offenders and also the sentence must not be based upon your race, ethnicity, gender or religion. punishing you here in terms of proportionate which we'll get to later and look back in the cases i have had and there have been none that have a scope approaching this, but in terms of harm to a victim, they're similar although your misconduct here far exceeds the scope and duration of the defendants i will mention, so i note in kevin dominic's case which was 3286er imposed two consecutive life sentences for him, and mr. yakov in case 450218 he received a sentence of 36 years based upon

his conduct. those did not involve kidnapping and torture and deprivation and such over a number of years. the harm to the victims was of course still rape because they were raped and those instances but nothing like this. so this matter considerations are indicators your conduct is more serious than 2929.12b, based upon the information available to the court, all of this was organized and used deception and used chains and other means to hold captive three young women that ultimately a young child, and there was a certain strategy

involved that the connection between all of these individuals was the fact that they all were friends with one or more of your daughters or your son, and that was your entree and that's how this evolved. you indicated that you had to do this because you suffer from sex addiction, but at the same time that this plan was going into operation with ms. knight you had a girlfriend who was not harmed, was not abused, you had apparently a normal relationship with ms. holden, your father, so you are able to choose who you wish to victim eyes. victimize. there was serious physical harm. ms. knight suffered on many occasions according to the information.

the others were as well as ms. knight showing signs of mall nourishment and such and serious psychological harm. she touched upon the captivity issue and how liberating it is now. we also heard information about medical care and how they didn't even want to come out of the house because at that point two of the women had been almost programmed to stay there, not because they wanted to but because they were afraid of what the repercussions would be if they did leave that you would then see this as a test that they failed and hurt them. i think even without the testimony of the expert from michigan, any person in america would understand that a person who is held captive between nine

and 11 years, sexually assaulted and such, will hold and have a serious psychological harm as well as the physical harm. there is also economic harm. ms. berry was coming from the work and the others were young and you deprived them of that and not just the wages. you also deprived them of the opportunity to be out in public and socialize and to be with their families, all of these other things that come under maybe not under economic harm but back to the psychological harm. you indicate your conduct is more serious to age. jocelyn was a young child and yet she grew up in a household where doors were locked and people were chained up and windows were covered and people were not allowed to come over and visit and it was all -- i believe that inspector moore from drc would agree that the

conditions at your house could never be tolerated in any ohio prison. >> excuse me, your honor, my daughter never saw anyone -- >> all right. >> also, the age of the victims is important here. they were young. young women, teenagers, and they could not have imagined that an adult would trick them and imprison them and enslave them and abuse them. you took advantage of their naive tie and they were pleasant individual that is could not fathom this type of behavior. the relationship is important here. your daughter, you have exposed

a young child to unbelievable conditions and in your mind it was there was harmony and happy household. i am not sure there is anybody else in america that will agree with you. tlrn many crimes committed in the vicinity of your young daughter and the wemg were still being raped and deprived of food and living in difficult physical conditions. indicating your conduct is less serious you have indicated that you were a victim of sexual abuse, that's possible, i don't know. i do know, though, those who are sexually abused, there is a tendency of some to act out, and to abuse others, but there are many, and i suspect more, who go on from that and live the healthy life that they are not abusing others.

you indicate you do have a mental illness, but i am not aware of any that you as you appeared here you have always answered questions and understood what is going on. you just made a calculated decision in this instance to do wrong. and if anything, to me, you exhibit antisocial personality disorder, i am not a psychological expert, certainly don't have the credentials of those who spoke here today, but you have extreme narcissism and it seems really pervasive. indicators more likely to reoffend, well, prior to this there were no convictions. now, you said that your wife woulder state you, she wouldn't stop talking and you would respond. well, my understanding from the records that she suffered a broken nose twice, she had

broken teeth and otherwise was abused but they were never followed through as a conviction. that is unfortunate. it is something we talk about with all family members who are victims of abuse, whether they are a man or woman, a child, young adult, no one is allowed to have violence visited upon them in their home or at their school. i wish that she had prosecuted for her sake and i know now she has passed, but victims need to stand up for themselves so that the abuse stops and so that those who are abusers, when possible, will receive proper treatment and redirection. that's what a court is for. have you resources available to you at the rape crisis center and is open to anyone who is a victim of sexual abuse. you could have contacted them

