© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Grand Jury Indicts Ariel Castro On 329 Counts

Ariel Castro, whose Cleveland, Ohio, home allegedly became a prison for three kidnapped young women, has been indicted on 329 counts by a grand jury. Other charges include 177 counts of kidnapping and 139 counts of rape, as well as aggravated murder, a charge stemming from "the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy."

In its indictment, the grand jury also specified that Castro "committed the offense [of aggravated murder] with a sexual motivation." It also deemed him "a sexually violent predator."

Prosecutors will decide whether to pursue the death penalty in the case after the indictment process is complete, reports The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

An arraignment has been set for next week, when a judge is also expected to be assigned to the trial. Castro's attorneys have said he plans to plead not guilty.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
Related Content
  • The man who helped rescue three young women and a little girl from a home where they had apparently been held captive for years wants any help to go to the victims, not him, Ramsey's attorney says.
  • In this week's Sunday Conversation, host Rachel Martin speaks with Detective Sgt. Joe Matthews, who worked for decades on the Adam Walsh murder investigation in Florida. She will speak to him about how the case changed overtime, how it affected him personally and professionally, and how it feels to close a case that he worked on for so long.
  • "The initial portrayal by the media has been one of a 'monster' and that's not the impression that I got when I talked to him for three hours," attorney Craig Weintraub tells Cleveland's WKYC-TV.
  • Charles Ramsey, who was credited with helping three kidnapped women in Cleveland, has been immortalized in ink — on a local man's leg. Tattoo artist Stephen Munhollon says he was caught up in the celebration of the women's rescue. He sat for five hours while another artist worked on Ramsey's likeness, according to Fox 8.