Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus Sign Book Deal

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus Sign Book Deal

Posted by Eric Sandy on Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 9:58 PM

• Berry

A shade under six months out from the May 6 rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, two of the women have signed on to a book deal to tell their stories.

Berry and DeJesus will work with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Jordan to describe the years they spent living in Ariel Castro's home. Knight's role, if any, in the deal is unclear. There's no set release date for the book.

Here's attorney James R. Wooley of Jones Day, explaining the decision and taking a shot at both the local and national press corps:

Many have told, and continue to tell this story in ways that are both inaccurate and beyond the control of these young women. Our clients have a strong desire for privacy, but it is a reality that confronts them every day. Gina, Amanda and their families have decided to take control and are now interested in telling the story of what happened to them.”

Wooley adds that, their story will be “..above all else, about human dignity and human survival.

Remains found while searching for Christina Adkins are human

The Medical Examiner has revealed that skeletal remains found near 90 East are human.

Cleveland Police and the FBI found the skeletal remains Friday while searching for Christina Adkins.

The process of identification will likely take several weeks.

Ariel Castro's Jail Suicide May Have Been Autoerotic Asphyxiation

Convicted Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was found hanging in his jail cell with his pants and underwear around his ankles, leading investigators to question whether he killed himself while attempting autoerotic asphyxiation, according to an internal investigation into his death.

Castro said he was addicted to sex during his sentencing for holding three women captive in his basement for a decade.

Two correction officers have been put on administrative leave and a criminal investigation is pending.

An internal investigation into how Castro was able to kill himself Sept. 3 under the watch of jail guards reported that corrections officers on duty the night of Castro's death skipped their rounds and falsified reports about how often they checked on him in the hours before his death.

The officers reported that Castro was safe in his cell at 8:45 p.m., according to the report. They checked on him again at 9:15 p.m., at which point they found him hanging from a window hinge by a bedsheet wrapped around his neck, according to the report.

Castro also had photos of his family members neatly arranged on the floor of his jail cell, as well as a Bible open to the Gospel of John, Chapters 2 and 3, which reference Jesus turning water into wine, overturning tables of moneymakers at the temple, and the story of Nicodemus.

Corrections officers pulled Castro down and cut the sheet off his neck, performed CPR on Castro and called an ambulance. Medics could not revive Castro, the report said.

The report said there was no obvious motivation for the suicide. He had complained about verbal harassment from other inmates and staff at the jail, and feared that someone was tampering with his food, but investigators said his fears were unfounded.

The doctor who performed the autopsy on Castro said she is certain that he committed suicide, even after reading the new report.

"I am 100 percent certain that he killed himself and even if I reconsidered the manner of death at this point it would be undetermined," Dr. Jan Gorniak, the Franklin County Coroner, told ABC News.

Earlier in the day, before killing himself, Castro had a hearing with the jail's warden over protective control. At the hearing, he "appeared happy" that being put in protective control would place him closer to his family for visits, and asked about receiving mail. He was returned to his cell shortly before 2 p.m., just seven hours before his death.

Is this Michelle Knight's Son?

Michele Knight poses for a photo with Gina DeJesus, family, and friends before the Cleveland Browns- Miami Dolphins game in Cleveland, Ohio.

The brave women smiled widely with their family at the Cleveland Browns football game against the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon. The crowds at FirstEnergy Stadium were abuzz for the kickoff of the 2013 NFL season, even if the hometown heroes went on to lose 23-10 to the Miami Dolphins. From the pictures, it looks as if Castro was far from their minds at the game, which is exactly what everyone — including Castro’s family — wishes for the young women he enslaved. I wonder is that Michelle Knight's son?

Ariel Castro's FBI Tapes Released After Suicide; Talks About Several Close Calls, Speaking With Amanda Berry's Mother [Video]

Just days after Cleveland abductor Ariel Castro committed suicide, footage from his FBI interrogation tapes emerged in which he explained two close calls that could have led to his capture.

The 52-year-old former school bus driver was sentenced to life imprisonment, plus 1,000 years with no chance of parole for kidnapping, beating and raping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for 10 years ago. Castro kidnapped the women between 2002 and 2004 and fathered a 6-year-old child with Berry. He also beat and starved Knight when she became pregnant, forcing her to miscarry five times. The women were freed on May 6 after a neighbor helped rescue them from Castro's home.

During the FBI interrogation, Castro detailed the two times he almost got caught including once when a girlfriend was suspicious that a TV was on in the room where he was holding one of three young women, NBC's Today reported.On Tuesday, he committed suicide in his jail cell after serving one month of his life sentence, reports Cleveland.com. "She says, 'what is that, you have a TV on up there?' My heart started beating and I was like, OK, she's probably catching on to something," Castro says.

In another incident, Castro says, he should have been spotted on surveillance tapes at the school where he abducted DeJesus.

Asked if that was a close call, Castro replies, "yeah."

He also tells FBI agents that he used Amanda Berry's cellphone to call her mother.

"I said something ... that I have her daughter and that she's OK," Castro tells the FBI interrogators.

He says he told Berry's mother that "She's (Amanda) my wife now, something like that, you know, probably not the exact words."

Then, he says, "I hung up. We didn't have a conversation."

He also describes what happened on the day Berry escaped and alerted neighbors, ending the ordeal for the three young women.

Castro says Berry's' daughter, whom he had fathered, was always asking him why he locked all the doors in the house. On the day he was captured, he says, he left a bedroom door open.

"I let my guard down," he tells the FBI agents.

Watch the footage below:

Halloween benefit set for Castro victim Michelle Knight

A Halloween benefit is planned for Oct. 12 in Hinckley for Michelle Knight, one of three Cleveland women held captive for more than a decade by Ariel Castro.

Castro, a former school bus driver, was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on Aug. 1 for kidnapping and sexually assaulting Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Knight while holding them captive in his Cleveland home. A month after his sentencing, Castro hanged himself in his cell.

Michelle Knight

The small family-owned senior care facility hosts a Halloween party every year to collect donations of food and other items for charity. This year, Debra Porter said she wanted to help Knight and conduct a fundraiser in her honor.

“I know her well,” Porter said. “She loves Halloween and she’ll be here for the whole event.”

The Halloween themed party will include trick or treating in the woods for children up to age 11, wagon rides, hot dogs, chili tasting and soda.
There also will be live entertainment from Outback Ray featuring exotic animals, performance by Esto Jazz and karaoke.

In addition to the entertainment, you can also enter a chili, soup and stew cook-off with the price of admission. The grand prize is $100. To enter to the chili contest, email Dan Donner at cddonner2@gmail.com.

Fundraiser attendees are asked to dress appropriately for the weather as the event is outdoors, and to bring a chair.

The fundraiser cost is $25 for adults, $10 for children ages 4-11 and free for children 3 and younger.

Tickets are available at B&B trophy at 1317 Pearl Road in Brunswick, or at HealthSource of Brunswick at 1659 Pearl Road.

Tickets also are available online at michelleknightbenefit.myevent.com.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO!!! MICHELLE KNIGHT SINGING "HERO"

MICHELLE KNIGHT kidnapped victim sings "HERO" by Mariah Carey

Published on Sep 17, 2013 BY brocoelunico 

Featuring Michelle Knight at the Ohio Hispanic Heritage Coalition Mi Familia Picnic
September 14, 2013 in Lorain Ohio