and your home is also near roefrs resources. mrs. taylor, metro, and if you want to go and be rated for psychiatric issues, there were a lot of options, but one option that should never be available is that you kidnap someone, sexually assault them and torture them. that's not ever going to be an accepted remedy. indicators that you are less likely to reoffend in the general sense, you did work and i also know that you had a much different view of your job than the job records would indicate according to the metropolitan school district, your performance was not always acceptable, left a child on the bus, would go shopping at 143rd and leave your school bus and you ended up ooiftly leaving

that job. you ended up i think on tv for that job, right >> your honor, that's not right. when i checked my bus, that's when i noticed the child was on the bus. >> you were disciplined for that. >> that child never stayed alone. >> you were disciplined for it. >> yes. >> and ultimately your work as a school bus driver ended, correct. >> yes, sir. also, when i was -- it wasn't my regular route. i did that and helped them out when a driver -- >> all right. >> keep in mind the principles of sentencing fand i am not sur in this instance rehabilitation will be possible in any event,

but there certainly is a need here for incapacitation and deterrents. on behalf of the state with respect to your two counts of aggravated murder. >> have a sentence imposed on count i, and count ii emerge for purposes of sentencing, thank you. >> have you no objection on behalf of the defense. >> no objections. >> based upon the election by the state, count ii, charge of aggravated murder with specifications will merge into count 1, and you will only be sentenced on count 1. for aggravated with specifications.

what do you want to say? you pled guilty to it. >> i know. there was never any evidence and there was no evidence, never any evidence of that. i did not put these women through any more psychological -- so that's why i pled guilty to that. there was never evidence of murder of a fetus. that never happened. >> you talked with your attorneys and you made a decision to plead to count 1 as indicted. >> and the record and i never killed anyone and i am not a murder. er. >> so on count 1 with specifications, the charge of aggravated murder, court is

imposing a sentence of lifetime incarceration without the possibility of parole. for the charge of rape in violation of revised code 2907.02a2, with sexually violent predator specifications falling in the first degree, court is imposing a mandatory minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten years to a maximum of lifetime incarceration and that is on counts 3, 40, 42, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95,

97 to 93, 300, 347 through 360 inclusive on each and every one and counts 410 through 428 inclusive that sentence on each and every count. counts 468 through 487 inclusive on each and every count, counts 518 through 574 ininclude stif on each and every count, counts 675 through 731 inclusive on each and every count, counts 824 through 880 inclusive on each and every count. with respect to charge of rape in violation of section 2907 with sexually violent predatory specifications, felonies first

degree committed after september 30, 2011, court imposes a sentence of ten years incarceration on each count. that is specifically with respect to counts 575 through 594, inclusive on each and every count, counts 732 through 743, inclusive on each and every count. counts 881 through 892, inclusive on each and every count. with respect to the charge of rape section 3907.02 felonies in the first degree committed prior to september 30th, 2011, court imposes a sentence of ten years incarceration. that is with respect to counts 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 3, 101, 108, 110,

112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, 184, 190, 192, 194, 196, 198, 200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224,

226, 228, 230, 232, 235, 237, 249, 245, 247, 249, at that r 255, 257, 259, 261, 263, 265, 268, 271, 274, 277, 280, 283, 286, 288, 291, 314, 317, 323, 324, 325 through 246 inclusive on each and every count. counts 400 through 409 inclusive on each and every count and counts 458 through 467 inclusive on each and every count.

