Alleged Cyber-Stalker Indicted for Murder

A man from Texas, charged in January with cyber-stalking realtors across the United States, has been indicted for capital murder in the deaths of two women.

Andy Castillo was arrested on January 6 for allegedly cyber-stalking as many as 100 realtors in up to 22 different states. 

The 57-year-old Lubbock resident was accused of sending sexually explicit messages and pornographic images to agents via text message. 

Realtors also received messages containing images of their own children that had been downloaded from social media along with descriptions of the ways in which the sender wanted to sexually assault the minors.

The McLennan County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Castillo in late December 2019 after receiving complaints from seven Waco-based realtors who received sexually explicit images and messages from unknown numbers.

Investigators said that the stalker used multiple phone numbers and an app to mask his identity but eventually made a mistake that allowed his digital trail to be followed. 

In January, Castillo was charged with one count of cyber-stalking and two counts of criminal solicitation-aggravated sexual assault of a child, relating to alleged crimes in Waco.

Now a grand jury has indicted Castillo for capital murder over the deaths of roommates Cynthia Palacio and Linda Carbajal, who resided in Lubbock. 

Palacio’s partially clothed body was discovered on a rural road in Slaton, Texas, in July 2003. Carbajal’s body was found nine months later on a dirt road in northern Lubbock County. Both women were aged 21 at the time of their demise.

Cold case investigators revealed in September that DNA evidence found at both murder scenes had been linked to Castillo. 

According to court documents, a match was found between Castillo’s DNA and DNA evidence that was originally taken from Palacio’s thigh, from underneath her fingernails, as well as from the necklace and blouse she had been wearing on the day she died from asphyxiation.  

After Castillo’s arrest relating to the Waco-area cases, authorities were able to obtain a DNA sample and match it to the DNA found with Palacio.

Castillo is currently being detained in Lubbock County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.