JUSTICE

Two Brothers Convicted of Murdering Groom on His Wedding Night

Josue and Rony Castaneda were found guilty of murdering Joe Melgoza after crashing his wedding reception in 2019.

California brothers accused of killing a groom on his wedding day in 2019 have been convicted of second-degree murder, the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday. Josue and Rony Castaneda arrived uninvited to Joe Melgoza’s wedding reception on Dec. 14, 2019, and had no apparent connection to the victim, the DA’s office said. After the reception, the Castanedas, now armed with baseball bats, returned to a trail behind the home where the reception was being held and taunted Melgoza and his family to jump over the fence the brothers were behind, according to officials. When they did so, the Castanedas began attacking the family, and Melgoza followed the brothers as they fled to the yard of an unrelated home, officials said. Melgoza was later found dead in that same yard after police responded to initial reports of injuries suffered by his brother Juan Bustamonte during the encounter. The Castaneda brothers are scheduled to be sentenced March 13.