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"Just over a month after being sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison for kidnapping and raping three women, Ariel Castro was pronounced dead Tuesday at 10:52 P.M. EST, according to prison officials. The convicted criminal, 52, hung himself in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, OH, about an hour-and-a-half earlier. Castro was given several failed CPR attempts before being taken to the hospital. Castro&amp;#039;s case gained worldwide attention this past May after Amanda Berry, one of the women kidnapped, broke down the door where she was being held and screamed for help. Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight each went missing separately between 2002 and 2004 and were held captive for nearly a decade. Castro pleaded guilty to 937 counts, in exchange for being spared the death penalty. During the trial, Castro said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m not a violent person. I simply kept them there without them being able to leave.&amp;quot; Due to the crime&amp;#039;s notoriety and heinousness, Castro wasn&amp;#039;t among the general prison population and was in protective custody, where he was checked on every half hour. If authorities believed he was suicidal, he would have been under constant watch. So far, reactions to his death are a mix of shock and relief. A family friend of DeJesus said, &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s a coward and took the easy way out.&amp;quot; Meanwhile, Castro&amp;#039;s attorney, Craig Weintraub, told CNN that the news would probably be seen as a &amp;quot;happy ending and a quick ending and justifiable. But we&amp;#039;re in civilized society, and no one should really be celebrating this.&amp;quot; The state&amp;#039;s police and corrections departments are currently investigating the incident. Did you think Castro would take his own life? Share your thoughts in the comments below. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a48081/ariel-castro-cleveland-kidnapper-commits-suicide/>