Ariel Castro Accused of Kidnapping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus & Michelle Knight Indicted on 329 Charges Including Murder, Kidnapping and Rape

THE FACE OF EVIL …

Ariel Castro, the man accused of kidnapping and holding Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for a decade has been indicted on 329 charges, including murder, kidnapping and rape. The indictment returned by a Cuyahoga County grand jury was a who’s who of sick and twisted depravity of crimes perpetrated upon the three woman he kidnapped, sexually abuses and held captive for a decade in his Ohio home. The list included 2 counts of aggravated murder, 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, 7 counts of gross sexual imposition, 3 counts of felonious assault and 1 count of possession of criminal tools.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury returned the indictment Friday against Ariel Castro, a former school bus driver fired last fall.

Castro, 52, 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.

The grand jury charged Castro with two counts of aggravated murder related to one act, saying he purposely caused the unlawful termination of one of the women’s pregnancies. Castro also was 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.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said the indictment covers only the period from August 2002, when the first of the women disappeared, to February 2007.

The indictment refers to the women as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3 and gives a glimpse into the circumstances of their captivity.

The aggravated murder counts stem from the unlawful termination of Jane Doe 1′s pregnancy in late 2006 or early 2007, the indictment says.

Ariel Castro was arrested May 6, 2013 after Amanda Berry was able to scape from Casto’s ‘House of Horrors’ by breaking through a door at the home, yelled to neighbors for help. She was able to borrow a cell phone from and tell the 911 operator, “Help me. I’m Amanda Berry. I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years, and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.”