Privacy update — September 18, 2026: Identifying details have been removed under our victim privacy policy.
What Happened
Victor Panebianco, 32, of North Carolina pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, admitting to chasing down and fatally stabbing a 52-year-old Selden man in the parking lot of the Stony Brook Yacht Club in the early morning hours of November 10, 2025. According to Patch, Panebianco targeted the victim because the victim was the former romantic partner of Panebianco’s girlfriend, Kacy Corso.
At approximately 3:42 a.m., Suffolk County Police received a 911 call reporting an unconscious male on the ground in the parking lot of the Stony Brook Yacht Club. When first responders arrived, they found the victim with two stab wounds to the chest, prosecutors said. He was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video, audio, and witness interviews reconstructed the sequence of events. The victim pulled into the yacht club lot shortly before the 911 call was placed. Corso had also just pulled into the same lot, and both the victim and Corso sat inside their respective vehicles. Panebianco then exited the passenger side of Corso’s vehicle and approached the victim. Sensing danger, the victim drove around Corso’s car toward the lot’s exit, but Corso deliberately crashed her vehicle into his, blocking his escape, prosecutors said.
The victim then got out of his car and attempted to flee on foot. Panebianco chased after him while swinging a knife, eventually catching up to him, according to prosecutors. A struggle followed; Panebianco threatened to kill the victim and kicked him in the head as he lay motionless. Panebianco and Corso then got back into Corso’s vehicle and fled the scene, traveling out of state.
Cellular telephone records obtained for Panebianco’s phone showed he had arrived on Long Island from out of state approximately an hour and a half before the murder and fled New York immediately after the killing, according to prosecutors. He was arrested nine days later, on November 19, 2025, in North Carolina, with the assistance of the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office and the Suffolk County Police Department.
Panebianco’s attorney told Patch: “Victor has always been extremely remorseful about this incident and has now taken full responsibility for his actions.” The attorney added, “It’s been his desire from the outset to avoid a difficult trial.” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said the guilty plea “does not take away the pain of the loss that the victim’s friends and loved ones have endured,” but noted that the admission of guilt spares the victim’s family “from enduring a painful and difficult trial while holding Victor Panebianco fully accountable for this heinous killing.” Tierney also thanked prosecutors, the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Suffolk County Police Department for their work on the case.
Location & Road Context
The Stony Brook Yacht Club is located in the Three Village area of Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island. The parking lot where the attack unfolded sits along the waterfront and is typically quiet in the predawn hours, making the 3:42 a.m. timeframe of the killing particularly isolated. Stony Brook has been the scene of several other notable criminal incidents in recent months, including a college drug distribution case and a major DWI crash on the LIE.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The investigation, conducted by the Suffolk County Police Department with support from the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, involved witness interviews, cellular telephone records, and a review of video and audio surveillance footage. That evidence established the full sequence of events and confirmed Panebianco’s travel to and from Long Island surrounding the killing, according to prosecutors.
Victor Panebianco pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and is expected to serve 25 years in state prison under his plea agreement, as Patch reported. His co-defendant, Kacy Corso — whose deliberate collision with the victim’s vehicle prevented his escape — previously pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for her role in the crime. Corso is expected to be sentenced on September 2, 2026, to seven years in state prison. DA Tierney thanked his prosecutors for securing the conviction against both defendants.