Prosecutors detail timeline involving San Jose double murder suspect – “Never seen a case like this”
By Carlos E. Castañeda
Prosecutors in San Jose revealed additional details of a double murder case after the suspect missed his first court hearing on Wednesday.
Marcelino Castro was arrested on Saturday after the San Jose Police Department said he confessed to killing two people in separate incidents and led officers to their bodies located in two different spots along the Guadalupe River bed. Castro was scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, but he did not show up in court, prosecutors said.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, the first killing happened on September 13 and involved a friend of Castro’s. The second murder happened days later, but the victim was not known to Castro, prosecutors said. A statement of facts declaration from a police detective said the friend had been strangled and his throat slit, while the other victim had been strangled and struck with a rock.
In both cases, Castro lured the victims by offering to smoke methamphetamine with them, according to police. Prosecutors also said that Castro first tried to turn himself in at the Main County Jail in San Jose, but the deputies did not believe him. He then walked over to San Jose Police Headquarters, where he flagged down a lieutenant and confessed to the crimes, according to prosecutors.
“I’ve never seen a case like this, where there’s just no apparent motive,” Deputy District Attorney Michael Gadeberg said. “Where someone just has this compulsion to kill, starts with a friend or someone they knew, and then moves on to a total stranger.”
Gadeberg added that it’s believed Castro may have killed again if he hadn’t turned himself in.
Castro was appointed a lawyer on Wednesday and his arraignment was rescheduled to Thursday.
The incidents are the 20th and 21st homicides in San Jose this year.
Anyone with information about the murders was asked to contact Detective Sgt. Van Den Broeck at 3829@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Estantino at 4339@sanjoseca.gov or by calling 408-277-5283.
