|
| Ariel Castro appears in Cleveland Municipal court Thursday, May 9, 2013, in Cleveland. Castro was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape after three women missing for about a decade and one of their young daughters were found alive at his home earlier in the week. |
CLEVELAND
(AP) -- Prosecutors said Thursday they may seek the death penalty
against Ariel Castro, the man accused of imprisoning three women at his
home for a decade, as police charged that he impregnated one of his
captives at least five times and made her miscarry by starving her and
punching her in the belly.
The horrific
allegations were contained in a police report that also said another one
of the women, Amanda Berry, was forced to give birth in a plastic
kiddie pool.
Cuyahoga County prosecutor
Timothy McGinty said his office will decide whether to bring aggravated
murder charges punishable by death in connection with the pregnancies
that were terminated by force.
"Capital
punishment must be reserved for those crimes that are truly the worst
examples of human conduct," he said. "The reality is we still have
brutal criminals in our midst who have no respect for the rule of law or
human life."
Castro, a 52-year-old former
school bus driver, is being held on $8 million bail under a suicide
watch in jail, where he is charged with rape and kidnapping.
McGinty
said Castro will be charged for every act of sexual violence, assault
and other crimes committed against the women, suggesting the counts
could number in the hundreds, if not thousands.
Among the chilling details in the police report, obtained Thursday by news organizations:
-
Berry, now 27, told officers that she was forced to give birth in a
plastic pool in the house so it would be easier to clean up. Berry said
she, her baby, now 6, and the two other rescued women had never been to a
doctor during their captivity.
- Michelle
Knight, now 32, said her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved her
for at least two weeks and "repeatedly punched her in the stomach until
she miscarried." She also said Castro forced her to deliver Berry's
baby under threat of death if the infant died. Knight said that when the
newborn stopped breathing, she revived the child through mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation.
- All three women said Castro
chained them up in the basement but eventually let them live upstairs on
the second floor. Each woman told a similar story about being abducted
after accepting a ride from Castro.
During his
brief arraignment Thursday, Castro tried to hide his face, tucking his
chin inside his collar. He appeared to close his eyes during the hearing
and awkwardly signed documents while handcuffed. He did not speak or
enter a plea.
In court, prosecutor Brian Murphy said Castro used the women "in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit."
Kathleen
DeMetz, a public defender assigned to represent him at the hearing,
didn't comment on his guilt or innocence or object when prosecutors
recommended bail be set at $5 million. The judge, instead, ordered
Castro held on $8 million.
Castro has been
under arrest since Monday, when Berry broke out of his run-down house
and called 911 while he was away. Police found the two other women
inside. The women had vanished separately between 2002 and 2004 when
they 14, 16 and 20.
Berry and former captive
Gina DeJesus, 22, went home with relatives on Wednesday. Knight was
reported in good condition at a Cleveland hospital.
The
police report gave a detailed account of their escape, beginning with
Berry's discovery that a door was unlocked, leaving only a bolted outer
door between her and freedom.
Berry feared it
was a test: She said Castro occasionally left a door unlocked to test
them. But she called to neighbors on a porch for help and was able to
get out.
Police then entered the house and found the other women, who threw themselves into the officers' arms.
Castro's
two brothers, who were arrested with him but later cleared of
involvement in the kidnapping case, appeared in court on unrelated
charges Thursday and were released.
Ariel
Castro's former daughter-in-law, Monica Stephens, told The Associated
Press that her former husband said Castro had an extremely violent
nature.
"He was always described to me as a violent, just a scary violent person," Stephens said.
"He
talked about how his father had beaten him and his mother severely.
They were like hostages in their own house. They were locked in," said
the woman, who now lives in Florida.
A
musician who often practiced at Castro's house said he was there last
week and heard noises, "like banging on the wall." Ricky Sanchez said he
asked Castro about it, and he blamed it on the dogs. He also said
Castro - a bass guitarist in merengue and salsa bands - liked to play
his music loud.
On his most recent visit,
Sanchez said, a little girl came out from the kitchen and stared at him
but didn't say anything. He said he also noticed there were four or five
locks on the outside door.
"When I was about to leave, I tried to open the door. I couldn't even, because there were so many locks in there," he said.
