Man charged in area real estate agent cyber-stalking case, Lubbock murders, dies in jail

LUBBOCK, Texas (KWTX) - Andy Castillo, 57, accused of targeting Waco area female real estate agents and threatening to sexually assault their children and later indicted for capital murder in the deaths of two women, has died in jail.

A jail roster entry says Castillo was “released deceased” last Friday.

Authorities haven’t released the cause of his death.

Castillo, who was arrested on Jan. 6, 2020, at a Lubbock residence, was initially charged with criminal solicitation to commit aggravated sexual assault of a child, but was later named in a complaint charging stalking, a third-degree felony.

About a half-dozen female agents in the Waco area received sexually explicit photographs sent from cellphone numbers they didn’t recognize as well as photos of their children, evidently copied from social media pages accompanied by descriptions of what the stalker or stalkers would like to do to the children sexually.

The stalker evidently used apps to mask the numbers from which the images and messages were sent, but finally made a mistake, local investigators said.

McLennan County investigators contacted authorities in cities across the country including Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, and San Antonio to determine whether they’ve received similar reports of cyber-stalking targeting female agents.

The local investigation may also link to similar cases in Tucson, Ariz.; Anaheim, Berkley, Irvine, San Jose and Santa Clara, Calif; Broward County and Daytona Beach, Fla.; New Orleans; Reno, Nevada; Albany and Manhattan, N.Y.; Beaufort, S.C.; Seattle, Wash., and Washington, D.C.

In early December 2020 Castillo was indicted for capital murder in the deaths of two Lubbock women.

Cynthia Palacio, 21, was killed in 2003 and Linda Carbajal, 21, was murdered in 2004.

Palacio’s partially nude body was found in July 2003 along a rural road.

Carbajal’s body was found in April 2004 along a dirt road in northern Lubbock County.

DNA evidence recovered at the scene of the murders connected their deaths and in September 2020, investigators revealed DNA evidence from Palacio’s body had been linked to Castillo, KCBD in Lubbock reported.

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