Ariel Castro Found Dead In Prison Cell

Ariel Castro Found Dead In Prison Cell

Ariel Castro, who held three women captive for a decade, has been found dead inside his prison cell, according to US officials.

The 53-year-old was found hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Centre in Orient, Ohio.
Prison medical staff performed CPR on him before he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.
JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Castro was being held in protective custody because of the notoriety of the case.
This meant he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch.
His three victims - Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight - disappeared between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20-years-old.
Castro chained them by their ankles at his home in Seymour Avenue in east Cleveland.
He fed them only one meal a day and provided plastic toilets in their bedrooms that were rarely emptied.
They escaped on May 6, when one of the women broke open a door and alerted neighbours.
The former school bus driver was arrested that evening.
He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 937 counts including kidnap and rape.