Ariel Castro used bedsheet to hang himself, coroner says

 

BBC World News is reporting that Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has committed suicide.

Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man sentenced to life plus 1,000 years earlier this year for raping and holding three women captive in his Cleveland home, was found hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, where he had been imprisoned for just over a month.
Castro used a bedsheet to commit suicide by hanging himself, said Dr. Jan Gorniak, the coroner for Franklin County, Ohio.
Prison personnel attempted to revive Castro but failed, according to CNN. He was pronounced dead at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center at 10:52 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Castro had not been housed with the general prison population, the CNN report said.

“He was housed in protective custody which means he was in a cell by himself and rounds are required every 30 minutes at staggered intervals," CNN quoted JoEllen Smith of the corrections department as saying in a statement. Smith said an investigation will be conducted in conjunction with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Castro, who worked as a Cleveland bus driver, became a household name in May after his house of horrors became international news. He held Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight captive for nine, 10 and 11 years respectively before Charles Ramsey, a Cleveland resident, answered Berry’s frantic pleas for help by encouraging her to kick out the bottom panel of a locked storm door on the house and phoning 911.
Ariel Castro lived with his brothers, Pedro and Onil Castro, in the same house where he kept the women captive. Police initially thought all three brothers were involved with the heinous crimes, but Pedro and Onil were soon cleared. They later referred to their brother as a “a monster.”
Knight was the only one of the three women to appear at Castro's sentencing, where she read a statement that included these powerful words:
"As you think about the 11 years and atrocities you inflicted on us, what does God think of you hypocritically going to church every Sunday, coming home to torture us. The death penalty would be so much easier. You don't deserve that. You deserve to spend life in prison. I can forgive you, but I will never forget. With the guidance of God, I will prevail and help others that suffered at the hands of others."
None of Ariel Castro's victims had issued statements on his death as of Tuesday night.
In addition to the three adult women found in Castro's home in May, a child was found as well. DNA tests have established that Ariel Castro is the father of Berry’s 6-year-old daughter, who was rescued from the Cleveland home along with the three women.
The Cleveland Courage Fund was established earlier this year to help Castro’s victims; it has raised more than $1 million to date.