{"id":2676,"date":"2025-10-15T00:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T00:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2676\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T00:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T00:34:09","slug":"troubled-staten-island-teen-accused-of-decapitating-moms-beau-shares-gory-confession-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2676\/","title":{"rendered":"Troubled Staten Island teen accused of decapitating mom’s beau shares gory confession details"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0twisted\u00a0Staten Island teen accused of killing his mother\u2019s boyfriend<\/a>\u00a0allegedly gave a full, gory confession \u2014 including that he planned to liquify the body in a blender and flush it down the toilet, starting with the brain, law enforcement sources said.<\/p>\n

Damien Hurstel<\/a>, 19, allegedly calmly admitted to cops at the NYPD\u2019s 120th Precinct that he fatally bludgeoned\u00a0Anthony Casalaspro, 45,\u00a0over the head with a meat tenderizer because he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Hurstel was expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning on murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Damien Hurstel, 19, allegedly calmly admitted to cops that he fatally bludgeoned the 45-year-old sanitation worker over the head with a meat tenderizer. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

The alleged spare-no-details confession came after cops took Hurstel, who has a long history of mental illness, into custody Monday evening. Facebook\/Gabriella Ali Zayas<\/p>\n

The victim has been identified as Anthony Casalaspro. Facebook\/Anthony Casalaspro<\/p>\n

The alleged spare-no-details confession came after cops took Hurstel, who has a long history of mental illness, into custody Monday evening, according to the sources.<\/p>\n

Hurstel allegedly told police the brutal slaying unfolded after he argued with his mother during the morning\u00a0inside their West Brighton home, prompting\u00a0Casalaspro\u00a0to tell him to take a walk to calm down, the sources said.<\/p>\n

The agitated Hurstel allegedly returned home to find his mother gone, leading to an altercation that ended with him beating\u00a0Casalaspro\u00a0to death with a meat tenderizer, the sources said.<\/p>\n

He allegedly planned to cut Casalaspro\u2019s\u00a0body into pieces that he\u2019d pulverize with a blender, but ran into trouble\u00a0carrying out his deranged dismemberment plan, according to the sources.<\/p>\n

The disturbed teenage suspect was taken to the hospital and seen on Tuesday being wheeled out of an NYPD precinct on a gurney. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

A first attempt to sever\u00a0Casalaspro\u2019s\u00a0head with a kitchen knife failed, prompting the sick suspect to grab a hand saw from a shed to finish the grisly job, sources said.<\/p>\n

He then allegedly used a hammer in a failed attempt to remove\u00a0Casalaspro\u2019s\u00a0brain, but he was interrupted by his\u00a0younger\u00a0sister arriving home from school,\u00a0the sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The blood-drenched Hurstel allegedly\u00a0chillingly told his sister<\/a>, \u201cI did something bad, go to your room,\u201d sources detailed.<\/p>\n

Hurstel allegedly beat Casalaspro to death with a meat tenderizer. Facebook\/Anthony Casalaspro<\/p>\n

Hurstel told police the slaying was after he had an argument with his mother, Alicia Zayas, in their West Brighton home. Facebook\/Alicia Zayas<\/p>\n

Hurstel in a 2018 photo with his mother, Zayas. Facebook\/Alicia Zayas<\/p>\n

But the unsettling warning went unheeded, as Hurstel\u2019s sister followed a trail of blood to the bathroom and found Casalaspro\u2019s dismembered body in the tub \u2014 with a spoon sticking out of the severed head\u2019s eye socket, the sources said.<\/p>\n

The grisly discovery prompted the girl, 16, to call her mother, who rushed to the Cary Avenue house as NYPD cops grappled with the scene, according to sources and neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mom, she just kept saying to her son, \u2018Why would you kill him?! I still loved him!\u2019 She was yelling, screaming from outside into the house. Where her son was,\u201d said neighbor Jennifer Diaz, 46.<\/p>\n

Hurstel was taken to a hospital after having a seizure on the way to a courthouse for his arraignment. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

The death of Hurstel\u2019s mother\u2019s boyfriend is being investigated by officials. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

An eerily calm Hurstel left the home with his hands up when police arrived shortly after 4:20 p.m., sources said.<\/p>\n

Diaz said the alleged killer teen\u2019s mom didn\u2019t look at him as cops walked him from the house, hands cuffed behind his back and a spooky expression on his gore-streaked face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had blood on his face and his Timberland construction boots, but not blood on his clothes,\u201d the stunned neighbor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked relieved, no expression on his face. Blank face, but so calm. No expression. He said nothing, just very calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurstel was taken to the hospital and was seen on Tuesday being wheeled out of the NYPD\u2019s 120th Precinct on a gurney, still bloodied and wearing a Tyvek suit.<\/p>\n

He had been scheduled for an arraignment, but he appeared to suffer a seizure while being transported to a Staten Island courthouse and was taken to a hospital, sources said.<\/p>\n

Casalaspro\u2019s body being transported from the Staten Island house. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The teen has no criminal record, but his history of mental illness includes schizophrenia and self-harm going back to 2022, sources said.<\/p>\n

The family has a history of domestic incident reports, according to sources. It\u2019s unclear if the siblings are biologically related.<\/p>\n

Casalaspro, a city Department of Sanitation worker, had been with the suspect\u2019s mom for nearly six years and the couple \u201chad their ups and downs with the kids,\u201d his close friend Louis Ortiz told The Post Monday night.<\/p>\n

Unidentified family members of Hurstel outside Staten Island Criminal Court. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

While the alleged killer could be \u201csweet as pie,\u201d he \u201cwas always going through stuff in school \u2014 mental health issues,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Mariano Castro, 36, said Casalaspro and his partner\u2019s son appeared to have a normal relationship, noting he had just recently seen the two in their backyard mowing the lawn and grilling.<\/p>\n

Screams from Hurstel\u2019s mom rattled the normally quiet, tree-lined block as EMS arrived Monday evening, and at least one neighbor said she got sick as the headless body was carted from the home.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018There\u2019s no need to go in, you can\u2019t help him,\u2019\u201d the distraught mother told the first responders, Diaz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was screaming. She said, \u2018His head is in the tub. There\u2019s nothing for you to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The mom and her family declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Patrick Reilly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0twisted\u00a0Staten Island teen accused of killing his mother\u2019s boyfriend\u00a0allegedly gave a full, gory confession \u2014 including that he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[303,57,9,24,63,2442,134,136,135,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-2676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-metro","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-stabbings","14":"tag-staten-island","15":"tag-staten-island-headlines","16":"tag-staten-island-news","17":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}