The Lost Girls (33 page)

“I am in control of my own destiny with the guidance of God. I have no problems expressing how I feel inside. Be positive. Learn that it’s [more] important to give than to receive. Thank you for all your prayers. I’m looking forward to my brand-new life. Thank you.”

At 8:45 the next morning, Ariel Castro returned to Judge Michael Russo’s courtroom for his competency hearing. This time Castro, who was still shackled with blue wrist restraints, had his eyes open.

“Mr. Castro,” began Judge Russo, “recently you took a trip to our court clinic. Do you recall the individuals you met with there?”

“Your Honor,” replied Castro. “Two gentlemen.”

Then the judge asked the defense if they wanted to call any witnesses to testify about the defendant’s competence.

“No, Your Honor,” said Jaye Schlachet. “We are prepared to stipulate to Mr. Castro’s competency.”

Judge Russo then asked the prosecution if they had any witnesses to call.

“No, Your Honor,” said Tim McGinty. “We stipulate the conclusion that Mr. Castro is competent to stand trial.”

Then the judge ruled that Ariel Castro was competent to stand trial, and able to assist his counsel in his defense.

“Mr. Castro, do you have any questions for the court or your counsel at this time?” asked the judge.

“Yes,” replied Castro, looking straight ahead.

“One moment, Your Honor. May I?” said Craig Weintraub, who seemed surprised by his client’s answer.

Then Castro, who was allowed jail visits only with his mother and sister, asked if his children could come.

“You’d like your children to be able to visit you in jail?” asked the judge.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Obviously, we would object to him having any contact with the minor child in the case,” said Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Blaise Thomas.

“He’s aware of the no contact law, Your Honor,” said Schlachet.

“I don’t think that will be an issue, but we’ll address that,” said the judge. “Mr. Castro, what’s the issue?”

“If you could please reiterate on contact with my child,” Castro mumbled.

“Do you want me to readdress the issue of contact with your child?” asked Russo.

“Yes, my six-year-old,” said Castro.

“Are you referring to the minor child?” asked the judge.

“Yes, please,” replied Castro.

“I won’t be allowing that,” said the judge, “not during the pendency of this case. I just think that would be inappropriate.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” said Schlachet. “He obviously had great concerns in asking you to address it.”

Then Judge Russo adjourned the hearing and Castro was once again led out of the courtroom to a salvo of clicking cameras.

On July 4, The DeJesus family invited relatives and friends over to their house for a backyard cookout. Although it was a celebratory occasion, Gina appeared uneasy and mainly kept to herself.

“She didn’t want to talk a lot,” said an old friend. “You could tell her nerves are really bad. She just can’t look anybody in the eyes for very long.”

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone of Columbia University said that Gina, Amanda and Michelle were undoubtedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of their years of torturous imprisonment.

“They are going to have the full syndrome of nightmares, startled responses and tremendous anxiety,” said Dr. Stone. “I mean, that’s torture to rape repeatedly. It’s like a soldier coming back from Vietnam or Afghanistan, where they’ve been used to bombs going off. If they hear a noise they can’t account for, they become very frightened and they have nightmares.”

Most lunchtimes, prosecutor Tim McGinty jogged past 2207 Seymour Avenue on his daily runs from the Justice Center. A passionate marathon runner, with more than 120 marathons under his belt, McGinty liked to strategize his criminal cases during his five-mile runs.

“He runs around Seymour to check the place out,” said Councilman Brian Cummins. “He told me he ran that area.”

The tall lean Cuyahoga County prosecutor had worked as a probation officer to put himself through law school. After receiving a master’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, he served ten years as an assistant county prosecutor, being named Ohio Prosecutor of the Year. He then spent ten years as a judge in the Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court, before being elected Cuyahoga County prosecutor in November 2012, on a platform of reducing crime in Cleveland.

Married for thirty-nine years with two grown-up children, McGinty made national headlines in 1994, when he had a very public feud with shock jock Howard Stern. The DJ was broadcasting live from a bar in downtown Cleveland, when an engineer from a rival radio station cut his cable and stopped the broadcast.

After sentencing the engineer to ten days in jail, Judge McGinty attacked Stern, calling him a “crude and obscene rabble-rouser.”

Stern was furious and began a long spat with McGinty, culminating in him endorsing the judge’s opponent in the next election. When McGinty won he sent Howard Stern some candy and roses, along with a note of thanks for getting him elected.

At the stroke of midday on Tuesday, July 9, Hennes Paynter Communications released the three women’s video statement on
YouTube
. It was the first time the outside world had seen or heard them speak and the effect was stunning.

“The women appear upbeat,” said the Cleveland
Plain Dealer
, “and two of them talk about having the strength to move on.”

The women’s attorneys also issued a statement in the wake of the video.

“[They] wanted to say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world,” said Kathy Joseph. “People are recognizing them as they go about in public; they decided to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages.”

After the video was released, Hennes Paynter Communications was deluged with hundreds of requests for interviews with the three women. Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric and Dr. Phil all wanted to be the first for an exclusive sit-down interview with the victims. There had also been dozens of proposals for books and movies, with offers of big money.

“For the most part the media has been respectful,” said Bruce Hennes, adding that “some of them have been just downright rude.”

After the video release,
Plain Dealer
columnist Regina Brett, who had covered the missing girls’ story from the beginning, wrote that it had moved her to tears.

“For so long the only glimpse we had of them was from posters,” she wrote, “that hung on utility poles begging for their return, posters that faded away as the days turned into a decade.

“I cried watching Amanda speak. She’s even more beautiful than her mom described her all those years ago in her living room. If only Louwana had lived to see her daughter free.”

