HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The man accused of decapitating 51-year-old Andrew Castro will remain in jail on $1 million cash bail.
Donovan Allen Chargualaf Ornellas, 40, a former Department of Youth Affairs officer, was back in the Superior Court of Guam before Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan on Friday after his bail hearing on Thursday was delayed.
Assistant Attorney General Sean Brown told the court this is the first time he’s seen a case like this on Guam, calling it egregious.
“The victim was stuck in a wheelchair when the defendant removed his head,” said Brown. “It wasn’t done on accident. It was an intentional act.”
Defense attorney Gloria Rudolph, who was appointed by the court to represent Ornellas, did not have a response to the prosecution’s recommendation for bail.
The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 1.
The court also ordered that Ornellas have no contact and stay away from the witness in the case.
He was charged with murder as a first-degree felony and aggravated assault as a second-degree felony. Both charges include a special allegation of the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
According to court documents, Ornellas told police that he used crystal methamphetamine while at the victim’s apartment in Santa Rita on Jan. 19. The suspect and victim have a familial relationship, police have stated.
Ornellas admitted that he felt compelled to kill Castro, saying the victim had placed his family in danger.
“I had removed his head from his body.… I used the knife that was given to me.… I placed the head into a black plastic bag,” Ornellas wrote in his confession to police, court documents stated.
Investigators found the victim’s head in a burned car in a jungle area in Dededo, court documents added.
