Life plus 1000 years for Ariel Castro

Serial kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro had already accepted a plea deal for life without parole before yesterday's sentencing hearing. Agreeing to that term and an additional 1000 years rather than gamble with a possible death verdict.

 

So there were no courtroom surprises in store for the world's "worst sexual predator" to date, save, perhaps, for being confronted by his most battered victim.

 

An emotional Michelle Knight made a courageous appearance in the proceeding, bearing witness against her now-shackled abuser and warning him that while her and her fellow captives' nightmare had finally ended, his hell "is just beginning."

 

She's right about this too, because child rapists, kidnappers and killers have a tough time once incarcerated, viewed by their prison mates as the lowest of the low, even among other murderers and sex offenders.

 

In fact, many such inmates are slain behind bars in assassination plots hatched well in advance of their integration with the general population. So Castro can expect a similarly harrowing prison experience, although, in his own eyes, he really isn't a bad guy after all, nor violent...

 

Standing unmoved and remorseless during sentencing, a bespectacled Ariel Castro once again conveyed his firm belief that he "is not a monster" but rather just a harmless, "sick man" with a "porn addiction."

 

Those proclamations fly in the face of his confession and recent plea deal though, as well as the mountain of evidence which eventually led to his 937-count indictment for abduction, assault, sexual assault, and murder.

 

The defendant's unapologetic statement, delivered in a calculatingly beseeching tone, belies a criminal attitude that seemed to enrage the presiding judge, but which isn't that uncommon for perps as incurably deviant as Castro is.  

 

This brand of violent sociopath can distort reality with relative ease, even to the degree where hundreds of vicious rapes and beatings, committed against defenseless victims held in bondage, can all become "consensual."

 

Coincidentally, that same perverse perspective was embraced by criminal justice officials for centuries, and even today the state of Ohio, from Steubenville to Cleveland, is grappling with an alarmingly high rate of violence against women.

 

A dangerous situation for Ohio's female citizenry in general, and one greatly exacerbated by law enforcement's historically wanton approach in guaranteeing the "weaker sex" equal protection.

 

 EPONYMOUS ROX

CLEVELAND BODIES FOUND: Another neighborhood serial killer?

CARNAGE IN CLEVELAND CONTINUES

 

Three Cleveland bodies found so far in one of that city's boarded up suburbs -- all African American females, all in the fetal position, all wrapped in plastic garbage bags.

 

The seemingly endless reports of people being abducted, held in bondage and/or slain in and around this northern metropolis is genuine cause for concern now, and it's suspected that the current carnage may be only the tip of the iceberg.

Held without bail for further questioning in this gruesome case is Michael Madison, a black male in his mid thirties who is said to be "unstable."

 

According to police the suspect is a registered sex offender living at his mother's address.

They also say this former prison inmate has an obsession with the Sowell series of killings and may therefore be a copycat.

 

Serial killer Anthony Sowell used his own Cleveland home to torture and kill 11 women he either lured there or abducted. He was sentenced to death in 2011 for multiple homicides and his house of horrors razed.

 

Today investigators will continue their grisly search on the block where three Cleveland bodies found murdered were unearthed. Officials in charge have intimated they're still unsure if there are more victims and, if so, whether these are also female.

 

There are many young women missing from this region, including petite blonde Jessica Heeringa who was abducted from Norton Shores, Michigan, less than five hours away. So, based upon the coroner's findings and pending DNA tests, closure may be on the horizon for some bereft loved ones and friends.

 

Like the Cleveland neighborhood where recently apprehended serial kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro operated for over a decade, this one too is rundown, with numerous abandoned buildings and vacant lots for predators to lurk and work in...

 

This case is developing - updates will be filed here or the comment section