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Friday 26 July 2013

BREAKING NEWS: Ariel Castro AVOIDS death penalty as he accepts plea deal - but will die in prison as he gets life sentence plus 1,000 years for kidnap and rape of three women

Spared: The plea deal means Castro's three victims Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus will not have to testify about their more than ten-year ordeal in front of a jury
Via - Daily Mail
Accused Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro appeared in court today to accept a plea deal under which he will serve a life sentence plus 1,000 years for the kidnap and rape of three women.
Castro was said to have agreed to the deal - after initially pleading not guilty to all 977 counts against him - to spare him the death penalty. His previous not guilty pleas were withdrawn. 
Under the offer, the 53-year-old will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole, meaning he will die in prison.
It also means his three victims Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus will not have to testify about their more than ten-year ordeal in front of a jury.
Speaking in court today, Castro said: 'I said I was willing to work with the FBI and I would tell them everything.'


Change of direction: Ariel Castro appeared in court this morning to accept a plea deal in order to save his own life
Change of direction: Ariel Castro appeared in court this morning to accept a plea deal in order to save his own life
Under the offer, Castro, 53, would spend the rest of his life behind bars plus 1,000 years, without the possibility of parole,
Guilty: Under the plea deal, Castro, 53, will spend the rest of his life behind bars plus 1,000 years, without the possibility of parole
Spared: The plea deal means Castro's three victims Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus will not have to testify about their more than ten-year ordeal in front of a jury
Spared: The plea deal means Castro's three victims Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus will not have to testify about their more than ten-year ordeal in front of a jury

The judge asked him if he understood that he would die in prison and there would never be a possibility he would be released from prison.
He replied: 'I do understand that and I said because of the sex crimes I knew I would have the book thrown at me.
'There are some things I do not comprehend because of my sexual problems throughout the years. But I trust my lawyers and I understand my rights and the sentence.'
Plea Deal: Ariel Castro, 53, walks into the court room with his head down for a pre-trial hearing on charges including rape, kidnapping and murder in Cleveland, Ohio July 24, 2013
Plea Deal: Ariel Castro, 53, walks into the court room with his head down for a pre-trial hearing on charges including rape, kidnapping and murder in Cleveland, Ohio July 24, 2013

Castro's lawyers have said for weeks that they would consider an agreement under which the former Cleveland school bus driver would plead guilty to some charges in return for his life.
Castro, 53, has been charged with 977 counts including kidnapping and repeated rape. He has also been charged with murder under a fetal homicide law for allegedly forcing one of the women to miscarry. 
Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry, 27 were freed from Castro's home in a rundown area of Cleveland on May 6th.
Shame: Ariel Castro, is escorted out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Cleveland
Ariel Castro, is escorted out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Cleveland
Shame: Ariel Castro, is escorted out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Cleveland
Ariel Castro, (left), sits with defense attorney Jaye Schlachet, (right), during court proceedings on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Cleveland
Ariel Castro, (left), sits with defense attorney Jaye Schlachet, (right), during court proceedings on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in Cleveland

Also freed was a six-year-old girl who, according to DNA evidence, was fathered by Castro with Berry during her captivity.
The women had been bound for periods of time in chains or ropes and endured starvation, beatings and sexual assaults, according to court documents and a police report. Avoiding a trial would spare them from having to testify.
Last week, Castro pleaded not guilty today to 977 criminal charges stemming from the abduction and imprisonment of three women over a decade and the subsequent birth of a child to one of them during that time.
A grand jury on July 17th added 648 charges to a previous indictment against Castro, who is accused of abducting the first of the women in August 2002 and holding them captive until they escaped his home on May 6 with a six-year-old girl he fathered during her mother's captivity.
An attorney for Castro, 53, entered the 'not guilty' plea during a brief arraignment before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Barker, who kept in place an $8 million bond and order that Castro not be allowed to see his daughter.
Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry, 27, had been missing for around a decade. 
Officials have said that they were kept bound for periods of time in chains or rope and that they endured starvation, beatings and repeated sexual assaults.
The 977-count indictment against Castro includes charges of rape and kidnapping and two counts of aggravated murder on accusations that Castro starved and punched one of the women while she was pregnant until she miscarried.
The indictment does not include charges that could carry a death sentence, but Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said last week he is still reserving that option.
Castro is also charged with two counts of aggravated murder related to one act, saying he purposely caused the unlawful termination of the pregnancy of one of the women.
The new indictment also charges him with 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of child endangerment and one count of possessing criminal tools.
The indictment alleges he repeatedly restrained the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van and assaulting them with a vacuum cord if they tried to escape
The indictment alleges he repeatedly restrained the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van and assaulting them with a vacuum cord if they tried to escape

The 576-page indictment covers the period from August 2002, when the first girl disappeared, to May, when the women were rescued. The first indictment covered only the period from August 2002 to February 2007.
'Today's indictment moves us closer to resolution of this gruesome case,' McGinty said in a statement on July 17th.
'Our investigation continues, as does our preparation for trial.'
Emotional reunion: Amanda Berry (center) with her daughter and six-year-old daughter after she escaped from a decade in captivity
Emotional reunion: Amanda Berry (center) with her daughter and six-year-old daughter after she escaped from a decade in captivity
Freed: Michelle Knight (pictured left) and Gina DeJesus (right) were also rescued from the Castro home in May
Freed: Michelle Knight (pictured left) and Gina DeJesus (right) were also rescued from the Castro home in May
Freed: Michelle Knight (pictured left) and Gina DeJesus (right) were also rescued from the Castro home in May

News that the women had been found alive electrified the Cleveland area, where two of the victims were household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils.
But elation soon turned to shock as allegations about their treatment began to emerge.
The indictment against Castro alleges he repeatedly restrained the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van.
It says one of the women tried to escape and he assaulted her with a vacuum cord around her neck.


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