Gary Cowell, defendant in Patchogue body parts case, tells the judge he panicked when he woke up to find his friends' lifeless body 

A Patchogue man who admitted using an ax to cut up the body of a friend and dispose of her remains told a Suffolk judge at his sentencing Thursday that he was not involved in causing the woman's death but "panicked" when he woke up to find her lifeless body in his home.

Gary Cowell, 72, in going against the advice of his attorney by addressing the court at sentencing, said he was concerned about his prior criminal history when he decided to mutilate and dispose of Yvette Leonard's body in June.

"I didn't know what to do. I already had a record," Cowell told Acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft. "I had nothing to do with her passing."

Senft sentenced Cowell to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison, the maximum amount allowed under the law for his January guilty plea on charges of concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

"If I could impose more I would," Senft told Cowell.

The judge's comment came toward the end of an emotional, and at times heated, hearing as Cowell opened up about his relationship with Leonard, 56, of Patchogue, and the events surrounding her June 13 disappearance and death.

Cowell said Leonard visited his Edwards Street home on that night to have conversation, as he said she often would. He told the judge he was tired and told her he needed to shower and rest before retiring to his bedroom.

"I woke up to go to the bathroom and she had passed away," he said.

Cowell said his conversations with Leonard, whom he described as a "good person" and one of his "best friends," have continued in the months since he disposed of her severed limbs in three locations along Montauk Highway in East Patchogue, where she wouldn't be found for more than a week.

"When I get through with here she's going to come to me in a vision," Cowell said.

"You are a liar!" Leonard's son Malyk shouted from the audience. "Stop talking about my mom like that."

While police and prosecutors have never shared a theory for how Leonard died, her family has spoken openly about her struggles with drug addiction.

Malyk Leonard said his mother was someone who tried hard to get and stay sober, recalling the many 12-step fliers he found in her apartment after she disappeared.

"Her saying was always 'One day at a time,'" said Leonard, who now lives in Brooklyn. "She would always be following her 12 steps, at least to the best of her ability ... At this point you just gotta tell it like it is. That's her."

Leonard told Senft during the sentencing hearing that he held out hope his mother was still alive as he spent the week after her disappearance trying desperately to find her. He said he spoke to Cowell in that time and he denied knowing where she was.

"[Today] requires me to remember the days in that hot summer sun that I searched for my mother, hoping to find her, having to slowly come to the reality that I would never see my mother again," Leonard told the judge. "[It] forces me to relive the day that I was informed of the terrible news that my mother was found, well, her body parts. That her body was chopped up and scattered through the town she grew to love."

Leonard said Cowell's actions ultimately robbed his family of the opportunity to properly mourn his mother, as her remains decomposed under the elements.

"No one deserves this," he said.

Defense attorney Jeremy Scileppi, of Commack, said his client has "sincere regret" for what happened and a "great love" for his friend.

"He offers his apology in the most sincere terms after my advice and counsel not to say anything," Scileppi said.

Cowell took his opportunity to speak anyway, apologizing and saying his friend "wouldn't want this."

"She would not be going for this here, be doing this to me," Cowell told the judge, a remark that caused the judge to interject. 

"Let me be very clear on something," Senft told Cowell. "You're doing this to you. Your conduct ... you did this to yourself."

Leonard said his mom was a loving and deeply religious person who made a positive impact on the people in her life, including supporting him to study science at Stony Brook University, leading him to a high school science department chair position.

"When she went missing, literally 100% of the people that I spoke to had zero negative things to say about my mother," Leonard said. "So what I do want to constantly remember is just the good times."

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.