The former US bus driver
jailed for life for kidnapping and raping three
young women he held as sex slaves for a decade
was found hanged late Tuesday in “an apparent
case of suicide” in his closely monitored cell,
authorities said. The death of Ariel Castro, who was required to be
checked on every 30 minutes, brought an abrupt
and dramatic ending to a sordid case that
shocked America and the world with its
revelations of systematic depravity and brutality. JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio prisons
department, said that Castro was found hanging
in a cell in which he was alone Tuesday night in a
prison in the town of Orient. “It does appear to be an apparent case of
suicide,” Smith told AFP early Wednesday,
declining to give further details. But Cleveland TV station WOIO said he had not
been on suicide watch. It said he had been at the
Orient prison for only about 30 days. He was
sentenced in August. Officials tried in vain to resuscitate the 53-year-
old, according to an earlier statement from the
Ohio Department of Corrections. “He was housed in protective custody which
means he was in a cell by himself and rounds are
required every 30 minutes at staggered intervals.
Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff
began performing life-saving measures,” the
statement by Smith said. Castro, it said, was pronounced dead at 10:52 pm
after he had been found hanging in his cell at
9:20 pm at the Correctional Reception Center in
Orient. “A thorough review of this incident is underway,”
the statement said. Blogs posted in the main Cleveland newspaper,
The Plain Dealer, were merciless. “Adios diablo, may you burn for 1,000 years, just
like you were sentenced,” one said, alluding to
his jail term of life plus 1,000 years. “Why no picture of him hanging? Now THAT
would be justice,” asked another. “Must have used his clothing?” mused yet
another. Castro’s crimes — keeping the three young
women in what came to be known as a house of
horrors and raping and otherwise brutalizing
them for around a decade — disgusted the
country and led to an outpouring of national pity
for the three victims. They were abducted separately between 2002 and 2004. Their names are Amanda Berry, now 27; Gina
DeJesus, 23; and Michelle Knight, 32. A cousin of Castro, Maria Castro Montes, told CNN
that perhaps there was some good to come from
the death of Castro. Maybe now, she said, the
victims can truly can get on with their lives and
not deal with periodic new details leaking about
their respective nightmares. “Maybe this is for the best,” Montes said. “Maybe
this is the only way he will be out of the
spotlight.” She added of the women he tormented: “They
would never find peace if he were still in prison.” Montes said she found it “hard to believe he had
the courage to take his own life.” The woman ranged in age from 14 to 20 when
Castro took them off the street in a working class
neighborhood of Cleveland, under the pretext he
was offering them a ride in his car. They escaped on May 6 when Berry managed to
break open part of the front door and call out to a
neighbor for help. Her frantic telephone call later
to emergency rescue services was played and
replayed over the media in the days after the three
women escaped. At the trial, as Castro — a pudgy, balding man in
wire rim glasses — sat in a bright orange prison
jumpsuit, it emerged that they were brutalized,
sometimes chained up and kept in abysmal
conditions. Berry had a daughter fathered by Castro. The white delapidated house where they were
tormented was demolished a few days after
Castro was sentenced. At his sentencing hearing August 1, Castro had
insisted he was not evil but rather addicted to sex. “I’m not a monster. I’m sick,” he pleaded. Despite having pleaded guilty to 977 charges
related to his victims’ brutal decade-long ordeal,
including many rapes and the murder of a foetus
through beating its mother, Castro said he was
not a violent man. He pleaded guilty after prosecutors agreed not to
seek the death penalty. Castro said he had himself been sexually abused
as a child and had grown up obsessed with sex,
addicted to pornography and a compulsive
masturbator. He said he had not plotted the three kidnaps, but
had acted on impulse. “I am not a monster. I am a normal person. I am
just sick. I have an addiction just like an alcoholic
has an addiction,” he said. Michael Russo, the judge who sentenced Castro
that day, described his crimes as unspeakable. “Sir, there is no place in this city, there is no place
in this country and indeed there is no place in this
world for those who enslave others, those who
sexually assault others and those who brutalize
others,” Russo said. A tearful Michelle Knight, who was kidnapped at
the age of 20, said in emotional testimony before
the court that death would have been “so much
easier” for her tormenter. “I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just
beginning,” Knight told Castro.
