Richardson Murder Suspect Worked With Victim
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Police have arrested a suspect for the murder of 60-year-old Michael Castagne. The Richardson man was found beaten to death in his office. Investigators say firefighters found his body still smoldering under a plastic cover.
Police found suspect Daeveion Mangum at his Fort Worth apartment complex. They say they not only found the victim's missing vehicle, they also found a missing camera and laptop under the suspect's bed.
Neighbors at the La Jolla Terrace Apartments say their community is the last place they would have expected police to find the suspect in the Richardson murder.
"I think that's crazy because you know, I've seen him around. I've seen him walking around a couple times. I never thought he'd be around killing people or whatnot, so you know, definitely want to keep my family and stuff in the house from now on," neighbor Mikel George said.
Investigators say the murder was an isolated incident that seemed to happen unexpectedly.
"It seems like this is a business agreement gone bad over a disagreement over business matters," Richardson Police Detective Adam Perry said.
Castagne operated what is described as a marketing and web design company out of an industrial park on East Arapaho Road. The nature of the business relationship between Castagne and 19-year-old Mangum remains unclear.
"The only thing that we know is that they had a working relationship and that there was some kind of altercation that happened as a a result of their business relationship," Perry said.
Police say Mangum is cooperating with the investigation, but they won't elaborate on what kind of motive the suspect may have had for the murder.
When asked if the investigation had uncovered anything suspicious about Castagne's business, "Nothing at this point, but it's still an ongoing investigation," Perry said.
A witness told police he saw Mangum at Castagne's business for a photo shoot the day of the murder. He identified the suspect by a stage name, "Demonte Magnum." Detectives matched that stage name with a file they found among folders labeled with stage names and tracked Mangum to the address in Fort Worth.
With so many questions left unanswered, Mangum's neighbors aren't sure what to think about the investigation.
"It's shocking. You know, you got kids, and you never know what's going on with a person, what the person has done," neighbor Roderick Smith said.
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