Palm Desert double homicide victims identified

Two people who were fatally shot in Palm Desert last week have been identified by the Riverside County Coroner’s Bureau.

83-year-old Frank Castro and 81-year-old Carolina Castro were found dead in their residence on the 43000 block of West Calle Las Brisas last Wednesday. The suspect, 32-year-old Frank Scott Castro III, remains in custody on no bail in the Indio Jail. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and entered a not-guilty plea on Friday.

Castro III is also charged with a special circumstance allegation of perpetrating multiple killings, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

He is slated to return to the Larson Justice Center in Indio on September 24, according to county jail records.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a report of shots being fired at the house on W Calle Las Brisas at approximately 1:54 p.m.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Thurm said Castro was standing at the front of the property and taken into custody without a struggle. The patrolmen searched inside the house and found the two gunshot victims, both of whom were pronounced dead at the scene.

Castro has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

A motive for the attack was not disclosed.

Central Homicide Unit detectives took over the investigation and are asking anyone with information to contact the unit at 951-955-2777.