Nassau County police arrested Joseph Horner on Tuesday and charged the Oceanside School District music teacher with second-degree murder in the death of Victoria Castle on Long Island. Castle died Monday after officers responded to 285 N Oak Street in North Massapequa around 8:45 a.m. The arrest followed a daylong investigation at the home.
285 N Oak Street in North Massapequa
Police said Horner called 911 for an ambulance for a female victim, then was found outside the multi-family home when officers arrived. They said the house was split into two apartments, with Horner and his wife living upstairs and Castle living on the ground floor.
Castle was found on the floor of the ground-floor apartment and was taken to the hospital, where she died at 9:25 a.m. on Monday. Police said she was a PhD student at Stony Brook University and that Horner had known her since 2016, when he met his wife.
Nassau County police charge
Horner pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is being held without bail. If found guilty, he faces up to 25 years to life. Nassau County police said he acted alone and had no prior interactions with law enforcement or previous arrests.
A Nassau prosecutor said Horner saw an opportunity to follow through on a sexual desire he had harbored for Castle while his wife was away. The prosecutor said Horner admitted to lusting over his wife's sister since 2017, asked Castle for help moving a piano and then attacked her without warning, placing her in a chokehold until her body went limp.
Oceanside School District leave
Oceanside Superintendent of Schools Phyllis Harrington said the staff member was placed on administrative leave effective immediately pending further review. In a statement to News 12, she said, “According to the Nassau County Police Department, a staff member in the Oceanside School District was recently arrested on charges of homicide. Nassau County Officials indicated that these charges have no connection to the school district or its students. We understand that this news is deeply disturbing. This staff member has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately, pending further review. We have no further information at this time. The Oceanside School District is committed to maintaining a safe, professional, and trustworthy environment for our students, staff, and community. We stand by that commitment at all times.”
The case shut down the Nassau County neighborhood for 12 hours between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday, a span that tracked the police response from the first ambulance call to the end of the scene work. Prosecutors will have to prove the murder case with the statements they say Horner made and the police account of what happened inside 285 N Oak Street.
