Notorious US kidnapper hangs himself

Castro, 53, held three women against their will for about a decade until May this year. He kept his victims chained up and raped them.

4 September 2013, 12:00am

1 min read

Ariel Castro

Ariel Castro, who kept women captive at his home in Cleveland, Ohio, has died after being found hanging in his cell.

Prison officials said he died in hospital late on Tuesday, after prison medical staff failed to revive him.

Castro, 53, held three women against their will for about a decade until May this year. He kept his victims chained up and raped them.

He was sentenced on 1 August to life imprisonment without parole plus 1,000 years. The house was demolished.

The former school bus driver abducted Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, from the Cleveland streets between 2002-04.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said 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.

Castro was placed in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, but was not on suicide watch.

Gina DeJesus was 14 years old when she disappeared. Amanda Berry was 16, and Michelle Knight, 21. Castro also fathered a child with Amanda Berry, who was rescued after she escaped from the house and contacted police.

Castro was arrested the same day. He was charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder.

Joseph MELI •

According to reports I read he was on suicide watch as surely getting a thousand year custodial sentence would warrant such a condition as this?In any event, he will still serve his sentence but now with a higher power.