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Putnam man wanted in woman's murder arrested near Boston

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By Erin Beck Kate WhiteKate White

A Putnam County man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting near Hurricane was arrested Friday afternoon in Massachusetts.

Authorities were looking for Philip David Casto, 33, in the death of 27-year-old Jennifer Evans. Sgt. Tom Ryan of the Massachusetts State Police confirmed late Friday afternoon that Casto had been taken into custody at a shopping mall in Braintree, Massachusetts.

Braintree is about 12 miles south of Boston, and nearly 800 miles from Putnam County.

Investigators in West Virginia developed information that Casto was somewhere in the South Shore Plaza shopping center on Granite Street in Braintree and notified authorities in the area, according to a statement issued by Massachusetts State Police. State Police and Braintree police set up a perimeter around the shopping center while plain-clothes officers searched the mall for Casto.

State Police Sgt. Richard Sementelli of the department's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, and Braintree detectives Charles Paris and Mark Sherrick found Casto at about 4:20 p.m. Friday outside the mall near a parking garage and placed him under arrest, the statement read.

He was booked as a fugitive from justice. Court proceedings to transfer Casto to West Virginia will begin Monday in Quincy District Court.

Documents charging Casto with first-degree murder were filed Friday afternoon in Putnam County, according to Putnam Sheriff Steve Deweese.

Evans, who worked as a home-health care nurse with the state Department of Health and Human Resources, was found dead Thursday evening in her Hurricane-area home from a single gunshot wound to the head, Deweese said.

The close-proximity shooting happened at 417 Sevilla Drive, off Hospital Drive. Evans' husband, Michael, found her and called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Neither Michael Evans nor the couple's nearly 2-year-old son were home at the time of the shooting.

Suicide was ruled out because no weapon was recovered. Deweese said police had no reason to consider Michael Evans a suspect in the murder.

A search of Casto's name by employees at the Putnam magistrate and circuit courts did not reveal any criminal records for the man.

"He has a clean record, not even a speeding ticket," Deweese said Friday.

Deweese said Casto knew Michael and Jennifer Evans, but he is not sure how. Casto is employed by the state Division of Highways at the Capitol Complex.

Deputies spoke to Casto's wife and other family members, Deweese said, but none of them had heard from the man.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Department Crime Unit, which is the department's detective division, is the sole agency investigating the homicide.

Michael Evans wrote public Facebook posts about the pursuit on Friday in hopes Casto would be caught. He also posted a photo of his wife and himself, with a banner that read "Justice for Jenn."

On Thursday, he wrote, "I'm beyond heartbroken ... I miss my wife so so much and will forever love her! R.I.P. my sweet beautiful princess! Love you forever and always!"

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.


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