Accident, Suicide or Murder: The Big Shot is highlighting the accidental shooting of Costas Christofi by former NBA player Jayson Williams.
In the early morning hours of February 14, 2002, a house guest at Williams’ 65-acre estate in Alexandria Township, New Jersey, made a 911 call to report a shooting.
The person reporting claimed that Christofi, their 55-year-old limo driver, shot himself in the chest.
When emergency first responders arrived, they found Christofi dead on the bedroom floor.
After an autopsy was performed on February 20, 2002, the medical examiner stated that Christofi did not kill himself and that the shooting happened at close range.
The medical examiner also ruled Christofi ‘s death a homicide.
Costas Christofi was accidentally shot by Jayson Williams
Williams said he hired Christofi to pick up his friends and NBA players from a restaurant and drive them to his home.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelWhen they arrived, he invited him inside for a tour and to look at his gun collection in the bedroom.
As Williams was holding a Browning 12-gauge shotgun in his hand, it suddenly went off and struck Christofi, which caused him to fall into a round table and land on his left side.
Christofi died within minutes.
Williams said he acted cowardly after the shooting occurred.
Instead of telling the truth, he tried covering it up and making it look like a suicide.
Jayson Williams covered up the shooting
A guest in the house testified that after the shooting, Williams looked at Christofi as he lay injured on the floor and immediately thought his life would be over.
That’s when Williams decided to make it look like Christofi had killed himself.
Williams said he jumped in the pool to remove the blood from his clothing.
He then put Christofi’s fingerprints on the gun.
Despite their efforts, Williams was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter and other offenses.
Williams was facing 55 years in prison before his charges were dismissed in 2004.
He was then charged with aggravated assault.
On January 11, 2010, Williams pleaded guilty, and a judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
After serving 27 months, he was released in April 2012.
At his sentencing hearing, he apologized to the victim’s family. He said, “There’s not a day I wake up and I don’t feel sorry for what I did to Mr. Christofi.”
He also settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the victim’s family by paying $2 million.
Accident, Suicide or Murder: The Big Shot airs Saturday at 8/7c on Oxygen.