court imposes a sentence for kidnapping in violation of revised code 2905.01 felony of the first degree with a period december 25, 2006 through may 6, 2013, on counts 973, court imposes a sentence of ten years incarceration. counts of kidnapping, in violation of revised code section 2905.01 sexually motive evaluation fess fiscal felonies in the first degree committed prior to september 30, 2011, and court imposes a sentence of ten years incarceration and that's on count 7, 8, 9, 10, 99, 100, 104, 107, 302, 303, 308, and 312. on the charge of kidnapping in violation of revised code section 2905.01 the sexual

motivation specifications and sexually violent predator specifications for felonies of the first degree committed prior to september 30th, 2011, court imposes a mandatory minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten years to a maximum of lifetime incarceration. that's on each of the counts, counts that follow, count 44, 45, 46, 296, 297, 298, 320, 321 and 322. on the charges in the indictment of kidnapping in violation of revised code section 2905.0184 with sexual motivation specification, felonies in the first degree committed prior to september 30, 2011, court imposed sentence of ten years

incarceration that is on each count specifically count 19, 24, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125, 127, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, 163, 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197, 199, 201, 203, 205,

207, 209, 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223, 225, 227, 229, 231, 236, 238, 240, 242, 244, 246, 248, 250, 252, 254, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 287, 292, 361 through 384 inclusive on each and every count, 429 through 438, inclusive on each and every count, and counts 488 through 497 inclusive on each and every count. to the charge of kidnapping in violation of revised code section 2905.01 soxal motivation

specifications and sexually violent predator specification, felonies in the first degree committed prior to september 30, 2011, and court imposes a mandatory minimum term of inkashs reconciliation not less than ten years to a maximum of lifetime imprisonment on etch auto of the following counts. counts 441, 43, 48, 50, 52, 54, 46, 48, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, counts 385 through 399 inclusive on each and every count, counts 439 through 457 inclusive on each and every count, 498 through 517 inclusive and counts 598 through 653 inclusive and 744 through 802 inclusive on

each and every count, counts 893 through 951 inclusive on each and every count. again, that was mandatory minimum term of incarceration not less than ten years to a maximum of lifetime in imprison. for kidnapping in violation with sexual motivation specifications and sexually violent predator specifications, felonies in the first degree committed after september 30, 2011, court imposes a mandatory minimum term of incarceration not less than ten years with a maximum of lifetime incarceration on each of the following counts. counts 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, counts 654 through 673 inclusive on each and every count, counts 803 through 822 inclusive on each and every count, counts 952 through 971

inclusive on each and every count. counts for if he felony us assault, second degree, the following counts the court imposes a sentence of eight years incarceration on each count. that's counts 674, 823 and 972. count 6, violation of revised co with a pregnant victim specification, sexually violent predator specification, count 6, court imposes a sentence of with a mandatory term of imprisonment of eight years to a maximum of lifetime imprisonment on this third count.

to the felony yous assault, felony of the second degree, counts 234 and 304 for each of those counts the court is imposing a sentence of eight years incarceration. for counts involving gross sexual imposition in violation of revised code section 2907.05 felonies of the fourth degree, court has imposed a sentence of 18 months incarceration for the following counts 17, 105, 305, 306, 309, 310, and 311. count 974, count in violation of the revised code 2929.22a forren dangering children, misdemeanor of the first degree imposing a sentence of six months in the county jail. that will be concurrent with the time lci.

on other counts forren dangering children in violation of revised code section 2919.22a, felonies of the third degree, for counts 975 and 976 the court is imposing on each of those counts a term of incarceration of 36 months. for count 977 charged with possessing criminal tools, felony in the fifth degree, court is imposing a sentence of 12 months incarceration. i will be shortly talking about my findings with respect to consecutive sentences. in doing so i want to make clear that for any counts not specifically mentioned and the time on those counts is to be served concurrently with the other counts, and i find that

the maximum sentences that were imposed on the counts i just discussed at length, if they were not mandatory time the court imposed the maximum because these are the worst form of the offenses there although mr. castro does not have a prior criminal conviction, the breadth, the scope of these crimes and the mersyless manner in which they were inflicted requires a maximum sentence on each of those counts be imposed. mr. castro, your uncle julio, correct, and his wife norma, they have been in this courtroom before. they're very wonderful people. they have a great reputation in the community. they have operated a neighborhood store for over 40 years. they were victims of a crime,

