Insets: Victor Serriteno and Priscilla Castro (Vacaville Police Department). Background: A wildfire raging near Lake Berryessa in Solano County, Cali., in August 2020 (KTVU/YouTube).
A California man has been convicted of three counts of murder and arson charges for killing a mother he met on a dating app and starting a wildfire — which claimed the lives of two more people — as he attempted to burn the first woman’s body.
Victor Serriteno, 33, pleaded no contest Friday in exchange for a stipulated prison sentence of 73 years to life, according to The Vacaville Reporter, citing a news release from the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.
The Vacaville man committed the murders in August 2020, with prosecutors saying he killed Priscilla Castro, 32, of Vallejo, on or around Aug. 16, 2020, and then 82-year old Douglas Mai and 64-year old Leon Bone in the ensuing fire.
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Serriteno tried burning Castro’s body on Aug. 18, 2020, according to a Vacaville Police Department press release. Cal Fire responded to a blaze at the trailhead of the Putah Creek Wildlife Area near Highway 128 in Solano County, located between San Francisco and Sacramento, that same day. The fire destroyed hundreds of structures — many of them homes — and tore through thousands of acres in northern Solano County, per the Reporter.
“After killing Priscilla Castro, defendant Serriteno drove her up to the Putah Creek Wildlife Area off Highway 128 where he dumped her body,” District Attorney Krishna Abrams said in her office’s press release. “Additional circumstantial evidence placed Serriteno in the area of Priscilla’s body at the time the Markley Fire was started.”
According to Abrams, Serriteno wound up causing “one of the most catastrophic fires in the history of Solano County.” Castro’s remains were “badly burned and unrecognizable,” but an angel pendant that she wore was located in the debris and helped link Serriteno to what happened, SFGate reports, citing Vacaville Police.
Mai and Bone died in Vacaville after the Markley Fire merged into another blaze, the Hennessey Fire, which ripped through parts of the LNU Lightning Complex and north Solano County where they lived, according to officials.
“Lives of those impacted have been forever changed,” Abrams said. “Although we cannot undo these vicious, brutal, and senseless acts by defendant Serriteno, hopefully this plea today will provide certainty that the defendant stands convicted, that he is held accountable, and that there is some sense of justice and closure for all of those affected. Most importantly, he will not be able to harm our community again.”
Serriteno faces 15 years to life for second-degree murder and an additional 25 years to life for the counts related to Bone and Mai’s deaths. He also received eight years for the arson charges, bringing his total sentence to 73 years to life behind bars.
