- Illegal Alien, Douglas Herrera Castellanos, found guilty of killing Mary Nagle in her bedroom -

 

Thursday, April 6, 2006

An illegal alien from Guatemala hired as a day-laborer handyman was found guilty by a Rockland County Court jury Wednesday of killing a New City woman in her bedroom. Douglas Herrera Castellanos killed Mary Nagle, 42, on April 29, 2005 as she got ready for a tennis match.

Castellanos was convicted of first-degree murder, rape, robbery and burglary for attacking the woman after he was sent by his boss to power-wash a backyard deck.

Castellanos told the court that he had been drinking and using cocaine the night before he killed the woman.


 

- Man convicted of murder for gruesome assault -

- Handyman brutally attacked housewife in her home -


 

Thursday, April 6, 2006

NEW CITY, NY - A man who was hired to clean a backyard deck was convicted yesterday of raping and murdering a suburban housewife as she dressed for a tennis match.

A Rockland County jury deliberated less than four hours before finding Douglas Herrera Castellanos guilty of first-degree murder in the April 29 killing of Mary Nagle, 42, of New City.

The victim’s husband, Daniel Nagle, cried when the verdict was read and hugged some of her sisters. At a press conference at the district attorney’s office, he said it was a “day that brings back the sorrow, but a day that also reminds us that justice will be done.”


“I’m glad that we’re at this point today,” he said. “It’s been a very long year. It’s been a very sad year.”

Herrera, 30, was convicted of all 15 counts against him, which included first-degree murder, second-degree murder, rape, robbery, burglary, engaging in a criminal sex act and aggravated criminal sex abuse. He faces life in prison without parole when he is sentenced on May 15.

Of the verdict, Herrera’s lawyer, Barry Weiss, said: “I expected it from Day 1. I’m not the least bit surprised.”

The killing, in a quiet, tidy neighborhood, had exposed the danger of a common situation in the suburbs — the wife home alone and a handyman on the scene, often with access to the house.

Several of the jurors were reduced to tears at times during the two-week trial, as when Chief Medical Examiner Lone Thanning, apologizing “for being so graphic,” used grisly photos of the victim’s body to enumerate the gashes, hemorrhages and mutilations she suffered as she was beaten, slashed and choked to death in her bedroom.

“Mrs. Nagle engaged in a prolonged struggle for her life ... as she bravely, as she forcefully tried to fend off her attacker,” Thanning testified.

She said Nagle had lost part of an ear and tufts of hair in the struggle; one finger was nearly severed; her own fingernail marks were on her neck, evidence of trying to pry off a strangler’s hands; and there was a bite mark on her back.

Jurors also wept when Nagle’s husband testified about seeing her body at the morgue and then identified an old photo, projected onto a screen in the courtroom, that showed her smiling and radiant.

Daniel Nagle sat through most of the testimony, surrounded by relatives, most of whom wore an angel pin to honor his wife. The widower often wiped his eyes and occasionally left the courtroom for the most intimate or graphic testimony.

Some of the creepiest testimony came from five women, including one of the victim’s five sisters, who said they received phone calls in the hours after her death that were made from her cell phone.

The caller, they said, was a man with a Spanish-speaking accent who in most cases mentioned Nagle’s name and spoke lewdly about what had happened to her. Herrera had Nagle’s cell phone with him when he was arrested.

Comment:

Douglas Herrera had the gall to try to mitigate his actions by telling the court that he had been drinking and using cocaine the night before he killed Mary Nagle. This excuse is being offered up more and more by vicious killers. The jury clearly did not let itself be influenced by such subterfuge. There was not much question but that Herrera would be convicted; and there is not much question but that he will receive the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole at his sentencing on May 15, 2006.

How many more such murders will we have to endure before the federal government starts doing something effective regarding keeping illegal aliens out of the country? Congressmen Tom Tancredo is leading the way in supporting legislation that will make our borders more secure, impose fines and other penalties on employers who hire illegal aliens, and make it easier to deport illegal aliens once they are apprehended. Be sure to vote for Mr. Tancredo and other congressional candidates who support reasonable legislation regarding illegal aliens. Your vote and your financial support can make a difference.

Yours Faithfully, Liberty