2 criminal cases vs Gordon Castro dismissed

The Superior Court dismissed Tuesday the two criminal cases filed against Gordon Aldan Castro, a 31-year-old man who was killed after a 38-hour hostage drama in San Antonio last March.

Associate Judge Wesley M. Bogdan dismissed one case against Castro that was filed in 2015 and another case filed in 2019, as the defendant is already dead.

Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds, counsel for the CNMI government, requested the court to dismiss the two cases last April 16, citing Castro’s death. A death certificate indicated that Castro died on March 12, 2020, due to a gunshot in the head and chest. Hinds attached the death certificate in support of the government’s motion to dismiss.

Saipan Tribune learned yesterday that the 2015 case was about the government’s petition to revoke Castro’s probation in connection with his conviction in a criminal case that year.

In the 2019 case, Castro was charged with possession and trafficking of methamphetamine following a sting operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Task Force in January 2019.

Armed with a knife, Castro allegedly held his family hostage for seven hours at his house in San Antonio/Afetnas on Sept. 26, 2015.

Castro was already sleeping with his family when members of the Department of Public Safety’s Special Enforcement and Action Section entered the house on Sept. 27, 2015, at 5:46am, according to a police report.

In 2016, Castro pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to 284 days of time served. Castro was placed on supervised probation for five years and ordered to receive mental health counseling/treatment while on probation.

Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho had expressed concern at the sentencing, saying there appears to be no meaningful way to provide mental health care to defendants with mental illnesses and/or disability in the CNMI criminal justice system.

Last March 12, the 38-hour hostage drama ended with the death of Castro and his girlfriend after law enforcers stormed Castro’s home in San Antonio/Afetnas. Police said Castro fired several rounds at the police officers, causing them to return fire and enabling them to “neutralize the threat.” The report did not indicate how the girlfriend was killed.

The hostage-taking started when police were executing an arrest warrant for Castro at his residence last March 10, but he shot a few rounds in the air to scare off the police.

The warrant of arrest was for attempted first-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, use of a weapon in the furtherance of a crime of violence, and disturbing the peace. In this case, he allegedly shot two people. He was not formally charged in this matter because he was killed during the second hostage-taking incident.