On February 22, 2023, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office announced that Charles David Shaw was the lead suspect in the March 1983 murder of 19-year-old Christina Castiglione in Deerfield Township, Michigan. The case has been cleared by exception due to the death of Shaw.
Castiglione was reported missing from her home in Redford, Michigan by her mother on March 21, 1983. Her body was found in a remote wooded area of the Oak Grove State Game Area on March 29, 1983. She was found partially nude, and she had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
A DNA profile of the suspect was developed sometime in the early 2000s and entered into CODIS, but there were no leads produced. The source of the DNA sample is not specified, only that it was male biological material found on Castiglione’s body.
The FGG investigation was conducted by Othram in partnership with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, beginning in May of 2022. The investigation was funded by a grant from Season of Justice – a non-profit that funds advanced DNA testing for cold case murders, unidentified decedents, and sexual assaults throughout the United States. Retired law enforcement officers from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit volunteered their time to work on this investigation.
The cooperation of Shaw’s family was instrumental to the success of the investigation. The final confirmation in this case was made to three separate living relatives of Shaw. Shaw himself passed away in November of 1983. Shaw’s family members told investigators that Shaw was a sex addict who struggled with mental illness and gender identity. He also had a criminal history from an early age, including for the attempted kidnapping of a woman from a McDonald’s parking lot in 1981. Shaw is also reported to have lived close to the area where Castiglione went missing.
Sources:
Impelli, Matthew. “Volunteer Investigators Solve Young Woman’s Murder After 40 Years.” Newsweek, February 22, 2023. Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/volunteer-investigators-solve-young-womans-murder-after-40-years-1783183.
Powers, Sara. “Livingston County Cold Case Team Solves 1983 Murder Decades Later.” CBS News Detroit, February 22, 2023. Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/livingston-county-sheriffs-office-solves-1983-murder-decades-later/.
Vogen, Michael. “Livingston County Sheriff’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify the Suspect in the 1983 Murder of Christina Lynn Castiglione.” DNASolves.com, February 22, 2023. Accessed February 22, 2023. https://dnasolves.com/articles/livingston-christina-lynn-castiglione/.