and the perpetrator of that crime had excuses also, and in his case he blamed drug addiction and such, but to the victim excuses don't take away the harm that is involved. >> i understand. page 16 paragraph 29 of the plea agreement and the recommended sentence, the parties stipulate and agree that life without pa roll is agreed to by the defendant, to me the tft will never be released from incarceration during the period of his remaining natural life for any reason. that is the effect of the plea to count 1 which was as we have

heard here and discussed a little bit on friday the parties each gave up something in order to reach that agreement and the court will be enforcing and accepting the recommendation of the parties as far as the count 1 and murder sergeant which will be a sentence of life without parole without any release. with respect to the other part of the recommendation that the defendant agrees to ten years to life sentences and indefinite sentences, the minimum of ten years to maximum of lifetime for other counts, the court is constrained as i said by the decision by revised code section 2929.14, the most aware of the blackburn decision and have followed that in the past, and

imposing consecutive sentences, in ohio, the court is aware there is preference in ohio for minimum sentencing and for concurrent sentencing, but that can be overcome when a court feels that there are circumstances that make a crime so heinous or so significant in its effect on the community, the victim, or that such punishment is needed that the court can go beyond that preference in the law and impose maximum sentences or consecutive, so here we're dealing with the issue of the consecutive sentences and under venice our court of appeals made clear the court must make separate findings and that's our practice anyway, and so i have to determine whether a consecutive sentence is necessary to protect the public from future crime or punish the offender and i must determine that the consecutive sentences

are not disproportionate to the seriousness of the offender's conduct and the danger the offender imposes to the public and then the court must make a finding and there are three alternatives and here is the one that i will focus on is at least two of the multiple offenses were committed as part of one or more course of conduct and two or more of the multiple offenses committed is so great or unusual that no single prison term for any offenses committed is part of any of the courses of conduct adequately reflects the seriousness of the offender's kubt. with respect to the plea agreement where the parties recommended to the court there be consecutive sentences imposed for certain of the counts in the indictment, based upon the information presented here as well as the sheer number of the

offenses, the instances not just where the victims were initially through subterfuge imprisoned but the subsequent kidnappings where they would be taken to the garage for a period of time because you had company or they would be allowed out but only for a brief moment or they would be taken from one room to the basement and brutalized or restrained other than just the normal conduct where our court of appeals or the state of ohio says we should have an allied defense and those have been dealt with already in the plea agreement and those were taken out of this consideration and state dismissed those charges and they would not be an issue. in this instance court finds that the many, many instances of

sexual assault both rapes, gsi, as well as all the kidnappings and the felony assault and the agg murder make it necessary that a consecutive sentence be imposed to protect the public from future crime and to punish. i still feel based upon the information that you have provided to the court as well as information from others that you feel that you are a victim and that you may have been a victim in the past during your childhood, i don't know, but from the time of your majority you have not been a victim. you have been a victimer and the three young women should never have had anyone trick them into captivity for an hour, not even a moment. they should have been free to live their lives as everybody

else in greater cleveland to enjoy all of the wonderful things that our area has to offer, they shouldn't have been locked in a house, padlocked in, in deplorable conditions. it shouldn't have happened. you should receive punishment for harming them in that way. the court finds consecutive sentences are not disproportionate to the seriousness of your conduct and to the danger that you pose to the public. you didn't just do this once. you did it to three young women. at various times you took advantage of one or took advantage of others, all in really horrific conditions and inhumane ways.

and as you are here and you say that you really couldn't help this and essentially that's what you were saying to the court, that lack of insight means to me that you are still pose a grave danger to the community if you were to receive anything other than consecutive sentence. you don't deserve to be out in our community. you're too dangerous because in your mind you're a victim, again, as opposed to those who actually did suffer the victimization. with respect to 3 b, the court finds at least two of these multiple offenses were committed as part of one or more courses of conduct. you went out. you hunted for one woman or you said that you just had not made this plan, formulated it, all right, so if you abducted ms. knight and that wasn't your initial intention when you were

