Elementary music teacher 27M chokeholds then rapes his wife's queer younger sister 25F who later is pronounced dead at Long Island hospital after a decade of "lusting" after her.
Victoria Castle was a vibrant PHD Biology student & was preparing to submit a research proposal to NASA to develop a method for dating sediments on the surface of Mars & had presented at Oxford. She was devoted to the natural world in it's many forms. Self described as an elder emo she had her own trials & tribulations in life as marked on her body with scars & her medusa tattoo. She was openly proud of her queer identity & was in a new relationship with another woman at the time of her death. Vic was avid about running marathons, yoga, & the gym.
Combined details from 3 articles:
According to investigators, officers responded to 285 N Oak Street around 8:45 a.m., Monday June 29th 2026, after Joseph Horner called 911 to request an ambulance for a female victim who was not breathing. Police said they found Horner sitting outside on the stoop when they arrived. Officials said the home was multi-family and split into two apartments; Horner and his wife, Alexia Castle, who was away at a bachelorette party, lived upstairs. Horner's wife's sister, Victoria, lived on the ground level. Inside, police said they found Victoria Castle naked on the floor of that ground-floor apartment. She was taken to the hospital, where she died at 9:25 a.m., according to officials. Police said Castle was a PhD student at Stony Brook University and Horner knew her since 2016, when he met his wife.
On Tuesday, Nassau County police said they arrested Joseph Horner, 27, and charged him with second-degree murder in the death of Victoria Castle.
Horner's arraignment, a Nassau prosecutor said while Horner's wife was away, he saw an opportunity to follow through on a "sexual desire" he'd harbored for his sister-in-law. Horner allegedly admitted to lusting over his wife's sister since 2017. He asked for help moving a piano, the prosecutor said, then without warning, attacked her from behind and placed her in a chokehold until her body went limp. He then allegedly placed her in bed and had sex with her (sexually assaulted even if the article won't say it). Afterward, he changed his clothes then called 911. The prosecutor said he later admitted to authorities that he'd choked her and then had sex with sexually assaulted her.
Horner pleaded not guilty to murder in the second degree and is being held without bail.
His attorney said his client is a tenured teacher who is well loved by his students and colleagues.
Nassau County police said Horner acted alone and had no prior interactions with law enforcement or previous arrests.
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The Long Island doctoral student who was allegedly raped and strangled to death by her obsessed brother-in-law gushed over him as “one of the most wonderful people in the world” in a haunting Facebook post after he married her sister.
“My sister, my person, my partner in chaos, is now married to one of the most wonderful people in the world,” reads Victoria Castle’s message “I love you both forever!”
Additional articles:
Victoria's Obituary:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/massapequa-ny/victoria-castle-12950364