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星期三, 9月 21, 2016

First-Degree Murder Conviction in Veteran’s Slaying

First-Degree Murder Conviction in Veteran’s Slaying

BOSTON, Sept. 21, 2016—The man who gunned down 22-year-old US Army veteran Stephen Perez during an altercation in a Theater District parking garage was found guilty of first-degree murder in his homicide, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
Jurors convicted PETER CASTILLO (D.O.B. 8/6/88) of Salem about two hours after Judge Mitchell Kaplan instructed them on the law. The verdict, which rejected Castillo’s claim of self-defense, came after about four days of testimony. Castillo faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole when Kaplan sentences him Monday morning.
“Cases like this are the reason we take a hard line against illegal handguns in Boston,” Conley said. “A young man carrying an illegal handgun isn’t just more likely to use it – he’s more likely to put himself in the position where he’ll use it. This was an argument, a fistfight at the most, that escalated to murder because the defendant was carrying a handgun he had no business possessing. And the terrible irony is that Stephen Perez survived two tours of duty in Afghanistan only to die on the streets of Boston.”
Evidence and testimony introduced by Assistant District Attorney David Fredette proved that Perez, a resident of Revere, was out with friends in Boston’s Theater District into the early hours of April 28, 2012, when he became involved in an altercation in a Tremont Street parking lot. Castillo came from behind Perez and shot him in the back.
Perez was rushed to Tufts Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Castillo fled the scene – and later the country. Based on video footage, eyewitness statements, and other evidence, Boston Police homicide detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest and  Suffolk prosecutors obtained an indictment charging him with first-degree murder.  After adding him to their 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list, the US Marshals Service developed information that led to Castillo’s capture in the Dominican Republic in January 2015.
Also charged in connection with the case are LUIS SEPULVEDA (D.O.B. 8/15/84) and JANICE HARDY (D.O.B. 12/12/90), both of Lynn, who were indicted for misleading an investigator and perjury for allegedly lying to police and then to the grand jury investigating Perez’s murder. They will be tried at a later date.
Elise McConnell was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Castillo was represented by attorney Scott Gleason.

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