| For Immediate Release July 28, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell |
MAN TO STAND TRIAL FOR 1995 RAPE AND KIDNAPPING AFTER STATE’S 100TH DNA HIT
TIED HIM TO THE CRIME
SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana man, who was linked through DNA to the rape of a Fountain Valley woman in 1995, is scheduled to begin trial Monday. This case marked the 100th time that the state tied a suspect’s DNA to an unsolved crime. Robert Castillo, 34, is charged with rape, sodomy, and kidnapping. He is scheduled to begin trial Monday, July 31, at 8:30 a.m. in C39, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
On February 23, 1995, Castillo is accused of raping a 28-year-old woman in Fountain Valley. The victim had run an errand to a 7-11 store and was returning home. Castillo is accused of grabbing the victim from behind as she was walking home, forcing her at knifepoint into a secluded area, and brutally raping her.
The crime remained unsolved for seven years. In 2002 the evidence collected by the Fountain Valley Police Department was submitted to a statewide database by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and a positive DNA hit was made on Castillo. He was arrested in Costa Mesa on a parole violation. The DNA match was the 100th time in California that a suspect was tied to a crime through the use of DNA analysis.
Deputy District Attorney Kal Kaliban of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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