RHONDA CASTO
If you know me at all, you know I'm a sucker for a good true crime story. One of my passions is researching cases and since I know so much about them, why the hell not write a blog? I intend for these stories to be informative, but not boring. Please do not think when I use humor that I am trying to disrespect anyone involved in the stories, it's simply just a way of coping with these horrific events and making it more enjoyable to read! Let's get into it!!
Background
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Rhonda Casto, first of all was beautiful. She was a model and lived in the Portland, Oregon area. She was known for being outgoing, fun, and kind.
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In 2005, Rhonda's mom, Julia, needed a place to live and found a craigslist ad from a recently divorced man named Stephen Nichols who needed to fill an extra bedroom. Julia moved in shortly after and had a very pleasant experience- she loved living with Stephen and thought he was a great guy. (That's some Ted Bundy shit huh?) Julia ended up introducing Rhonda to Stephen and set them up. Stephen was very attractive to Ronda, and she was to him as well. Plus he was rich so like, SCORE! The only weird part of this relationship was that Stephen was 30, while Rhonda was only 20. No judgement but I am 21 and can't imagine myself dating someone over 25, just sayin.
After awhile of dating, Stephen had bought Rhonda a plethora of gifts and ended up buying a new 2 bedroom apartment for them to live in together. 3 years later they had a daughter named Annie (we love a mistake child). Rhonda was an incredible mom and everyone said that she was made for motherhood.
According to Stephen, Rhonda really wanted to get married and he claimed that before her death they had looked at wedding rings together. When hearing from her own family, they said that Rhonda was very unhappy and it was a toxic relationship with lots of fighting and mental abuse. She apparently had also told a close friend that she wanted to take the baby and leave Stephen. Very contrasting sides...but men can't be trusted so let's just continue.
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The "Accident"
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On March 16th, 2009, it was a beautful sunny day in Oregon and Rhonda and Stephen decided to go on a hike at Eagle Creek. This hiking trail is known to be beautiful, but also more dangerous and intended for more experienced hikers. Before leaving for the hike, Rhonda called her mom and said she thought Stephen would propose that day. She said and I quote "he's either going to propose to me, or kill me" (played in video at 1:11)
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Oh the irony. Just a point of advice, if you ever think your boyfriend is going to kill you, run far and fast :'). Anyways, Stephen also said in an interview that on the drive to the hike, Rhonda said "if anything ever happens to me, will you take care of our daughter?" Now this is something I definitely don't believe she said and it seems very sketchy.
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According to Stephen, while on the hike it started to rain and apparently Rhonda put her jacket over her head and started to run as fast as she could yelling "I'm superwoman!" He claims that she told him that in the past she used to come to this trail with a bottle of vodka and a bag of weed and that she was "fine and safe". Because of this, Stephen assumed that she was on weed that day but he did nothing to stop her from running on the thin and dangerous trails (dumbass).
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Stephen claims that while running, she took a turn too hard and slipped and fell off a cliff. He called 911 a little while later and told the operator that he had a spent an hour hiking down the trail to find her and then realized she was dead and it was too late. BUT then he also said to the police that he stayed with her for an hour trying to give her CPR but he was cold and wet from "falling in the river" and had "hypothermia" so he couldn't save her. Police say that when they arrived at the scene, Stephen showed no remorse and was more worried about his "hypothermia" then his girlfriends death. Stephen also claimed that once he realized she was officially dead, that he rested his head on her chest and FELL ASLEEP because he was tired and cold. Okay like what the frick your girlfriend is dead but ok?
Red Flags
When the police arrived, Stephen claimed that Rhonda's body was right next to the river. When the police found her, she was actually 50 feet away from the river. (Did he move her? like wtf?) Rhonda's body was also found hunched over sideways in a fetal position. This is sketchy because if he was really trying to give her CPR like he claimed, why would she be in that position? It's also sketchy because the ground around her had NO footprints and looked like no one had even come to the scene (this guy is bad at making his lies match up).
After the police called Rhonda's family, they all immediately suspected that Stephen had pushed her off the cliff. The police also had a feeling that he was behind it as well, so they had his daughter Annie stay with their grandma that night.
When Rhonda's apostasy came back, there was no sign of foul play other than injuries from the fall, but there WAS a small amount of THC traced in her blood. THC can stay in your body for a long time, so there is a good chance that she wasn't high that day.
10 DAYS after Rhonda died, Stephen filed a claim for her life insurance policy. Police later found out that Stephen had taken this policy out only a few weeks before she died. This policy was for a MILLION dollars. I have many questions-Why would someone at such a young age file a life insurance policy? Why did Stephen take it out a few weeks before the death? Why was it a million dollars? WHY!!!!
Rhonda's family stated that a few years prior, Stephen had lost a significant amount of money and they believed that this was his way of getting the money back.
Stephen's Past
Police started researching Stephen's past to find more evidence. When looking into his old marriage, they found files about altercations with his ex-wife. Stephen was accused of strangling her along with trying to push her off a balcony, but their nanny saw this happening and saved her before he could push her off. Stephen was never charged and denies that any of these claims ever happened.
Stephen was also accused of having sexual relations with Rhonda's younger sister Melanie when she was only 15 years old and he was 34 (also during the time he was dating Rhonda. CHEATER!!) Stephen admitted this was true and that he regrets sleeping with Melanie. He was then charged with statuary rape (as he should).
The Aftermath
After two years of investigations, the police did not have enough evidence to charge Stephen with murder. He also ended up getting full custody of his daughter and made the decision to not let her see Rhonda's family ever again. He then moved to China to "start a new life".
In 2014 a new dean came into office and decided to look over this case again. She ended up creating a secret grand jury and they charged Stephen with first degree murder and underage activity with Rhonda's sister Melanie and took him into custody.
The police then did a simulation with a life size dummy and pushed it off the cliff in different ways to see how and where the body would land. They found that Rhonda would of have to be pushed HARD to have landed where she did. The defense side argued this and said that when using a scientific formula, they were able to calculate that pushing a dummy was inaccurate and that it could be off by around 50 feet. The judge then said there wasn't enough evidence (the judicial system SUCKS) and offered him a plea deal and Stephen decided to take it. His first degree murder charge was dropped, and he had to pled guilty to "negligent homicide". Stephen claims that he is still innocent, but that he took the plea deal so he wouldn't go to jail. He was then released on parol and Stephen still says to this day that he has nothing to do with her death.
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