Claire Rice was arraigned Monday on charges of first-degree premeditated murder while armed and related weapons offenses in connection with the December 2012 shooting death of her 58-year-old cousin, Anthony Garland Rice.
Rice, 65, pleaded innocent to all charges and is held pending a status hearing January 10, 2014.
Police found Anthony Rice on December 17, 2012 around 11:00 a.m. dead and shot in a park on the 3100 block of Fort Lincoln Drive Northeast. An autopsy found he had suffered from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Four months later his cousin, Claire Rice, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed in Anthony Rice’s death.
Court documents state that Anthony Rice may have been killed over a $100,000 insurance policy.
At a preliminary hearing in March, Metropolitan Police Detective Brian Wise testified that two life insurance policies totaling $100,000 were hidden in the ceiling of Claire Rice’s home. Wise said that the policies were insured under Anthony Rice and that Claire Rice was the beneficiary.
One policy, purchased in 2010, and another in 2011, listed Claire and Anthony Rice as brother and sister, documents state.
According to charging documents, Rice initially told police she had not been in contact with her cousin in three months. She later said that she had spoken with Anthony Rice the day before he died, because of an outstanding $150 debt she owed him, court documents state.
When police searched Claire Rice’s home, they found an antique firearm, a Maryland Police Training Commission Firearms Safety Course Certificate, and a document that authorized her to purchase a firearm in Maryland, court documents state.
The firearms found in Claire Rice’s home were linked to the bullets recovered from Anthony Rice’s body.There was no evidence, however, that Claire Rice purchased the ammunition.
The case is scheduled for a status hearing on January 10, 2014.
