A Long Island man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after admitting he killed his sleeping stepfather with a samurai sword.
Suffolk County prosecutors say 24-year-old Zachary Gibian pleaded guilty earlier this month to manslaughter. He admitted that in 2005, he nearly beheaded Scott Nager, a retired New York Police Department officer, as he slept on a couch in his Long Island home.
Gibian had once claimed his mother was the actual killer. He later changed his story and said he inflicted the fatal blow. His mother was never charged. He also claimed his stepfather sexually abused him but recanted that story when he pleaded guilty.
An appeals court had overturned Gibian's previous conviction on a technicality. He pleaded guilty just before his second trial was to begin.
