Former Ohio captive says she knew she would escape

Now free, one of the three women kidnapped and raped over a decade by Ariel Castro spoke out in a soft, but determined voice on Thursday.

Michelle Knight, the fist of the victims kidnapped after accepting a ride form Castro, spoke in front of a judge who followed a plea deal and gave Castro life in prison without parole, plus 1,000 years.

“You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back,” she said in the hushed courtroom. “I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning.”

Knight, who spoke just a few feet away from Castro, finished her statement and returned to her seat without looking at him. Castro attempted to make eye contact with Knight, but authorities quickly stepped in his line of sight.

Knight, 32, demeaned Castro’s routine of going to church and returning home to abuse the women in Cleveland. The home was equipped with chains, locked doors, and boarded windows.

“What does God think of you hypocritically going to church each Sunday and then coming home to torture us?” she said. “The death penalty would be the easy way out. You don’t deserve that. We want you to spend the rest of your life in prison.”

Castro, a 53-year-old former bus driver, pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts including aggravated murder, kidnapping, rape, and assault.