Man found competent for trial in wife's stabbing death

FARMINGTON — A Layton man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death has been found competent to stand trial for murder almost two years after his arrest.

Police say Joe Castillo, 46, attacked his wife of 20 years, Kaylynn Spackman, and stabbed her to death in front of one of their children in June 2014 and fled. At a hearing Tuesday, 2nd District Judge Glen Dawson said Castillo has been found mentally competent to face the charges against him and a weeklong jury trial was set for May 23.

Castillo was arrested and charged with murder, a first-degree felony, after two days on the run. He also faces charges of domestic violence in the presence of a child and child abuse, third-degree felonies, and violation of a protection order, a class A misdemeanor.

The couple had been separated in the months leading up to Spackman's death, and the woman had filed a protective order against her husband, according to police.

Investigators say Castillo sought Spackman out at their Layton home, 3228 W. 1025 North, and the two began to argue in the garage. Castillo is accused of stabbing Spackman multiple times with a kitchen knife, even as his 17-year-old son attempted to pull him away from his mother.

Unable to stop his father, the boy ran for a neighbor and Castillo fled, according to police.

In the courtroom Tuesday were four women who had befriended Spackman, meeting once a month to play Bunco and talk. Women from the dozen-member group have been attending Castillo's hearings since his arrest in 2014.

"We wanted to jump up and down and celebrate," Susan Daylong said of the announcement that Castillo will face a jury in a few months. "It's justice for her, and her memory and her kids. It's hard."

Daylong met Spackman working as a civilian employee at Hill Air Force Base and introduced her to the rest of the group. The women were close, Daylong said, yet were unaware of much about Spackman's marriage.

"I would sit every week with her in staff meeting and we would talk, and I had no idea," Daylong said. "I guess domestic abuse is that way, none of us knew."

The women said they have been frustrated by the case's slow pace. They remember Spackman as a caring friend who loved to smile and a loving mother to her children, but also as a woman who often seemed nervous.

"She was at my house the Wednesday before she was murdered, and she left early," said Rosina Griego, who knew little about the couple's separation. "You could tell she was scared."

Lorraine Gonzales said she thinks often of the couple's children.

"It's bad enough that the kids lost their mother, they lost him, too," Gonzales said.

Dixie Day added her sympathy for Castillo's mother and family, whom she has seen in the courtroom and who have undoubtedly suffered since his arrest.

The group intends to take time off work to attend the trial.

"She was special to us, so we're just here for support," Griego said.

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA's Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465).

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