Amanda Berry, Gina deJesus & Michelle Knight - General discussion #4

[singers]

I am pretty sure reporter was wrong on Emily being in the car prior to Gina getting kidnapped. The one who was last to see Gina was other Castro's daughter Arlene, not Emily.

It's hard to know what the reporter was saying. I took it to mean Amanda saw Emily in a car with her father at some point.
Amanda was walking home from her job, so how would that work? Perhaps Amanda had seen him in the past with Emily and just thought it would be safe as it was her friends dad.

 

[JerseyGirl]

On Aug. 29, 2005, Figueroa went to court again, seeking an order of protection against Castro. She also said he had threatened to kill her and her children during the previous year and had "abducted" the children.

A year before that complaint, two of the daughters, Emily and Arlene, accused her new partner, Colon, of sexual abuse, Giannini said. He investigated the case on behalf of Colon, and believes that Castro manipulated his daughters into accusing Colon. Figueroa and Colon denied the abuse. Colon was convicted in September 2005 on five charges of child molestation based on the testimony of the daughters, and was sentenced to three years of community supervision, according to court documents.

...

Also in September 2005, authorities tried to serve Castro with a summons to attend a hearing on Figueroa's complaint. "They went to his house three times and no one answered," said Diane Palos, administrative judge for the domestic relations court in Cleveland. Castro came to the court to get the summons, she said.

The hearing on Figueroa's petition was held in November 2005. Court records show Castro and Figueroa both attended the hearing as did Castro's lawyer. Figueroa's lawyer, Robert Ferreri, did not show up, citing a conflict with another case in juvenile court, records show. Ferreri, a former Cuyahoga County judge, resigned from the practice of law in 2011 as he was facing discipline, according to the Ohio Supreme Court. His law license had been suspended twice before in 1999 and 2000. Repeated attempts by Reuters reporters to reach Ferreri by phone or at residences listed for him were unsuccessful.

Figueroa decided not to proceed with the request for a protection order, according to court documents. Her lawyer advised her that she would be at a severe disadvantage if she went ahead without him, documents show. The case was dismissed and she did not exercise her legal right to revive it.


http://www.enca.com/world/cries-domestic-abuse-never-snared-castro

 

[inkpink]

That's right they, with their father were last to see the girls alive. Yet I don't think they told the police that. I'm wondering how Castro got them to lie? I think Colon, was one the last to see Gina. I'm wondering if he told them not to tell about him as it was part of sending the police to harrass Colon.

I'm wondering if there is a connection between MK and AC's eldest daughter.....Were they friends also??

 

[singers]

Giannini is familiar with the Castro family because he interrogated Ariel Castro in 2005 about a child molestation case in which Castro accused another man, Fernando Colon, of sexually assaulting his daughters. Colon was later convicted of gross sexual imposition, and in light of the allegations now surrounding Castro, Giannini is hopeful Colon will eventually be exonerated. Giannini said “(Ariel Castro) is a just a sick, sick person, and at that time, I believed he was a child molester.”

I wonder what made him believe Castro to be a child molester?

 

[palaminodee]

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/04/facing_disciplinary_actions_fo.html

article on ex-wife's attorney

 

[JerseyGirl]

ugh, more torture:

Investigators found chains attached to walls in Castro’s basement and dog leads anchored to the ceiling. “It was like they were POWs. They had bed sores from being left in positions for extended lengths of time,” a source said. Another added: “If he left for long periods he would duct tape-up the women over all parts of their faces, even their eyes, only leaving an opening so they could breathe. He would [on return] just rip it off, pulling off skin and hair.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...castro-ready-to-deny-all-charges-8617877.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

Giannini told The Times he thought Castro, whom he interviewed before the trial, was untrustworthy, as was the girls’ testimony. "Both daughters testified very vaguely. 'Yeah, Fernando touched me,' " Giannini said. "It was very vague; it was so vague it was unbelievable."

Castro testified against Colon; but his son, Anthony, and Figueroa testified for Colon, according to Colon and Giannini.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-castro-abuse-history-20130509,0,1600490.story

 

[Sparklin]

Good police work huh!

To be fair she didn't exactly camp out at the police station for information - wonder how often she called THEM to keep them investigating and on the case. They didn't even know if she was still missing because no one was advocating for her apparently :stormingmad:

 

[TGIRecovered]

How on earth did Amanda take care of her little girl when he chained the women up? This is so horrible!


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[singers]

When Michelle went missing, she had spent the night at a friends house. Has it ever been published who this friend was? Who was the last to see Michelle Knight?

