Two corrections officers who were in charge of watching Ariel Castro in prison were put on paid leave following his suicide.
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says the two guards Caleb Ackley, 26, and 27-year-old Ryan Murphy were on duty in the Orient, Ohio prison unit where Ariel Castro hanged himself on September 3.
The two men are on paid administrative leave until internal investigations by the department and a criminal investigation by the state highway patrol are completed. Neither have any previous disciplinary notes in their files.
The officers haven’t been found guilty of any wrong doing but are on leave pending the review board’s decision, according to 19 Action News.
Ariel Castro, 53, hanged himself with a bed sheet earlier this month, a few weeks into a life sentence for imprisoning three women in his home for a decade.
He was serving a life sentence plus 1,000 years for abducting, raping, and holding hostage Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.
Ariel Castro was being housed alone in an isolation unit for his protection, where he would be checked every 30 minutes.
Prison officials said Ariel Castro hanged himself with a sheet during a break between inspections.
Initially, Ariel Castro was being checked on every ten minutes, but this stopped in June after he was deemed not to be a risk to himself and taken off suicide watch.
An autopsy confirmed his death was suicide by hanging.
Ariel Castro’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have an independent psychological examination of the 53-year-old done at the Cuyahoga County Jail before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction.
A full investigation is underway as to how Ariel Castro was able to take his own life while under the watchful eye of prison guards – who said he was always calm and cooperative with them.
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