Metro

Hammer maniac ‘kills women for being witches’

A hammer-wielding madman found clutching a bible after allegedly bludgeoning his girlfriend and her daughter to death in their Queens home because he believed they were “witches” who were casting spells on him, authorities said on Wednesday.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the suspect, Carlos Alberto Amarillo, 44, called 911 at about 12:10 a.m. to report the alleged murders and in Spanish said, “They were assassinated, hurry they are dead.”

During the chilling call, Amarillo said he wanted police to kill him.

“I killed them because they are witches,” he said. “I killed them with a hammer.”

Police found him at their home at 24-10 87th St. near LaGuardia Airport, wandering around with a bible saying, “I killed them, I killed them.”

Cops then found the brutally beaten body of Estrella Castaneda, 56, in a second-floor bedroom face up on the bed with a pillow over her face, according to the charges. The rubber grip of a hammer was next to the body.

Her daughter Lina Castaneda, 25, herself the mother of a 7 year-old girl was then found in the rear bedroom face down on the floor with head injuries, with a hammer next to her.

Amarillo was taken into custody and charged with two counts of first and second degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

The attack was so vicious neighbors could hear the hammering – but had no clue the women were being attacked.

“Around midnight we heard loud hammering. It was loud. I work in construction so I know what a hammer sounds like. I can’t believe it was the sound of someone getting hit. It sounded like someone was swinging that hammer hard,” said neighbor Camilo Alvarez, 23.

Police block off the street near the horror scene after two women were found beaten to death in Queens.Seth Gottfried

“I didn’t hear anybody screaming,” he added. “About 15, 20 minutes later the police came and arrested someone in the front yard. I can’t imagine what they went through. It’s disgusting. I’ve been up all night, I couldn’t sleep.”

Amarillo is walked out of the 115th precinct in Queens.Dennis A. Clark

A law enforcement source said Amarillo confessed and was remorseful, but made the bizarre claims that he believed the women were “witches” and he had to kill them because they were “doing voodoo on him,” during questioning at the 115th precinct house.

A next door neighbor, who declined to give her name, said, “I would hear yelling and fighting. I would hear banging like he was beating them. He wasn’t a friendly guy,” she said.

“This summer he broke the windows when he couldn’t open the door after they locked him out,” she said, also adding that cops had been called to the house before. “He wasn’t a friendly guy, he would never say hello to anyone. I think he was from Argentina.”

She also said she felt the walls of her house shaking last night. “My room was shaking. It went on for 10 minutes,” she said. “My body is trembling. I can’t believe this happened. What’s going to happen to the little girl?”

Lina Castaneda’s 7-year-old daughter was at home at the time and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, according to Arnoldo Parra, whose nephew is the father of the girl. “These are excellent women and I’m not just saying that because they are relatives. I never met the man (Carlos) he recently came into the picture. I hear he’s from Argentina or Uruguay,” he said.

A police officer outside the house where the grisly discovery was made.Seth Gottfried

Another neighbor, Deborah Pawluk, 58, mournfully recalled the slain women and the young girl left behind.

“They were a lovely family, they were always happy. She’s an adorable little girl. The mother would have birthday parties in the front yard for her. You’d always see them together,” Pawluk said.

“I can’t believe this happened. I can’t fathom something like that. This is something this girl will never forget. How is this child going to process that? How are you going to get rid of seeing something like that? They were a happy family up until yesterday. That was that little girl’s only family and now they’re gone,” she lamented.