jailed for life for kidnapping and raping three
young women he held as sex slaves for a decade
was found hanged late Tuesday in “an apparent
case of suicide” in his closely monitored cell,
authorities said. The death of Ariel Castro, who was required to be
checked on every 30 minutes, brought an abrupt
and dramatic ending to a sordid case that
shocked America and the world with its
revelations of systematic depravity and brutality. JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio prisons
department, said that Castro was found hanging
in a cell in which he was alone Tuesday night in a
prison in the town of Orient. “It does appear to be an apparent case of
suicide,” Smith told AFP early Wednesday,
declining to give further details. But Cleveland TV station WOIO said he had not
been on suicide watch. It said he had been at the
Orient prison for only about 30 days. He was
sentenced in August. Officials tried in vain to resuscitate the 53-year-
old, according to an earlier statement from the
Ohio Department of Corrections. “He was housed in protective custody which
means he was in a cell by himself and rounds are
required every 30 minutes at staggered intervals.
Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff
began performing life-saving measures,” the
statement by Smith said. Castro, it said, was pronounced dead at 10:52 pm
after he had been found hanging in his cell at
9:20 pm at the Correctional Reception Center in
Orient. “A thorough review of this incident is underway,”
the statement said. Blogs posted in the main Cleveland newspaper,
The Plain Dealer, were merciless. “Adios diablo, may you burn for 1,000 years, just
like you were sentenced,” one said, alluding to
his jail term of life plus 1,000 years. “Why no picture of him hanging? Now THAT
would be justice,” asked another. “Must have used his clothing?” mused yet
another. Castro’s crimes — keeping the three young
women in what came to be known as a house of
horrors and raping and otherwise brutalizing
them for around a decade — disgusted the
country and led to an outpouring of national pity
for the three victims. They were abducted separately between 2002 and 2004. Their names are Amanda Berry, now 27; Gina
DeJesus, 23; and Michelle Knight, 32. A cousin of Castro, Maria Castro Montes, told CNN
that perhaps there was some good to come from
the death of Castro. Maybe now, she said, the
victims can truly can get on with their lives and
not deal with periodic new details leaking about
their respective nightmares. “Maybe this is for the best,” Montes said. “Maybe
this is the only way he will be out of the
spotlight.” She added of the women he tormented: “They
would never find peace if he were still in prison.” Montes said she found it “hard to believe he had
the courage to take his own life.” The woman ranged in age from 14 to 20 when
Castro took them off the street in a working class
neighborhood of Cleveland, under the pretext he
was offering them a ride in his car. They escaped on May 6 when Berry managed to
break open part of the front door and call out to a
neighbor for help. Her frantic telephone call later
to emergency rescue services was played and
replayed over the media in the days after the three
women escaped. At the trial, as Castro — a pudgy, balding man in
wire rim glasses — sat in a bright orange prison
jumpsuit, it emerged that they were brutalized,
sometimes chained up and kept in abysmal
conditions. Berry had a daughter fathered by Castro. The white delapidated house where they were
tormented was demolished a few days after
Castro was sentenced. At his sentencing hearing August 1, Castro had
insisted he was not evil but rather addicted to sex. “I’m not a monster. I’m sick,” he pleaded. Despite having pleaded guilty to 977 charges
related to his victims’ brutal decade-long ordeal,
including many rapes and the murder of a foetus
through beating its mother, Castro said he was
not a violent man. He pleaded guilty after prosecutors agreed not to
seek the death penalty. Castro said he had himself been sexually abused
as a child and had grown up obsessed with sex,
addicted to pornography and a compulsive
masturbator. He said he had not plotted the three kidnaps, but
had acted on impulse. “I am not a monster. I am a normal person. I am
just sick. I have an addiction just like an alcoholic
has an addiction,” he said. Michael Russo, the judge who sentenced Castro
that day, described his crimes as unspeakable. “Sir, there is no place in this city, there is no place
in this country and indeed there is no place in this
world for those who enslave others, those who
sexually assault others and those who brutalize
others,” Russo said. A tearful Michelle Knight, who was kidnapped at
the age of 20, said in emotional testimony before
the court that death would have been “so much
easier” for her tormenter. “I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just
beginning,” Knight told Castro.
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