A couple are facing charges, accused of luring an 81-year-old man to a Cecil County, Maryland, residence and torturing him with hot syrup so that he would divulge the code to his safe.
The Cecil County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in Elkton, Maryland, Wednesday and found the victim outside, naked with injuries to his head and body. He said that he had been robbed and assaulted inside the house, the sheriff’s office said, according to Delaware news site First State Update.
The victim, a Delaware resident who has not been publicly named by authorities, told deputies that he had gone to the home to meet Taylor Falcone, 31, but that Austin Maniscalco, 28, was also there when he arrived.
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The victim accused Mr. Maniscalco of tying him to a chair with a cord, beating him and holding a knife to his throat before ordering him to disrobe and pouring hot syrup on him and causing burns, according to court records cited by local newspaper the Cecil Whig.
The victim and the two suspects were previously acquainted, according to the records cited by the Cecil Whig.
Ms. Falcone left the scene, and while the victim was tied up, Mr. Maniscalco stole his possessions, including keys to a 2026 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2026 GMC Sierra, and a 2016 Cadillac Escalade, $80 in cash and a gold chain, watch and bracelet, the sheriff’s office said, according to WJZ-TV.
The victim ultimately provided Mr. Maniscalco with the code to his safe, located at his own residence in Delaware, which was then written on the victim’s forehead.
Mr. Maniscalco is also alleged to have marked the victim’s chest to show where his heart would be carved out, the sheriff’s office said, according to WJZ-TV.
The victim was able to escape once Mr. Maniscalco fell asleep, at which point he went outside.
The sheriff’s office also contacted the New Castle County Police Department, located in New Castle County, Delaware, which borders Cecil County to the east; the police there confirmed that no one had entered the victim’s residence, according to WJZ-TV.
Mr. Maniscalco initially defied the sheriff’s office’s orders to come outside after they responded to the scene.
After a five-hour barricade situation, the sheriff’s office approached the Elkton residence with a BearCat rescue vehicle, at which point Mr. Maniscalco surrendered. Ms. Falcone was arrested when she returned to the residence later on Wednesday, according to the Cecil Whig.
Mr. Maniscalco is charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, robbery, theft between $1,500 and $25,000, conspiracy to commit assault first degree, conspiracy to commit assault second degree, conspiracy to commit robbery, and conspiracy to commit theft, according to First State Update.
Ms. Falcone is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree, conspiracy to commit assault in the second degree, and conspiracy to commit theft between $1,500 and $25,000, according to First State Update.
Both are being held without bond at the Cecil County Correctional Facility.
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