COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Two Ohio corrections officers have issued their side of events surrounding the hanging death of Ariel Castro. They don't differ much from earlier reports.
Officers Caleb Ackley and Ryan Murphy are on paid suspension after Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections officials said they missed their rounds earlier in the day at the Correctional Reception Center. While completing an evening check on Sept. 3, Ackley said he saw Castro, who was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years for holding three Cleveland women as sex slaves, hanging by his neck from a bed sheet inside his cell.
Ackley said in his report he called Murphy for backup and entered the cell, picking up Castro to relieve the pressure on his neck, The (Cleveland) Plain-Dealer reported Wednesday.
When Murphy arrived they performed CPR on Castro and used a snipping tool to remove the sheet from around his neck.
Ackley's report does not specify auto-erotic asphyxiation as Castro's motive though it does state his shorts were around his ankles and that guards had to call for additional clothing prior to a medical unit's transferring him to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A state report last week suggested Castro was not trying to commit suicide but engage in a sex act when he died.
