SAN CARLOS, Calif. — A man charged with beheading the mother of his baby in the middle of a San Carlos street last week must undergo a mental competency exam before authorities can prosecute him in connection with the vicious killing, a judge ruled Monday.
Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta, 33, is being held without bail in the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City on murder charges. He made his first appearance in a San Mateo County courtroom Monday afternoon for allegedly using what prosecutors described as a “Samurai sword” to kill his estranged girlfriend, 27-year-old Karina Castro.
His defense attorney, Robert Cummings, immediately asked Court Commissioner Sarah Burdick to have the court examine Solano’s fitness for court and his ability to participate in his own legal defense.
Burdick ordered that doctors be appointed at a Tuesday morning hearing, after which an examination of Solano and a resulting report will be presented to the court within about eight weeks.
With the father, family and friends of Castro in the court gallery openly sobbing, Solano stared intently at the floor, unresponsive behind a blue surgical mask, while Cummings was forced to answer on his behalf.
Moments earlier, in asking for the competency evaluation, Cummings said his request to Burdick was based on “my past interactions with him and my interactions with him over the last 72 hours.” Cummings was Solano’s appointed counsel for a misdemeanor battery arrest filed last fall — also involving Castro as the victim — that resulted in a criminal protective order that was active at the time she was killed.
Monday, Burdick also issued a protective order for Castro’s two young children, one of whom she shared with Solano, barring him from contacting the children.
After the hearing, the victim’s father, Martin Castro Jr., declined to talk to reporters , appearing too distraught to speak.
In an interview with reporters Friday, he said, “I feel like this is a horror movie that I need to wake up from.”
After the arraignment, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed that Solano was charged with one count of murder with a charging enhancement for allegedly using a deadly weapon. If convicted on all counts, Solano faces up to 26 years to life in prison.
Wagstaffe said he considered the competency examination to be appropriate at this stage.
“It is better to get this taken care of now to determine whether he is competent to stand trial than to do it in two years when we are about ready to start a trial and have gone through the whole process of a prosecution,” he said.
Solano was arrested Thursday afternoon, after witnesses said he initially left the crime scene on Laurel Street near Magnolia Avenue, then returned and was spotted and detained by patrol deputies.
Just before noon that day, neighbors and witnesses alleged that Solano viciously assaulted his estranged girlfriend, Karina Castro, outside the apartment complex where she lived with her two young daughters, including the 1-year-old she shared with Solano.
Wagstaffe confirmed that Solano is accused of using what he called a “Samurai sword” to inflict multiple blows on Castro, and that investigators have recovered the weapon, but declined to provide any more details about the blade.
He stopped short of describing the killing specifically as a beheading, calling it a “subjective phrase,” and said that “the death was caused by the blow from this sword to her neck area multiple times.” When asked again, he confirmed that the death was “effectively” a decapitation.
At the time of Castro’s death, Solano had been the subject of a criminal protective order related to an Oct. 31, 2021 altercation at the apartment complex. Court records show Solano was arrested and charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and disturbing the peace, and reached an agreement in which the battery charge was dismissed and he pleaded no contest to the disturbance charge.
Castro and Solano’s relationship was described by friends and neighbors as dysfunctional and turbulent. Monica Camacho, a longtime friend of Castro, told this news organization Friday that the couple started dating about three years ago, had broken up, then reunited in June before ending their relationship again.
Camacho said Castro had started dating someone new, and that it spurred jealousy from Solano, whom she called “very toxic.”
Nathaniel Chan, a neighbor who witnessed the immediate aftermath of Castro’s slaying and had seen or overheard numerous conflicts between her and Solano at the apartment complex, recalled Solano previously making veiled threats about Castro.
Chan recalled that a few weeks prior, Solano was on the front sidewalk complaining loudly to a friend about Castro. When she called out to him from a balcony, Chan said Solano responded by saying, “Oh, I’m just sharpening my knife,” and chuckling."
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