It’s official: Kenneth Abbott is dead.

More than a year after he was killed, Kenneth Abbott’s death certificate is public.

Prosecutors have alleged since last July that Kenneth Abbott, a 65-year-old pharmaceuticals company retiree from Brady Township, was murdered by his son, Colin Abbott.

Since then, Colin Abbott, 42, of New Jersey has been in the Butler County Prison awaiting trial on charges that he killed both his father and his stepmother, 55-year-old Celeste Abbott, to gain control of their significant assets.

But a to the prosecution’s case — as well as related civil court and family court matters — had been a lack of a death certificate for Kenneth Abbott.

Both Kenneth and Celeste Abbott allegedly were shot to death, before their bodies were dismembered then burned on their 25-acre West Liberty Road estate. Investigators, beginning July 13, 2011, were able to locate only pieces of the couple’s charred bone fragments.

Almost immediately, Celeste Abbott was positively identified by her dental records. But prosecutors initially made an attempt at identifying Kenneth Abbott’s remains through the DNA.

As the months continued to slide by without a DNA match, Colin Abbott’s defense team asked the courts to dismiss the homicide charge against the defendant relating to his father, claiming a vital element to the crime had not been demonstrated. That request is still pending in criminal court.

However, that changed on Aug. 15 when Kenneth Abbott’s death certificate was certified.

It states that Kenneth Abbott’s manner of death is homicide and his cause of death is listed as a single gun shot wound to the head. The document lists his date of death only as “before July 13.”