Ascenzio Lucien Bilello Jr., known to family and friends as “Slanz,” was a 53-year-old White/Caucasian man whose death on August 21, 2023, began as what appeared to be a serious single-vehicle crash near Oakland, Maryland, before investigators discovered evidence that transformed the incident into a homicide investigation. Bilello, a crane operator and salesman who had built a home with his wife in the Deep Creek area, was driving home from work in West Virginia that evening when he was
fatally shot.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., first responders were called to the 3000-4000 block of Cranesville Road near Muddy Creek Road for a reported vehicle accident. Bilello had been driving a white 2017 Ford Explorer when the SUV crossed the center line, struck an embankment, traveled back across the roadway and through a field, and ultimately struck a tree. The scene initially presented as a roadway crash, and Bilello was found critically injured inside the vehicle. He was airlifted to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he died.
The circumstances changed dramatically when investigators examined the Explorer. Deputies discovered a bullet hole through the passenger-side window and determined that the projectile had struck Bilello while he was behind the wheel. Later reporting described the gunshot as striking him in the head, apparently causing him to lose control of the SUV before it left its path and crashed. His family had initially been told that he had suffered serious head trauma in an automobile accident; when relatives reached the hospital, they learned that doctors had discovered a bullet in his head. Authorities subsequently treated Bilello's death as a homicide rather than an accidental traffic fatality.
Exactly where the gunfire originated, why the shot was fired, and whether Bilello was deliberately targeted have remained unanswered questions. His sister, Elena Bilello, later said she did not believe her brother had necessarily been an intended target and considered the possibility that the shooting could have been accidental. That remained her theory rather than a conclusion announced by investigators. The area where the shooting occurred is rural, and according to the family, a nearby resident heard the collision and called 911. Investigators interviewed that resident more than once, but no publicly reported evidence has established who fired the fatal shot.
The Garrett County Sheriff's Office appealed for information in the days following the killing. Authorities initially offered a reward of up to $4,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of a suspect and for other useful evidence. By late September 2023, the reward had increased to $10,000 as investigators continued seeking information from anyone who might have known what happened along Cranesville Road. Sheriff Bryson Meyers said at the time that available resources were being used in the investigation. Bilello's family also posted signs and distributed information about the case as they pressed for answers.
The investigation remained unresolved well after the initial appeals. In a February 2026 report, nearly two and a half years after the killing, no one had been charged in Bilello's death and no publicly identified suspect had been announced. His sister said Maryland State Police had been asked to review the investigation in late 2025, although the result of that review had not been publicly released at the time of the report. The family continued pressing for a broader investigation while the identity of the person who fired the shot remained unknown.
By 2026, the potential reward for information leading to an arrest and identification of a suspect, as well as other evidence, had risen to as much as $50,000. Despite the increased reward and continued public attention, there were still no reported arrests, criminal charges, trials, or convictions connected to Bilello's killing. His death therefore remained an unsolved homicide, centered on the unanswered question of who fired the bullet through the passenger-side window of his vehicle as he drove home along Cranesville Road that August night.
