By Darrel Rowland
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Corrections officers did not complete their rounds and falsified records surrounding Ariel Castro’s death in an Ohio prison cell last month, a report this morning shows.
The investigation by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also raises the possibility that Castro wasn’t trying to kill himself.
The findings about the prison guards were the same as in the suicide of Death Row inmate Billy Slagle on Aug. 4.
The corrections officers in both incidents have been suspended.
Today’s after-action report concludes: “Rounds were not properly completed. Post log books were falsified. There was no satisfactory verification process in place. Shift supervisors were not given clear direction on verification procedures and expectations... Corrections officers were utilizing fire escape doors as shortcuts between segregation pods and floors.”
Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper and rapist, apparently committed suicide by hanging himself with a sheet attached to a window hinge in his prison cell Sept. 3, a coroner’s investigative notes show.
The new report says, “There appears to be no known, substantiated motivation for the self-inflicted death.”
The probe also raises the question of whether he was attempting to commit suicide. There was no suicide note, and he had displayed no suicidal tendencies is several assessments.
“His pants and underwear were pulled down to his ankles. The relevance of this finding is unclear. These facts, however, were relayed to the State Highway Patrol for consideration of the possibility of auto-erotic asphyxiation,” the report says.
Castro was found facing the cell door with his knees bent, according to Franklin County coroner’s office notes. The hinge was almost 7 feet from the floor of the cell. Police reports listed Castro at 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Two sheets of paper were found in the cell, one with Bible verses written on it and the other with the names of Castro’s children and grandchildren, the notes said. A photo display of his family members and Bible open to chapters 2 and 3 of the book John was also found.
“Director Mohr has reviewed and accepted the recommendations made by the after action review team, and acknowledges immediate steps taken by the Correctional Reception Center to address issues of security rounds being conducted according to policy,” said JoEllen Smith, the prison system’s communications chief.
“Fred Cohen and Lindsay Hayes, independent consults hired to review DRC’s suicide prevention policies and procedures, are in Ohio and Director Mohr met with them yesterday. The director will continue meeting with Mr. Cohen and Mr. Hayes on an ongoing basis during the duration of their review.”
Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak has said she’s awaiting toxicology results before issuing a final report on the death.
Castro was found at 9:18 p.m. the night of the death, about 30 minutes after he was last seen alive, according to the notes. He was pronounced dead at a hospital an hour and a half later.
Castro, 53, pleaded guilty last month to nearly 1,000 counts related to his imprisonment of three women in his Cleveland home for a decade, including aggravated murder -- for forcing one of the victims to miscarry -- kidnapping, rape and other crimes.
Castro was four weeks into a sentence of life without parole plus 1,000 years when he killed himself. His body was released to his son in Columbus.