Remains in former home of man convicted of killing wife identified as those of missing ex-girlfriend

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say human remains found in the former home of a man recently convicted in the slaying of his wife have been identified as those of his missing former girlfriend.

Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees told reporters last week that the remains of Jilly Todaro were identified through body imaging by a forensic odontologist and anthropologist. Lees declined to go into detail about the cause of death but called it “homicidal violence.”

The remains were found buried in the basement of the former Johnstown home of 48-year-old Brian Giles a day after he was convicted in the death of Nancy Giles, who went missing in October 2018. Nancy Giles’ remains were found in May 2019 in a shallow grave near a trail on the Inclined Plane hillside in downtown Johnstown.

Todaro, Giles’ girlfriend after the disappearance of his wife, also lived at the home and disappeared in December 2020. District Attorney Greg Neugebauer told reporters that he expects charges to be filed in the near future in her death.

Brian Giles’ defense attorney, Timothy Burns, declined comment a week ago on the discovery of the remains before they had been identified. In the trial over Nancy Giles’ death, he had cited his client’s report of mental health struggles and called the convictions “disappointing,” saying the defense would explore its options. Brian Giles himself professed his innocence as he was led from the courtroom.

Neugebauer said the search of the residence a day after the verdict came after authorities “had for the first time very specific information relative to where a body would be located.”

“Obviously, when we went there, we expected it to be Jilly,” he said. He said she had been deceased ”for quite a while,” and finding the remains in the manner they did had made the prosecution’s case “significantly stronger.”

Relatives of Todaro, who was 43 when she disappeared, were “very grateful” that she had been found and they could “start the healing and grieving process,” Lees said.

Assistant District Attorney Jessica Aurandt said she wished Todaro “could have seen, in her lifetime, the amount of people who rallied together, who made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that she was found and treated with the dignity that she deserved.

“I wish she could have seen how many people care,” Aurandt said.