Prosecutors argued during trial he shot 20-year-old Lexie Castile in 2012, while defense argued the shot has self-inflicted.
Tim Hahn
Erie Times—News
Published 4:53 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2025 | Updated 6:32 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2025
Key Points
An Erie County jury deliberated over the role of a Glock l7 9mm handgun used in the 2012 death of 20-year-old Lexie Castile
Prosecutors argued Anthony D’Onofrio shot Castile, while the defense claimed she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
The jury deliberated about an hour and acquitted D’Onofrio of first-degree murder and aggravated assault
(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
An Erie County jury has ended a cold-case prosecution by finding Anthony D’Onofrio not guilty on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the fatal shooting of his fiancée, 20-year-old Lexie Castile, in Erie more than a dozen years ago.
Lawyers on both sides presented evidence and testimony over six days in a trial that opened Jan. 24 before turning over the case to the jury of seven men and five women late Friday afternoon. The jury began deliberations at 3:45 p.m. Friday, reached a verdict about an hour later and had read it in court at 5:01 p.m.
More: Jury to determine homicide or suicide as trial opens for man accused in 2012 Erie killing.
Judge David Ridge immediately ordered the 36-year-old D’Onofrio released from the Erie County prison, where he had been held without bond since he was arraigned on the charges.
In August of 2023, one of his lawyers, Chad Vilushis, said D’Onofrio wanted to return to the
U.S. Army, with whom he was serving when he was charged.
“I’m thrilled for Anthony,” Vilushis said after the verdict. “It has been a long year and a half.”
D’Onofrio after the verdict hugged Vilushis and expressed his thanks to other members of the defense team: lawyers Douglas McCormick and Joseph DePalma and DePalma’s sister, Kayla, who is studying for the bar exam.
D’Onofrio did not testify. The defense used cross-examination and its own expert testimony to question the strength of the prosecution’s case.
“We had very strong scientific evidence that at the end of the day allowed us to get the victory,” Vilushis said.
The shooting happened on the early morning of Sept. 16, 2012, inside the garage apartment Castile, D’Onofrio and Castile’s 3-year-old son shared in the 1100 block of West 24th Street. D’Onofrio initially reported the shooting when he called 911 and told the operator Castile had shot herself.
The prosecutors on the case, District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz and First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Reger, argued that the evidence showed D’Onofrio intentionally shot Castile.
“We respect the jury’s verdict and appreciate the time they have spent throughout this trial,” Hirz said.
“We are disappointed and believe we put forth a case that proved Lexie Castile did not kill herself. We also want to thank all law enforcement who dedicated years to this case.”
Defense forensic expert testimony contradicts prosecution
An autopsy determined Castile died of a gunshot wound to the head, but the Erie County Coroner’s Office left the manner of death as undetermined. That changed in 2023, after cold- case investigators with the Erie Bureau of Police and the Pennsylvania State Police took a new look at the case and discussed the autopsy findings with Erie County’s former forensic pathologist.
Using the gun that was used in the shooting as comparison to Castile’s head wound, former pathologist Eric Vey, M.D., testified Monday that in comparing the shot’s entry wound and a small indention that was consistent with the Glock’s slide rod that he found on Castile, he believes the gun was pressed against Castile’s head in a way that was atypical of any other self-inflicted, contact gunshot wound he had seen in his long career. It would have been very difficult for Castile to have fired the gun in that way, Vey said.
More: Forensic pathologist presents gun positioning theory in Erie homicide trial’s second day
On Friday, D’Onofrio’s defense team presented testimony from another former forensic pathologist, Jonathan Briskin, M.D. He testified that, in his opinion, the indention Vey believed was the Glock’s slide pin was actually a portion of the entry wound that was separated when the skin around the wound split open when the gun fired. He said he could not see from photos an indentation made by the gun’s muzzle and it could not be determined which way the gun was pressed against Castile’s head when it fired.
Briskin also challenged another assertion made by Vey Monday, that two inch-long, parallel scrapes across Castile’s forehead corresponded with the rear sight of the Glock. He said he did not believe the scrapes were made by the gun’s sight, and noted that records from emergency medical personnel who treated Castile at the scene and at UPMC Hamot did not document the scrapes.
In his closing argument to the jury, Vilushis highlighted his argument during his opening statement, that science in the case was the friend of the defense.
He argued that, when Vey reexamined the gunshot’s entry wound after investigators supplied him with the gun, there was no documentation showing that the split-apart wound was pushed back together, and no measurement was taken of the distance between the Glock’s muzzle and slide pin. He also told the jury that evidence presented at trial showing that Castile’s DNA was on the gun’s trigger and grip raised reasonable doubt, and he questioned why police did not test the gun’s case, which D’Onofrio stored it in, for DNA evidence.
Also questionable, Vilushis said, was why Castile’s hands and clothing were not tested for gunshot residue, and why Castile wasn’t checked for blood spatter. The only blood found on D’Onofrio’s shirt was a small amount on the bottom, which Vilushis said was consistent with D’Onofrio tending to Castile after she shot herself.
Vilushis additionally argued that no one who was with D’Onofrio and Castile the night before she died indicated that D’Onofrio was upset about anything.
“The why Lexie did that will never be known, but not knowing does not make it murder,” Vilushis told the jury.
DA questions D’Onofrio’s version of events
Hirz, in her closing argument Friday afternoon, told the jury to focus on the key issues in the case, and what makes sense and doesn’t make sense. D’Onofrio and witnesses all said Castile repeatedly asked D’Onofrio if he was angry that they had to leave his cousin’s house the previous evening rather than staying over, as they discussed, because she had to work the next day. D’Onofrio said he wasn’t upset but was tired, but he wasn’t too tired to drink and hang out in his cousin’s hot tub, she told the jury.
She also questioned D’Onofrio’s version of events in the shooting. She said he reported hearing a “pop” before turning on a light in the apartment, seeing Castile on the floor, taking the Glock and emptying and counting its rounds, yelling up to his mother and then calling 911 instead of immediately helping her. As someone with experience with guns, he would have surely known what a gunshot sounded like, Hirz said.
When asked how long it was between the time D’Onofrio said he heard the pop and he found Castile wounded, he said three to four minutes, Hirz said. She asked the jury to consider what he was doing in that time, and answered by telling them he was getting his story ready.
“He has to manipulate the scene for those 2 1/2 minutes,” she said.
She also questioned the position of Castile’s body after the shooting, which was positioned in a tight space between a bed and a wash sink. Vey had testified Castile would have likely dropped, and the momentum of the shot would have likely knocked her to the side, or on the bed, Hirz said.
Castile would have fallen to the ground in the place she was found if the person who was behind her who just shot her lays her down, Hirz told the jury.
Staff writer Ed Palattella contributed to this report.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.