A man was convicted Thursday for breaking into a DeKalb County home and fatally stabbing a resident he met online playing video games, authorities said.
Jonathan Wesley Mansfield, 26, was found guilty of three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault and first-degree burglary in the 2019 incident. He will be sentenced at a later date for the death of 42-year-old German Castillo, according to DeKalb District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Claire Chaffins.
Castillo’s husband told police that the couple met Mansfield online while playing video games and had paid for his bus tickets from Chattanooga to Atlanta to spend several weekends with them.
On Feb. 1, 2019, the victim suspected someone had broken into his home when he found the back door open, two Xboxes missing and the suspect’s bag in his living room. Castillo subsequently called 911 around 6:30 p.m. to report his findings.
A few minutes later, Chaffins said he called 911 again to report that he wasn’t sure if Mansfield was still in his house, but that he “considered Mansfield to be a threat to him.”
Officers arrived at the home on Hilburn Drive near the East Atlanta neighborhood around 7:45 p.m. and found Castillo in a pool of blood underneath his carport, Chaffins said. He had been stabbed several times and sustained blunt force trauma to his head, officials confirmed. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Multiple items were missing from the home, including the victim’s wallet and black Toyota Corolla, gaming consoles and accessories, and other electronics.
The day after the incident, the Toyota was found abandoned in an alley in Chattanooga. Chaffins said blood was still on the car’s steering wheel, hood and windshield.
Using phone data, Chaffins said investigators discovered that Mansfield traveled from Chattanooga to the crime scene and back on Feb. 1. He was arrested at a hospital in Tennessee while he was being treated for multiple cuts on his hands. He claimed the killing was self-defense, Chaffins said.
Days prior to the homicide, officials said the men got into an argument because Mansfield attempted to make purchases with Castillo’s debit card. Records also showed that Mansfield tried to transfer himself thousands of dollars using Castillo’s card. The couple ended their friendship with Mansfield after those interactions, Chaffins confirmed.
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