COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two state corrections officers are on administrative leave for ignoring their duties the night Ariel Castro died in his cell as an investigation hints that Castro’s presumed suicide might have been accidental.
A report on the Cleveland kidnapper and rapist’s death found the guards didn’t perform their regular rounds, then falsified their log book after finding Castro hanging in his cell.
Castro took his life last month at the Corrections Reception Center in Orient.
A state patrol report may shed more light on the possibility that Cleveland kidnapper Castro died during an ill-fated attempt to choke himself for a sexual thrill. The patrol’s investigation includes evaluating evidence that he may have died from autoerotic asphyxiation.
The Ohio prisons agency will require spot checks by supervisors of the rounds guards make following two cases of alleged falsification of logs used to document those rounds. Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says the random checks will begin soon at all prisons in the state.
The announcement comes after the suspension of two guards for allegedly falsifying logs before the Aug. 4 suicide of a death row inmate and the suspension of the guards accused of the same action before Castro’s Sept. 3 death.
Prison rules require checks on inmates every 30 minutes.