The Lost Girls (32 page)

When asked if the defense would accept a plea deal to avoid going to trial if prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charges, Weintraub was evasive.

“We’re not answering any questions at this time,” he snapped. “The statement speaks for itself.”

After the arraignment, attorney Jim Wooley issued another statement on behalf of the victims.

“We understand the legal process needs to run its course,” it read. “We are hopeful for a just and prompt resolution. We have great faith in the prosecutor’s office and the court.”

The next day, Amanda Berry and Jocelyn made the eight-hour drive to Elizabethton, Tennessee, for a five-day reunion with her father over the Father’s Day weekend. A few weeks earlier, Johnny Berry had sold his exclusive story to the
National Enquirer
. And a photographer was at his house to take the first photographs of Amanda, which would be on the front page of the next edition.

“When Amanda came through my front door it was like a miracle,” said Berry. “She started crying and ran up to me and we hugged for the first time in ten years.”

Then Amanda gave her father a silver ring with the word
DAD
engraved on it, as a Father’s Day gift.

During the visit, Berry got to know his new granddaughter, who soon became the apple of his eye.

“She gave me a hug,” he said, “and I instantly knew deep in my heart that she’s a Berry. She has her mom’s beauty, strength and intelligence. I said to her, ‘Hi, Jocelyn, I’m your grandpa Johnny, and I love you.’”

On Father’s Day, Amanda and Jocelyn attended a barbecue at a local campsite, so they could meet the rest of the Berry family. Amanda told them how she was busy getting her life back on track, and had almost completed her and Jocelyn’s medical and dental checkups.

“[She’s] thinking about putting Jocelyn into school next year,” said her father. “Amanda is going to finish up her high school education and wants to eventually go to junior college.”

But he also revealed that Amanda was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“She’s having nightmares every night,” he told the
Enquirer
, “waking up screaming and crying, terrified that Castro is coming after her, or that she’s still a prisoner. She told me she’s afraid her freedom is a dream and she’s going to wake up to the horror of finding out she’s still a prisoner.”

Back in Cleveland, Ariel Castro wrote several Father’s Day letters to his children from his jail cell, which were never delivered.

“I still can’t believe what I did,” he wrote, “to put me in the situation that I’m in now.”

At 9:00
A.M.
on Wednesday, June 19, Ariel Castro was back in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for his first pretrial hearing. He was led into the courtroom in leg irons and handcuffs, wearing his bright orange jail garb. Once again he kept his head down and his eyes clenched shut for the entire hearing.

Later, Prosecutor Tim McGinty would accuse Castro of putting on an act to gain sympathy.

“Don’t be fooled by this head-down, woe-to-me demeanor he has displayed since his arrest,” said the prosecutor. “He’s a manipulator. He has no remorse.”

As Judge Michael Russo entered the courtroom, Castro, who was sitting at the defense table between his two attorneys, refused to look at him.

“Mr. Castro, you are here for a first pretrial [hearing] in your matter,” said the judge. “Are you aware of that, sir?”

“Yes,” answered Castro, without looking up.

“Okay,” Judge Russo continued, “you are here with your attorneys, Mr. Schlachet and Mr. Weintraub. Have you been working with them over the past couple of weeks?”

“Yes,” Castro replied.

Then the judge asked the prosecution about the transfer of discovery to the defense. Prosecutor Tim McGinty said his office had now handed over all the defendant’s interrogation videos, and was soon going to make the victims’ journals available. He said the BCI were still analyzing DNA and other forensic evidence, which would be completed sometime in July.

“What is the status of any additional charges that might be presented to the grand jury?” asked Judge Russo.

“We are presenting additional evidence to the grand jury next week and the week after,” said the prosecutor. “We expect that we are going to request further indictments to cover the additional period.”

McGinty added that the defense wanted to visit 2207 Seymour Avenue, and he had no objections.

