A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a Selden man at the Stony Brook Yacht Club and is expected to be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Victor Panebianco, 32, of King, North Carolina, entered the plea Aug. 11 before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei in connection with the Nov. 10, 2025, killing of Christopher Millwater, 52, of Selden.
According to court documents and Panebianco’s admissions during his guilty plea, Suffolk County police received a 911 call at about 3:42 a.m. reporting an unconscious man in the parking lot of the Stony Brook Yacht Club.
Police and EMS found Millwater with two stab wounds to his chest. He was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that Millwater had driven into the yacht club parking lot shortly before the 911 call. Panebianco and co-defendant Kacy Corso had also arrived in the lot and were sitting inside Corso’s vehicle, prosecutors said.
Panebianco got out of the passenger side and approached Millwater. Millwater then drove around Corso’s vehicle toward the parking lot exit, but Corso crashed into his car and prevented him from leaving, according to prosecutors.
Millwater got out of his vehicle and tried to run from the area. Panebianco chased him while swinging a knife and eventually caught up with him, prosecutors said.
During the confrontation, Panebianco threatened to kill Millwater and later kicked him in the head as he lay motionless, according to the district attorney’s office.
Panebianco and Corso then returned to the vehicle and fled the scene and New York, prosecutors said.
Investigators obtained cellphone records showing that Panebianco had arrived on Long Island from out of state about 90 minutes before the killing and left New York afterward.
Panebianco was arrested in North Carolina on Nov. 19, 2025, with assistance from the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office.
“The defendant’s guilty plea does not take away the pain of the loss that Christopher Millwater’s friends and loved ones have endured,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. He said the plea spared Millwater’s family and friends from going through a trial while holding Panebianco accountable for the killing.
Panebianco pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22 and is expected to receive 25 years to life in prison.
Corso pleaded guilty July 22 to first-degree manslaughter for her role in the killing. She is expected to be sentenced Sept. 2 to seven years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sheetal Shetty of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Homicide Bureau.
Photo: SCDA
