The New York doctoral student allegedly raped and murdered by her brother-in-law hauntingly called him “one of the most wonderful people in the world” in a celebratory Facebook post on the day he married her sister.
“My sister, my person, my partner in chaos, is now married to one of the most wonderful people in the world,” reads Victoria Castle’s message accompanying a photo of her accused killer Joseph Horner sharing a post-nuptials kiss at their wedding venue.
“I love you both forever!” the post, which has taken a dark new meaning following her horrific death, concluded.
Less than three years later, Horner, 27, stands accused of Castle’s brutal murder, sexually assaulting and then strangling her while his wife was away on a bachelorette trip, cops said.
Prosecutors said at his arraignment that Horner was “obsessed” with Castle for more than a decade before the vicious attack, which allegedly took place in their shared North Massapequa home June 29.
Horner – a music teacher in the Oceanside School District – lived in the upstairs apartment of the multi-family house with his wife, while Castle lived in the ground-floor unit, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
He allegedly asked Castle, a PhD student at Stony Brook University, to help him move a piano before attacking her from behind, placing her in a chokehold until she went limp, at which point he stripped her naked and raped her, officials said.
Afterwards, he called 911 and waited for the cops to show up, admitting to detectives that he had committed the heinous act.
He was arrested for homicide at the scene.