Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison
without parole on two counts of aggravated murder plus 1,000 years on
Thursday after a sentencing hearing filled with sordid details of his
crimes – and tremendous perseverance and hope as victim Michelle Knight
faced down her captor in court.
“I cried every night, I was so alone,” Knight said. “Years turned into an eternity.”
“I spent 11 years in hell, where your hell is just beginning,” she said to Castro, with her back turned to him at the defense table. “You deserve to spend life in prison.”
“After 11 years, I am finally being heard, and it is liberating,” Knight Handcuffed and in an orange prison jumpsuit, a bearded Castro appeared to smile as he entered the courtroom where he came face to face with the terror he inflicted on the three women. Castro, who imprisoned them for a decade in his Cleveland home, seemed to laugh as the court took a brief recess around noon.
After Knight spoke and others gave statements for her fellow captives Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, Castro delivered a long, rambling statement.
“These people are trying to paint me as a monster. I’m not a monster, I’m sick,” Castro said. He described himself as addicted to masturbation and pornography, and claimed that he was “a victim of sex acts” when he was a child.
Of his young daughter who was born in captivity, Castro said: “She’ll probably say, ‘My daddy is the best daddy in the world.’ Because that’s how I tried to raise her in those six years. So she wouldn’t be traumatized or anything like that.”
“To this day I’m trying to answer my own questions. I don’t know why a man that had everything going on for himself – I had a job, I had a house, I had vehicles, I had my musical talent,” the confessed kidnapper and rapist said.
“We had a lot of harmony going on in that home,” he said.
The victims other than Knight were represented by relatives at the hearing.
DeJesus was represented by her cousin Sylvia Colon, who said the young woman lives “not as a victim, but as a survivor.”
Berry’s sister Beth Serrano said the family did not want to continue to talk about their ordeal, and even if she did, “it is impossible to put in words.” Berry is concerned that her daughter will hear versions of her story before she is ready.
“Amanda did not control anything for a long time,” Serrano said. “Please let her have control over this so she can protect her daughter.”
Prosecutors revealed photos from inside Castro’s Seymour Avenue home, including some that showed the bedroom, stocked with stuffed animals and other brightly colored children’s toys, where Berry and her daughter spent much of their time, FBI Special Agent Andrew Burke said. Others showed chains hanging from walls where two of the women endured their nightmarish captivity
“I cried every night, I was so alone,” Knight said. “Years turned into an eternity.”
“I spent 11 years in hell, where your hell is just beginning,” she said to Castro, with her back turned to him at the defense table. “You deserve to spend life in prison.”
“After 11 years, I am finally being heard, and it is liberating,” Knight Handcuffed and in an orange prison jumpsuit, a bearded Castro appeared to smile as he entered the courtroom where he came face to face with the terror he inflicted on the three women. Castro, who imprisoned them for a decade in his Cleveland home, seemed to laugh as the court took a brief recess around noon.
After Knight spoke and others gave statements for her fellow captives Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, Castro delivered a long, rambling statement.
“These people are trying to paint me as a monster. I’m not a monster, I’m sick,” Castro said. He described himself as addicted to masturbation and pornography, and claimed that he was “a victim of sex acts” when he was a child.
Of his young daughter who was born in captivity, Castro said: “She’ll probably say, ‘My daddy is the best daddy in the world.’ Because that’s how I tried to raise her in those six years. So she wouldn’t be traumatized or anything like that.”
Cleveland
kidnapping victim Michelle Knight delivers an emotional statement to
the courtroom, telling Ariel Castro, "I spent eleven years in hell. Now
your hell is just beginning."
“I am not a violent person. I simply kept them there without them being able to leave,” Castro said.“To this day I’m trying to answer my own questions. I don’t know why a man that had everything going on for himself – I had a job, I had a house, I had vehicles, I had my musical talent,” the confessed kidnapper and rapist said.
“We had a lot of harmony going on in that home,” he said.
The victims other than Knight were represented by relatives at the hearing.
DeJesus was represented by her cousin Sylvia Colon, who said the young woman lives “not as a victim, but as a survivor.”
Berry’s sister Beth Serrano said the family did not want to continue to talk about their ordeal, and even if she did, “it is impossible to put in words.” Berry is concerned that her daughter will hear versions of her story before she is ready.
“Amanda did not control anything for a long time,” Serrano said. “Please let her have control over this so she can protect her daughter.”
Prosecutors revealed photos from inside Castro’s Seymour Avenue home, including some that showed the bedroom, stocked with stuffed animals and other brightly colored children’s toys, where Berry and her daughter spent much of their time, FBI Special Agent Andrew Burke said. Others showed chains hanging from walls where two of the women endured their nightmarish captivity
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