A California man will spend the rest of his life in jail after a jury found him guilty of murdering his estranged wife while he hid in her apartment, waiting for her to exit her bedroom before pounced and stabbed her to death.
Zarbab Ali, 28, was found guilty on Friday of first-degree murder in the death of Rachel Castillo, 25, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Ali will get a mandatory life sentence during a hearing on January 12.
Castillo’s family reported her missing on November 10, 2022, after her sister returned home to their Simi Valley apartment and saw blood.
“As soon as I saw the blood, that’s when I realized something wasn’t right,” her sister told local ABC affiliate KABC. “So I contacted my mother to tell her to come over, and then I immediately dialed 911. I was going around the house, hoping to find her anywhere. I investigated her bathroom, under her bed, her closet, my closet, the laundry area, my bathroom, and my bedroom, but she was not there.”
Rachel Castillo’s phone, keys, and vehicle were all left behind.
Cops went to the location, discovering “a significant amount of blood” and concluding that “a struggle occurred inside” that most likely resulted in murder. Their suspicions were confirmed three days later, on November 13, 2022, when local police and the FBI recovered the victim’s body in a distant desert section of the Antelope Valley.
Ali was detained the next day. According to a courtroom report in the Ventura County Star, jurors heard Ali’s confession to detectives. He claimed that he and Castillo had been separated for almost nine months and had considered killing her. On the day of the murder, he picked up their two children from her apartment and took them to his parents’ house before returning to his wife’s home to find the door unlocked.
“I really didn’t want to do it,” he allegedly told police. “Everything in my body was telling me not to do it.”
He was startled when neighbors noticed him outside the apartment, but then he spotted an opportunity. He stepped in and switched out the lights. He lied in wait for Castillo to emerge from her bedroom. When she did, he took a kitchen knife and stabbed her three times. He wrapped her body in a blanket and attempted to clean up the scene before loading her remains into his trunk and driving to the desolate desert, where he buried her in a shallow grave.
Ali went to the place the next day, digging her up and having sex with her corpse.
“Just to confirm that I am a monster, I raped her,” he allegedly told cops. “If I didn’t commit to being a monster, then she would have died for no reason.”
According to the Star, Ali testified in his own defense in an unsuccessful attempt to explain his behavior to the jurors. He claimed he felt highly envious when Castillo requested a divorce because she had fallen in love with another man.
“She was my entire world at this point, and it all just crashed around me,” he allegedly stated.
He also admitted that his original allegation to detectives that her death was quick and painless was not entirely accurate.
“In reality, she put up a fight,” he told the Star. “I was a brute.” I shoved her down, and it was horrific beyond words.”
