Ariel Castro pleaded guilty in Cleveland on Friday to charges that he abducted and raped three women who in May escaped from his home after more than a decade, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Castro agreed to a plea deal that will put him in prison for life without parole, plus a minimum of 1,000 years. He pleaded guilty to 937 counts of a 977-count indictment.
His guilty plea included two charges of aggravated murder in connection with terminating the pregnancy of one of his victims. “He’s never coming out [of prison] except nailed in a box or in an ash can,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty. Victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight said they were “relieved” by the plea. They issued a statement saying “they do not wish to speak to the media or anyone else.”