No doubt Ariel Castro was a monster. And while he claims not to have been, the fact that he held 3 women hostage in his home for close to a decade committing unspeakable acts of torture on them speaks volumnes.

Many will say he did us a favor by apparently killing himself. That was my first impression too.

But there’s always the other side of it.

Had he lived, the amount of torture, I’m guessing, would have been unbearable. Plus we’re being denied the opportunity to learn just what it is that makes someone like this commit heinous acts like this.

Ariel Castro was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in central Ohio.

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10:50 p.m.

He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch.

Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk.

Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday.

(Eventually, he) was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.

In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction.

"I'm not a monster. I'm sick," Castro said at his sentencing.

In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, (Jaye) Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

That’s the key. Had he lived, there was the hope that researchers could have found just what makes monsters like Castro tick.

Not to show him any amount of mercy, although I know that's how a good many will see it.
As a plea for leniency.

However, any one who’s been "away" knows that no matter how much time one spends “away” is no day at the beach; no matter what the impression.

He should have lived!

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