According to the charging documents, which have since been made available to the media, the couple’s 18-year marriage was “fraught with conflict and domestic abuse” and became progressively more strained as Ann Anastasi fell out of the love affair, which had lately been brewing up between the couple and their 25-year-old female lover.
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Police say the Anastasis had been married for 18 years and Riggs moved into their basement over the summer.
The bodies of Anthony Anastasi and Jacqueline Riggs were found in the family’s home earlier this month. After police figured out the firearm was not the same one used to shoot Anastasi Jr, they found gunshot residue on Ann Anastasi’s person and clothing. While the woman and Struss have been charged with first-degree murders, the young girl has been charged as a juvenile, the police say. Texts between Struss and the 13-year-old showed she would be “taking the “fall’ or blame for the murders”. She said she heard Anastasi Jr. arguing with Jacquelyn Riggs, a woman who lived in their basement, the night before.
Police say the wife plotted with her 13-year-old daughter and they recruited the teen’s boyfriend to kill her husband and Riggs. And the 13-year-old, whose name was not released because she is a minor, allegedly enlisted the help of her boyfriend, Struss of Annapolis, to commit the slayings.
Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams said someone brought Struss a gun for the murders October 4.
A Maryland teenager accused of helping his girlfriend and her mother murder two people, including the girl’s father, will remain in jail, reports CBS affiliate WUSA. Adams said she is not being charged as an adult at this time.
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So far, no murder weapon has been found in the case. “Never. He’s been manipulated into doing this”, said Struss’ grandfather. “He’s never done nothing, as I know of”.
