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Update: Killer accepts life in prison to avoid death penalty

PANAMA CITY — As he entered a plea of no contest to killing his wife and father-in-law, Bryan Castleman took a deep breath, rubbed his face with both hands and turned to face his wife’s children and sisters.

“I wish I could say I knew what happened. I wish I could say I understand,” Castleman started. “I have no idea what happened in my house. I don’t remember anything. I wish I could. I’m very sorry.”

The family members of Mary Ann Castleman said nothing during the hearing. Prosecutor Larry Basford said he’d talked with them and the Springfield Police Department about the deal, and Judge James Fensom sentenced Bryan Castleman to two consecutive life terms for killing his wife and Leroy Minnich, her ailing father, in November 2012 in the Springfield mobile home where all three lived.

Mary Ann Castleman and Minnich were discovered in the home about three days after they were stabbed and beaten to death with a knife and a hammer. Bryan Castleman took their money and spent it on drugs and video games after the crime.

Fensom told Castleman he would go to jail for the rest of his life if his plea was accepted, and he asked Castleman if he’d seen the evidence prosecutors would present at trial and what he thought of it. Castleman said life in prison was better than the alternative prosecutors had in mind.

“I’ve seen what they say they’ve got … it pretty much seems to leave me two options, and I choose the better of the two,” Castleman said.

Castleman was scheduled to go to trial later this month on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery. He pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder, thereby avoiding the death penalty, which prosecutors would’ve sought against him if he’d been convicted.

 

The robbery charges were dropped as part of the deal, and Castleman agreed to pay up to $1,000 in restitution for Minnich’s funeral expenses.

 An earlier version of this story is posted below:

 

SPRINGFIELD — Bryan Keith Castleman pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder Monday and was sentenced to life in prison, according to a news release from the State Attorney's Office.

Castleman, 51, of 700 Transmitter Road, Lot 7, killed his wife Mary Ann Castleman, 48, and her father, Leroy Minnich, 64, in their home on Nov. 23, 2012. 

Prosecutors said the defendant acted with a depraved mind when he beat both victims repeatedly with a hammer and stabbed them multiple times. He then took money from his wife and father and used it to buy crack and video games, according to police reports. Castleman was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.


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