After a six-day preliminary hearing, a Solano Superior Court judge did not immediately agree Wednesday whether there was enough evidence to try Victor Serriteno on triple murder charges.
Instead, she cited extensive evidence that she wanted to review and ordered the lawyers to return in the next few months to finalize their decision.
The order by Solano County Superior Court Judge Janice M. Williams to return at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 15 came after impassioned closing arguments by District Attorney Krishna Abrams and Assistant Public Defender Felicia Carrington during the afternoon session in Division 25 at the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Serriteno, 32, a previously convicted felon, is accused of killing 32-year-old Priscilla Castro of Vallejo in the afternoon or early evening of Aug. 16, 2020, and burning her body on Aug. 18, sparking the Markley Fire near Lake Berryessa. It merged into the Hennessey Fire and later became part of the LNU Lightning Complex, resulting in the deaths of two men in rural Vacaville.
Over the course of approximately 30 to 45 minutes each, each attorney gave a review and overview of the evidence, with Abrams beginning her summary statements by presenting the death certificates of 82-year-old Douglas Mai, who lived on Pleasants Valley Road, and 64-year-old Leon “James” Bone, who lived on English Hills Road.
Carrington appealed, questioning the legality of admitting the men’s death certificates as evidence, but the judge ruled against her.
In his recounting of key testimony during the hearing, which began July 31, Abrams pointed out that Castro, a mother of two who offered escort services, was last seen on street surveillance cameras at 5:29 p.m. on August 16 as she entered Vacaville, “just around the corner from the defendant’s home (21 Vine Street).”
But Castro, who was driving a silver Mercedes sedan, was never seen or heard from again, Abrams said in a firm voice that rose from time to time for emphasis. She said cellphone records showed she exchanged text messages and voicemail messages with Serriteno before arriving in Vacaville.
She reminded the judge that her cell phone tracking data indicated that her personal and work phones were “on board” her car.
“We know something went wrong,” said Abrams, Solano County’s top police officer who has long advocated for women victims of violence.
She recalled the testimony of Vacaville Police Sergeant Don McCoy, who interviewed Serriteno at the defendant’s home on September 1. Serriteno, she said, gave somewhat evasive answers about his whereabouts on August 16.
Abrams said his answers were “one lie after another” because he told officers he went to a “weed (marijuana) shop in Dixon” on the evening of Aug. 16. At that point, both of Castro’s phones were traced to Winters, and as of 9:15 p.m., “there was no cell phone activity on her after that.”
Additional cell phone records from Serriteno show he was in the area of Highway 128 near Berryessa, Abrams added: “What is he doing out there?”
Additionally, a street surveillance camera in the area of McClellan and Bush Streets showed “a man walking down Bush Street” at 10:46 p.m.
The next day, Serriteno reported to work in Vallejo from Vacaville. He told his supervisor he had injured his back, but cell phone tracking showed he had returned to Berryessa. And on August 18, at 10:09 a.m., a fire was reported near the lake.
Additional cell phone data from after 9:30 a.m. and shortly after 10:00 a.m. showed that Serriteno’s phone was “out there on Highway 128” and, as Abrams noted, “where the fire started.”
By August 18, there was “only one person left who knew where Priscilla Castro’s body was,” she said, referring to Serriteno, who sat at the defense table in a striped prison jumpsuit and with a clean-shaven head and stared blankly straight ahead for most of the hearing.
Citing testimony from her mother, Lisa Phelps, Abrams said Castro “always had her cell phones on.” She added that investigators did not find her purse or phones, but on Sept. 2, they found and seized a necklace with an angel pendant on Castro’s charred remains.
Castro’s body “was unrecognizable.” A forensic examination found that she suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and “severe fractures” to her face, Abrams noted.
The cause of the Markley fire, she said, citing CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Joseph Baldwin’s statement Tuesday, was arson and the fire resulted in the deaths of Mai and Bone.
Carrington countered Abrams’ detailed review of the evidence, saying at the beginning of her testimony that there was no “direct evidence” that Serriteno killed Castro. Her charred remains were found by Vacaville investigators on Sept. 2 near the Homestead Trail in the Stebbins-Cold Canyon area. Her head was unattached, and there were traces of duct tape in her mouth.
Their meeting on August 16 in Vacaville was a “consensual agreement” between a client and a prostitute, she said.
In addition, Carrington noted that there were no “defensive injuries” on Serriteno’s body and that the discovery of his DNA in Castro’s vehicle – on the steering wheel, car seat and elsewhere – was “pure speculation.”
She also recalled that a cellphone mapping expert testified that the data was not accurate and said the investigator warned that the data “should not be used for investigative purposes.”
Carrington also said that no blood was found in Serriteno’s home when Vacaville police investigators entered it on Sept. 11 and that some tapes found there “could be found in any home.”
In her closing defense remarks, Abrams said the evidence in this case was admissible in court.
“I don’t have to prove a motive,” she said, adding that Serriteno was “back in Vacaville” around 10 p.m. on August 16 and his DNA was found in Castro’s silver Mercedes.
Earlier this week, Vacaville Police Sergeant Andrew Yetter, who discovered Castro’s body on Sept. 2, told Abrams he attended the autopsy performed by medical examiner Dr. Arnold Josselson, who, Yetter said, found that Castro’s back had been sprayed with an “accelerant” before her body was set on fire.
Yetter said he arrested Serriteno on Sept. 11 at a construction site in Santa Clara County.
During her visit to Serriteno’s Vine Street apartment on September 11, a Vacaville Police investigator discovered various items in his bedroom, including “clear packages with tape,” zip ties, shoes, gloves and a white rope.
Serriteno pleaded not guilty to the murder, arson, and appeal charges on September 18, 2020. After an eight-month investigation, the charges were amended on July 19, 2021, and he again pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the deaths of Mai and Bone.
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