A Middlesex County man has been arrested and charged in connection with the 2004 fatal shooting of a Plainfield resident in Scotch Plains, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park, Plainfield Police Director Carl Riley, and Scotch Plains Police Chief Ted Conley jointly announced Thursday.
David Ghigliotty, 35, of South Plainfield was arrested without incident at his home Wednesday and lodged in Union County Jail, charged with first-degree murder and two second-degree weapons offenses in connection with the death of 26-year-old Taji Pile.
Shortly after 10:45 p.m. on June 22, 2004, Scotch Plains police officers responded to the 1300 block of Rahway Road on the report of a male injured in the street. Pile was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead the next day.
An investigation involving the Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Unit (which became the Union County Homicide Task Force in 2008), the Plainfield Police Division, and the Scotch Plains Police Department ultimately resulted in Ghigliotty being identified as a suspect.
Bail in the case was set at $1.5 million by state Superior Court Judge Frederic McDaniel.
Convictions on first-degree murder charges are commonly punishable by 30 years to life in state prison.