Michelle and Braulio Castillo both wanted a big family.
They adopted their first two children, then had three of their own.
They purchased and ran a small IT company called Strong Castle.
Their business was awarded $500 million worth of IRS contracts in 2012.
They lived the life of millionaires.
In 2013, it was revealed that the company had received preference on government contracts because Braulio Castillo claimed he was a “service-disabled veteran.”
He had injured his ankle playing football at a military prep school in 1984.
They were active in McLean Bible Church.
Braulio Castillo coached his kids’ sports teams, and the family was well-liked.
They were struggling to save their marriage.
In March 2013, Michelle Castillo filed for a protective order from her husband, providing a four-page list of abusive behavior by him such as trying to force her to have sex and locking her in rooms.
She was terrified of him and repeatedly told her friends that if something happens to her that Braulio was the one who probably killed her.
The order was imposed, and Braulio was forced to move to another home a few blocks away.
Before the ink on the divorce papers were dry, Braulio already was seeing someone.
He was dating a triathlete.
Michelle had an unbreakable bond with her kids.
She cared about her children and put their needs above her own.
Michelle was 43, and the couple had been married 18 years.
March 19th, 2014, the two had been in court for a hearing on temporary child and spousal support, and Michelle Castillo’s lawyer said she was seeking $14,000 a month.
But the hearing was postponed due to a crowded docket.
That night, Michelle went out for drinks with a group of runners because she had just qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Braulio had four of their children over for dinner at his house a few blocks from their home, while Nicholas was away at college
Braulio's sister drove his children to a parking lot to drop them off for Michelle.
Nearby surveillance camera captured a grainy figure going inside at 8:10 p.m.
That person, or someone, emerged from the house at 12:30 a.m.
In the morning, the children could not find their mother, so they called their father.
With a neighbor he went inside and took them to school.
The neighbor called police while Braulio went home. Michelle was found with bruises on her face, hanging by an electrical cord wrapped around a basement shower head.
The shower in her master bathroom had been running all night.
The medical examiner ruled she had not been strangled by the cord around her neck, but had been suffocated.
When the police went to Braulio's house to inform him of his wife's death, he was on the phone with his lawyer.
He told police that his lawyer advised him not to talk to them.
He also had a bruised eye and a scratch running down his face.
Braulio’s DNA was found on her bed and sweatshirt, though he hadn’t been in the house for a year.
The shower had been wiped down of all fingerprints.
Sheriff’s deputies obtained a murder warrant for Braulio.
They alleged that Braulio staged his wife’s death to look like a suicide.
At trial in June, Braulio took the stand and denied having any role in his wife’s death.
After five weeks, the jury deliberated for more than nine hours before convicting Castillo on all three counts.
The following day, they issued the sentence of life plus 16 years.
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