Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping and holding hostage three women in his Cleveland, Ohio home. 53-year-old Castro was then discovered dead in the Orient state prison on Tuesday night, having hanged himself with a bed sheet. Elsie Citron, a former neighbor of Castro, commented on the death, saying: “he took the coward’s way out. We’re sad to hear he’s dead, but at the same time we’re glad he’s gone.” The victims of Castro’s kidnapping, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, have not commented on the death, and Castro’s family has not yet been tracked down. However, another neighborhood resident, Jessica Burchett, believes his death “does give a little bit of closure to the families and people that got affected by what he did.”
Castro was being carefully watched while in prison, and guards checked on him about every 30 minutes. An investigation is taking place at the prison as well, and it was reported that the facility is holding nearly twice the amount of inmates it is supposed to, raising questions about security and surveillance. Tim Shafer, an official of the guards union, said: “just like out in the public, suicides happen, you just can’t prevent every one of them.” Castro was classified as having some form of a sociopathic disorder, and researchers had hoped to examine him for the prevention of future incidents.
