It’s Impossible To Explain! The Heartbreaking Case of Rhonda Casto!
hi everyone my name is Mark and today we’re going to take a look at another horrible case with you Julia Simmons was living with Steven Nicholas a divorced day trader in his three-bedroom home outside Portland Oregon according to Julia she and Steven met online when she was looking for a place to rent she thought Steven was charming and nice while Julia and Steven lived together Steven met Julia’s 20-year-old daughter Ronda Steven 10 years older than Ronda thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen Steven became smitten
with Ronda it was hard not to be in addition to her beautiful looks she had an incredible personality what surprised Steven the most was Rhonda appeared interested in him too so they started to date as their relationship progressed Steven and Rhonda became more serious eventually the couple decided to live together and Rhonda moved in into Steven’s condo during the time Steven and Ronda dated he developed a close connection with her family particularly her sisters Melanie and Tessa initially when Ronda and Steven began their
relationship Tessa was only 9 years old she found Steven incredibly fun and playful which made her enjoy spending time with him years went by and Steven and Ronda continued living together as a committed couple but they never married Rhonda often wondered what it would have been like to be married to Steven her friends knew how badly she wanted to get married and they felt she was holding out for Hope Steven claimed they were going to get married in the summer of 2009 on his timetable however they did have a baby
girl and being a mother became the best part of her life her daughter became the focus of her world and Rhonda cherished every moment she spent with her she loved being a mom Rhonda enjoyed being a mom and spending time with her daughter how however she also yearned to restart her modeling career according to Steven after Ronda had their daughter she was the heaviest she had ever been Steven claimed Ronda felt disgusting he said they made a commitment to hike the 25 best trails in Oregon together in an attempt to lose weight after the birth
of their daughter Steven expressed that things were going well in his and Rhonda’s relationship and they rarely argued he believed that they had become stronger than ever before however a different story was told by ronda’s friends they revealed that Ronda had confided in them about Steven’s abusive Behavior Rhonda had once taken pictures of her back using a mirror to document bruises caused by a fight with Steven on March 16th 2009 Steven and Ronda who was 23 went on a hike on the Eagle Creek Trail as the couple made their way down the trail
Rhonda captured a photo of Steven using her cell phone before leaving for their hike Ronda jokingly texted her mother he’s either going to give me a ring or throw me off a cliff haaha the weather was beautiful as they continued their walk however Steven later claimed that Ronda started to behave strangely according to Steven Ronda asked him what would happen if anything ever happened to her and if he would take care of their daughter he said of course as the weather began to worsen Steven informed Ronda that it was
time to head home instead of turning back Steven claimed that Ronda wrapped a towel around her shoulders declared herself Supergirl and started to run down the narrow slippery pathway Steven claimed that he witnessed Ronda slip and fall over the side of the Eagle Creek Trail approximately 150 ft after Ronda fell off the Eagle Creek Trail Steven claimed that he hiked down to the Ravine in which she had landed because he couldn’t get cell service and held her body he tried to call 9 one one but had no service leaving him no choice but to
leave her behind according to Steven he walked to the trail head where he finally managed to contact emergency services later that day rescue workers removed ronda’s body according to ronda’s family Steven showed no emotion during her memorial service Steven claims the exact opposite is true and said he was crying Non-Stop and when he gets really sad he shuts people out and wants to be alone shortly after Rhonda died Steven packed up his and their daughter’s things and moved to the other side of Oregon with his daughter to live
near his family this move left ronda’s family feeling suspicious ronda’s family wondered what had happened between the two of them during the moments leading up to ronda’s death in 2006 Steven made a decision to relocate from the United States to China this decision marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life with his young daughter in tow Steven decided to settle in wooi a city located approximately 75 miles outside of Shanghai Steven had lived in China during his first marriage and developed a love for the country and its people
while living in China Steven was hired to teach English to Chinese business people his daughter Ronda was adjusting to life in China quickly within two months of moving there she had become fluent in Mandarin both Steven and his daughter were thriving during their time in China Steven met and fell in love with a woman named Landy Yin Yan Landy and his daughter formed a strong bond with Landy taking on the role of a mother figure Steven appreciated how Landy had stepped in and embraced the role of a parental figure to his
daughter after one year of dating Steven decided to take his relationship to the next level by asking Landy to marry him to his Delight she said yes in February 2015 Steven and his daughter flew back to the United States where the couple planned to marry they decided to have two ceremonies one in America and one in China to accommodate both of their families and friends Steven and his daughter arrived in the United States one day before his fiance as they got off the plane in San Francisco to catch their connecting
