Cleveland
kidnapper Ariel Castro made a plea bargain to receive life in prison
without parole. He was facing the death penalty for two aggravated
murder charges in the deaths of unborn children of one of the victims he
held captive.
The women's escape from Castro's home two months ago at first brought
joy to the city where they had become household names after years of
searches, publicity and vigils, then despair at revelations of their
treatment.
Their rescue brought shocking allegations that Castro fathered a
child with one of the women, induced five miscarriages in another by
starving and punching her, and assaulted one with a vacuum cord around
her neck when she tried to escape.
