From the Twin Cities weekend crime recap
Violent offender Robert Castillo, 40, was charged in Ramsey County Court on Thursday in the St. Paul stabbing homicide of his wife Corrina Woodhull, 41, in the middle of a Bible study group last Tuesday.
Charges say police arrived about 9 p.m. Tuesday at the residence on the 1000 block of Maryland Avenue East on a report of a stabbing and found Woodhull on the floor bleeding from injuries to her torso, chest, and arms.
Castillo was being held to the floor by several other people. A witness told officers a knife located on the armrest of a couch had been taken from Castillo.
The stabbing occurred in the home of Castillo’s sister, GC, who was hosting the weekly study group.
GC told police that Woodhull and Castillo came over for the Bible study and were sitting on a couch and were acting normally. Castillo held Woodhull’s hand and kissed her and then whispered something into Woodhull’s ear. After Woodhull shook her head no, Castillo pulled out a hunting knife with a 6-inch blade and stabbed Woodhull about 20 times. GC got up, grabbed Castillo’s hair, and tried to pull him off Woodhull. Other family members intervened and got Castillo to stop stabbing Woodhull, and they held him down. Another witness provided a similar account of events and said that Castillo stabbed Woodhull in the face first before stabbing her all over her body. GC told police that Castillo carried a knife all the time to protect himself.
GC told police she had seen Castillo hit a different woman, who was the mother of Castillo’s child, with a hammer. The incident with the hammer also occurred at GC’s home. Castillo broke the woman’s arm and cracked her head open with the hammer. GC said that incident with the hammer was a long time ago and she thought Castillo was getting better.
Police also spoke to Castillo’s brother, JC, who was present in the home during the incident. He said the couple were having marital problems but had been at the Bible study about 90 minutes and were getting along with no signs of hostility. JC said when he came out of the bathroom, he saw Castillo standing over Woodhull with a huge, military-style knife in
his hand. JC saw Castillo stab Woodhull about 10 times with the knife before the rest of the family tackled Castillo and disarmed him.
Castillo has a history of convictions on violent crimes and was under “intensive supervised release” having just been released from prison in August on a conviction on second-degree assault in the case where he beat his former girlfriend with a hammer. Castillo’s other convictions include two convictions on fourth-degree assault of a peace officer resulting in demonstrable harm, first-degree assault involving great bodily harm in a case where he repeatedly stabbed a roommate, dangerous discharge of a firearm, second-degree possession of methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, and second-degree burglary — in total, eight felony convictions.
Castillo was also wanted on an active felony warrant at the time of his arrest in another case on a charge of fourth-degree assault on a prison guard involving substantial bodily harm. The case was charged in 2020 while Castillo was incarcerated in Stillwater Correctional Facility. He had failed to show up for recent hearings multiple times since November and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Castillo has been charged with second-degree murder with intent but not premeditated. He remains in custody on $5 million bail.
Read the full Twin Cities weekend crime recap here.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
