STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Charged with carrying out a murder and decapitation last month inside his family’s West Brighton home, 19-year-old Damien Hurstel appeared in court Thursday for a scheduled appearance.
Hurstel stands charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and concealing a corpse in connection with the Oct. 6 slaying that unfolded inside the family’s home on Cary Avenue.
The victim, 45-year-old Anthony Casalaspro, was a Department of Sanitation mechanic described by family and friends as a good person who had been helping raise the defendant and his sister.
Prosecutors on Thursday told Justice Alexander B. Jeong they were in the process of turning over a “voluminous” amount of evidence to the defense.
The defendant — who has pleaded not guilty to the charges by “reason of mental disease” — looked younger at this appearance, with a clean shave and a haircut. He appeared unemotional throughout the appearance.
At one point, he turned in the direction of family members who were there to support him. But his gaze shifted and he did not say or gesture anything to them.
At the request of defense attorney Mark Fonte, who was retained in the case by Hurstel’s family, the court ordered that medical and psychiatric care on Rikers Island continue, in addition to suicide watch.
Jeong ordered Hurstel continue to be held without the option of bail, before adjourning the proceedings to Jan. 13.
‘As if nothing was wrong’
In this Oct. 17 photo, Damien Hurstel, 19, is arraigned in state Supreme Court, St. George, on charges that include second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)
On the day of Hurstel’s Oct. 17 arraignment hearing in state Supreme Court, St. George, Fonte recalled parts of a conversation with his client. He said Hurstel was monotone and unemotional throughout.
“He had absolutely no affect; he spoke in a monotone, calm demeanor as if nothing was wrong,” Fonte said.
The defendant has a documented history of mental illness that dates back to his childhood, according to his family and attorneys. He has been diagnosed over the years as schizophrenic, along with other conditions including PTSD, they said.
Red flags over the years have included delusional behavior and multiple hospitalizations, they said.
The defense has submitted in writing to the court its intent to “offer at trial psychiatric evidence of mental disease … with the affirmative defense of lack of criminal responsibility …”
Disputes at the home
Law enforcement sources had noted domestic issues at the home in recent years, which, according to the defendant’s family revolved primarily around his mental illness and the medications he was supposed to take.
Hurstel’s mother told the New York Post that in one instance last year, on her birthday, Hurstel became physical with her after she asked him to clean up the kitchen.
A gruesome scene
Sources said Hurstel’s teenage sister arrived home from school on Oct. 6 to find the aftermath of the gruesome slaying inside the family’s home on Cary Avenue. (Advance/SILive.com | Scott Axelrod)
The slaying allegedly began as a dispute between Hurstel and Casalaspro inside the home. He struck the deceased with a meat tenderizer, according to what he told police investigators.
Hurstel said that as they were fighting, he also stabbed Casalaspro multiple times, then dragged the deceased’s body into the bathtub where he removed the victim’s head.
Authorities allege that over the course of the murder, Hurstel employed the use of a saw, bolt cutters, a hammer, a knife and a spoon.
The hammer, according to a law enforcement source, was used to gain access to the victim’s brain. The spoon, according to sources, was used in an attempt to scoop out brain matter.
A photo of the aftermath that mysteriously wound up being shared digitally across Staten Island and elsewhere depicted a particularly gruesome scene.
According to reports, the defendant’s teenage sister arrived home from school to find Casalaspro’s body in the bathtub. Hurstel remained at the home as police arrived.
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