Dating app killer whose cover-up of grisly crime led to one of the worst fires in California history thrown behind bars for life

An online date that led to murder, arson, deceit, more deaths and one of the worst fires in California’s history has finally ended with a guilty verdict and prison sentence.Victor Serriteno, 33, was convicted Friday in the 2020 killing of a single mom he had met through a dating app — as well as the murders of two additional victims who burned to death in a fire he set to cover his tracks, according to KSW Action News.Serriteno, of Vacaville, was found guilty of multiple counts of murder and arson in Solano County Superior Court and sentenced to 73 years-to-life in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.He had pleaded no contest.The convicted killer met his victim, Priscilla Castro, a 32-year-old mother from Vallejo, on the evening of Aug.16, 2020, after arranging a meeting through a dating app.It was the last time the mom of a 9-year-old girl was seen alive.Castro’s family became concerned when she never came back from the date.No one could reach her on her phone and her social media accounts had gone dormant. Investigators used her cellphone records to track down her car, a 2007 Mercedes-Benz C230, that they found abandoned in a rural area. That same day, a fire was spreading out of control nearby.It would become known as the Markley fire, and it killed Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon “James” Bone, 64, when their homes became engulfed in flames.The Markley Fire eventually fed into the LNU Lightning Complex Fire – one of the most destructive conflagrations in California’s history, destroying 330,000 acres in the Bay Area.Two weeks later, after the fire was extinguished, officials were able to identify Castro’s charred remains from a keepsake found next to them.“Although the remains were so badly burned and unrecognizable, there was an angel pendant located in the debris that belonged to Priscilla Castro,” authorities said at the time.Police ruled Castro’s death a homicide and started an investigation.Detectives homed in on ...