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.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction,
JoEllen Smith, 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.
"Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff began performing life
saving measures. Shortly after he was transported to [the prison medical facility]
where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 pm."
"A thorough review of this incident is under way," she added.
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.
At his sentencing, Castro told the court that he had been "driven by
sex", adding: "I'm not a violent predator… I'm not a monster, I'm a
normal person.
"I'm just sick. I have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an
addiction."
He said he never planned to abduct the women, but acted on the spur of the
moment when he kidnapped his first victim. He said that he was "truly
sorry" for what he had done.
But passing sentence, Judge Michael Russo told Castro there was no place in
the world for people who enslave others.
Castro pleaded guilty to 937 charges related to the ordeal of his victims,
including numerous rapes.
A deal with prosecutors spared him a possible death penalty for murder.
In a victim impact statement made to the sentencing court, Ms Knight told
how their captor went to church every Sunday, before coming home to
"torture" the women.
"I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning," she
said. "You will face hell for eternity.
"From this moment on, I will not let you define me, or affect who I am.
I will live on, you will die a little every day."
She was the only victim to speak in person at the hearing.
Castro abducted the three between 2002-04.
He lured one of them into his home with the promise of a puppy, and enticed
another by inviting her to meet his daughter.
The judge banned Castro from ever seeing the daughter, now six years old.
In an interview last month after his conviction, Castro's lawyers said that
he fitted the profile of someone with a sociopathic disorder. They expressed
hope that researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop
other predators.
The three women escaped from Castro's home on 6 May, when Amanda Berry broke
part of a door and yelled to neighbours for help.
The two other women were so frightened that at first they were reluctant to
leave the house despite the presence of a large number of police officers.
``You saved us! You saved us!'' Michelle Knight, told an officer as she ran
into his arms.
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