Man given 33-year term for fatally stabbing wife during Bible study at her sister’s St. Paul home

A man with a violent past received a prison term topping 33 years Friday for fatally stabbing his wife in the heart during weekly Bible study at her sister’s home in St. Paul.

Robert Castillo, 41, of St. Paul was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the attack on 41-year-old Corrina Woodhull in March 2023.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Castillo is expected to serve about 21⅓ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

At the time of the attack, a warrant was out for Castillo’s arrest stemming from when he failed to show up in court on charges that he assaulted two corrections officers in 2020 while in Stillwater prison, where he was serving time for hitting a woman in the head with a hammer in 2014.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers were dispatched about 9 p.m. on March 21, 2023, to the 1000 block of E. Maryland Avenue and saw Woodhull bleeding from wounds to her torso, chest and arms. Police found a 6-inch hunting knife nearby.

Woodhull was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital 40 minutes after being stabbed. One of the stab wounds penetrated her left chest and heart, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Woodhull’s sister said Castillo whispered something in his wife’s ear as the couple sat on the couch. She shook her head no, and Castillo stabbed her about 20 times. The sister said she grabbed Castillo by the hair to pull him off Woodhull. Other family members stepped in, stopped the stabbing and held Castillo down.

Once the attack stopped, another Bible study participant came to the aid of Woodhull and heard her say, “Don’t let me die.”

Castillo’s brother said the couple had been having marital problems of late but seemed fine that evening.

When investigators asked Castillo about what happened, he replied, “I don’t want to discuss,” the complaint quoted him as saying. He did reveal that he and Woodhull had been married for a couple of years and were residing in Golden Valley for about a month. He declined to say why they were no longer living together.