 

[Sparklin]

Looks good on him! And moo, lawyers were lining up just for the notoriety of this case

"He's watched completely," said Schlachet said. "He has a window through his door. He doesn't have a television, doesn't have radio, doesn't have magazines, no access to newspapers. He's completely isolated from society."

http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/299605/489/Investigator-Castro-loves-daughter-will-plead-not-guilty

 

[4MYGUYS]

Reading these last pages makes me believe his lawyer is right, maybe he shouldn't be called a "monster". This just keeps getting worse.
His brother said he was always a strange guy, or words to that effect, but no, he had a very very long history of severe domestic abuse, and violent outbursts, and threats towards his family and neighbors. Really,..... really, no one close to him saw that? He was "strange"!!!! The mother of his children is dead, & he beat her after brain surgery, (allegedly).
His lawyers also don't believe he can get a fair trial possibly anywhere?
So are they saying they believe from Alaska to Florida people are prejudiced against wife beating, child molesting, torturing rapists and can't be impartial if sitting in the jury box? I doubt that.
Possibly "Monster" isn't the right term afterall, I just don't know what word is a better descriptive for someone worse than a monster.
Of course JMHO

 

[KaaBoom]

To be fair she didn't exactly camp out at the police station for information - wonder how often she called THEM to keep them investigating and on the case. They didn't even know if she was still missing because no one was advocating for her apparently :stormingmad:

If someone goes missing, it shouldn't be their relatives responsibility to keep calling the police, to keep them on the case.

 

[JerseyGirl]

When Michelle went missing, she had spent the night at a friends house. Has it ever been published who this friend was? Who was the last to see Michelle Knight?

Knight, who was 21 at the time of her disappearance on Aug. 23, 2002, was last seen at a cousin's house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/michelle_knight_missing_for_de.html

Knight's grandmother said that, based on the recommendation of police and social workers, family members had concluded that Michelle likely left on her own because she was angry that her son was removed from her custody.

 

[Detective Klimpt]

When Michelle went missing, she had spent the night at a friends house. Has it ever been published who this friend was? Who was the last to see Michelle Knight?

I remember reading that the people who she was staying with had the same last name as Michele's mom's boyfriend.

 

[KaaBoom]

How on earth did Amanda take care of her little girl when he chained the women up? This is so horrible!

He didn't keep them chained up all the time. By the time she had the baby, he had instilled enough fear in her to keep her from trying to escape. At least until the day that she did escape.

 

[Squeeze]

Looking back at the what "ifs" in this case is absolutely frustrating. I am trying my best to firmly keep blame on AC himself. I don't think it's wrong to analyze how things were done and what can be done better in the future.

My heart breaks for all the girls but I can't help but think about what Michelle endured prior to the kidnapping or what her family dynamics were like. I do want to know how AC stayed off LE's radar. I can only take what I read at this point with a grain of salt though.

The fact still remains that the girls were imprisoned and horribly abused. There is no denying that. We can't change the past. I'm going to try and concentrate on this phase of getting justice for the girls as it applies to AC. The other details can wait.

It will take going back through many years of many files on all three of these girls to analyze what could be improved in future cases.

I agree 100%. Obviously we can connect the dots now. But several things would need to fall into place before LE even got wind of him. Being a savage wife beater isn't necessarily going to qualify him to be on their radar, and if people dont come forward with info, what can they do?? So two victims were friends with Ariels daughters. Did the DAUGHTERS even put these pieces together?? Did they compare notes?? Did they realize at all that each of them were the last ones to see them before they disappeared!? Incredibly, it sounds to me like they didn't.

Even if some suspected he might have been involved, who would have imagined that he would have held them captive?? I mean really, you might think to yourself "this dude is WEIRD, maybe he kidnapped and murdered those girls." But the people who might have THOUGHT this was possible probably wouldn't imagine that he had 3 living breathing prisonors in his run-down house. So they mention to each other that the guy is odd, but how many are going to actually call the police?

 

[Squeeze]

With all due respect all state data bases for driver's license and car registrations are connected, and have been for the last 50 years. They can even check some foreign countries. It takes seconds for them to get that type of information.

True. Listening to the scanner here in Iowa, there os the occasional out of state plate that they have the dispatcher check. It takes minutes to get the information. Back.

 

[Squeeze]

They found her less than a day after finding the girls, someone was not putting the effort in before.

No, I think she heard about it on the news. I KNOW the brother did who did not know she was even missing. I thought when she was interviewed the next day, she hadn't yet talked to the police. Maybe I'm wrong.

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[MCDRAW]

If someone goes missing, it shouldn't be their relatives responsibility to keep calling the police, to keep them on the case.

In a perfect world that might be true, but the amount of missing people in this Country is astounding. As a mother, I can not imagine not calling and keeping the police on the case. I would be desperate for answers.