Apr 1, 2008 11:17 pm US/Eastern
Father Accused Of Murdering 3 Children Denied Bail
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
The father charged with drowning his three children inside a Baltimore hotel is on suicide watch at a mental hospital.
Eyewitness News has obtained chilling audio recordings made during the bitter court battle with his estranged wife.
As
Mike Hellgren reports, they detail accusations that the troubled father threatened to kill his children months before it really happened.
Fourteen months before police say Mark Castillo drowned his three children one by one at the Inner Harbor Marriott, his wife pleaded with a judge for a permanent restraining order to keep him away from them.
Montgomery County courts would only release the recordings of that day if
Eyewitness News agreed not to air the audio. On them, Castillo's estranged wife Amy says he threatened "to kill the children and not me so I would have to live without them."
She was so scared of him, she left her home in Silver Spring, telling the judge he broke inside.
"The locks are broken out, the windows broken out. The deadbolt's been broken and so I don't feel safe living in the house because of the conflict we're having," she said.
She also claimed he took one of the children without permission.
"He called me and said he had taken Austin out of bed and he wouldn't tell me where he was staying that evening and I could not call him on the phone because he wouldn't answer," she said.
She said Castillo became more aggressive and recounted a suicide attempt where he threatened to drink ant poison, tape his mouth shut and stab himself with a knife.
"He said he was looking on the Internet for where to stick the knife to kill himself," she said.
Amy Castillo tried repeatedly to get a protective order.
"I called the police. I went to the court and nobody would help me with this situation," she said.
Despite her pleas, the judge again said no, allowing her estranged husband visitation.
On the recordings, Mark Castillo said, "We have three beautiful children." He told the judge, "I got very angry. I got tired of being slammed with seeking counseling. I wanted to help myself deal with my wife, who was able to get me very angry. With these protective orders, I got more angry."
Castillo claimed his wife made up the accusations he wanted to kill the kids. "She's upset because I don't want to work on the marriage," he said.
Eyewitness News has also learned Mark Castillo has an ex-wife and child in Missouri. When reached by our newspaper partner, "The Examiner," she said she was in shock.
The judge refused to release Castillo from custody Tuesday. His lawyer had argued he was no threat to the public.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Great NFL Hair
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
