Middletown Murder Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

NEWPORT, RI—The local woman accused of strangling Rachel S. Kilroy, 34, to death in a Middletown apartment in August pleaded not guilty to one count of domestic murder in Newport Superior Court last week.

Melissa Sue Anne Castle, 33, of no permanent address, was arrested in August after police responded to a Jean Street apartment and found Kilroy dead on the second floor.

Castle allegedly told police that she got involved in an argument that “led to a violent encounter,” police said, and Castle “was taken into custody and was cooperative.”

Castle reportedly told police ”I choked her. She’s dead.”

Friends of Kilroy said that the couple had a tumultuous relationship. Middletown Police Chief Anthony M. Pesare said Kilroy’s death was “the tragic outcome of domestic violence.”

Court records show Castle has had numerous run-ins with police over the years, most recently being arrested by Cranston Police in May for felony larceny. She was due to appear in court on Sept. 3 for that charge.

At the time of her murder arrest, Castle was on probation after pleading no contest to charges of driving a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner levied by Portsmouth police in February.

She was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to obtain substance abuse counseling and enroll in a mental health program after her June plea.

Castle has been held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston as a violator since her arrest. She was indicted by the Statewide Grand Jury on one murder count on Dec. 1. After her plea last week, she was ordered held without bail and is due to return to court on Jan. 21 for a pretrial conference.

Photo courtesy: ABC6

This story was updated on Tuesday to fix an identification error.