By Nick Buglione
Dr. Joseph Kazigo, 67, was first reported missing last Thursday after he failed to show up for his shift at NUMC and didn't respond to a page from the hospital the day before.
Kazigo, a native Ugandan living in Westchester, rented an apartment at 713 Pleasant Ave. in Salisbury to avoid long commutes to NUMC. Police arrived at his home to find a shattered rear door and no one inside.
There were clear indications of a violent assault, including blood spattered across the apartment, police said.
Police allege that the doctor's son, Mulumba Kazigo, 26, broke into the Salisbury residence while his father slept last Wednesday morning, and beat him with a baseball bat and slashed his throat.
He then disposed of the body in a wooded area about 10 minutes from the family's Westchester home, police said.
The younger Kazigo was arrested last Friday, after neighbors allegedly spotted him driving one of the family's cars from his father's Salisbury home. He lead police to his father's remains and made a confession in writing and on video, police said. The son was charged with second-degree murder, though pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
Police believe the son had been planning his father's death for several days, purchasing weapons, plastic and tape to wrap the body. Det. Lt. Dennis Farrell said that a rift had been growing between the two for a number of years, and that a recent argument might have led to the murder.
News of the doctor's death sent shock waves through NUMC. "We are shocked and are grieving at the loss of a very significant member of our staff and the family of Nassau University Medical Center," said Shelley Lotenberg, NUMC spokeswoman. "We offer our condolences and prayers to his family in the United States and Uganda."
Media inundated the usually quiet Salisbury street where the doctor was killed, just one block east of Carman Avenue and one and a half blocks south of Stewart Avenue, though residents seemed reluctant to discuss the incident.
"All your major channels, including News 12 and Fox, were staked out in front of the house," said Helen Meittinis, a Salisbury civic leader who received several calls from concerned residents about the media presence.
Most on the street didn't know the doctor well, but had seen him around the neighborhood, noting that he went on frequent jogs. Daniel Daly, who lives in the Pleasant Avenue home where Kazigo was renting a second-floor apartment, declined to comment. "I can't do anything about that right now," Daly said.
Meittinis, who is on the NUMC community council, immediately recognized Kazigo when she saw his face on television and in newspapers. "When I've gone to the hospital for meetings, I've seen him before," she said, though she never spoke to him.
She also saw Kazigo, reportedly a competent and able doctor, when she recently had to take her son to the NUMC emergency room after a surfing accident. Kazigo was attending the patient next to him, Meittinis said. "I observed him as being a very conscientious and quiet type," she said.
In published reports, Kazigo was described as a strict but good father who was active in the Ugandan community. The doctor worked to promote Ugandan cultural awareness and spent thousands of dollars of his own money for charitable causes in Uganda, including well-drilling in rural areas and a scholarship fund for children whose parents died of AIDS.
His son was a graduate student of history in the University at Albany.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
