Ariel Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper and rapist who was sentenced life in prison plus 1,000 years in prison last month, was found dead in his prison cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, OH.
The 53-year-old felon was found hanging in his cell at 9:20pm, according to officials. Prison medial staff attempted to revive him, but their efforts failed. Castro was pronounced dead at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus at 10:52 p.m.
Castro’s prison cell was not in general population with other inmates. Instead, he was in protective custody where he was reportedly being monitored every 30 minutes. Prison officials claim a “thorough review of this incident is underway” to determine how it occurred. Castro was not on suicide watch, according to Department of Corrections spokesperson JoEllen Smith.
Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus were all abducted by Castro between 2002 and 2004. DeJesus and Berry were minors at the time of their kidnapping, ages 14 and 16, respectively, while Knight was 20-years-old at the time of her abduction.
The trio were able to escape from captivity on May 6 when Amanda Berry broke down part of a door and yelled at neighbors for help. Castro was brought into custody that night.
The former bus driver would end up being convicted of 473 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape and one count of aggravated murder by the time the court case was over. He plead guilty on all accounts in order to escape the death penalty. In return, he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years.
