Ariel Castro found dead
Ariel Castro, the man who raped, tortured and held captive three women in his Ohio home for more than ten years, has been found dead.
JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Correction released a statement on behalf of authorities.
"Inmate Ariel Castro was found hanging in his cell this evening at 9:20 pm at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient," she said.
Kidnapped Ohio women kept diaries
Given the notoriety of the case, Castro was "housed in protective custody which means he was in a cell by himself and rounds are required every 30 minutes at staggered intervals."
Despite the fact that prison officials supervised Castro regularly, he was not on suicide watch.
Prison staff are said to have administered CPR immediately after discovering Castro's body.
He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 pm.
"A thorough review of this incident is underway and more information can be provided as it becomes available pending the status of the investigation," Smith continued.
Castro's attorney Jaye Schlachet said his legal team tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where he was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction.
In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.
Women held captive for decade speak out for first time
Former bus driver Castro, 53, was sentenced to life plus more than 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape of three women.
Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry, 27, disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old.
In the decade Castro held the women in captivity, they were reportedly kept bound for periods of time in chains or rope and were said to have endured starvation, beatings and repeated sexual assaults.
A grand jury added 648 charges to a previous indictment against Castro.
The women escaped on May 6 when one of them broke part of a door and yelled to neighbours for help.
"Help me," said Amanda Berry in a 911 call.
"I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."
The two other women were so scared of Castro that they held back initially even as police officers began to swarm the house. But quickly they realized they were free.
"You saved us! You saved us!" another of the captives, Michelle Knight, told an officer as she leaped into his arms.
A 6-year-old girl Castro fathered during her mother's captivity escaped with the three women on the same day.
Castro was arrested that evening.
An attorney for Castro, 53, entered the "not guilty" plea during a brief arraignment before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Barker, who kept in place an $8 million bond and order that Castro not be allowed to see his daughter.
One of Castro's victims, Michelle Knight, bravely faced her captor, "I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just beginning," she said.
Castro claimed that he was addicted to sex and pornography.
"I am not a monster. I was sick," Castro said.
This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month.
On Aug. 4, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.