On Thursday, July 11, the day after Ariel Castro’s fifty-third birthday, the Capital Review Committee (CRC) met in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office to discuss whether or not to seek the death penalty. Before the meeting, Castro’s defense team had presented a list of mitigating factors against it.

Craig Weintraub and Jaye Schlachet claimed that there was absolutely no medical or forensic evidence to corroborate Michelle Knight’s claims that Castro had forced her to miscarry on multiple occasions. They had also found no cases of any state seeking the death penalty for a fetal homicide in the first trimester.

“Clearly, an indictment for the aggravated murder of a fertilized egg with a death specification is unprecedented,” they wrote, “and will be subject to strict scrutiny by all courts through the extensive and very lengthy appellate process.”

They also warned that as Michelle Knight’s testimony could not be corroborated by the other victims or experts, prosecuting Castro for fetal homicide would prove very expensive with years of appeals lying ahead.

“And [it] will continue to draw significant publicity,” they wrote, “to events that do not need further media attention.”

The defense also argued that putting Ariel Castro on death row would cost the State of Ohio millions of dollars.

“Ariel Castro is 53-years-old,” read the motion, “and the average time on death row is 16.6 years. Clearly, he will be at the end of his natural life expectancy if he is ever executed.”

It noted that the health of older inmates in protective custody or isolation declines faster than that of average prisoners.

“It is certainly plausible and likely,” the motion continued, “that Mr. Castro may develop physical and cognitive diseases as he ages in prison, including Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

The defense had also pored through all the hours of the victims’ interviews, cherry-picking quotes favorable to their client.

It referred to one interview where Gina had said she hoped Castro would be treated well as a prisoner.

“I asked my mom,” it quoted Gina as saying, “‘are they going to be mean to him in prison?’ And my mom said, ‘That’s just the way it is.’ I said, ‘That’s so mean. I don’t want that.’”

The defense also warned that if the prosecution went for the death penalty, their client would be forced to take the stand and refute the allegations against him.

“[This] will unfortunately cause these women,” read the motion, “to endure agonizing testimony that will be sensationalized across the world.”

The two defense attorneys argued that their client’s daughter, Jocelyn, would be irreparably damaged if her father were executed.

“It is apparent in home videos,” they wrote, “that Jocelyn loves her father very much. It is probable that she is very confused about the current circumstances and the whereabouts of her father. It is unimaginable how she will try to reconcile her past as she matures and learns about her life. It’s unknown whether she will continue to maintain any interest in seeing her father. If he receives a death sentence and is on death row, this may have more of a psychological impact on her than anyone can comprehend.”

The next morning, a Cuyahoga County grand jury handed down a superseding 977-count indictment, covering the entire period the three women were held. The new 576-page indictment included 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of child endangerment and a single count of possessing criminal tools. It also included the two counts of aggravated murder from the original indictment.

After the indictment came down, Prosecutor Tim McGinty told reporters that his office would be meeting again the following week to discuss whether to go for the death penalty.

“Today’s indictment moves us closer to resolution of this gruesome case,” he said. “Our investigation continues, as does our preparation for trial.”

Craig Weintraub and Jaye Schlachet then issued a statement, urging the prosecutor’s office to take the death penalty off the table.

“It is our hope,” they said, “that we can continue to work toward a resolution of this matter so that the women do not have to endure additional trauma.”

Five days later, on July 17, Ariel Castro was arraigned on the new superseding indictment. Once again he entered the courtroom with his head down and eyes closed, but Judge Pamela Barker, who was sitting in for Judge Michael Russo, immediately ordered him to pay attention, while she read him his rights.

“Mr. Castro,” she said sternly, “would you please look at me, sir.”

The defendant looked up, opened his eyes slightly and squinted.

“I need to make sure you understand what I’m saying, okay,” she told him.

“Ummm,” Castro mumbled.

Then, as Judge Barker read out the names of the counsel present, Castro lowered his head again and shut his eyes.

“Again, you
must
look at me, sir,” said the judge. “Can you open your eyes, please?”

Jaye Schlachet, who was sitting next to him, whispered something in his ear.

“I’m trying,” Castro said.

After Castro had been read his rights, Schlachet told the judge that his client pleaded not guilty to all 977 charges, and waived the right to be read the entire indictment.

As Judge Barker summarized all the counts against him, Castro defiantly kept his eyes shut and head bowed. Then she continued the $8 million bond and ordered the defendant not to have any contact with the victims.

Straight after the arraignment, Tim McGinty messengered a letter to the defense, saying he was now ready to begin “off-the-record” discussions for a plea deal to drop the death penalty.

“We are interested in pursuing this matter,” wrote McGinty, “in formulating an appropriate resolution to the … case.”

Outlining the State’s terms for dropping the death penalty, McGinty said Castro must undergo an FBI polygraph examination, to see if there were any other crimes he had committed.

“The purpose of this polygraph examination,” he wrote, “is to provide Ariel Castro the opportunity, in the context of the protection of a potential plea agreement, to divulge truthful information about any other victims and any other crimes.”

In return for this, McGinty agreed not to prosecute him for further crimes that could carry the death penalty. He wrote that the State was now considering not pursuing the death penalty, to “provide closure” for the victims and their families.

“I trust that you will find these ground rules fair and reasonable,” wrote McGinty at the end. “If your client wishes to engage in a proffer under these ground rules, you and your client both must sign this letter where indicated below.”

The following day, Ariel Castro and Jaye Schlachet signed the letter, accepting all the State’s demands in return for dropping the death penalty.

On Wednesday, July 24, with his trial just two weeks away, Ariel Castro was back in the courtroom for a brief hearing. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Blaise Thomas told Judge Michael Russo that more than four thousand documents had now been turned over to the defense. But Craig Weintraub and Jaye Schlachet complained that the State had been slow, and they were having trouble preparing for the upcoming trial.