Prosecutors Drop Murder-for-Hire Charges

Finding no evidence that a former Sheriff’s Department cadet intended to kill the wife of a classmate for $10,000, prosecutors Friday said the suspect would not face charges of solicitation of murder for hire.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Miles Weiss said there was no evidence to support that 27-year-old Anthony Lamug Castillo of Oxnard intended to kill anyone. Without intent, Weiss said, there is no crime.

A former civilian armed guard at the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center, Castillo has been in Ventura County Jail since being arrested by sheriff’s deputies Jan. 3, the eve of his graduation from the Ventura County Police and Sheriff’s Reserve Academy.

Castillo was still behind bars awaiting release Friday afternoon, a jail spokeswoman said.

His attorney, Barry O. Bernstein of Century City, said he was relieved that his client would soon be released.

“I think things worked out the way they should,” Bernstein said.

Authorities said Castillo approached a fellow cadet who was having marital problems and offered to kill his wife for a fee. The unidentified cadet went to authorities, which led to Castillo’s arrest.

Weiss said two psychiatric evaluators, one hired by the defense and the other hired by both sides, interviewed Castillo twice since his arrest and determined that his actions were not criminal.

“They found that he really did not have a true specific intent to have a murder take place,” Weiss said. “The joint referral helped us make an accurate filing decision. It’s rare, but it helped in this case.”

But the lack of a crime does not excuse Castillo’s poor judgment, Weiss said.

“Although he didn’t intend to have somebody murdered, he furthered an image of a Rambo-type figure, that he should be feared by his classmates,” Weiss said.

“Basically, he has poor impulse control, lack of self-esteem, issues of that nature, but fell short of somebody who had the specific intent of having a murder take place,” Weiss said.

Reserve class President Earnest C.S. Bell, 34, who had not commented on his former classmate’s behavior, said Friday, “I only wish him good luck. I presume that the district attorney’s office looked at it and acted in the best interests of everybody not to file charges.” Since graduation, Bell, an attorney in Ventura, has applied for positions with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, and the Santa Paula and Simi Valley police departments.

“It’s unfortunate it took so long to come to that conclusion,” he said.

Like Weiss, Bell said Castillo’s actions, even if they were a joke, were not consistent with proper behavior of a future police officer.

“Even though he wasn’t charged with a crime per se, it doesn’t mean he didn’t use poor judgment,” said Bell.

“I think a Rambo-style figure is a fair statement,” he added. “Anybody who would even brag or make the kind of comments about having somebody’s wife killed is not using good judgment. If you didn’t mean it, what the hell are you doing saying it?”