MIAMI (Court TV) — A man accused of murdering his wife in front of their 7-year-old daughter lost his temper in court and began yelling in Spanish when a judge refused to let him represent himself.
Onelio Castro-Arroyo appears in court. (WTVJ)
Onelio Castro-Arroyo, 58, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, with whom he had had a troubled relationship for several years, investigators said.
At a brief court hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors presented a plea offer to the defendant that would have required him to serve 20 years in prison, WTVJ reported. Castro-Arroyo rejected the plea deal and began yelling in Spanish at the judge, telling her, “I don’t believe in this,” and “I don’t trust the attorney or you.” When the defendant asked to represent himself, the judge declined the request. Records reviewed by Court TV show that Castro-Arroyo had previously attempted to represent himself without success.
This wasn’t the first time the defendant had been disruptive in court. At a 2023 hearing in a separate case regarding allegations that he had been siphoning gas, he repeatedly said, “I don’t understand what I’m doing here,” WPLG reported.
Prosecutors said Castro-Arroyo confessed to stabbing the victim 16 times while she was sitting in the driver’s seat of her 2014 Cadillac SRX on May 21, 2019. The couple’s 7-year-old daughter was allegedly sitting in the back seat during the attack and later told police that “her ‘daddy killed’ her mother.” Investigators found a bloody knife and blood-soaked clothes in a dumpster outside the defendant’s home.
After the killing, Castro-Arroyo called 911, investigators said. Two people on an apartment balcony witnessed the violent attack, prosecutors said.
At the time of his arrest in 2019, Castro-Arroyo was on probation after pleading guilty to first-degree arson in 2015. In that case, he was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation. The arrest for second-degree murder prompted prosecutors to revoke Castro-Arroyo’s probation, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, which he is currently serving.
The defendant is due to return to court for a hearing on Oct. 19.
