Doctor whose wife died of suspicious circumstances charged in another ‘accidental’ death

A South Carolina doctor whose wife was found dead on Tuesday is facing criminal charges in connection with the death of a man last year, Fox News reports.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged 46-year-old Adam Lazzarini, a surgeon, with manslaughter and obstruction of justice in the death of William Holland.

Holland, 30, died after being shot in the chest in October; he was a medical supply salesman.

Multiple people were inside Lazzarini’s home when the gun was fired, WIS-TV reports, and the shooting at that time was deemed accidental.

The body of Lazzarini’s wife, Vanessa Brooke Biery, was discovered Tuesday. Officials have not released her cause of death but have described it as suspicious and related to Holland’s death, The State reports.

Authorities charged Lazzarini with Holland’s killing because of information they had obtained in the course of investigating his wife’s death, Cayce Police Chief Byron Snelgrove said.

“During the course of the second investigation additional information was obtained and Mr. Lazzarini was arrested and formally charged in the first incident from October,” Snelgrove said.

Lazzarini told investigators that he found his wife unresponsive around 7 a.m. Tuesday inside their home, which is the same house where Holland was shot and killed, WACH-TV reports.

The suspect reportedly turned himself in to authorities on Thursday in connection with the October shooting, according to WACH-TV.

Lazzarini has been placed on leave from the hospital where he worked and he is in jail on a $250,000 bond.

A 2008 wedding announcement said Biery worked as an executive recruiter in the financial industry when she married Lazzarini.

 

[Feature image: Adam Lazzarini/Lexington County Detention Center]