Who is Ariel Castro?

[JerseyGirl]

Castro was the scion of a large family that had migrated after World War II from Yauco, a part of Puerto Rico famous for its coffee, to Cleveland, then an industrial power house by Lake Erie.

His father, Nona Castro, who died in 2004, ran a used car lot, while his uncle Julio "Cesi" Castro, 78, remains a pillar of the city's Hispanic community with the Caribe Grocery corner store he still runs.

On Seymour Avenue, Castro by and large had a good reputation.

Julio Castro, however, said his nephew isolated himself from his extended family after his father's death in 2004 -- the year DeJesus went missing, a year after Berry disappeared, and two years after Knight was last seen.

For 22 years, Castro drove school buses, but not without a number of incidents that ultimately led to his firing in November 2012 from a job that paid $18.91 a hour, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper reported.

In 2004, he left a special-education pupil alone in a parked bus while he grabbed a burger. In 2009 he was suspended for an illegal U-turn. In 2012 he improperly used a bus to go shopping, earning a second suspension.

The final straw came last year when he walked away from his vehicle at an elementary school two blocks from his home for a couple of hours "to rest," according to school board records.

After hours, Castro played bass guitar -- on his Facebook page he recently posted an image of a custom-made six-string bass -- with a popular local Latino band, Grupo Kanon, on and off for 15 years, the Plain Dealer reported.

"He could do the job, but he became increasingly defensive and unreliable in recent years," said band leader Ivan Ruiz, who knew Castro for about 20 years. "It was like he couldn't leave the house."

"He was a senile kind of person. A crazy kind of person. He was weird... He was always late for gigs and rehearsals. He always had to leave at the moment. I fired him last year."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/...-suspect-us-kidnapping-jekyll-and-hyde-figure

 

[annmarie62]

Grimilda Figueroa, in a 2005 court filing, told police that Castro beat her repeatedly, twice breaking her nose, her ribs and dislocating each of her shoulders. She also suffered a blood clot on her brain because of the attacks, according to the court filing. Figueroa died last year.

Police reports indicate he attacked her Sept. 30, 1989, when one of Castro's brothers arrived at his home and wanted to go out with him. Figueroa asked where they would go. That's when Castro became violent, according to the police report. He slapped her several times in the face, the report said. When Figueroa tried to run, he grabbed her and slammed her several times into a wall and several more times into a washing machine, the report said. She was treated for a bruised right shoulder. She told officers that Castro, who had been her common-law husband for nine years at that point in their relationship, assaulted her several times, but she filed no official complaints. No charges were filed in the 1989 attack.

On Dec. 27, 1993, Figueroa reported that Castro threw her to the ground, hitting her in the head and face and kicking her in the body, according to a second police report. Figueroa's son bolted out the front door, and Castro chased after him. Police later arrested him on domestic violence charges. Two months after the attack, a Cuyahoga County grand jury did not return charges in the case. A court docket does not indicate why.

On Nov. 29, 1994, a property owner reported that Castro tried to attack him with a shovel, a police report shows. The property owner had a rental property near Castro's home on Seymour Avenue. The property owner asked what had happened to a chain-link fence that was missing. Castro, according to the report, flew into a rage and grabbed a shovel.
Again, no charges were filed.

On May 16, 1996, a Cleveland man told police that he took Figueroa's children to a bus stop. Castro drove up behind the man and stopped his car. Castro, according to the police report, got out of his car and began swearing and told the man "that he had better watch himself,'' the report said. When the Cleveland man got out of his car to talk to Castro, Castro got back in his car and roared off. The man said he believes that Castro would have struck him if he didn't move out of the way, according to the report.
No charges were filed.

Four months later, Castro drove to a home on Governor Road, where a former neighbor lived. The neighbor, who had sued Castro over an issue involving property, told officers that Castro drove over to the former neighbor's new home and screamed an obscenity at him.
No charges were filed.