flight to Oregon an officer approached Steven and informed him they needed to detain him because there was something wrong with his bag little did he know that this encounter would set off a chain of events that would change his life life forever minutes later the police arrived and separated Steven from his daughter unbeknownst to him the entire time he had been living in China detectives had been working diligently on his girlfriend ronda’s death investigation suspicious circumstances surrounding ronda’s fall from Eagle
Creek prompted them to keep the inquiry going and they eventually came to the conclusion that Steven was the one who was responsible for her death Rhonda’s mother had been instrumental in keeping the investigation open she reached out to the detectives all the time asking for updates the police arrested Steven at the airport for ronda’s murder and extradited him to Oregon after Steven was arrested he claimed that he thought he was dreaming Steven hoped he would open his eyes and find himself home in China with Landy by his side however
this was no nightmare this was real life Steven’s baale was initially set at $2 million he spent the next 14 months behind bars awaiting his trial the judge reduced Steven’s bail to $250,000 and his attorney secured the bond then Steven was released with an ankle monitor when ronda’s family found out Steven had been arrested for her murder they were Overjoyed at the news knowing that Justice was finally being served ronda’s mother in particular could not contain her emotions as she heard the news and burst into tears the
arrest of Steven brought a sense of relief and Solace to ronda’s loved ones who had been mourning her loss for years after Steven’s arrest his attorney took his investigative team to the Eagle Creek Trail where Ronda fell to her death they wanted to conduct experiments to prove to the court that Ronda slipped in an accident and was not pushed by Steven Steven’s defense attorney said the Eagle Creek Trail is one of the most hiked areas in the Columbia River Gorge because of the beauty of the area during one of Steven’s preliminary hearings the
medical examiner who performed ronda’s autopsy after her fall from Eagle Creek determined ronda’s injuries were all below her waist this discovery was pivotal to Steven’s defense strategy as it provided them with an opportunity to argue that Ronda had taken her own life Stevens’s defense team argued that the impact of hitting the ground caused ronda’s broken pelvis and evidence she had fallen feet first rather than tumbling Head Over Heels which would suggest she had had been pushed in addition to presenting evidence
regarding ronda’s injuries the defense team also sought to utilize notes from her therapy sessions as evidence these notes stated that Ronda was depressed but never expressed thoughts of taking her own life furthermore Ronda herself had described her relationship with Steven as a Loveless State Steven’s defense team argued that Rhonda’s depression and description of her relationship were indicators that she had chosen to take her own life by presenting this evidence they aimed to cast doubt on the prosecution’s theory
that Steven had pushed Ronda causing the injuries that led to her death Steven later claimed that Ronda was depressed and attempted to take her life multiple times before they ever met ronda’s family denied these allegations and accused Steven of lying her loved ones claimed Steven was blaming Ronda for taking her life to get the attention off of him because he murdered her according to Steven Ronda also struggled with substance abuse since the age of 12 he alleged that she tried various drugs and had experimented with a wide range of
substances however the medical examiner report revealed only the presence of slight traces of marijuana and the prescription medication for anxiety and depression that Ronda was taking due to struggles with postpartum disturbing evidence emerged during the preliminary hearings in T’s murder shedding light on the involvement of Steven it was revealed that Steven had been involved in a romantic relationship with ronda’s 16-year-old sister Melanie this Revelation raised eyebrows as Steven was in his 30s while Melanie was still a minor the state
presented the court with the argument that Steven’s inappropriate relationship with Melanie could potentially be a motive for murdering Rhonda Ronda had become aware of her husband’s actions behind her back leading to tensions and a possible motive to kill her after Steven was arrested for ronda’s murder he was indicted on two counts of third degree sexual assault and three counts of third degree sodomy regarding his relationship with Melanie Casto his girlfriend ronda’s sister while awaiting trial for ronda’s murder in 2005 Steven
pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse the statement signed by Steven read I had sexual intercourse with Melanie Casto twice however Steven claimed that he was coerced into admitting the sexual abuse and that his admission was untrue according to Steven the only reason he pleaded was that the law would allow him to fight and potentially regain custody of his daughter Steven said that he was desperate and wanted his daughter back on the other hand the state claimed that the relationship between Steven and
Melanie lasted over 4 years later Steven would admit he did have a sexual relationship with ronda’s teenage sister the state presented a text message Rhonda sent to her teenage sister Melanie who had an illicit relationship with Steven before she and Steven went on that fateful hike on Eagle Creek the day she fell to her death in the text message Ronda referred to Steven as a piece of garbage and said Steven used Melanie to hurt Ronda ronda’s mother stated Ronda knew that Steven was trying to drive a wedge between Ronda and
