Guilt Of The Heart: The Man Who Held Three Women Captive For Almost A Decade Commit Suicide

Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, a community located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesman, said early Wednesday.

 

 

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 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.

Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They  Escaped May 6, when one of the women broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested that evening.

Castro was sentenced Aug 1to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.