Police also detailed an incident involving Castro's job as a bus driver for Cleveland schools. In January 2004, a special education student at Wade Park Elementary School was left on Castro's bus after another student was dropped off, according to a Cleveland police report. The student said Castro drove to a Wendy's restaurant and told the student to "lay down b----" while he went inside to eat. He then took the student home. Officers went to Castro's home, but he wasn't home.
He was not charged.

The last report involved a threat to Figueroa. In 2005, one of their daughters was to testify in a criminal case in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The girl didn't want to travel from her home in Fort Wayne, Ind., to testify. Castro, according to police reports, called Figueroa on Aug. 25 and told her: "I'm going to go to Fort Wayne and bring [the girl] back and beat your [expletive] in front of her.''
Again, no charges were filed.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/ariel_castro_police_reports_re.html#incart_m-rpt-2

I am absolutely appalled and disgusted that, time and time and TIME again, AC got away with threatening/abusive/violent behavior with NO consequences!! WHY did the courts fail to convict him re. the well-documented abuse he inflicted on his wife? I for one would love to read the "no bill" returned against him by a grand jury! I have always been led to believe that, once charges are filed, it does not matter if the victim (or her lawyer) does or does not show up, because the STATE takes over and moves forward with prosecution. What the HELL happened here? My God, this woman suffered multiple broken bones and even brain injury; how much more serious could it get? And the whole school bus driver scenario, good Lord, I worked for several school districts in more than one state during my career, and people would routinely get fired for the slightest hint of negligence, never mind leaving a child alone on a bus! Is this how Cleveland's school systems operate? I have never heard of such negligence, how on earth did he keep his job? Time and again this man should have been on law enforcement's radar, and nothing was done. He must've felt invincible after getting away with his bullcrap over and over. I saw one interview where one of his brothers said no one was allowed past the kitchen of his house; I'd like to see one of MY brothers pull that move on me, you can bet I would've returned to find out what was behind that kitchen door! One of the saddest interviews was with one of his daughters, forgot name, who said that prior to his arrest, she thought he was the "best" father and grandfather ever! THIS, after first acknowledging that as a child she saw her father beat and "stomp on" her mother like "she was a man"! Hello?!! What kind of grown woman witnesses her father beat the ***** out of her own mother yet goes on to praise him as a wonderful father and grandparent? I have never before seen such a disconnect between truth and reality; anyone who hurt my mother deserves my hatred forever, never mind letting him visit my own kids. Such an evil, evil man. There is nothing 'good enough' to do to Ariel Castro within the legal system. He will never be rightfully punished here on earth.

 

[Flakes]

PTSD in children from abusive households can lead to a wide variety of behaviours. Some angry, some violent, some self-harming, and others in total denial with a fantasy world built up to try to maintain some kind of "normality" in their lives. There can be serious psychological damage and it often requires many years, if not a lifetime, of constant psychological and often-times psychiatric help. Often medication is required to even maintain a semblance of normality as the imbalances that can occur from childhood trauma are horrendous and debilitating. Presumably the children of AC have not received such treatment, so it is fair to assume they have developed all kinds of behaviours and stories created as coping mechanisms in their lives.

Just because the horror of the abductions has come to light, and because the media is hounding these family members does not mean, for a moment, that they have miraculously found it within themselves to face the reality of their lives and speak about it with the public.

Domestic abusers can have long lines of ex-partners who do not press charges. The focus is safety, survival and trying to sever ties to the abuser. To pursue charges is to maintain those ties and to potentially endanger themselves by making the abuser/ex-abuser angry. Even when some go to the police to have charges laid there is not always a response, and the pressure of this action can be more painful and dangerous than turning their back and walking away. Restraining or Intervention orders often provoke, which is counter productive.

 

[countryfox]

well, one thing we know about Ariel Castro, is that no matter where he goes, he wreaks havoc. He was a terrible husband and abused his wife mercilessly, and it seems he is just as bad a father as he was a husband. Look how his daughter turned out... in prison for trying to kill her baby, reportedly because she thought her family was out to kill them? And now here are these 3 women and no telling what else will come out. A lot of people said there were no warning signs and that he was a good person, etc., but IMO, there were red flags all over the place. No one that knew his background, should be surprised. One thing I'm curious about though is this...I read a report that an acquaintance saw him with Amanda's daughter and when asked who she was, Castro identified her as his girlfriend's daughter? I don't understand his psyche at all, but is it possible that in his twisted mind he did see Amanda as his girlfriend? And if he did, did he also see the other women as girlfriends? Oh boy, that's messed up.

