Carlos Amarillo, 44-Year-Old NYC Man, Murders Girlfriend And Daughter With Hammer For Being 'Witches'

A New York City man has murdered his girlfriend and her daughter with a claw hammer for being witches. Carlos Alberto Amarillo, 44, was arrested by authorities on Wednesday carrying a Bible and yelling, "I killed them! I killed them!" Amarillo called 911 himself, admitting that he "assassinated" his girlfriend, 56-year-old Estrella Castaneda, and her daughter, 25-year-old Lina Castaneda. His "reason" for the murder: Amarillo believed Estrella and Lina were witches who placed a voodoo hex on him.

“I killed them because they are witches,” Amarillo reportedly told the cops, according to New York Daily News, when they arrived to 24-10 87th St. in East Elmhurst in Queens. “I killed them with a hammer.” Amarillo allegedly also told the cops that he wanted “the police to kill me.” According to public records, there are no domestic violence complaints involving Amarillo and his two victims, but there was a local arrest in a 2005 case with sealed details.

“Around midnight we heard loud hammering. It was loud. I work in construction so I know what a hammer sounds like. I can’t believe it was the sound of someone getting hit. It sounded like someone was swinging that hammer hard,” said neighbor Camilo Alvarez, 23, reports the New York Post. Fortunately, Lina Castaneda's 7-year-old daughter was not attacked, as she was found in a bed near her mother's body in the crime scene. Sources have told local media outlets that the young girl is currently in her father's custody.

When police arrived, they found blood on the bed and the wall behind Estrella's dead body and a hammer by her bed. Neighbors told reporters that they could hear the hammer bashing the victims from their apartment. Amarillo, reportedly a construction worker, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.