MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Mulumba Kazigo has agreed to plead guilty in Nassau County Court to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B Felony.  The District Attorney made the acceptance of the plea conditional to the defendant receiving twenty years in prison for his role in the August killing of his father, Dr. Joseph Kazigo, in his Westbury apartment.

In September, the Grand Jury returned an indictment for Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A Felony; Burglary in the First Degree, a Class B Felony; and Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class E Felony.  Mr. Kazigo faced a maximum of twenty-five years-to-life in prison if convicted of the charges.

On Wednesday, August 24, 2005, Mr. Kazigo, 26, broke into the victim’s Westbury apartment and beat his sleeping father with a baseball bat, before eventually slitting his throat.  Mr. Kazigo purchased the bat, various other weapons, and materials used to conceal and transport his father’s body in the days leading up to the incident.  After Mr. Kazigo left the apartment, he dumped his father’s remains, along with evidence from the case, in a wooded area in Westchester County, just ten minutes from the Kazigo family home.  He would later lead authorities to the remains.

Dr. Joseph Kazigo, 67, worked at Nassau University Medical Center as an emergency room physician.

“This was a troubling case from the beginning,” said District Attorney Kathleen Rice.  “We believe Mr. Kazigo acted with intention, premeditation, and with full knowledge of the consequences.  Yet we acknowledge the defendant’s extensive history of mental health issues and the alleged years of abuse he and his family were put through by the victim in this case.”

Judge William Donnino presided over today’s proceedings in the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola.  Mr. Kazigo will be sentenced May 10 in front of Judge Donnino.

Handling the case for the prosecution was the Chief of the D.A.’s Major Offense Bureau, ADA Fred Klein.  Mr. Kazigo was represented by Steve Chaikin.