Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man who held three women captive for nearly a decade, has taken a plea deal, avoiding the death penalty. He will serve a life sentence without parole, plus 1,000 years.
Castro appeared before Judge Michael J. Russo of Cuyahoga County Court this morning to change his plea from not guilty to guilty. His decision means that the three women - Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - will not have to deal with the horrific details of their capture being revealed in a public trail. The trial was set to start in two weeks.
“I knew I was going to get pretty much the book thrown at me,” Castro told the judge, reports NBC News. He was asked if he understood that he will have no chance of getting out of prison before he dies, he replied, “I don’t think there’s any reason.”
Prosecutors say that the 53-year-old Castro abducted the three women between 2002 and 2004. As Reuters notes, the women were rescued on May 6 with a 6-year-old girl authorities say was Castro’s daughter with Berry. He was charged with 977 counts in total, including rape and kidnapping. Authorities also allege that he forced Knight to have a miscarriage after he impregnated her.
The three women have only made one public appearance since the day they were rescued, recording a three-minute video in which they thanked everyone for their support. The video has now been viewed over 3 million times since it was posted on July 8.