Montgomery County police say the medical examiner's office has ruled the deaths of a Rockville couple found at their home as a double homicide.
Police say Richard and Julianne Vilardo both died from sharp force injuries.
Investigators believe that was entry made through a window at the home by an intruder. However, there was no broken glass and the latch may not have been engaged.
A team of detectives and crime scene experts spent Monday searching the couple's home. They spent the day taking photographs and examining the large wooded yard next to the home where the Vilardos were found dead just after noon on Sunday.
Along what appeared to be a path on the side of the house, investigators placed evidence markers and took photographs of something that caught their eye. Around the back, they spent a great deal of time apparently examining the second of two crime scenes where Richard Vilardo's body was found. A tent in the backyard was set up by police as part of the investigation.
"The email that I received said that the wife was found in her pajamas just right inside the back door and the husband was in his pajamas in the yard -- a little bit out in the yard," said neighbor Tam Faulker.
That email came from a neighborhood listserv, which also said the Vilardos spent the evening with other neighbors at Hollywood Casino in West Virginia and arrived home just before midnight.
Police would not confirm how the couple was dressed when their bodies were found.
The couple was supposed to meet their children at Great Falls Sunday morning, but when they failed to show, their daughter arrived at the home and found them dead.
Abbe Gross said she played tennis with Julianne Vilardo at nearby Lakewood Country Club.
"A beloved woman that everybody from all ages can relate to and loved," said Gross. "She just was one of those creatures of the Earth. She just had a good feel and people just liked to be around her.
"She was honest and fair and she loved her family. She told me all about her family every time we were together."
Gross said the Vilardos had two children and Julianne would often care for her grandchildren.
"She wasn't one of these people that said everything is great, but she just enjoyed life and she always had a smile and she had a really good wit," Gross told us. "She had a dry sense of humor and she would shake her head and you kind of knew what she meant. She was one of those people who just got it. She would give you a hug and it was warm and genuine."
According to his company's website, Richard Vilardo was a co-founder of Pinnacle Hotel Management, a Florida-based group that was set up in 1997 to develop and manage Marriott and Hilton-branded hotels.
The group owns several hotels in the Washington area and has sales in excess of $150 million, according to its website.