Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man sentenced last month to life in prison for holding three women captive in his home for a decade, was found hanging in his prison cell on Tuesday night after apparently committing suicide, officials said. He was later declared dead at the hospital.
Mr. Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, at 9:20 p.m., JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said in an e-mailed statement. Mr. Castro was housed in a cell by himself and a guard was required to check on him every 30 minutes at staggered intervals, the statement said. He was transported to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
His death seemed the final act in a story that has transfixed the country since May, when neighbors, after hearing screams coming from Castro’s Cleveland home, broke through the door and discovered the women.
Mr. Castro later pleaded guilty to 937 counts including rape and kidnapping.
It was not immediately clear how Mr. Castro was able to hang himself. The Ohio Department of Corrections statement said a review of the incident was under way.
The women were kidnapped between 2002 and 2004. All were abducted in the vicinity of Mr. Castro’s home at 2207 Seymour Avenue, and all were acquaintances of Mr. Castro’s children.
Read more: nytimes.com
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