Expendable For A Cause.

Eva Castillo was named by Manuel Hechavarria (Cuba). He guided detectives to her last known residence but she was not there – she had been arrested for burglary in September 1984 and was in prison, using the alias Rosa Solis.

When detectives interviewed Castillo in prison, she admitted to committing burglary with Cuba and someone called “Charlie.” She also named “Julio” and mentioned that he lived with two brothers. She admitted committing burglary with Julio.

Castillo said she had known Ramirez since July 1984, and that he was nicknamed “Despeinada.” She did not have much to do with him because he was “dirty” (probably referring to his methods as opposed to his hygiene) and because he injected cocaine (she preferred heroin). She claimed to have done ‘speed balls’ with him, and they had shared a needle. Castillo described Ramirez as “jumpy,” and his technique “messy” and that “he stole too small things to be of any value.” She said he sold these goods at various pool halls. They purchased drugs at the same places: the Lincoln Hotel and the Traveler’s Hotel. For someone who never worked with Ramirez, and had only met him eight weeks earlier, Castillo certainly knew a lot about his burglary M.O. Perhaps she was lying about the length of time she had known him.

Castillo said that she witnessed Ramirez committing auto burglary near the Greyhound bus station after another criminal suggested stealing a car. She said that the fellow burglars were furious with him, believing that he would bring the police down on their little ‘community.’ His recklessness as well as his lack of skills at the ‘craft’ certainly gave criminals the motive to report him to the police. Richard Ramirez was the weak link and expendable.

Eva Castillo then revealed she was due for release on 6th October 1985 and had been paroled to Felipe Solano’s house – it always comes back to that man.

Eva Castillo is Missing

Like Alejandro Espinoza (yet another person who named Felipe Solano), Eva Castillo disappeared. This is a pity, because she would have been useful for the defence argument, because she had corroborated Sandra Hotchkiss’ description of him as an inept burglar. Also, she too had named Julio – somebody the police should have investigated. This means she was aware of other people who traded with Felipe Solano.

Ramirez claimed to have been a runner of stolen goods on behalf of Solano – he said these items he sold on had been stolen by Castillo and that he had taken them into Tijuana as a favour. According to Philip Carlo, Ramirez hoped they would be able to locate her, “to show what a lying creep Solano was” (page 340). However, Ramirez’s defence team was useless and Castillo was never found.

There was something very odd about her disappearance, however. As mentioned above, Castillo was paroled to Solano’s address. At trial, a correctional officer, Alex Lujan, testified as much, stating that he had called Solano’s house to double check that the address was legitimate. Solano’s wife took the call and informed Lujan that Castillo was not there. Conveniently, the prosecutor Halpin ‘forgot’ his files and so Lujan’s cross-examination was postponed. Days later, when Lujan returned to the witness stand, he changed his story. Now it ‘was all a big mistake’ and Castillo was not paroled to Solano’s at all. Instead, he claimed that Castillo was supposed to be deported to Mexico, had absconded and was now a fugitive. It is profoundly suspicious for such a key informant in the Night Stalker case to mysteriously disappear and suggests that Halpin used the ‘forgotten files’ as an excuse to go away and concoct a new story with his witness.

During Felipe Solano’s testimony (which will be covered in Part 6), he lied about ever receiving stolen goods from Castillo, but it was spun into a magnanimous act rather than perjury. This will be discussed in the next section.

-VenningB-

21st November 2023