Homicide vs. suicide debate continues as ex-Erie resident held for court in 2012 killing

Twenty-year-old Lexie Castile died of a gunshot that was fired into her head as she, her fiancé and her toddler son were inside their converted garage apartment in a west Erie neighborhood on Sept. 16, 2012.

Those facts were not in dispute in court on Thursday as 35-year-old Anthony S. D'Onofrio, once engaged to be married to Castile, made his first public appearance after being brought back to Erie from Washington earlier this summer.

What is in dispute, according to testimony and arguments that played out during D'Onofrio's more than two-hour preliminary hearing Thursday morning, is who pulled the trigger.

Erie police in early July charged D'Onofrio with criminal homicide, first-degree murder and aggravated assault, accusing him of fatally shooting Castile inside their residence in the 1100 block of West 24th Street 11 years ago. The charges were filed after cold-case detectives with the Erie Bureau of Police and the Pennsylvania State Police took a fresh look at Castile's death with the Erie County District Attorney's Office and reviewed the case with Erie County forensic pathologist Eric Vey. M.D. The Erie County Coroner's Office ultimately ruled Castile's death as a homicide following that review.

But the lawyers representing Castile argued Thursday that there was nothing presented at the hearing to prove that D'Onofrio had killed Castile. The evidence actually supported D'Onofrio's initial claims to police that Castile had shot herself, including evidence that Castile's DNA was found on the trigger and grip of the gun that claimed her life, lawyer Chad Vilushis said in his closing argument Thursday.

Erie 6th Ward District Judge Timothy Beveridge bound all of the charges against D'Onofrio to court following the hearing. D'Onofrio remains in the Erie County Prison without bond.

More: Fiancé charged in 2012 fatal shooting of 20-year-old Erie woman at West 24th St. apartment

Unknown death

The shooting was reported on the early morning of Sept. 16, 2012. Officers who responded to the West 24th Street residence found Castile on the floor next to a bed in the apartment and located a firearm on the bed, with its magazine out and the bullets removed from it, Erie police Sgt. Sarah Schardt testified under questioning by District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz.

Schardt said she initially spoke to D'Onofrio's mother, who lives in another part of the residence, then spoke to D'Onofrio and brought him to the Erie police station for questioning. She said D'Onofrio told her that he and Castile were involved in a small verbal altercation that evening, and that D'Onofrio told Castile to pack her belongings and move out.

Schardt also testified that D'Onofrio mentioned he took the gun and removed the magazine and the bullets.

Erie police Detective Sgt. Dennis Oborski, who was one of two city police criminal investigators initially assigned to the case after Castile's death, testified that D'Onofrio told detectives that he, Castile and the child had gone to his cousin's house the previous evening. They were going to stay over at the cousin's house but came home instead because D'Onofrio said Castile was cold and had to work the next day.

Oborski said D'Onofrio stated that after they put the child to bed, he sat on the couch to watch television while Castile was on the bed. He told police Castile thought D'Onofrio was mad at her for them leaving his cousin's house, but he said he was not mad at her and there was no yelling or a physical altercation between them, according to Oborski's testimony.

Investigators who charged D'Onofrio in July wrote in his criminal complaint that he told Castile to move out of their apartment. He also said Castile stated she could not live without him, according to information in the complaint.

According to Oborski's testimony, D'Onofrio told police he then heard a "pop," turned on the lights to the apartment, looked down at Castile and yelled to his mother that he thought Castile shot herself. D'Onofrio told police he then grabbed the gun, emptied it and counted the bullets, Oborski said.

According to D'Onofrio's statement, he saw a wound to the side of Castile's head and called 911, about three minutes after he heard the pop, Oborski testified.

Oborski said under questioning by Vilushis that the gun was registered to D'Onofrio and that he used it in his security job. Police were told the gun was stored in a box under a sink next to the bed, the detective said.

Oborski said in response to Vilushis' questioning that police did not learn of Castile's mental health history or look into her relationship with her mother, and did not believe police served search warrants for Castile's or D'Onofrio's cell phones.

Vilushis also asked Oborski what the motive was in the shooting.

"I have no clue, no clue," the detective replied.

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New information

The Coroner's Office did not initially rule on the cause of Castile's death following autopsy, as it was awaiting more information in the case. That changed in early July, when the office ruled the death as a homicide following the evidence review. Cold-case investigators then filed the charges against D'Onofrio in the death.

Erie police Lt. Ken Kensill of the city police bureau's Identification Unit testified under questioning by First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Reger that presumptive gunshot residue testing on D'Onofrio's hands after the incident was positive, and that gunshot residue was found on a portion of his T-shirt during another test.

While searching the apartment for evidence, police found the box D'Onofrio said his gun was stored in with its latches shut, recovered a spent shell casing in a bag and a live round near the bag, and recovered a projectile in the ceiling, according to Kensill.

The bullet that killed Castile entered by her right ear at a slight upward trajectory and exited by her left ear, according to testimony at the hearing. Kensill testified that, using that information, he and another detective in the Identification Unit returned to the apartment to try and recreate the bullet's trajectory.

In reading from a supplemental report Vey authored following a recent review of the evidence, Kensill said the report states in order for the shooting to have been self-inflicted based on the trajectory, it would have taken an extraordinary and atypical stance in positioning the gun that Vey had not seen in his years as a forensic pathologist. Kensill said he tried to recreate the positioning of the gun, which he showed in court, and could do so but without gripping the gun properly or reaching the trigger.

Kensill agreed with Vilushis under cross-examination that atypical does not mean impossible. He also said that the recovered shell casing was not tested for fingerprints or DNA evidence and that Castile's body and clothing were not tested for gunshot residue.

The gun was swabbed for DNA evidence. When Vilushis asked whose DNA was found on the gun, Kensill said they found Castile's DNA and the DNA of an unknown profile on the weapon.

Vilushis said in asking Beveridge to not bind the case over to court following testimony that police not having D'Onofrio's DNA on the gun's trigger speaks volumes. He said that, unlike other cold cases that are solved with advances in technology, nothing has changed in the investigation since Castile's death.

Vilushis also argued that no motive was offered and nothing was presented to give a possible reason as to why D'Onofrio would want to kill Castile.

Hirz argued that prosecutors do not have to prove a motive, noting that while Vilushis said there was no reason for D'Onofrio to kill Castile there was also no reason for Castile, a mother of a young child who had a job and was planning a wedding, to kill herself.

In order for the suicide to be believable, one would have to believe Castile went to the corner of a dark apartment, retrieved the gun, made sure the gun box latches were secured, put the gun box back, stood up, racked the slide to eject the live bullet that was recovered, contorted her hand and shot herself in a way the forensic pathologist had never seen before, Hirz said.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Ex-Erie resident held for court in fatal shooting of fiancée in 2012