VENTURA : Defendant’s Associate Blamed in Slaying

The attorney for an Oxnard man accused of shooting his wife to death in April, on Tuesday blamed the slaying on his client’s accomplice in a motel robbery hours before the killing.

Jose Santos Castaneda, twice convicted of robbery and now facing a murder charge in the death of his wife, Mina, could be subject to life in prison under the “three strikes” law if convicted in the trial that opened Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court. He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors allege that Castaneda, 26, shot his wife through the head moments after returning to a Santa Paula birthday party April 2.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Murphy told jurors that Mina Castaneda, a 25-year-old honors student at Oxnard College, was angry at her husband for leaving the party earlier that Saturday evening.

The defendant and an accomplice, Anthony Castillo, were gone several hours while Castillo robbed a motel clerk at the Oxnard Inn and Castaneda waited outside in the car, the prosecutor said.

When Castaneda and Castillo finally returned to the Santa Paula home, an angry Mina Castaneda was waiting with a baseball bat, Murphy said.

“Within in matter of seconds the defendant raised his arm, pointed the gun at (his wife) and shot her in the head,” she said.

Castillo is a convicted drug felon scheduled to receive a lighter prison term for the robbery after he testifies against Castaneda, Murphy told the jury.

But defense attorney Willard Wiksell told jurors a different story. He said the evidence will show that Castillo was seen with the 9-millimeter handgun both before the robbery and after the shooting.

“He never gave the gun back to Mr. Castaneda; he kept it,” Wiksell said. “He’s the one that should be on trial.”

The five-day jury trial is expected to conclude next week.