Mark Castillo and his three children spent the day downtown, at the Maryland Science Center, before he checked into the Marriott Inner Harbor hotel at Camden Yards about 5 p.m. March 29, 2008, according to a statement he gave police at Maryland Shock Trauma Center a day later.
By then, the children were dead, and Castillo was recovering from self-inflicted stab wounds to his neck.
"My plan," he said on the tape, "was after [we] had a good day, to, uh, take their lives."
The tape was played during a hearing Wednesday on a defense motion to suppress Castillo's statements to detectives. Public defenders contend that the confession wasn't voluntary and that Castillo, then recovering from surgery, wasn't properly informed of his rights. A similar statement, made at police headquarters, is also being contested.
Castillo is charged in the drowning deaths of his three children. His trial is expected to begin this week.
The conversation between Castillo and Baltimore Detective Raymond Yost at the hospital lasted 12 minutes, with Yost reading Castillo his rights and the defendant agreeing to talk without a lawyer. Castillo told the story like this:
He and the children - Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, 2 - settled into Room 1060 on the 10th floor. They ordered room service and ate dinner. Castillo "distracted the boys by letting them play a video game," then took Athena into the bathroom and drew a bath. He said he held her underwater until she was no longer breathing, then "dried her off and put her to bed."
He repeated the process with the boys, until all three bodies were tucked into bed. He thought for a while about how he would take his own life, ultimately deciding to "cut a major artery and bleed to death."
He stabbed himself in the neck once, then tried again. He passed out. "I felt unfortunate that I woke up," he told detectives. He tried to overdose on Motrin and Aleve. When he awoke again, he called the front desk.
Castillo told the operator he took his children's lives and tried to take his own. "Please call the cops."
Asked to explain his actions, he said, "It's complicated," referring to a custody battle with his estranged wife, who was in court early Wednesday.
"I just wanted to be done with this world," he said, adding, "I want to be punished for my crimes."
