartford Courant reported via court records. In the note, Kosuda-Bigazzi goes into detail about how she struck him with a hammer during a brawl that began when Bigazzi came at her with a hammer first, the outlet said. The argument began because she told her husband about work she wanted him to do on their deck.

“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.

Sentencing for Kosuda-Bigazzi is scheduled for June 28 in Hartford Superior Court.

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com