driving that day, fine, but given that circumstance, then you went on and did hunt for two others, and you never released ms. knight. you didn't release anybody. i don't know what the end game here was. i don't know that you had any plan. you committed all of this as part of one or more courses of conduct, three women, three uses of subterfuge, to get them into your house and you did not release them. then further you physically and sexually abused them. the court also finds that the harm caused by your multiple offenses, the restrants, tsis, the rapes, felony assaults, so great, unusual and this certainly goes in both categories, the pain that they suffered particularly ms. knight

was unbelievable and similarly i believe in the information she suffered in a way that was similar to what was visited upon your ex-wife when she was struck. the harm here is also so unusual that and a completely negative sense that you took three young women out of their significant relationships they had with their family and community and entire lives and you made them slaves and you treated them as if they were not people, that they were just sex objects and we have a lot of cases now coming before this court about human trafficking. this is really in the way it was conducted no different, and equally sad. the court finds no single prison term for any of these offenses that you committed as part of these courses of conduct would

adequately reflect the seriousness of your conduct unless the court imposes consecutive sentences. that being said, in addition to serving a sentence of life without parole, for count 1, the court is also imposing consecutive sentences of minimum mandatory of ten years to a lifetime sentence to counts 44, 45, 46, 296, 297, 298, 320, 321, 322, 4, 41, 43, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, 30, 300,

385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 40, 42, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, and then consecutive terms of ten years to all of the aforementioned counts for each of counts 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 101, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 119, 24, 39, 33, 35, 37, 39,

109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 251, 314, and 317. those counts that i just mentioned will all be served consecutively to count 1 and to each other. we do have and received from this court an aggregate set of incarceration to be served of life without parole consecutive to what amounts of a sentencing 1,000 years to life. do you understand that sentence, mr. castro? >> yes, i do, your honor. >> the court has reviewed and accepted the plea agreement and the recommended sentence and i don't see any further purpose in

going beyond life without parole 1,000 years, a person can only die in prison once. certainly you will receive a sentence that is commensurate with the harm you have done but one that also accomplishes the sentencing principles and the purposes here in ohio. there will be an order of forfeiture for the firearm, the home, at 220 seymour avenue and $22,268.83. all of those items will be forfeited by virtue of this sentencing today. the court also is kpoezing a fine of $100,000 in this matter. do you have property, separate and apart from the house and for

count 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, the court is imposing the maximum fine on those counts which total together equals $100,000 and also have to pay the court costs. we are here only because of your actions, misguided, despicable as they may be, receive drit for time served of 87 days. in this matter for the felonies in the first degree that i mentioned, all the rape charges, all of the kidnapping charges that i have outlined for you that you have consented to by virtue of the plea agreement, for felonies in the first degree you will be subject to five years mandatory control which means the adult parole authority will supervise you for a five-year period after any release from problem and be required to do so if you violated their rules and they can send you back to prison to do additional time, up to one

halftime the court just imposed. is that clear that the function and the effective prc. >> yes, sir. >> now, for the felony assault charges, those are the only felonies in the second degree, but for felonies of the second degree or offenses of the third degree where there is a serious physical harm, you are subject to three years mandatory post release control again and if it were to happen that you would be released, the authority would be required to supervise you for three years mandatory on those charges, if you violated their rules and they can send you back to prison to do additional time, up to one half imposed on felonies in the second degree. is that clear? >> yes, sir. >> and also that would apply to the two counts of endangering

children. for the possessing criminal tools count, subject to three years discretionary post release control, so the adult parole authority if they supervise you on that count would be for three years if they chose to do so, again, they could impose the sentence up to one half the original time for your failure to comply with their rules if they did supervise you and if you did not report you would be charged with escape. is that clear. >> yes, your honor. >> you're serving time on fourth degree felony gross sex yual imposition and these require a five year mandatory period of post release control for the kidnapping and the rape charges. do you understand those? >> yes, sir. >> and the prc. mr. castro, as mentioned at your plea, it may seem non-sense call i have to advise you of

