Information developed by police during the Regollar murder investigation led Santa Paula Police detectives to also solving the Strobel slaying, which Ventura Police believed had been committed by another suspect.At his sentencing hearing, Castillo’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jean Farley, read a statement by Castillo apologizing to the families of Regollar and Strobel and asking for forgiveness.Castillo has reportedly become very religious while behind bars. Regollar’s family had said early on that due to their own religious convictions they did not wish the death penalty for the murderer of Mirna.Farley believes Castillo’s own life is now in danger due to his testimony against Hernandez, which led to his former friend’s conviction and a life sentence for the Regollar slaying.
Castillo sentenced to life with no possibility of parole for Regollar slaying
March 15, 2001
Santa Paula News
It’s life in prison with no possibility for parole for Jose “Pepe” Castillo, a Santa Paula gang member and double murderer, who was sentenced last week in the slaying of a woman storekeeper.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIt’s life in prison with no possibility for parole for Jose “Pepe” Castillo, a Santa Paula gang member and double murderer, who was sentenced last week in the slaying of a woman storekeeper.On Friday, Castillo, now 23, heard the expected sentence, part of his plea bargain with prosecutors and following his 2000 guilty plea to shooting Mirna Regollar, a 26-year-old Oxnard resident, nursing student and mother of two young children who with her husband owned Junior’s Market on Oak Street.Castillo and Alfredo “Freddy” Hernandez gunned downed Regollar on June 2, 1998 during a botched robbery at the tiny neighborhood market when she activated a silent alarm. The two fled the scene without taking any money in the mid-day armed robbery attempt.Castillo has also admitted to the 1993 slaying of Jesse Strobel, a 17-year-old Ventura High School athlete, who was stabbed while walking home from a night shift at his father’s pizzeria. Castillo, 15 years old at the time, had been riding around with several youths when they saw Strobel and attempted to rob him.
