美性奴案罪犯獄中上吊身亡

Ariel Castro, the man who has been sentenced to life in prison for holding three Cleveland women captive for a roughly decade before their rescue this year, was found hanged in his cell and is believed to have committed suicide, Ohio officials said.

Castro, 53, was found in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient Tuesday evening, a prison spokeswoman told the Associated Press. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The spokeswoman, JoEllen Smith, says Castro was found hanging in his cell about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the prison in Orient. Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004. They escaped May 6, when one of them broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested that evening.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.

Justice was swift for Castro after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued by neighbors. Berry gave birth to a daughter, now 6, fathered by Castro while she was held in brutal conditions in his home, which was later demolished.

Castro, who pleaded guilty ostensibly to avoid the death penalty, gave a lengthy farewell at his sentencing a few weeks ago in a rambling, self-justifying speech attempting to explain his actions. At one point, he claiming the abuse included consensual sex.

"These people are trying to paint me as a monster. I am not a monster. I am sick," Castro told Judge Michael J. Russo. "I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me," he said later.

Knight, the only one of his victims to ultimately face him in court, would not forgive.

"I spent 11 years in hell," Knight told Castro at his sentencing. "Now your hell is just beginning. I will overcome all that happened, but you're going to face hell for eternity.

"From this moment on, I am not going to let you define me or affect who I am," Knight continued. "I will live on, but you will die a little more inside each day as you think of those 11 years and the atrocities you inflicted on us.... 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."

During court hearings, officers told of how the women were chained to poles in the basement or to a bedroom heater, or kept at bay in a van. One woman was forced to wear a motorcycle helmet while chained in the basement and, after she tried to escape, had a vacuum cord wrapped around her neck, officials said.

Castro repeatedly starved and beat Knight each time she was pregnant, forcing her to miscarry five times, authorities said. Castro also forced Knight to safely deliver on Christmas Day 2006 the child he fathered with Berry. That same day, prosecutors said, Castro raped Knight yet again.

Castro "tormented me constantly, especially on holidays," Knight said at Castro's sentencing. "Christmas was the most traumatic day because I didn't get to spend it with my son. No one should ever have to experience what we went through. Not even an enemy."據《洛杉磯時報》9月3日報道，美國俄亥俄州官員稱，因非法囚禁三名女子長達10年左右而被判終身監禁的美國男子阿里爾•卡斯特羅當天晚間吊死在監獄中，據信是自殺。

俄州監獄系統發言人史密斯說，工作人員3日晚9時20分發現卡斯特羅吊在自己的牢房之中，懷疑是自殺。監獄的醫務人員對他實施了心臟復甦措施，隨後將其送往俄亥俄州立大學醫護中心。醫院方面在晚上11點前宣佈了卡斯特羅的死訊。

另據英國《每日郵報》和美國《紐約每日新聞》的消息，卡斯特羅確係上吊自殺身亡。

現年53歲的卡斯特羅8月1日被判終身監禁，外加1000年刑期，他本人也對包括綁架和強姦在內的937項罪名供認不諱。出於安全考慮，卡斯特羅被安排在單獨的牢房裏，獄警每30分鐘來看他一次。據信他就是在這30分鐘的間隙上吊的。

警方已經將卡斯特羅吊死的消息通知了其家人，卡斯特羅與前妻育有一子三女。俄亥俄州有關部門表示，將對此事進行調查，以明確監獄方面是否遵守了規章制度，以及是否可以採取措施避免該悲劇的發生。

卡斯特羅在2002年到2004年期間綁架了三名女子，分別是阿曼達•貝里，吉娜•德吉蘇斯和米歇爾•奈特，其中貝里還在被囚期間給卡斯特羅生了一個女兒，現已6歲。卡斯特羅對她們進行了慘無人道的折磨，奈特在其折磨下流產了5次。今年5月6日，貝里砸破門向鄰居呼救，三名受害人這才逃出魔窟。

警方在5月6日晚逮捕了卡斯特羅。美國聯邦調查局（FBI）在搜查他的房屋時發現，他曾在2004年寫了一封遺書，聲稱要自殺。在卡斯特羅被判刑後，其辯護律師施拉克特和溫特勞布在接受採訪時表示，他的當事人有反社會傾向，希望研究人員對此加以分析，以便給阻止類似暴行提供線索。

卡斯特羅曾爲自己辯護說：“這些人試圖把我描繪成一個怪物，但我不是怪物。我生病了。”他後來又補充說：“我希望你們能寬恕我。”但唯一出庭的受害人奈特說，她無法原諒卡斯特羅。“我在地獄裏待了11年，如今你的地獄生涯剛剛開始。我會想辦法走出過去的陰影，而你的餘生都將在地獄裏度過。”