FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Former Weston doctor Rafael Azulay, who is accused of killing his father in 2018, formally accepted a plea deal Friday, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter, and he is expected to be released from jail sometime later in the day.
Azulay is accused of shooting his father before turning the gun on himself.
“He was charged with murder in the second degree. He was accused of shooting his father and killing his father, and shooting himself, trying to commit suicide,” Azulay’s attorney, Hilliard Moldof, said.
After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Azulay was sentenced to two years of house arrest followed by 10 years of probation.
Deputies say Azulay lured his 67-year-old father, Asher Azulay, and his mother to his Weston home, where he shot and killed his father.
His mother escaped unharmed.
Since then, he has been in the hospital and serving time in the Broward County Jail.
In 2019, Azulay’s attorney requested his release due to mental incompetence.
“Nobody leaves a winner in a case like this,” Moldof said. “His father is dead, he’s seriously injured, his mother wants him back.”
While Azulay is pleased with the outcome, his ex-fiancée is not and told Local 10 News that she fears for her safety. She did not want to be identified, but provided Local 10 News photos of her injuries that she says were related to domestic violence cases prior to the murder of Azulay’s father.
The cases involving the woman and Azulay range from 2015 to 2018.
“I fear retaliation,” she told Local 10 News. “He is going to kill me and then he is going to kill himself.”
She says the district attorney called her about the plea deal in December.
The woman argues that if Azulay isn’t competent enough for a trial, how is he competent enough to make a plea deal?
“How does the state attorney’s office even come to the conclusion that they can offer a plea to a defendant who is incompetent to proceed,” she said.
“I’m confident he understands the outcome of the case,” Moldof said. “I think tomorrow if you asked him some of the details, he won’t remember them — that’s the problem. So a trial is not possible for him.”
The ex-fiancée said there is a 12-year no-contact order in place, but she feels that the order is not long enough. She said she will try to file an appeal to see if she can get Azulay back behind bars.
As for Azulay, he now faces two years of house arrest followed by 10 years probation.