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| FILE - This Aug. 1, 2013 file photo shows Ariel Castro in the courtroom during the sentencing phase in Cleveland. Castro, who held 3 women captive for a decade, has committed suicide, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. |
CLEVELAND
(AP) -- Residents in the tough Cleveland neighborhood where three women
were secretly imprisoned for a decade reacted with scorn and grim
satisfaction Wednesday after Ariel Castro hanged himself in his cell
barely a month into a life sentence.
Even the prosecutor joined in.
"This
man couldn't take, for even a month, a small portion of what he had
dished out for more than a decade," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim
McGinty.
Castro, 53, was found hanging from a
bedsheet Tuesday night at the state prison in Orient, corrections
spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said. Prison medical staff performed CPR
before Castro was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The coroner's office said it was suicide.
"He
took the coward's way out," said Elsie Cintron, who lived up the street
from the former school bus driver. "We're sad to hear that he's dead,
but at the same time, we're happy he's gone, and now we know he can't
ask for an appeal or try for one if he's acting like he's crazy."
As
the shocking news sank in, prison officials faced questions about how a
high-profile inmate managed to commit suicide while in protective
custody. Just a month ago, an Ohio death row inmate killed himself days
before he was to be executed.
Ohio prisons
director Gary Mohr announced a review of Castro's suicide and whether he
had received proper medical and mental health care. State police are
also investigating.
The announcement came after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio called for a full investigation.
"As
horrifying as Mr. Castro's crimes may be, the state has a
responsibility to ensure his safety from himself and others," executive
director Christine Link said.
Through a spokeswoman, Castro's three victims declined to comment.
Castro
was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years after pleading
guilty to 937 counts, including kidnapping and rape, in a deal to avoid
the death penalty. At his sentencing, he told the judge: "I'm not a
monster. I'm sick."
Castro had been in a cell
by himself in protective custody, meaning he was checked every 30
minutes, because of fears his notoriety could lead to attacks from other
inmates, authorities said.
He was not on a suicide watch, which entails constant supervision, Smith said. She would not say why.
Officials would not say whether he left a suicide note.
Castro
had been on a suicide watch for a few weeks in the Cuyahoga County
jail, before he pleaded guilty and was turned over to state authorities,
and police said after his arrest that they had found a years-old note
in which he talked about suicide. But authorities at the jail dropped
the suicide watch in June after concluding he was unlikely to take his
own life.
Castro's captives - Amanda Berry,
Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - disappeared separately between 2002
and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20. They were rescued from Castro's
run-down house May 6 after Berry broke through a screen door.
Elation
over the women's rescue turned to shock as details emerged about their
captivity. Castro fathered a child with Berry while she was being held.
The girl was 6 when she was freed.
Investigators
also disclosed that the women were bound with chains, repeatedly raped
and deprived of food and bathroom facilities.
Knight
told authorities that Castro impregnated her repeatedly and made her
miscarry by starving her and punching her in the belly. Berry said she
was forced to give birth in a plastic kiddie pool.
On
Castro's old street Wednesday, freshly planted landscaping was in bloom
on the site where his house stood before it was demolished by the city a
month ago.
Castro "took the easy way out,"
said James King, who lives down the street. "He knew what he did was
wrong, so he killed himself."
No one answered the door at the home of Castro's mother and brother.
Castro's
lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of
Castro done in jail before he was turned over to state authorities, his
attorney, Jaye Schlachet, said Wednesday. Schlachet would not comment
further.
Michael Casey, director of the
Suburban Law Enforcement Academy outside Chicago, said a notorious
figure like Castro would have been more apt to be harmed by other
inmates, citing the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, the Milwaukee cannibal who
was beaten to death in prison in 1994.
He said
that given the way Castro managed to hide his crimes for so long, he
probably would have been able to conceal any suicidal tendencies from
his jailers.
The prison where Castro hanged
himself, a so-called reception center for newly arrived inmates, is
crowded with nearly twice the 900 prisoners it was meant to hold,
according to state figures.
Stress is high and
assaults are up at the prison, said Tim Shafer, an official with the
guards' union. But he said: "Just like out in the public, suicides
happen, and you just can't prevent every one of them."
