California man who beheaded his ex-girlfriend with samurai sword is sentenced

SAN MATEO, Calif. (TCD) -- A man who was found guilty last year of beheading his ex-girlfriend with a sword during a fight has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.

San Mateo County records show Jose "Rafa" Landaeta was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 30, to 26 years to life in state prison for the murder of Karina Castro. He received a 25-year sentence for murder and an additional one year for a sentencing enhancement of use of a deadly weapon.

Landaeta pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge, but a jury determined otherwise in November when they convicted him.

On Sept. 8, 2022, a witness flagged down a San Mateo County deputy to report an assault in progress, and when they arrived, they found Castro deceased in the street.

According to the Redwood City Pulse, Landaeta was upset with Castro because she allegedly made comments about him on social media and claiming he was a pedophile. Prosecutors said Landaeta attacked Castro with the samurai sword, which caused her "head to be almost severed." His attorneys argued he killed her in self-defense because she attempted to stab him in the heart.

Landaeta and Castro have one child together.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Lisa Novak said she would have sentenced Landaeta to a longer prison term, but it was the maximum allowed by California law.

NBC Bay Area reports Novak told Landaeta during the sentencing, "This is by far the most difficult trial I’ve ever presided over because of the horror of the crime you committed in butchering Karina Castro."

She continued, "I have no discretion, so it is a sentence based on the verdict of the jury. What the community needs to understand is that this incredible act of violence is not related to untreated mental illness."

Landaeta’s attorney reportedly argued during the trial that he was on medication for paranoid schizophrenia, but he was not taking it at the time of the attack.

Redwood City Pulse reports Novak told Landaeta, "It is an affront to those who have a mental illness that suggests that somehow your culpability should be limited because you have a mental illness. You are clever enough and manipulative enough to have utilized your mental illness to relieve yourself from the criminal liability. It was not successful."

San Mateo Assistant District Attorney Sean Gallagher said, "We think it is a horrifying crime that happened in the middle of the day, and we share the judge’s views that the sentence is woefully inadequate for the violence he perpetrated on the victim and the trauma her family has to live with merits more than somebody who deserves a chance for parole."

MORE:

• The People of the State of California vs. Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta
• Man convicted in San Carlos beheading murder is sentenced to 25 years - NBC Bay Area
• San Carlos samurai sword slayer sentenced to 26 years to life - Redwood City Pulse
• Calif. man convicted of beheading the mother of his child with samurai sword, 11/23/2023 - TCD
• Man found guilty of first-degree murder in beheading case, 11/20/2023 - Redwood City Pulse