Suspect in ex-girlfriend’s Las Vegas killing found dead in Idaho
The manhunt for a Nevada corrections officer suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend last weekend ended Tuesday night when he was found dead in a small Idaho town.
Christopher Gerard Caggiano was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his white 2017 Nissan Rogue in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, according to the Bannock County coroner’s office. The 41-year-old suspect’s death was ruled a suicide.
Las Vegas homicide detectives had been looking for Caggiano since Saturday morning, after his 9-year-old daughter called 911 to report that her mother was lying in a pool of blood inside his townhouse at 4637 Dealers Choice Way. He had fled before officers arrived, police said.
Cheri Louise Anaya, 32, of Bakersfield, California, died of a gunshot wound to her head and neck. Homicide detectives have determined that Caggiano and Anaya had been arguing on the night before their two kids, both under 10, found her body.
The Bannock County coroner estimates that Caggiano had been dead since Saturday evening, leaving his two kids without parents. He was found “after a citizen had noticed the car parked in the same spot for several days,” coroner’s office spokesman Tim Quick said.
Caggiano had been employed with the state Department of Corrections since Oct. 1, 2012, as a senior correctional officer.
He was most recently assigned to High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, roughly 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas, department spokeswoman Brooke Santina said. She added that Caggiano also had passed the background check required by the department before he was hired.
Caggiano’s landlord told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sunday that he had moved into the townhouse in March 2017. Police said Anaya and the children had been temporarily staying in the house.
Anaya’s family is caring for the two children.
“We come from a large family,” Anaya’s aunt, Debbie Bramlritt, told the Review-Journal. “We’re just going to shower them with love.”
Anaya’s death was the 29th domestic-related homicide investigated by Metro this year, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal. As of Saturday, Metro had investigated 93 homicides in 2018.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.