LAFAYETTE La. (KLFY) — A man was sentenced by a jury for allegedly stabbing his friend of three years 13 times.

Cody Guccione was convicted by a Lafayette Parish jury for the second-degree murder of Leo Jack at an apartment complex on South College Road on Feb. 3, 2021.

The jury heard evidence and testimony from Lafayette officials that Leo Jack was at home in his apartment just before 6 p.m. that evening when Guccione knocked on his door and attacked him with a knife, stabbing him multiple times.

Officials said Guccione then dragged Jack into a closet in a back bedroom and attempted to clean the bloody floor. He then allegedly changed into clothes from Jack’s closet and left the apartment caring a trash can.

A neighbor who lived above Jack’s apartment testified that he heard a violent fight taking place in the apartment below, which was later confirmed by officials who obtained surveillance footage of Guccione arriving at the apartment complex at 5:48 pm and leaving wearing Jack’s clothes and shoes.

A forensic pathologist testified that Jack died from sharp force injuries to the head, neck and
body, and he told the jury he identified thirteen separate stab wounds during his autopsy.

Guccione was arrested five days later on a second-degree murder charge by U.S. Marshalls at a Lafayette hotel, and his vehicle was found abandoned near Laujanie Road officials said.

Officials said sentencing will take place March 11, 2035, by district judge Michele Billeaud, who presided over the trial. Guccione faces a mandatory sentence of life at hard labor.

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