Ariel Castro found hanged in prison cell

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... eakingnews

Kidnapper Ariel Castro was found hanged in his Ohio prison cell, it is being reported.

Ariel Castro, who was convicted last month on charges related to the capture and imprisonment of three women in Cleveland, has been found hanged in his prison cell, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in an email.

Castro, 53, was in a cell by himself in protective custody at the Correction Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, wrote JoEllen Smith with the state corrections agency.

Castro was found at 9:20 p.m. ET in the cell, where checks are required every 30 minutes, Smith wrote in the email.

After prison medical staff attempted lifesaving measures, Castro was transported to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. ET, Smith wrote.

"A thorough review of this incident is underway and more information can be provided as it becomes available pending the status of the investigation," she wrote.

Castro, a former Cleveland bus driver, was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on Aug. 1 related to the kidnapping, abuse and imprisonment for more than a decade of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, who were held in chains. The case elicited emotions from people across the country whose hearts went out to the young women Castro pleaded guilty to kidnapping and abusing. Castro said he was not mean to the women during their captivity.

The women were captured between 2002 and 2004 and held until May 6, when Berry managed to escape and alert others.

Social media users reacted with anger and happiness to the news. On Twitter, users used the hashtag or search term #deadgiveaway to indicate they were tweeting about Castro.

One Twitter customer using the hashtag wrote: "Ariel Castro is gonna rot in hell."

According to his Ohio prison record, Castro was serving time for - among other charges - 473 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape and one count of aggravated murder.

Amid cheers from onlookers, Castro's house was torn down last month by two demolition companies free of charge after Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said he wanted it razed so it would not become a macabre tourist attraction.

Contributing: Donna Leinwand in Washington

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

I figured this would happen one way or another, but didn't think it would happen quite this fast.

[Riverwind (imported)]

Yep I agree, I figured the first time he was with other prisoners they would kill him, but he took the cowards way out. Best to cremate him and throw his ashes in the ocean, leave no record that he ever existed.

River

[tugon (imported)]

His suicide saddens me. I wanted him to know what captivity is like. He held those young women all those years and he deserved to spend as much time as they did. Even in prison he had more freedom than the young women he raped and tortured. He created so much pain and he needed more time to feel pain.

[cheetaking243 (imported)]

^Maybe that's what happened... maybe he realized "holy crap, this is what I did to them? This is what it's like?" And he couldn't stand the grief of it anymore.

I don't know.

My reaction to this entire story is somewhere along the lines of this rather dark Onion article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/men-ar ... est,32360/

[Riverwind (imported)]

I agree Tugon, sometimes I wish I believed in god and hell and all as this guy needs a few centuries in hell.

River

[A-1 (imported)]

...I bet LOTS of people would have assisted him in committing suicide...

...my favorite suicide was the guy who shot himself while in bed in the head...TWICE...and then he pulled the sheets up over his head...

...well. Maybe he wanted to be 'well hung' and so... as they say, ...the rest is history...

[StefanIsMe (imported)]

I know tempers are high and my statement will not be appreciated, but I need to give voice to the belief that the expectation of him being killed (and satisfaction with such a result) by prisoners is in any way 'good'.

Look, the man was, and did, evil. If sentenced to die, I'd say nothing. I have nothing to say about his suicide beyond what's been said by others above (I'm both glad he did it, and sad he can't experience a lifetime of captivity).

But... no matter HOW evil the jailed person is, is it not bizarre to be glad, or expecting, of co-prisoners to do Government's dirty work?

Wait, wait, wait before you react; my concern is not for the evil monsters who get killed in jail, so much. My concern is this:

Consider:

The USA has the highest prisoner population anywhere. We all know it's not theoretical bullshit or bleeding-heart liberalness to state the fact that innocent people get convicted and sent to jail, even murdered by the government, wrongfully (it's Execution when the government/judicial system is RIGHT; it's murder when they do it in error).

Also, people get confused for others; it's not 'unlikely' or 'silly' to expect that if a given prison population KNOWS a convicted child molester is in their midst, but another guy in jail for tax fraud looks JUST LIKE HIM, that simple family-man tax-fraudster could easily be killed in a jail that is unsecure enough (or surrounded by a population willing to allow this to happen).

The attitude of "Oh, let the other prisoners kill him, and hooray for them" is unacceptable to me because of this.

That said, Castro got the sentence he deserved, and is now dead. I'm not glad or sad, I simply feel he got his punishment.

[tugon (imported)]

But... no matter HOW evil the jailed person is, is it not bizarre to be glad, or expecting, of co-prisoners to do Government's dirty work?

Wait, wait, wait before you react; my concern is not for the evil monsters who get killed in jail, so much. My concern is this:

Consider:

The USA has the highest prisoner population anywhere. We all know it's not theoretical bullshit or bleeding-heart liberalness to state the fact that innocent people get convicted and sent to jail, even murdered by the government, wrongfully (it's Execution when the government/judicial system is RIGHT; it's murder when they do it in error).

Also, people get confused for others; it's not 'unlikely' or 'silly' to expect that if a given prison population KNOWS a convicted child molester is in their midst, but another guy in jail for tax fraud looks JUST LIKE HIM, that simple family-man tax-fraudster could easily be killed in a jail that is unsecure enough (or surrounded by a population willing to allow this to happen).

The attitude of "Oh, let the other prisoners kill him, and hooray for them" is unacceptable to me because of this.

That said, Castro got the sentence he deserved, and is now dead. I'm not glad or sad, I simply feel he got his punishment.

Castro was in protective custody so another prisoner could not get to him. Most likely a guard turned a blind eye to what he was doing. I do wish he would have spent more time in prison because I do not know if he will suffer in the afterlife. He created pain and suffering in this world so I would want him to suffer in this world.

As far as prison population is concerned if we let nonviolent drug users out the population will reduce. There are people in prison for growing and smoking pot. Also if justice was blind many would not be in prison due to assumed guilt do to color of skin.

[Paolo]

I don't think it's bizarre at all. In fact, anyone who knows anything about prisons and inmates' behaviour would have expected this. It's just how it is. Certain crimes are OK in the eyes of other inmates, some are not.

"What are you in for?"

"Armed robbery, grand theft auto, shootout with 100 cops!"

"Man, you're cool! Say, Fred, what you in for?"

"I molested some kids, kidnapped a woman...bla bla bla."

"Kill him!"