Castillo ordered held for mental evaluation

September 4, 2008

A Baltimore Circuit judge yesterday ordered a Montgomery County man accused of drowning three children in his Inner Harbor hotel room to undergo a 30-day evaluation at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup. Mark Castillo, 42, has asked to represent himself at trial, and forensic psychiatrists at Perkins will assess whether he is legally fit to do so. The ruling came after court medical evaluators determined they could not render a decision on Castillo's competency to represent himself. Castillo is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Anthony, 6; Austin, 4; and Athena, 2, whom he confessed to drowning one by one at the Marriott Inner Harbor hotel in late March. Police said Castillo then tried to kill himself. Police believe Castillo killed the children in an act of revenge against his estranged wife. Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin said at yesterday's hearing that she must carefully follow the law to minimize the chance of a successful post-conviction appeal, if he is convicted.

Julie Bykowicz