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Cleveland Rapist Ariel Castro Found Dead
Castro, 53, was found dead just a month after being sentenced to 1,000 years in jail for kidnapping and raping three women he held captive at his home
Convicted kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro, was found dead on Tuesday evening, 19 Action News reported.
The former school bus driver was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison for the kidnapping, rape and beatings of three Cleveland women he held captive for years in his house, was found hanged by prison staff at 9.20pm last night.
He pleaded guilty to 937 counts, including murder and kidnapping, in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table, CNN reported.
This is an isolation cell at Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, like the one where Castro hanged himself Tuesday
During the sentencing, Castro denied being abusive and insisted that most of the sex was consensual.
'I'm not a violent person," Castro said. "I simply kept them there without them being able to leave."
The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004. They escaped on May 6, when one of the women broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested that same night.
Amanda Berry, left, Gina DeJesus, center, and Michelle Knight, right, have all spoken out about recovering from their horrific ordeal being kidnapped, raped and tortured by Castro
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty acknowledged after Castro's sentencing that a suicide note and confession written by Castro was found by authorities at his residence when they searched his home after his arrest in May.
McGinty dismissed the letter as an attempt of Castro, whom he described as a "narcissist", to feel sorry for himself and to place blame on his victims.
JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Corrections released the following statement.
"The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.
Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.
House of horrors: This is the four-bedroom home where Castro kept his victims for a decade – unbeknownst to his family or his neighbors
Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10:50 p.m.
He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said. She said suicide watch entails constant observation.
Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk."
In a rambling statement, Castro told the judge that he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction.
"I'm not a monster. I'm sick," Castro said at his sentencing.
Knight was the only one of the three who appeared in court at his sentencing.
"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," she said in the hushed courtroom. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."
This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month.
On Aug. 4, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.
Sources:www.huffingtonpost.com, www.cnn.com, www.19action.news.com
Images: AP, Getty Images
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