An unhinged Mark Castillo, the Rockville man who has admitted to drowning his three children, mocked and refused to cooperate with a Baltimore City judge Thursday — and claimed to be riding aboard “The Little Engine That Could.”
With a black and gray beard, Castillo, 42, began crying and shaking violently as soon as he entered Circuit Judge Gale Rasin’s courtroom, saying that he hadn’t been given his medication that day.
Castillo, who takes Prozac for depression and Vistaril for anxiety, refused to answer any of Rasin’s questions, and even mocked the judge when she told him she would speak in a slow voice so he could understand.
“Thaaaank. Yoooou,” Castillo replied.
“Are you feeling all messed up in your head?” Rasin asked later.
“No, ma’am,” Castillo, who was dressed in a baby-blue shirt and navy-blue pants, replied.
Castillo then demanded 60 days’ notice before he would answer any of Rasin’s questions. He began cutting the judge off as she spoke.
“You can give me the death penalty if you want,” he said.
“I don’t want to give you anything,” Rasin said. “I’m just letting you know you’re not driving this train. I’m driving this train.”
“Well, I’m not on board,” Castillo said under his breath.
After a brief recess so Castillo could discuss matters with his attorneys, Castillo began crying again and put his head down on a courtroom desk as Rasin spoke.
“Mr. Castillo, please listen to this,” the judge said.
“I am, your honor,” Castillo said, keeping his head down. “I listen with my ears, not my eyes.”
His whole body then began shaking again.
“I want to apologize for being rude or offending you,” Castillo said. “… You can conduct this train, but I’m on a different train, called ‘The little Engine That Could.’ I’m no longer going to cooperate with you.”
Since his March 30 arrest, Castillo said he’s been trying to plead guilty to drowning his sons, Anthony, 6, and Austin, 4, and daughter, Athena, 2, at Baltimore’s Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel.
Baltimore police say Castillo told officers he killed his children March 30 because of a “recent divorce stemming from domestic issues with his wife.”
Castillo took 100 Motrin pills and tried to slit his own throat after drowning his children, charging documents state.
He has demanded to fire his attorneys, but on Thursday, Castillo participated with his attorneys and had them back by his side.
Since Castillo refused to cooperate, Rasin said nothing could be accomplished in court until his next hearing, on Jan. 13.
“There’s no factual basis for asserting that a lack of one day’s worth of Prozac causes this behavior,” Rasin said. “Clearly, Mr. Castillo is upset, but being angry, being upset doesn’t stop the train.”
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