Trial date set for Elkhart woman accused of murdering her husband

GOSHEN, Ind. – The trial date for an Elkhart woman accused of killing her husband has been set. 

At an initial hearing Thursday morning, a judge set Angelica Castillo’s jury trial for March 4, 2019. Castillo faces a murder charge. Castillo preliminarily pled not guilty at the hearing. 

Elkhart police say Castillo shot and killed her husband, Elder Castillo Sr., in May. Then, Angelica Castillo allegedly hid the body in the couple’s home and drained Elder’s bank accounts. Angelica Castillo was on the run until August when police in southern Georgia found her. 

ABC57 spoke to family ahead of the hearing. They say today is the start of a long, emotional process. 

Karrie Castillo is Elder’s sister-in-law. She also worked with Elder for nine years. 

She describes Elder as a caring, giving man with a hilarious laugh. Karrie says Elder was a father figure to her two daughters, his nieces. She says Elder even welcomed her other children who were not related to him. 

“He always made sure my girls, even my son that’s not biological from his brother, he always made them feel like part of the family,” said Karrie Castillo. “I have two younger kids, and they even went to his house. He welcomed them. Just treated everybody like they were family.”

Karrie says he didn’t deserve to die and hopes justice is served. 

“I know it’s innocent until proven guilty, but from everything that we’ve seen, I think we’ve pretty much made up our mind on our opinion and we’d just like to see justice be served for Elder and all of his family,” said Karrie Castillo. “He didn’t deserve what he got. I’d like to know the truth and what really happened. It would be nice if we would get the truth.”