Amanda Berry Reacts To Ariel Castro Death, Says She Is 'Relieved' Kidnapper Is Dead

Ariel Castro was arrested for kidnapping three Cleveland women, two of whom were teens at the time of their disappearance and holding them hostage in his home for 10 years. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were all held captive by Castro from 2002-2003 until May of 2013, when Amanda Berry escaped after Castro had left the house. She called 911 begging the operator to send police before Castro returned.

When police arrived they entered the home to find Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus still inside. Both of them were reluctant at first to come out, but later realized they had finally been rescued. After his arrest and months of hearings and the possibility of a death sentence, Castro pled guilty to over 900 counts of kidnaping, rape and murder and was serving a life sentence plus 1,000 years. The murder charge stemmed from the claim Castro forcibly aborted five of Michelle Knight's pregnancies.

Castro was found dead on Sept. 3, 2013 in his prison cell, although he was in protective custody -- meaning that he required constant check every 30 minutes. He was also isolated from the other inmates for his own protection due to the publicity his case received from the media. "Upon finding inmate Castro, prison medical staff began performing life saving measures. Shortly after he was transported to OSUMC where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. A thorough review of this incident is underway and more information can be provided as it becomes available pending the status of the investigation," said JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Corrections.

Kidnapping victim Amanda Berry's father has spoken about his daughter's reaction to Ariel Castro's suicide for the first time, saying that she is "relieved that the monster is dead." Before his death, Berry fought to insure that he would not have legal visitation rights to see Jocelyn, the six-year-old daughter that she gave birth to while being held by Castro. Johnny Berry said that his daughter "has been living in constant fear that Jocelyn may someday have to see Castro, and she didn't want that ever to happen."

Mr. Berry told The National Enquirer that the only thing about Castro's suicide that upset him was "that I wanted to kill that bas***d myself." "I thought that maybe he got killed, animals like him get taken out all the time in the prison system," Berry said about when he first heard the news. "But I'm glad he's dead. I hope he died real slow."