Jose Rafael “Rafa” Solano Landaeta, left, admittedly beheaded Karina Castro, right, with a samurai sword in September 2022. He claims the killing was in self-defense. Images via screengrab/KGO-TV.
A California man learned his fate this week for the samurai sword beheading of the mother of his child in the middle of a street.
Jose Rafael “Rafa” Solano Landaeta, 34, was sentenced on Tuesday to 26 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the Sept. 8, 2022, killing of Karina Castro, 27.
Castro’s grandmother called Landaeta a “monster,” “the worst kind of evil,” the Bay Area’s KRON reported.
The victim’s father, Martin Castro Jr., said the punishment wasn’t enough, NBC Bay Area affiliate KNTV reported.
“That’s exactly how I felt,” he said. “It’s not enough. California is insane as far as that goes. I don’t understand. If he used a gun, he could get life without parole. He butchered her … and they’re giving him a light sentence because he didn’t use a gun.”
Judge Lisa Novak upbraided the defendant, the outlet reported.
“This is by far the most difficult trial I’ve ever presided over because of the horror of the crime you committed in butchering Karina Castro,” Novak said. “I have no discretion, so it is a sentence based on the verdict of the jury. What the community needs to understand is that this incredible act of violence is not related to untreated mental illness.”
His defense attorney said the killing was self-defense and blamed mental health issues, saying he had not been taking medication for chronic paranoid schizophrenia, KNTV reported.
He was found guilty in November of first-degree murder, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
As Law&Crime reported, the shocking daytime slaughter occurred on the corner of Laurel Street and Magnolia Avenue in the suburb of San Carlos, about 25 miles south of San Francisco.
Solano has never denied what he did.
In an interview from the jailhouse, he told San Francisco-based ABC affiliate KGO-TV reporter Dan Noyes he feared for his life because Castro grabbed a weapon of her own on the day in question.
“He says she emerged from the driver’s side of [her] Volkswagen with the knife in hand and kind of marched toward him with this knife,” he recalled in a debriefing with colleagues after he left the San Mateo County Jail. “And he claimed that he swung that sword in self-defense.”
Evidence during the trial showed the killer and the mother of two had been increasingly angry with one another in the days leading up to the attack, according to local CW affiliate KRON. A defense attorney even characterized their relationship as “toxic.” Castro accused her ex-boyfriend of being a pedophile and a rapist in a series of private social media messages. In response, Solano sent a series of ninja emojis — the animated men even had swords on their backs.
“The head was underneath the car and she was laying in the back of the car — just severed,” neighbor Chapel Thorborne told KGO-TV. “And they covered her up.”
Witnesses saw the two in a verbal altercation on the street before the violence occurred. Castro’s two children were present — one of whom is also Solano’s daughter — but were later moved upstairs. At some point, the killer went back to his car, retrieved the samurai sword and struck. The man was seen repeatedly “slashing” at the mother of his child several times until her head had almost completely come off, according to Palo Alto Online.
“This crime was vicious,” prosecutor Josh Stauffer said during trial. “This crime was cruel. There is no credible evidence that the defendant suffered from any mental health condition on the day of the crime.”
The prosecution argued that Solano planned the sword attack. He told his boss he was sick, left early, retrieved the sword from his home an hour away, revealed his intention to a friend, and then drove to confront Castro.
Solano first entered not guilty by reason of insanity plea but was deemed competent to stand trial. Later, he changed his plea to not guilty while claiming the killing was in self-defense.
Defense attorney Robert Cummings also told jurors that his client’s schizophrenia diagnosis made him genuinely fear for his life due to the messages he received from Castro, according to USA Today. The defense also raised the idea that the victim tried to stab Solano first — but no evidence was ever presented to support that version of events.
Multiple medical professionals testified that there was no link between Solano’s mental health issues and the brutal killing.
The woman tried to run during the attack — but Solano was determined. The killer struck her at least seven times.
One witness who testified reportedly said he saw Solano “swing at Castro with such a blow, her arm was almost severed from her body.”
Law&Crime’s Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
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