I believe he undoubtedly has a sordid view of reality. His lawyers intimated that he alleged some of the acts were "CONSENTUAL"????

 

[countryfox]

I am absolutely appalled and disgusted that, time and time and TIME again, AC got away with threatening/abusive/violent behavior with NO consequences!! WHY did the courts fail to convict him re. the well-documented abuse he inflicted on his wife? I for one would love to read the "no bill" returned against him by a grand jury! I have always been led to believe that, once charges are filed, it does not matter if the victim (or her lawyer) does or does not show up, because the STATE takes over and moves forward with prosecution. What the HELL happened here? My God, this woman suffered multiple broken bones and even brain injury; how much more serious could it get? And the whole school bus driver scenario, good Lord, I worked for several school districts in more than one state during my career, and people would routinely get fired for the slightest hint of negligence, never mind leaving a child alone on a bus! Is this how Cleveland's school systems operate? I have never heard of such negligence, how on earth did he keep his job? Time and again this man should have been on law enforcement's radar, and nothing was done. He must've felt invincible after getting away with his bullcrap over and over. I saw one interview where one of his brothers said no one was allowed past the kitchen of his house; I'd like to see one of MY brothers pull that move on me, you can bet I would've returned to find out what was behind that kitchen door! One of the saddest interviews was with one of his daughters, forgot name, who said that prior to his arrest, she thought he was the "best" father and grandfather ever! THIS, after first acknowledging that as a child she saw her father beat and "stomp on" her mother like "she was a man"! Hello?!! What kind of grown woman witnesses her father beat the ***** out of her own mother yet goes on to praise him as a wonderful father and grandparent? I have never before seen such a disconnect between truth and reality; anyone who hurt my mother deserves my hatred forever, never mind letting him visit my own kids. Such an evil, evil man. There is nothing 'good enough' to do to Ariel Castro within the legal system. He will never be rightfully punished here on earth.

I too thought it very conflicting that the daughter would reference her father in such a positive light after acknowledging the brutality she witnessed towards her mother.

 

[countryfox]

Something I'm kind of curious about...I was wondering why he kidnapped more than 1 girl. Was this part of a plan or did he play it by ear? It seems contradictory that he he would be compelled to enslave multiple young girls, but after they grew up, to not go after other young girls. We may never get answers to these questions, but I'd like to hear what a psychologist thinks about this. I've been wondering if there is the possibility that he has other victims hidden somewhere else? It doesn't seem so, but I'm not convinced there weren't other victims before or during this time. I also read an early report that said before he was arrested, he was at his mother's working in her garden? If he had access to her yard and was digging, has her yard been processed?

A couple of things hint at the possibility of other victims. #1) the oldest kidnap victim, Michelle Knight, gave an account of another girl being seen in the house early on during her captivity. She reported that she awoke one day and the female was gone. #2) A reporter recently uncovered records of another property owned by Ariel Castro, which he is said to have frequented, apart from his primary residence.

 

[JerseyGirl]

ick, he's still walking around his cell naked, I wonder if he walked around the house naked ....

http://www.wnem.com/story/22405683/new-oddities-in-ariel-castros-world-in-jail

19 Action News ... reviewing the latest log kept by jail guards watching over Ariel Castro, and they include a couple of eye opening incidents.

At one point, notes say that jailers had to move another inmate out of the area because he claimed he is the father of Michelle Knight.

Other entries show Castro walking around naked in his cell. Castro is also alleged to have walked around naked in his first days behind bars.

There is also more interaction with jail guards. For instance, Castro is asking for the time and outside temperature. In another instance, Castro offered thanks to a guard.