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| ARIEL CASTRO |
The sick fiend was being kept in protective custody in Ohio’s Corrections Reception Center in Harrisburg after being sentenced last month to more than 1,000 years in prison.
The 53-year-old inmate was found hanging at 9:20 p.m., officials said.
He was able to off himself even though guards were supposed to be checking on him every 30 minutes.
“Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff began performing lifesaving measures,” Joellen Smith of the Ohio Department of Corrections said in a statement.
“Shortly after, he was transported to [Ohio State University Medical Center], where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m.
“A thorough review of this incident is under way.”
Castro had been in protective custody — but not on a full suicide watch — because of the notoriety of his case, in which the former bus driver pleaded guilty to 937 counts connected to the rape and kidnapping of his three victims.
The women — Michelle Knight, 32, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Berry, 27 — disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old.
Castro, who fathered a daughter with Berry, bizarrely claimed during his sentencing that he cared well for his captives.
“I’m not a monster. I’m just sick. I have an addiction,” he told the court.
The women’s horrific ordeal ended on May 6, when Berry escaped with her young daughter.
The dramatic rescue was aided by Castro’s neighbor Charles Ramsey, who called 911. When police arrived, they found the other women.
Investigators showed how the women had been chained, windows had been boarded and padlocks were placed on doors.
In an emotional public statement in July, the three victims thanked their supporters.
“I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high,” Knight said.
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