St. Paul man fatally stabbed wife during Bible study: Charges

A St. Paul man is accused of fatally stabbing his wife during a Bible study earlier this week.

Robert Castillo, 40, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 41-year-old Corrina Dawn Woodhull on March 21. He's scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday morning. 

According to the criminal complaint, police at 9 p.m. on March 21 responded to a report of a stabbing at home. When they arrived, they found Woodhull lying on the floor bleeding from injuries to her torso, chest and arms. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

Several people were holding Castillo to the floor, the complaint said. He was taken into custody, and on his way to jail he asked an officer, "Is she going to be OK?"

Castillo's sister, who lives at the home, told police they host a Bible study every Tuesday night. Castillo and Woodhull came over for the Bible study — they sat on the couch and were acting normally; Castillo held Woodhull's hand and kissed her, and whispered something in her ear. After Woodhull shook her head "No," Castillo pulled out a knife and stabbed her about 20 times. 

Castillo's sister said she got up, grabbed his hair and tried to pull him off Woodhull. Other family members intervened and got Castillo to stop stabbing Woodhull, and then held him down. 

Castillo's sister said Castillo had a thing about carrying a knife all the time in order to protect himself. A witness told police a knife taken from Castillo was in the armrest of a couch. 

This isn't the first alleged incident of violence against women for Castillo. According to the charges, Castillo's sister told police she'd seen him hit the mother of his child with a hammer, breaking her arm and cracking her head open. The incident was "a long time ago" and she thought Castillo was getting better. 

Castillo's brother said Castillo and Woodhull were having marital problems. They had been at the Bible study for about 90 minutes before the stabbing and it seemed like they were getting along, court documents state. 

Other witnesses also said things seemed fine between Castillo and Woodhull, and no one heard what Castillo said to Woodhill before he allegedly stabbed her, the complaint said. 

Castillo spoke to police, saying he'd been legally married to Woodhull for a couple of years and lived together in Golden Valley until about a month ago, charges state. When asked why they no longer lived together, Castillo said he didn't want to talk about it and then asked for his attorney, so the interview ended. 

Lengthy criminal history

According to court documents, at the time of the stabbing, Castillo had an active warrant for his arrest after failing to appear at a pretrial hearing on fourth-degree assault charges in Washington County after he allegedly harmed a prison guard while he was an inmate in Stillwater. 

He also has eight prior felony convictions, including first-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, second-degree burglary, and dangerous discharge of a firearm, court documents state. Among the incidents, Castillo repeatedly stabbed a roommate's back, head and neck with a knife.