Guilty, was the verdict read out by a California judge, for a man that beheaded his ex-girlfriend with a samurai sword and didn’t seem one bit sorry for his actions.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said, Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta, 34, was convicted of the first-degree murder of mother-of-two Karina Castro, 27, in a street in San Carlos, California in September.
Landaeta is the father of Casto’s 1-year-old daughter. She also has another daughter aged 7, who belongs to someone prior to her relationship with Landaeta.
In court, prosecutors argued that Landaeta was motivated to carry out the killing due to vengeance while his defense argued that he carried out the crime in self-defense while having mental health issues.
His defense team also argued, “Castro was in possession of knives, which were never recovered and that she used in an attempt to stab Mr. Landaeta. She also threatened his family and told him she put a hit out on his mother.”
Landaeta and Castro’s arguments on social media platforms Instagram and Snapchat were presented in court and showed that Castro threatened to reveal alleged sexual encounters Landaeta had with an underage girl.
He also sent her emojis of a ninja and blood and threatened to take their daughter away from her.
Witnesses also testified during the trial, claiming they saw Castro and Landaeta get into a heated argument outside of her apartment before he returned to his car and pulled out a sword.
During his arraignment, Landaeta pleaded not guilty because of insanity. Despite this, he could face 26 years to life in prison following his guilty verdict. The jury was asked to return to receive further instruction on deliberating on aggravating factors, including Landaeta’s use of a sword to behead Castro.
Following the verdict, Castro’s father, Martin Castro, told reporters outside the San Mateo courthouse that he was relieved, but not as much as he’d like to be.
“While I’m glad he’s going to be in prison for as long as humanly possible, my daughter’s still gone. I don’t find a lot of satisfaction out of this, but I’ll take whatever I can get,” he added.