Melanie she claimed Rhonda loved her little sister and wanted to repair their relationship according to the state not all was well in the relationship between Ronda and Steven as Steven claimed the court was provided with more evidence indicating that Steven had a deviant sexual past it was revealed that just 6 months after the mother of his daughter Ronda passed away Steven was arrested and charged with five counts of sexual abuse for allegedly touching a 13-year-old girl Steven refuted these allegations maintaining his innocence
however he later admitted to sending send in a sexually suggestive text message and a picture with his shirt off to the victim he acknowledged the inappropriate nature of his actions and pleaded guilty to one count of sexual harassment at one of Steven’s preliminary hearings the state presented the court with photos taken by Ronda documenting her bruised back ronda’s best friend said she witnessed Ronda and Steven fight a few times when she was on the phone with Ronda and could hear them arguing in the background in addition to
these photos the court also heard testimony from Steven’s ex-wife who claimed that he had attempted to suffocate her and throw her over the railing of their eth floor apartment in November 2003 Steven was not charged with any crime in China in relation to this incident and he denied the allegations ronda’s family firmly believes that her boyfriend Steven was responsible for her death they feel he murdered her to cash in on a life insurance policy that he had taken out on her which he had recently ly increased her mother expressed her
suspicions stating that Steven had lost a substantial amount of money through day trading the previous year and was not financially stable furthermore everyone who knew Ronda can attest to the fact that she had a deep love for her 9-month-old daughters and there is no way she would have taken her own life by jumping from Eagle Creek in May 2017 ronda’s family was shocked and horrified when they learned that the state had arranged a meeting with the defense and had come to an agreement Steven pleaded guilty to the Lesser charge of
criminally negligent homicide although the state believed he had murdered her they knew the case against him was weak due to the lack of physical evidence proving he had pushed her from the trail at Eagle Creek Steven was given credit for the time he served while awaiting trial however he had to remain on parole for 3 years Steven had his ankle monitor removed and was released from custody T’s family and friends Steven taking a plea deal was not Justice they felt that he should have faced harsher consequences for his actions during
Steven’s sentencing hearing ronda’s sister made an impact statement she expressed her anger and frustration towards him and told him that he had destroyed her whole family and had caused immense pain and sorrow ronda’s mother also expressed her confusion and frustration stating that she could not understand how Steven could have taken away her daughter leaving their family shad Ed Steven claimed that he had not pushed Ronda but had taken the deal because time was running out for him to regain custody of his daughter he stated
that he had been willing to face the consequences of his actions for the sake of his child however despite Steven’s claims ronda’s family and friends remained unconvinced during a 2018 interview Steven made a startling allegation regarding the fate of Ronda his War buddy according to Steven on the day of her fatal fall all she was still alive when he hiked down Eagle Creek Trail and found her the interviewer then questioned Steven if he had put Ronda out of her misery that day Steven responded by asking the interviewer a
hypothetical question if you shoot your War buddy because you see how much pain he’s in is that murder he argued that such an act could be considered a Justified homicide although it was still a homicide while Steven never explicitly admitted to harming Ronda his comments allude to the possibility of his involvement in her death in 2017 ronda’s mother applied for Social Security survivor benefits on behalf of ronda’s infant daughter ronda’s mother claimed that her granddaughter lived with her and she promised to use the benefits
solely for the baby’s care however the state alleged that between April 2010 and December 2014 when ronda’s mother claimed the little girl lived with her she had in fact been living with her father Steven the state charged ronda’s mother with theft of government funds totaling nearly $40,000 over 5 years ronda’s mother’s defense attorneys asserted that she was determined to prevent Steven from getting custody of his and ronda’s daughter she didn’t want Steven to capitalize on the $1 million life insurance policy he had taken out
on ronda’s life the defense argued that ronda’s Mother’s actions were driven by her desire to protect her granddaughter and ensure she was not exploited a according to the defense ronda’s mother had a history of depression which intensified after her daughter’s death in order to cope with her grief she relied on marijuana as a means to self-medicate the defense team contended that she used the drug as a crutch that it clouded her judgment and impaired her ability to think clearly the judge sentenced ronda’s mother at the age of
53 to one month in a halfway house and 3 years of probation this sentence was imposed osed after the mother pleaded guilty to the theft of government funds in addition to the jail time and probation ronda’s mother was also ordered to pay back the stolen benefits amounting to $39,100 Ronda and Steven’s daughter had been in foster care since the Department of Human Services took custody of her in October 2015 this decision was made after Steven had pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in the case of the 13-year-old girl as a
result an Oregon Court terminated his parental rights however Steven appealed this decision