eventualities not to be but the law requires it. any claim for restitution, any information, i don't have any before me. >> we do request no contact order with all victims. >> i haven't gotten there. that's next. thanks. you have talked in addition to the funding that's being done privately you talked with the victims about the victims of crime fund? you will? yes. okay. and, mr. castro, you are to have no contact with your victims. don't send them letters. don't make phone calls. don't have others contact them. they have requested after this proceeding to go whack back to lives they formerly enjoyed, not anonymous, just not celebrities. they are certainly not anonymous. they were people with vast connections in the community and they want to reintegrate and

renew those and expand them. they would also like their privacy, so you will not be permitted to contact them. is that clear? yes? do you understand that requirement? >> are you referring to my daughter also? >> yes. she is a victim. she is subject of three counts of endangering a child. by law she is a victim. >> i know, but if i can file for parental rights. >> as in many other instances a person can file whether they will be successful is a different matter and it would take place in a different court. it does not involve this court. i am imposing a no contact order. you should not try to contact them from the institution. okay? now, you have been afforded

under law an extraordinary number of rights and they're rights guaranteed to all of those that come into the courtroom and it is part of the strength of our system is no matter what has occurred between everyone civilly, in our country, do you understand that under criminal rule 32 you have a right to appeal f you're unable to pay the costs of appeal, you have the right to appeal without payment f you're unable to obtain counsel for an appeal, counsel will be appointed without cost. if you are unable to pay the costs of documents necessary to an appeal, documents will be provided without cost and you have a right to have a notice of appeal timely filed on your behalf. do you understand that? >> yes, your honor.

>> further on behalf of the state? >> other than we note our objection to the appeal time. >> it is a contract issue. i understand. >> thank you for all the work you have done. >> thank you. >> thank you, your honor. we just expect we'll be filing a motion for return of some of the items and we'll present an order by tomorrow morning. >> family photo albums. >> clothing. >> motorcycles. >> yes. two cars and motorcycles. >> okay. and will you review that and if you have no objection, the court will enter an order. counsel, anything else on behalf of either party? >> no, thank you, your honor. >> all right. mr. castro, would you rise,

please? sir, theres no place in this city, there is no place in it country and indeed there is no place in this world for those who enslave others, those who sexually assault others and those who brutal lies others. more than ten years you have preyed upon three young women. you subjected them to harsh and violent conduct and you felt you were dominating them but you were incorrect. you cannot take away their dignity. although they suffered terribly, ms. knight, ms. dejesus and ms. berry did not give up hope. they persevered and in fact they prevailed. these remarkable women again have their freedom which is the most precious aspect of being in america. you forfeited that right. you are now a member of the department of rehabilitation and correction and you will be confined for the remainder of your days. you are remanded for transport. for ms. knight, ms. dejesus and

ms. berry as well as with her young daughter we celebrate your futures. we acknowledge the faithfulness on behalf of the judges and the staff of this court, we wish each of you success and a sense of peace. we're adjourned. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> so there you saw ariel castro walking out. there you see michelle knight, what a powerful young woman, indeed. the statement she made was amazing. all of us were riveted. the judge, michael russo, announcing that the sentence, life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 1,000

years. the sentencing, a dramatic moment ending, ending this. we'll move on. pamela brown is standing by. she's in cleveland. covering this from the very beginning. senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin is here from philadelphia. criminal defense attorney danny savalas. i'm wolf blitzer. here in the "cnn newsroom" we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. what a powerful, dramatic day. pamela, walk us through some of the most compelling testimony moments of this hearing today. >> oh, it was truly just chilling, wolf, to hear some of the testimony, to hear the people who came up and gave the information about what ariel castro did over the past 10, 11 yo years to these young women. but the most powerful moments of today, of course, when we heard michelle knight, ariel castro's victim go up there and face her victim head on and speak. of course, it was incredulous to

hear ariel castro speak. i have to tell you, after covering this story from the very beginning, i was shocked to hear what he had to say. it was really mind blowing to hear him explain why he did what he did. in fact, he basically said he knows what he did was wrong, but he justified his actions, even denied physically and sexually assaulting the women. he even went as far as to say he lived in harmony with the women. it was shocking. at one moment he turned around and apologized to michelle knight who was sitting right behind him. it was a very powerful moment. she sat there and exhibited amazing strength. this was after she had already gone up there to face him head on and spoke to him about how -- what an emotional toll the experience took on her. here's what she had to say. >> ariel castro, i remember all the times that you came home talking about what everybody else did wrong. and act like you weren't doing the same thing.

