Police Say Man Made Wife's Death Look Like Suicide

Braulio Castillo is accused of killing his estranged wife, Michelle Castillo, and trying to make the death look like a suicide, according to media reports.

Michelle Castillo's body was found March 20. Loudoun County Sheriff's Office arrested Braulio Catillo earlier this week, charging the Ashburn resident with first degree murder. Braulio Castillo has a preliminary hearing next month.

"The evidence shows she was beaten and suffocated before she was found hanging in the downstairs bathroom," Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told NBC Washington. "That hanging was not the cause of her death."

NBC Washington notes that court documents show Michelle Castillo had accused her husband of being physically abusive and threatening her before they separated and that she had a protective order against him. 

Chapman told WUSA9 that a neighbor's surveillance cameras caught Braulio Castillo sneaking into the home the night before, on March 19, at 8:09 p.m., just before his wife and children came home. He was seen leaving the home at 12:31 a.m. on March 20.

A funeral service for Michelle Castillo is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, April 6, in the Smith Center at McLean Bible Church, located at 8925 Leesburg Pike in Vienna, according to Leesburg Today.