LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Mich. – Cold case investigators in Livingston County have closed the nearly 40-year-old murder of Christina Lynn Castiglione.
Castiglione, 19, lived with her mother and father in Redford Township at the time of her disappearance. She was described as a nice person, but not outgoing. She was cheerful and friendly to others.
She was not married but had a steady boyfriend. She was working at the Detroit Edison Company as a clerk in the research department and had recently contacted an Army Recruiter.
Castiglione was last seen between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on March 19, 1983, walking westbound on 5 Mile Road near Lola Park in Redford Township.
Her mother reported her missing on March 21, 1983. Her body was found on March 29, 1983, in the Oak Grove State Game Area on Faussett Road in Deerfield Township.
Her body was found after a heavy snowfall and the start of the snow melting. She was partially clothed and lying in a remote wooded area. She had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted. Evidence indicates her body was left at the location before the snowfall, shortly after she was last seen in Redford.
DNA evidence was collected during the autopsy. The DNA samples were entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in the early 2000s, but a suspect was never identified.
How investigators identified the suspect
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office established its cold case unit in 2009. Since then, retired law enforcement officers have worked to solve those cases and bring closure to families.
In March 2022, investigators applied and received grant funding through Season of Justice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding DNA testing on unsolved cold case homicides. In May of last year, the DNA evidence was sent to Othram Lab in Texas, the company behind DNA Solves.
DNA Solves has been involved in several other Michigan cold cases, including a campaign to identify a teenage boy found dead in 1988.
Othram used the genealogical profile to identify leads in the case and turned that evidence over to investigators. Investigators said through that work and cooperation from the suspect’s family, they were able to “identify beyond a reasonable doubt” who the killer was.
They have identified Charles David Shaw as the killer in this case, he was 26 years old at the time of the murder. Shaw was found dead in Detroit on Nov. 27, 1983. The medical examiner’s report lists his death as accidental sexual asphyxiation.
Police were unable to find any direct ties between Castiglione and Shaw. They did not receive any tips that would have led them to Shaw during the initial investigation.
Investigators have determined that Shaw was a long-time Livonia resident who lived less than five miles from where Castiglione was last seen. Police said Shaw’s family described him as a “sex addict with a disturbing life.”
Shaw did have a known criminal history. His first contact with police was in 1973 for a breaking and entering complaint in Livonia. He was arrested by Livonia police in 1977 for drug possession.
In 1981 he was accused of attempting to abduct a woman in a McDonald’s parking lot in Fowlerville. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served two weeks in jail before he was placed on probation. In 1982, he was arrested for stealing women’s shoes from a Kmart in Livonia.
“The cooperation of the Shaw family during the investigation was paramount to identifying Charles Shaw as the person responsible for the homicide of Christina Castiglione. We are hopeful that the surviving members of Christina Castiglione, along with victims and families of other violent unsolved crimes who have been awaiting justice for decades, experience closure as genealogical DNA continues to help law enforcement advance efforts to achieve justice for victims,” Livingston County investigators said in a press release.
The Livingston County Cold Case Unit will continue to investigate the four remaining unsolved cold cases.
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