An Oct. 7 preliminary hearing has been set for a National City murder suspect who was arrested in Mexico in June for allegedly shooting Jesus Degalilea Pena, 43, repeatedly on March 23, 2013.
Manuel Joseph Castro, 50, last lived in National City before he fled to Mexico with the alleged assistance of his brother, Henry Paul Castro, 49, who has since been ordered to stand trial on an accessory after the fact charge.
An autopsy showed that Pena had 30 gunshot wounds. High powered rifle casings were discovered on the parking lot in the 1500 block of Sweetwater Road, according to court records. Pena was shot at 5:30 p.m. in front of a dumpster, east of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant and west of the Hanaoka’s Japanese Restaurant.
A witness who called 911 after hearing so many shots told National City police he saw a tall, slender man wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt firing a rifle, but thought he was shooting at the dumpster as he could not see the victim.
Surveillance camera footage from area businesses shows that the victim may have been followed to the area by the car registered to Manuel Castro, but it does not show the shooting. Pena lived not far from the Castro brothers in National City.
Manuel Castro worked at a store in Chula Vista, but showed up for work three hours late on the date of the murder. Four days later, he disappeared and did not pick up his last paycheck, records say.
A witness told police Manuel Castro tried to sell a rifle to a pawn shop, but the sale did not go through before he left.
His car was found in Chula Vista and it was searched, but was “thoroughly cleaned out of any forensic evidence,” according to a National City detective.
Henry Castro attempted to rent a converted garage for his brother a day after the shooting, but Manuel Castro never lived there. Henry Castro was quoted as telling a witness his brother was gone and was in God’s hands.
After Manuel Castro was arrested June 29, Henry Castro was also arrested on the accessory charge. Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney conducted a preliminary hearing Aug. 4 and Henry Castro was ordered to stand trial for accessory after the fact.
Both Manuel and Henry Castro remain in jail on $1 million and $200,000 bail respectively. Both have pleaded not guilty and their attorneys could not be reached for comment.