you said at least i didn't kill you. but you took 11 years of my life away. and i have got it back. i spent 11 years in hell. now your hell is just beginning. i will overcome all of this that happened. but you will face hell for eternity. from this moment on, i will not let you define me or affect who i am. i will live on. you will die a little every day. as you think about the 11 years and atrocities you inflicted on us. i think of you hypocritically going to church every sunday. coming home to torture us. the death penalty will be so

much easier. you don't deserve that. you deserve to spend life in prison. i can forgive you, but i'll never forget. with the guidance of god i will prevail and help others that have suffered at the hands of others. writing this statement gave me the strength to be a stronger woman. and know that there's good -- there's more good than evil. i know that there's a lot of people going through hard times. but we need to reach out a hand and hold them. and let them know that they're being heard. after 11 years, i am finally being heard, and it's liberating. thank you all. i love you. god bless you. >> reporter: as you can see, very emotional there for michelle knight.

wolf, i saw her crack a little bit of a smile once the sentencing ended. you can imagine the sense of relief she feels now knowing ariel castro is going to jail for the rest of his life. the other two victims, amanda berry, gina dejesus were not there, but they were represented in court. wolf? >> pamela, stand by. jeffrey toobin, danny savalas, quick reaction from you. jeffrey, a lot of people were watching probably saying this monster deserved the death sentence, but that's not happening. >> it's not happening. it's not entirely clear he even would have been eligible for the death penalty. but also what i think a lot of people don't realize is the taxpayers of ohio get a better deal this way. these legal proceedings are over. if this were a death penalty case, this would cost millions and millions of dollars and would last for years and years. fortunately, we will never see or hear from ariel castro again. he's gone. this legal case is over.

that will save the taxpayers a lot more money than the death penalty case would. >> the taxpayers, though, danny savlas, they're going to have to take care of this guy for the rest of his life. he's still in his mid-50s. presumably he's got several decades left. >> yeah. if these taxpayers were offended or shocked at ariel castro's statements today, well, let me tell you, welcome to the world of criminal defense. any criminal defense attorney will tell you that the prisons are full of people who believe in their own mind that they are the protagonist of their story. that's the human mind's ability to self-justify. we're seeing it with someone like ariel castro who had the unmitigat unmitigat unmitigated gull to say they had consensual sex with him or that he was not a violent person. even pulling a move i've seen many times, which is to interrupt the judge and say, i'm only pleading guilty because i'm helping -- i'm saving them the horror of a trial. i don't agree that these things

happened. this is common stuff with criminal defendants. for those of you that are shocked, unfortunately it's the way of life in criminal defense. >> what an amazing, amazing story. jeffrey toobin, you'll be back with me later in "the situation roo room". danny savalas, you will be as well. we'll continue our special coverage. i'll see you later today. brooke baldwin will pick up our brooke baldwin will pick up our coverage light after this. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we inspect, analyze and recondition each one, until it's nothing short of a genuine certified pre-owned... mercedes-benz for the next new owner. ♪ hurry in to your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for 1.99% financing during our certified pre-owned sales event through september 3rd.

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hi there. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with breaking news this afternoon because this has been quite a day. it has been a day of emotion, anger, tears and straight up survival. it has been nearly three months since amanda berry pushed her way through the front door of that home in cleveland. >> i've been kidnapped. and i've been missing for ten years. and i'm here, i'm free now! >> and this was their prison. this was the home on seymour avenue. showing what it was like for these young women and a little girl inside this home. where amanda berry, where gina dejesus and michelle knight spent nearly a decade kidnapped, locked up in the upstairs bedroom using 99 feet of chain. they were