BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 918-1042

HILLSBOROUGH -- Did Alvaro Castillo know right from wrong when he killed his father and shot at students at Orange High School?

As the testimony from witnesses wound down Wednesday morning, both the prosecution and the state tried to make their cases for the jury. Castillo is standing trial for first-degree murder and for weapon and assault charges for shooting at students at Orange High School on Aug. 30, 2006.

On Wednesday, psychiatrist Nicole Wolfe, who evaluated Castillo for more than two months at Dorothea Dix Hospital in 2007, continued her testimony for the state. She reiterated her opinion that Castillo killed his father because he was abusive and he shot at students at Orange High School because he wanted to be included on the list of mass murderers and school shooters.

"I believe that notoriety played a very large part in this case," Wolfe said. "He wants to be known as a mass murderer and school shooter."

Wolfe told the jury that although Castillo was suffering from severe depression, and it affected his judgment, he was still capable of making choices.

During his cross-examination of psychiatrist Nicole Wolfe, Orange-Chatham Public Defender James Williams focused on Castillo's thoughts as he began to form the idea that he should commit a massacre at Orange High School.

Williams repeatedly asked Wolfe why certain information was not included in her summary report after she evaluated Castillo, including multiple references to "sacrifice."

Many of the items he asked her about included statements Castillo made to various people that God had spared his life when he tried to commit suicide on April 20, 2006, because God had a mission for him.

The mission was to sacrifice lives and send people to heaven, where they would be free from an evil world and would no longer suffer any pain.

When Wolfe asked Castillo why no one at Orange High School was killed, he responded," God intervened, or I am a terrible shot," Williams quoted Castillo as saying. "He thought his actions on August 30 were a calling from God," Williams said.

"Yes, he stated that," Wolfe replied.

Castillo said he was not seeking revenge or punishment, and that sending someone to heaven was a good thing," Williams said.

Wolfe agreed that Castillo had said that.

Williams also questioned Wolfe about numerous statements Castillo made about loving his father. He killed his father to sacrifice him with the belief that his father would go to heaven, Williams said.

'If he believed that and acted upon that belief, would that not constitute a delusional belief?" Williams asked.

A delusional belief, which is a symptom of schizophrenia, is a fixed, false belief.

Once the evidence was completed Wednesday afternoon, the jurors were allowed to go home for the day, while the attorneys continued their discussion with Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour about what charges would be submitted to the jury. Baddour decided the state could submit the charge of felony murder.

Felony murder refers to a murder that was committed in association with other felonies. In this case, the felonies included possession of weapons of mass destruction and possession of weapons on school grounds.

The felony murder will be in addition to the charge of first-degree murder, and the jury could find Castillo guilty of both or either charges of murder. The jury also could decide to find Castillo guilty of second-degree murder, not guilty by reason of insanity or not guilty.

The punishment for first-degree murder or felony murder is life in prison.

If the jury finds Castillo not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be committed to a mental hospital. Someone committed to a mental hospital for a murder has yearly hearings before a judge to determine if he is danger to himself or others, and the fact that a murder was committed is evidence he is a danger to others.

In the similar case of Wendell Williamson who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing two people in Chapel Hill in 1995, he had yearly court hearings at which a judge recommitted him.

But during the hearings, doctors from the hospital testified they believed Williamson was improving, and they recommended he should be given privileges, such as being allowed to leave his ward to walk to other parts of the hospital.

After the first few years, he began to earn privileges, eventually having the privilege of being able to spend time by himself on the grounds of Dorothea Dix.

Williams walked away from the hospital in 2004 but turned himself in a few hours later. That caused him to lose the privileges he had slowly earned, and he remains committed at the hospital.