On the evening of April 19, 2006, Patricia Caniglia, a 59-year-old woman, was fatally shot in her Fort Washington, Maryland, home in what appeared to be a home invasion robbery gone wrong. The incident, which took place in the 13500 block of Piscataway Drive, also resulted in the death of the armed intruder.
Caniglia's son, Antonio, who was in the basement at the time, heard a commotion upstairs.
Arming himself with a shotgun, he went to investigate and was confronted by a man with a handgun. Antonio Caniglia then shot and killed the intruder, who was later identified as 23-year-old Jeffrey M. Gilbert of Landover. Patricia Caniglia was discovered in a bedroom, having been shot in the head. Antonio Caniglia was not charged in the shooting of Gilbert.
The subsequent investigation by Prince George's County police led to the arrests of two other individuals believed to be connected to the crime. Cindi R. Rush, 20, of Baltimore, and Larry Martin Ellis Jr., 23, of Clinton, were taken into custody. Authorities alleged that Rush and Ellis drove Gilbert to the Caniglia residence and dropped him off to commit the robbery. Rush, a former employee of the Caniglia family's restaurant and a one-time girlfriend of Antonio Caniglia, was believed to have provided information that large sums of money were kept in the home. A witness reported seeing a car with two people, matching the description of Rush, near the house at the time of the murder.
Both Cindi R. Rush and Larry Martin Ellis Jr. were charged with first-degree murder in connection with Patricia Caniglia's death. Following her arrest, Rush's inculpatory statements to the police became the subject of a pre-trial legal battle, with a court initially suppressing them before an appeal was filed. The available online sources detail the initial arrests and charges but do not provide information on the final outcomes of the trials, convictions, or sentences for either Cindi R. Rush or Larry Martin Ellis Jr.
