NBC has obtained video footage of the Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro being interviewed by the FBI just hours after his arrest. 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 Ariel Castro from 2002/2003 until May of 2013 when Amanda Berry worked up the courage to escape. Berry began to bang and pound on the front door of the house she and the other women were held in. She caught the attention of a neighbor who helped the girl escape.
Amanda Berry frantically 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 women were reluctant at first to come out but later jumped into the arms of the officers when they 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. The murder charge stemmed from the claim Castro forcibly aborted five of Michelle Knight's pregnancies.
In the FBI video of Castro's confession he shows no remorse but does say he was surprised at how long he was able to get away with keeping those women hostage. During Castro's sentencing hearing he blamed his victims for their kidnapping and treatment even going so far as to say the household was happy and the women on occasion asked Castro for sex. In the FBI video Castro said he let his guard down on the day Amanda Berry escaped. He said that his and Amanda Berry's six-year-old daughter had been asking Castro to stop locking all the doors in the house, so he did. The young girl was born in captivity and it seems unaware of her situation.
During his FBI interview Castro said there were a few instances in which he was almost caught. One of which was when a girlfriend of Castro was visiting the house and noticed a TV on in the room where Michelle Knight was being held. Castro described that situation as being nerve-racking. The kidnapper was sure his former girlfriend was on to something. "She seen that I had a TV on in the upstairs room," Castro said in the video. "And she says 'What's that you have a TV on up there?' And my heart started beating and I was like okay she's probably catching onto something."
In one particularly cruel act, Castro used Amanda Berry's cell phone to call her mother. Castro said he spoke quickly telling the distraught woman her daughter was safe and was now his wife. Castro said he then hung up the phone before Berry's mother could speak. Amanda Berry's mother never gave up hope her daughter would be found alive, even when told the girl might be dead. Berry's mother passed away in 2006 never knowing she was right.
On Tuesday night Ariel Castro was found hanging in his jail cell by a bed sheet. The 53-year-old had taken his own life after serving only a few weeks of his life plus 1,000-years sentence. All three of Castro's victims were informed of his suicide. Amanda Berry's lawyer said none of the victims will be speaking publically about his death.
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