Correctional Officer Turns Away Murder Suspect Trying to Turn Himself In

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping the sheriff's office probe the jail, which has been the subject of almost 100 complaints following the August arrest of three deputies accused of beating an inmate to death.

A suspected murderer who tried to turn himself in to the Santa Clara County Mail Jail was turned away by a Department of Corrections Deputy, because the he said the murder was, outside the Sheriff's jurisdiction.

They say the stabbing happened sometime over the weekend, but the victim's body was not found until Monday.

Castro went to San Jose police headquarters where he gave a handwritten note to officers regarding a body at The Globe, an apartment building on South Third Street, Smith said. He has not admitted to involvement in the murder.

On his second surrender try, Castro was interviewed by San Jose homicide detectives and directed officers to a downtown condominium where they found the reportedly strangled and stabbed body of 27-year-old Alessandra Barlas. The woman, a civilian employee, checked for outstanding warrants, but finding none she contacted a deputy to talk to Castro. The correctional deputy involved in this incident has been reassigned pending a full investigation. "I told him that there was a dead body at a certain location and they referred me over here". The staff member in turn informed a correctional deputy.

The incident is the latest black eye for a department.

Castro, who appeared in a red jail uniform, did not enter a plea and remains in custody without bail.

Shortly after the arrest of the deputies, Smith called Tyree's death a "brutal murder" committed by individuals who had lost their "moral compass". Internal investigations have already yielded two additional arrests of deputies for assorted misconduct. The commission - made up of retired and current judges, mental health experts, former inmates, and criminal justice advocates, Sheriff Smith and other law enforcement professionals - will host a series of public meetings to assess the policies of the sheriff's office and look for areas where improvements can be made.

Hugo Ernesto Castro, a San Jose resident, was arraigned on a murder charge with an enhancement of personal use of a unsafe weapon, a knife, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Boyd said. "We're putting all hands on deck".