Notorious Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who had received a sentence of life plus 1000 years from the court, escaped his punishment by hanging himself in his cell.
Castro was convicted of kidnapping and imprisoning three women and holding them in his home for more than a decade, while abusing them sexually. He was found hanging in his cell on Tuesday and later proclaimed dead at the hospital.
There is still little information as to how Castro was able to hang himself given he had his own cell and prison guards were expected to make rounds at 30-minute intervals.
The Corrections Department has started a thorough review of the incident.
In exchange for being able to avoid the death penalty, Castro had pleaded guilty to all 937 counts brought against him including rape and kidnapping.
Castro had kidnapped acquaintances and friends of his own children and imprisoned them. He kidnapped Michelle Knight in 2002, Georgina DeJesus in 2004 and Amanda Berry in 2003.
In each of the cases Castro lured the women by promising them a ride in his car.
During his trial, Castro straightaway blamed the women for their own imprisonment. He said they had lied about how he had treated them, that they were not virgins at the time of their abductions, and that he had imprisoned them because they wanted sex.
He also maintained during his trial that the sex that went on in the secret chamber was all consensual, and that he had never been violent, or ever sexually abused the women.
One of the women had a daughter in imprisonment who grew up confined in the same room. DNA analysis proved the child to be Castro’s daughter.
While the women were imprisoned at his home, Castro led a normal life with his friends and family. Even his own children never caught on to him. He remained on good terms with his neighbors, played bass with several bands, and also took part in community vigils for the girls he had kidnapped.
He had said, “People are trying to portray me as a monster and I’m not a monster, I’m just sick.”