Then Judge Russo set a tentative trial date for August 5, saying he wanted a “speedy trial.” But he promised to give the defense more time if needed. Then he set another hearing for the following Wednesday, by which time the defense would have received more discovery materials and have a better idea of how to proceed.

“Mr. Castro,” said the judge, “do you have any questions for the court?”

“No,” said Castro, who was then led out by a bailiff to a barrage of clicks from the news cameras in the public gallery.

After the hearing, Craig Weintraub told reporters the defense was now focusing on whether the prosecution had enough evidence for an aggravated murder conviction, for forcing a miscarriage.

“That’s the most important aspect of the case to us,” he explained. “But as of right now, we haven’t received any of the evidence that would support an aggravated murder conviction.”

He also repeated that his client did not want his victims to have to go through all the stress of a public trial.

“It is not our intent to have to do that,” he said.

That same day, as the Cleveland Courage Fund approached the $1 million mark, Cleveland Democratic Representative John Barnes introduced a bill that would provide Amanda, Gina and Michelle with $25,000 for every year of their “involuntary servitude,” as well as college tuition and medical assistance.

The bill, which had the support of both sides in the Ohio House of Representatives, would require a federal waiver to make the women eligible for a lifetime of government medical assistance.

On Wednesday, June 26, Judge Michael Russo ordered Ariel Castro to undergo a psychiatric competency evaluation, to see if he was fit to stand trial. At the second pretrial hearing, Castro’s defense said they had not met with their client since the previous week’s hearing, but would soon do so to discuss the nine hundred pieces of discovery they had received the previous evening.

“So, Mr. Castro,” said Judge Russo, “are you aware your attorneys have received a number of documents from the state and they will be sharing the information with you?”

“Yes,” said Castro, his eyes glued to the floor.

The judge then told him that as the question of his competency to stand trial might be raised at a later stage, he would undergo a full competency evaluation, so there would be no grounds for an appeal.

“I don’t know anything about Mr. Castro,” said the judge, “and our meetings here in court are very brief, so I am going to refer him for a competency evaluation.”

The judge told Castro that he had arranged for the director of the Court Psychiatric Clinic, Dr. Phillip Resnick, to examine him the next day and report back to the court.

“So, Mr. Castro,” said Russo, “you are going to be talking with Dr. Resnick. He’ll only be assessing your ability to understand these proceedings and to assist your attorneys in your defense. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, I do,” Castro replied, without looking up.

Then Prosecutor Tim McGinty stood up and said the defendant was quite competent to stand trial.

“We understand your desire to … make sure he is competent,” said McGinty. “There’s absolutely no doubt from the hours of tape and other evidence that he’s entirely competent. Knows exactly what he’s doing now and did then. But we understand the court’s caution.”

After the hearing, the three victims’ attorneys issued a joint statement, calling for a quick resolution of the case.

“The longer this process lasts, the more painful it is for them,” said Michelle’s attorney, Kathy Joseph. “And the more sordid details of this horror that get disclosed in this process, the more painful it is for them.”

Amanda and Gina’s lawyer, James Wooley, said his clients just wanted it all over and welcomed an early trial.

“Any date set by which this may end,” he wrote, “is like light at the end of the tunnel.”

The next morning, Ariel Castro was taken to the Cuyahoga County Court Psychiatric Clinic in the Justice Center, for his two-and-a-half-hour competency examination by Dr. Phillip Resnick and Dr. Jason Beaman. He told them about his early childhood in Puerto Rico and how he had been sexually abused by an older boy when he was five. He also claimed that after moving to America, his mother had physically abused him daily. When Dr. Resnick asked him how he felt about that, Castro said he had prayed that she would die.

Then Dr. Resnick asked him about his educational history, and Castro said he was a “satisfactory” student, but was “teased” by the other boys and could not remember why. He admitted to being suspended in junior high for touching a girl’s breast, saying his first relationship was in seventh grade and had lasted five months.

