Spectators watched as the house where Ariel Castro held Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus and Michelle Knight captive, was demolished The house in Cleveland, Ohio, where Ariel Castro held three women in brutal captivity for years has been torn down. At about 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT), a wrecking machine smashed through the house to begin the demolition. Castro, 53, a former school bus driver, was sentenced to life
in prison last week after pleading guilty to dozens of rape, kidnapping
and other charges.
He abducted Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, from Cleveland streets between 2002-04. Authorities say he kept the women chained for long periods in
the house, beating and starving them and forcing one of them to
miscarry several pregnancies.
Cheering onlookers
The women were freed in May after one of them escaped while Castro was out of the house and summoned help.He was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on 1 August.
On Wednesday morning, Ms Knight spent several
minutes in front of the house where she was held for 11 years as
Castro's captive, a period she had described at his sentencing as
"hell". Then a crew of workers wearing high-visibility jackets tore
the house down using heavy demolition kit, as neighbours and television
crews looked on. Onlookers cheered. Within minutes, the house was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Castro's neighbours in the working-class district of
Cleveland had vowed to see the house demolished at the conclusion of the
trial.