Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro indicted on 329 charges including murder and multiple counts of rape, gross sexual imposition and felonious assault
- Castro's indictment covers the period August 2002 to Feb 2007
- The murder charge relates to the unlawful termination of a pregnancy
- He will be arraigned next week and a trial judge will be assigned
- His attorneys have said he will plead not guilty
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Ariel Castro, the man accused of kidnapping three women and holding them captive and sexually abusing them for a decade, was indicted on 329 charges on Friday including kidnapping and rape.
The indictment covers the period from August of 2002, when the first of the three women discovered in his Cleveland home last month disappeared, until February of 2007.
Castro, 52, was indicted for one act of aggravated murder - for purposely and with prior calculation and design causing the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy.
Locked up: Ariel Castro, pictured at his arraignment on May 9, has been indicted on 329 charges including murder, plus multiple counts of rape, gross sexual imposition and felonious assault
He was also indicted on 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.
He will be arraigned on those charges next week and a trial judge will then be assigned.
‘Today's indictments represent a first major step in the criminal justice process,’ said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty.
When the indictment process is complete, the County Prosecutor's Capital Review Committee will consider whether this case is appropriate to attach the death penalty.
Castro is accused of kidnapping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and holding them captive along with a 6-year-old girl he fathered with Berry.
His attorneys have said he will plead not guilty to any indictment.
Held captive: Amanda Berry, left, and Gina DeJesus, right, were found living in appalling conditions
Tragic: Michelle Knight was allegedly brutalized by Ariel Castro and beaten so badly that she needs facial reconstruction surgery
Castro has been in the Cuyahoga County Jail since his arrest on May 6. He was charged on May 8 and was jailed on $8 million bond.
He was taken off 'suicide prevention' watch on Wednesday after being monitored for the past month.
Jail logs released on Wednesday also show Castro has been visited multiple times by relatives, but did not list which family members paid a visit to the suspect, News Channel 5 reported.
They also reveal that he watched a lot of television, spent a lot of time running in place and has met with his defense attorneys. He has refused time out of his cell on at least two occasions.
They show his cells being checked for contraband items - and none being found.
Jail logs last month noted that Castro spends most of his time in his cell resting or asleep, with breaks for pacing, showers and cell cleaning.
Scene: Deputies sit outside the Cleveland home where Castro allegedly kept the women for years
The logs, made every 10 minutes while he was on suicide watch, documented his movements at the Cuyahoga County jail.
Castro's attorney, Craig Weintraub, described Castro's cell as a 9-by-9-foot cell containing a metal bed with a thin mattress covered in plastic, a metal sink, and some kind of mirror.
Previous logs said Castro walked around the cell naked early in his confinement, though he later covered up.
The logs show Castro periodically asks for the time, looks out the window and stares at the ceiling. Other entries show him thanking guards for bringing his breakfast and wishing them a good day.
Castro, a former school bus driver, was arrested May 6 after one of the women, Amanda Berry, kicked out part of a locked door of his house and yelled to neighbors to help her and call police.
Police quickly arrived and found Berry in the street before racing through the house, freeing Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. The women were admitted to a hospital but have been released.
The three disappeared between 2002 and 2004, when they were in their teens or early 20s, authorities said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2337764/Cleveland-kidnapping-suspect-Ariel-Castro-indicted-329-charges-including-murder-multiple-counts-rape-gross-sexual-imposition-felonious-assault.html#ixzz2VaefLbes
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