Castillo-Alvarez verdict held until Friday

SPENCER, Iowa -- While Judge Don E. Courtney has made his decision in the kidnapping and murder trial of Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez, the verdict will not be made public until Friday, Jan. 25.

Castillo-Alvarez, 32, of Mexico, was tried in a bench trial in Clay County last September. The charges against him included second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony relating to the death of Gregory "Sky" Erickson in June 1997.

The defendant was extradited to Iowa from Houston in 2006 after being returned to the United States from Mexico. He had been charged two years earlier in connection with Erickson's death.

Courtney's court reporter mailed the judge's findings of fact, conclusions of law and verdict along with the court file to Clay County from Algona Thursday with instructions that the findings, conclusions and verdict be sealed until it can be read in open court in Emmetsburg, Iowa, at 1:30 p.m. next Friday. The Clay County Sheriff's Department has been ordered to arrange for the transfer of the defendant to Emmetsburg for the reading of the verdict at that time.

Erickson, who was only 15 years old when he was killed, lived in Estherville, Iowa. His body was found in an abandoned farmhouse in Jackson County, Minn., just north of the Iowa border. He had been beaten and shot in the head execution style.

The trial took place over 2 1/2 days in September, with the direction that prosecutor Charles Thoman and defense attorney Michael Williams would make their closing arguments in writing.

Using information from witnesses in the previous trials, Thoman alleged that Castillo-Alvarez was the "head of a conspiracy operating out of Estherville (Iowa) to distribute illegal drugs for profit, principally marijuana and cocaine."

Williams countered that most of what Thoman said "was purely speculative," and that his client was not "the head guy," in a conspiracy. He labeled the drug network Thoman referred to in his opening as "conjecture. My client was a drug dealer. There's no getting around it. He sold a lot of marijuana, pounds, pounds, pounds, dozens of pounds, an awful lot of marijuana.

"But the structure of the organization had other people selling drugs, a lot of people. He had a good relationship with Sky Erickson. Luis Lua killed Sky over a $1,400 debt for a pound of marijuana," Williams continued. After receiving a life sentence following his conviction as the shooter, Lua has been detained at a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz.

Also receiving life sentences with Lua, in 1998, were Ramiro Astello, Ryan Wedebrand and Juan Carlos Astello. Tom Mann is serving a 50-year term, Shawn Knakmuhs, 18 years, and Ben Alden, eight years. Two other defendants, Sarah Kozak and Aurelio Ortiz, were sentenced in 1999 to prison terms of 5.25 and 18 years, respectively, for their involvement in Erickson's death.

Each convict listed an Estherville address at the time of his or her arrest.

Authorities tied Erickson to drug trafficking as the result of a motor vehicle stop in Milford, Iowa in January 1997, when he was found to be in possession of marijuana and $700. cash. They have said that Erickson had feared for his life because he owed money to the people who were charged in his death.

Though pegged as a drug-user by law enforcement authorities who say Erickson fell into selling drugs to support his habit, the young man's family and a friend remember a different teenager, a very good golfer.

Spencer antique dealer Paul Brenner, who played golf with both Sky and his grandfather, explained Tuesday that Erickson was an exceptional golfer "who really liked the game."

"He wasn't allowed to play in the Men's Open," Brenner noted. "He was good enough. He just wasn't old enough."

Erickson's grandfather, Marv Erickson, said that just two weeks before his death, his grandson had finally beaten him on what was then the nine-hole Woodland Hills Golf Course near Milford, Iowa. "His U.S.G.A. handicap was 2.4, meaning his average was just 2.4 over par," the elder Erickson noted with some pride in his grandson's ability at such a young age.

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