A California man approached a police officer on a Saturday evening and allegedly confessed to murder, then guided investigators to two bodies hidden along a river corridor.
Marcelino Castro, 28, flagged down a San Jose police patrol officer at approximately 5:14 p.m. Saturday and claimed he had killed someone, authorities said. His statement triggered a search through the city’s Guadalupe River corridor, where detectives located two deceased men at separate sites.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Michael Gadeberg told SFGATE that the case carries the hallmarks of something far more disturbing than an isolated crime. “Although there’s only two victims it looks like the start of a possible serial killer case and I’m grateful he turned himself in before he continued,” he said.
The first killing, according to the police report, involved a man Castro knew. The pair went near Tamien Station to smoke methamphetamine before Castro allegedly attacked him “without provocation,” strangling him and slitting his throat. He then concealed the body in a shallow grave near the Guadalupe River. Investigators believe that death occurred on Sept. 13.
During questioning, Castro allegedly provided information about a second killing, directing detectives toward the area of Autumn Parkway and Coleman Avenue. There, they discovered another deceased man.
The second alleged killing followed a different pattern. Castro told police he “lured” the victim toward the Guadalupe River Trail north of Coleman Avenue “to smoke,” according to the report. Authorities say he then strangled the man and struck him with a rock before wrapping the body in a red tent and leaving it in tall grass. That death is believed to have occurred Sept. 15 or 16, Gadeberg told SFGATE.
The identities of both victims remain unknown. “Those areas are frequented by homeless people but our understanding is that the defendant lured them to those locations,” Gadeberg said.
The apparent absence of any obvious connection between the two victims has deepened investigators’ concerns about Castro’s motivations. “It appears that this man may have just had a compulsion to kill and he started with someone he knew and then progressed to a random stranger,” Gadeberg said.
Castro’s alleged motive remains under investigation, while authorities continue examining the circumstances surrounding both killings.
The killings are being investigated as San Jose’s 20th and 21st homicides of 2026. Castro was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on two murder counts.