A 24-year-old man is charged with murder after a deadly stabbing during a child custody exchange in West Haven, Connecticut, in a case police are describing as an act of familial violence. What was meant to be a routine handoff of two children between an estranged couple ended with a man dead and the father facing serious charges.
Police have identified the accused as Kurt Wilkins Castillo, who is charged with murder along with two counts of risk of injury to a minor. Authorities say he killed 35-year-old Robert Piccirillo, the brother of Castillo's ex-girlfriend, who had come along with his sister for the exchange when the confrontation turned violent.
The killing happened on Sunday evening in the 200 block of Meadowbrook Court, where Castillo lives. The estranged couple share two children, and police believe the stabbing unfolded in the presence of the kids, a detail that underpins the additional charges of risk of injury to a minor filed against Castillo in the case.
According to court documents, Piccirillo's sister told police that she and Castillo got into an argument when he brought the children down to her car. She said Piccirillo was trying to calm things down between them when Castillo swung at him, then pulled out a knife and began stabbing him. The weapon was recovered on scene after Castillo told officers where it was.
The court documents also say Castillo confessed to the stabbing, but insisted he did not mean to kill Piccirillo. He told police he had brought the knife to protect himself and only used it because he thought Piccirillo had a gun. According to the reports, Castillo acknowledged that Piccirillo did not actually have a gun.
Castillo is being held on 1 million dollars bond. At his arraignment, the public defender's office was appointed to represent him, and he is due back in court on August 11th. West Haven police continue to characterize the killing as familial violence, a fatal end to a custody exchange between two people who once shared a family.