The February 9th Killer

Sonia Mejia

10 Years Later, Serial Murderer is Still Unknown

by Robert A. Waters

Even though police have his DNA, a serial murderer whose three known victims died on February 9 has never been identified.

On February 9, 2006, Sonia Mejia was raped and strangled in her Taylorsville, Utah apartment. Six months pregnant, her unborn child also died. Police informed reporters that a Hispanic male had been seen talking to Mejia in her doorway. Investigators think he either talked his way into her apartment or forced his way inside. After killing her, the murderer also robbed Mejia, taking a ruby ring, a diamond ring, and a Lady of Guadaloupe medallion.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Taylorsville police has “ruled out family members and [has] been advised by the FBI to look for a suspect with a history of abusing animals.”

Exactly two years later, Damiana Castillo, 57, was found sexually assaulted and strangled in West Valley City. She lived less than three miles from Mejia's old apartment. Like Mejia, Castillo's apartment showed no signs of having been broken into.

A West Valley Police spokesperson said, “It was very unusual for [Castillo] not to be in church on a Sunday morning. She would typically attend church on Sunday morning. She was very prompt and for her not to be at church was very concerning not only for her congregation but for her family as well. Her son came over and subsequently found his mother lying dead on the floor in her apartment.”

At first, police concluded that the two crimes were not connected.

But DNA linked the rapes. Investigators, surprised to learn the evidence matched, determined the same killer had murdered both women and Mejia's child.

Was it a coincidence that the same killer attacked two women on the same day two years apart. Or was it a pattern? Were the crimes random, or did the killer know his victims? Has he committed other rapes or murders? Why isn't his DNA profile in a database somewhere?

Police stated that they have reason to believe the killer is Hispanic, in his late teens or early twenties, and stands between five-feet-three inches and five-feet-five inches tall. He has short black hair and at the time weighed between 135-150 pounds.

Damiana Castillo