Man, 90, sentenced to house arrest in keeping woman captive, shooting her
A 90-year-old Upper Darby man was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in jail for holding a woman captive in his home and shooting her in July 2022.
Mario Cellini, of the 800 block of Hawthorne Avenue, was given credit for 259 days already served — approximately 8½ months — and will serve out the remainder of his time on electronic home monitoring under the sentence imposed by Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon.
Cellini entered an open guilty plea in December to one count of aggravated assault for what Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt previously described as an attempted murdersuicide thwarted by the quick response of his officers.
Cellini had also been charged with attempted murder, false imprisonment and related offenses, but those were dismissed under the plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Dan Kerley and defense attorney Tashawna Page.
According to an affidavit of probable cause for Cellini’s arrest written by township Detective Leo Hanshaw:
Patrol Officers Michael Taylor, James Fagan Jr. and Andrew Morris responded to the Hawthorne Avenue residence after receiving a report of a shooting made by the female victim at 8:13 p.m. on July 3.
The victim told a 911 dispatcher that Cellini had shot her and was still on location. The three officers began to enter the residence forcefully when they heard a gunshot and retreated to obtain a ballistic shield provided by officers Kalle Blindenbacher and
Kerry Gregory.
The patrol officers reentered with the shield and found Cellini in the living room holding his head with blood pouring down his hand. He was taken into custody and a small black revolver was recovered from the floor nearby.
The handgun, a Rock Island Armory Model 206 chamberedin .38 special, had five spent shell casings and one live round in the cylinder.
Taylor found the victim in a bathtub in a second-floor rear bathroom, bleeding from wounds on the lower half of her body. The door and interior of the bathroom also appeared to have been shot multiple times.
“Help me! He’s going to kill me! Is he dead?” the victim allegedly said upon seeing Taylor.
Bernhardt said police had been dispatched to the residence on prior domestic-dispute calls, most recently in 2021. He said it was the first call to that address in 2022.
The victim and Cellini were taken to Crozer Chester Medical Center for treatment.
Hanshaw and Detective William H. Gottsch spoke with the victim at the hospital, who stated that Cellini had kept her prisoner in the home at gunpoint since the day before and had threatened to kill her if she called police.
The detectives also spoke to Cellini at the hospital, who allegedly admitted to holding the victim at gunpoint for “a couple hours” on July 2 and shooting the gun at the bathroom door while the victim was inside during an argument on July 3.
Cellini was initially held on $500,000 cash bail, but court records indicate he was released March 22, 2023, after bail was modified to $300,000 unsecured.
Page noted Cellini is retired and does not have a criminal
history. She read a letter he had penned to the victim, which stated: “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I don’t know what I was thinking. I never intended to hurt you. I wish it never happened. Please forgive me. I can’t believe what I did and I’m truly sorry.”
Assistant District Attorney Bryan Barth offered testimony from the victim Monday, who dismissed the apology as a “perfunctory and simply worded” letter that displayed little penance or remorse, however, and called Cellini a coward for failing to provide her with an explanation for his actions.