PANAMA CITY — A Springfield man accused of killing his wife and her father, then using her money to buy crack and video games to distract himself, wants a judge to throw out his statements to police.
Bryan Keith Castleman, 50, could face the death penalty if he’s convicted at trial in October of two counts each of robbery and first-degree murder in the slaying of Mary Ann Castleman and her father Leroy Minnich.
Kim Dowgul, who is representing Castleman, aims to convince Judge Brantley Clark that police violated Castleman’s Fifth and Sixth amendment rights when they interrogated him without an attorney present.
According to the motion, which is scheduled for a hearing Friday afternoon, investigators with the Springfield Police Department and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office questioned Castleman six times Nov. 26, the day police discovered the bodies of Mary Ann Castleman and Minnich. Castleman signed forms twice waiving his Miranda rights, but told police he wanted a lawyer during the second questioning.
Dowgul’s motion asks the judge to prohibit a jury from hearing anything Castleman said after that point.
A complaint affidavit says Castleman admitted to killing his wife and his father-in-law and said he didn’t know why he did it, but it’s not clear if he made incriminating statements during the first two interviews or later.
Castleman was arrested Nov. 26, after a neighbor went to police and told them Castleman had shown him the bodies in Castleman’s home on Transmitter Road. He is accused of ambushing his wife with a hammer and a knife as she got out of the shower and then doing the same to her ailing father.