Photo: Handout/2013 Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office
Ariel Castro, the convicted kidnapper and rapist who held three women hostage for a decade in his home, was found dead in his cell at the Correction Reception Center in Orient, Ohio on Tuesday night. A prison staffer found Castro at 9:20 p.m., Ohio Department of Corrections spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said in a statement, adding, “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.” When prison medical staff couldn’t revive him, Castro was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. Castro took a plea deal in July for life in prison plus 1,000 years in order to avoid the death penalty.
