CHARGES: Man Stabbed Wife '20 Times' at Bible Study
Officers on scene of a fatal stabbing on the 1000 block of Maryland Ave. E. on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Photo via Saint Paul Police Department
Ramsey County prosecutors have charged 40-year-old Robert Castillo with 2nd-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed his wife to death while attending a bible study at a Saint Paul residence earlier this week.
A criminal complaint filed in court says that when officers arrived on the 1000 block of Maryland Ave. E. around 9 p.m. Tuesday, they were escorted inside the home and found a female victim, bleeding from multiple injuries to her abdomen, chest and arms.
Paramedics would later transport the victim—now identified as Corrina Woodhull, 41—to the hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
Several other people inside the home were holding Castillo to the floor as officers arrived and he was immediately taken into custody, the documents said.
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Officers interviewed Castillo’s brother, who also attended the bible study. He told officers that Castillo and Woodhull were married but were separated at the time. The bible study had been underway for about an hour and a half, the brother said, and it appeared Castillo and his wife were getting along that night.
Officers also spoke with Castillo’s sister, who lived at the home. She said they host a bible study there every Tuesday night. Castillo and Woodhull were sitting on a living room couch and at one point, Castillo whispered something into her ear, to which Woodhull shook her head, “no.”
Castillo then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim repeatedly. The witness estimated that Castillo stabbed the victim “20 times or more,” with family members intervening and eventually able to pull Castillo off the woman. Officers recovered a knife from inside the residence that matched one Castillo was known to carry, the documents said.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined the victim’s cause of death was multiple sharp-force injuries. According to the report, one stab wound penetrated the left side of her chest and her heart. The medical examiner noted additional injuries to her face, chest and upper extremities.
According to court records, Castillo had an active arrest warrant at the time of the Saint Paul stabbing. That warrant was for failure to appear at a hearing on a previous 4th-degree assault charge, stemming from an alleged assault of a Corrections Officer at the Stillwater prison when Castillo was in custody.
TWITTER: Our original thread on the stabbing
Castillo has eight prior felony convictions including one for 1st-degree assault, in which Castillo was convicted of repeatedly stabbing his roommate in the back, head and neck with a knife. A 2nd-degree assault case also detailed Castillo’s alleged assault of a woman with a hammer, leaving her with a broken arm.
Castillo has previous convictions for 4th-degree assault, 2nd-degree burglary, 2nd-degree drug possession, dangerous discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.
Castillo was released from prison on parole last August and was said to be under intensive supervised release (ISR). According to the Department of Corrections, those on ISR are typically supervised by a team of four to five agents and are subject to random visits multiple times weekly, electronic monitoring, drug testing and mandatory employment or schooling.
Castillo made an initial court appearance on Thursday morning, where bail was set at $5 million and Castillo was granted a public defender.
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