He told the doctors that his next girlfriend was Nilda Figueroa, whom he met when he was twenty and she was seventeen. Over their thirteen year relationship they had four children, and Castro claimed the relationship had ended after she was unfaithful.

“He said the relationship was often violent,” wrote Dr. Resnick in his report, “and that he was charged with domestic violence twice. He said, ‘I hit her because she hit me first.’”

Castro maintained that all the violence had been his reaction to her verbal harassment and being hit first, although he did admit to striking Nilda with a dumbbell, requiring her to have stitches.

“He was eager to tell his story,” said Dr. Resnick, “in a self-serving way.”

Castro said his next relationship was with Lillian Roldan in 2000, but they did not live together or have children. He had ended the relationship, after abducting Michelle and Amanda because “my life was very stressful at the time.”

Castro said he had been fired the previous September by the Cleveland School District after twenty-one years driving a bus, and had been out of work since. He received unemployment, as well as supplementing his income as an “active musician.”

Asked about his psychiatric history, Castro said he had experienced his first mental health problem around 1980, when he began getting headaches and feeling disoriented and confused.

“He had these periods of confusion ‘off and on,’” wrote Dr. Resnick. “He said that during these periods, he would ‘make bad decisions.’”

Castro said he had also suffered bouts of depression since the age of ten, but they never lasted more than a week.

“Mr. Castro told us he has never had suicidal thoughts,” wrote Dr. Resnick. “He was on suicide watch when he was first arrested, because ‘I knew that this was a way to be separated from the general population.’”

Castro said he knew he was facing more than three hundred counts, including rape and kidnapping, and the prosecutor would soon be filing even more charges and considering the death penalty.

“He said he does not want the death penalty,” wrote Dr. Resnick.

At the end of his six-page report, Dr. Resnick wrote that Ariel Castro was competent to stand trial.

“In summary,” wrote Dr. Resnick, “it is our opinion, with reasonable medical certainty, that Mr. Castro is capable of understanding the nature and objectives of the proceedings against him and able to assist counsel in his own defense.”

On Tuesday, July 2, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight met for the first time since their escape, in the offices of the Jones Day law firm. With the Cleveland Courage Fund now past the $1 million mark, they had each prepared handwritten notes to thank the nearly ten thousand complete strangers who had given.

After attorney James Wooley first vetted their three statements, one by one Ariel Castro’s victims recorded a three-and-a-half-minute video that would be released on
YouTube
a week later.

“First and foremost,” said Amanda confidently, looking straight at the camera, “I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family and my friends. It’s been unbelievable. I want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through this entire ordeal. Everyone who has been there to support us. It’s been a blessing to have such an outpouring of love and kindness.

“I’m getting stronger each day and having my privacy has helped immensely. I ask that everyone continues to respect our privacy and give us time to have a normal life.”

Then a nervous-looking Gina DeJesus appeared, sporting a chic new hairdo and flanked by her parents.

“I would like to say thank you for your support,” she said with a smile.

Felix continued, “I’d like to thank everybody who donated to the Courage Fund for these girls. I’d also like to thank the family, for having so much passions [
sic
] and faith and the strength to go along with us.”

Then Gina’s mother, Nancy, came on camera.

“I would like personally to thank the Courage Fund, everybody in general, and I’m also saying my community, my neighbors—every single one—they know who they are. Awesome. So people, I’m talking at—not just people but parents in general that have a loved one missing, please do me one big favor—count on your neighbors. Don’t be afraid to ask for the help, because help is available.”

Last, Michelle came on screen and was totally unrecognizable from the high school pictures that had been so widely circulated after the escape. She looked well groomed and radiated confidence, as she spoke for the first time in public.

“I just want everyone to know I’m doing just fine,” she said. “I may have been through hell and back but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and with my head held high and my feet firmly on the ground.

“Walking hand in hand with my best friend, I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don’t want to be consumed by hatred, but that being said, we need to take a leap of faith and know that God is in control.