Juliano Santana, inset, kidnapped his 16-year-old stepdaughter Christina, above, and murdered her before dying by suicide, cops in Massachusetts say. He was already facing charges for allegedly raping her. (Juliano: WCVB via Acton police; Christina: GoFundMe)
A man charged three years ago with raping his 16-year-old stepdaughter kidnapped and murdered her before turning the gun on himself, according to authorities in Massachusetts.
Acton police responded around 4 p.m. Thursday to a report of an abduction of the girl at the hands of her stepfather, 49-year-old Juliano Santana. The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that in 2021 it charged Santana with six counts of aggravated rape. The girl he abducted was the victim, the DA’s office said. Santana was free after he posted the $30,000 bond and had an GPS ankle monitor. A GoFundMe fundraiser identified the girl only as Christina. Cops haven’t publicly identified the victim.
After the abduction, cops contacted Santana’s probation officer who tracked his location to his condo on Great Road. Officers responded to the parking lot and found Christina and Santana dead from gunshot wounds in his car. Prosecutors say he murdered his stepdaughter before dying by suicide. Police later determined Santana kidnapped Christina while she was walking near her home after school.
On Sept. 7, 2021, Christina told authorities Santana had raped her on multiple occasions. Boston affiliate WBTS obtained an arrest affidavit that said one of the assaults occurred as recently as the month before. Christina and her sister had written to each other about the assault in a diary, the affidavit reportedly said. In an interview with investigators, Christina reportedly said Santana told her “not to be scared and not to tell her mom.”
After cops took him into custody, he told cops that he needed to talk to an attorney about “a medical condition” he had related to the charges, the affidavit reportedly said. As part of his release, a judge ordered Santana to stay away from and have no contact with the victim and have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, prosecutors said.
The girl also had an active restraining order against Santana. Local ABC affiliate WCVB obtained a copy of the restraining order.
“I also fear for my safety because I [realized] that I do not know this man and based on this situation I do not know what he is capable of,” Christina’s mother, Olena Wilson, reportedly wrote.
Santana’s rape trial was scheduled for July.
Christina’s “life was taken from her family in an unthinkable act of violence at the hands of her stepfather,” the GoFundMe campaign said.
“The whole community is shattered, and we are all struggling to cope with the overwhelming grief and trauma,” the fundraiser read. “Christina was a bright, full of life 16-year old girl who was really good at science and dreamed of going to college one day. She had just started driving and was excited to take another step towards independence. Christina’s loss leaves a void that can never be filled.”
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