[Archived] Defendant Sentenced for Gang Motivated Murder

For Immediate Release: November 11, 2016

On November 10, 2016, Boris Elias Rosa Castro, a 19-year old former Fairfax County resident, was sentenced for his role in the gang-motivated murder of Eduardo Chandias Almandarez. Almandarez was murdered on or about November 28, 2015. His body was located in a park behind Cora Kelly School in the Arlandria neighborhood of Alexandria on December 4, 2015.

The evidence established that Almandarez was murdered by the criminal street gang, MS-13, because he had testified against an MS-13 member in Alexandria General District Court.

The defendant was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 30 years of that sentence suspended for the period of 45 years upon release from prison and conditioned upon his uniform good behavior for the period of 45 years and his compliance with supervised probation for the period of 25 years upon his release.

Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter said: "The defendant brutally and ruthlessly murdered Eduardo Chandias Almandarez on November 28, 2015. The victim was set upon in a surprise attack and, according to the medical examiner's report, received at least 96 separate stab wounds, many of which would have alone proved fatal."

Porter continued: "Given the facts, it is obvious that Almandarez was the primary victim of this crime. However, in any murder case, society and the rule of law are rightly considered victims. Our system - our 'rule of law' - implies a social contract in which citizens voluntarily relinquish some of their ability to redress perceived wrongs in exchange for the government's promise to protect their person and property."

"All murders are attacks on the rule of law. All murders involve private citizens relying on extreme self-help to rectify and redress a personal grievance. As such, all murders are rightly seen as a violent imposition on the system of law that has become accepted as the normal and just state of man.

"The stakes are even higher when the motivation for the murder is allegiance to the criminal street gang MS-13, whose desire to commit crimes with impunity drives its resort to violence. Complex criminal organizations like MS-13 seek to create their own quasi-government, one in which their code of conduct, methods of adjudication of disputes and systems of discipline supersede the rule of law at enormous cost to the safety and prosperity of our citizens. The rule of law must win over a criminal street gang's dedication to the rule of violence."

"I wish to highly commend the outstanding police work that brought this violent felon to justice. The Alexandria Police Department's Criminal Investigations Section was instrumental in making this case. The detective's painstaking detective work allowed them to present my office with a very strong case. I would like to publicly commend by name Detectives Victor Ignacio and William Oakley for their professional and dedicated service."

The defendant is incarcerated in the William G. Truesdale Alexandria Adult Detention Center pending his transfer to the Department of Corrections.