Cops: Dad kills 3 kids, reports it to front desk

updated 11:02 p.m. ET March 30, 2008

BALTIMORE - A man killed his three young children at a downtown hotel room, then called the front desk to report their deaths Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Police officers who responded to the 10th-floor room at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards found the three children's bodies and Mark Castillo, 41, with minor cuts that appeared to have been self-inflicted, police spokesman Sterling Clifford said. He did know how the children were killed.

"Why he brought them here to do this is something we don't know yet," Clifford said.

Police identified the children as Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, 2.

Castillo of Silver Spring, which is about 35 miles south of Baltimore, was taken to a hospital for treatment and was being questioned by investigators, the spokesman said.

Clifford said investigators had not determined how the children died, but said they hadn't been shot or stabbed.

The children's mother was notified, Clifford said. It wasn't clear who had legal custody of the children, he said.

An online search of Maryland court records showed Mark and Amy Castillo were involved in a child custody dispute.

A telephone call Sunday night by The Associated Press to a number listed for Amy W. Castillo in Silver Spring was answered by a voice mail message that said the caller had reached the home of Amy Castillo and Anthony, Austin and Athena.

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