Ariel Castro Dead: Cleveland Kidnapper and Rapist Found Hanging In Prison Cell

Ariel Castro committed suicide on Tuesday evening, The Huffington Post reported.

Castro,53, was found dead in his cell in Cleveland, Ohio. He hung himself. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 10:50 p.m. Castro had been in protective custody since he was arrested in May of kidnapping three women in Cleveland and holding them captive for a decade. He repeatedly raped and beat the women.

Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus accused Castro of holding them prisoner in his Cleveland home. They were chained to walls and tortured. He had also fathered a 6-year-old child with Berry while she was in captivity. It was not until May that they were rescued after Berry sought a neighbor's help.

On Aug. 1, Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.  He testified before the court that he was not the monster that his victims and the media had declared. Knight appeared at the sentencing to face her former captor. Knight suffered miscarriages at Castro's hands after he beat her after pregnancies that resulted from rape.

"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," she said "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."