doing with this?” he demanded to know.
Michelle said she had used it to self-mutilate her arms, and Castro took the needle away, saying he disapproved of the practice.
“He figured it out,” said Michelle. “The chain wasn’t put on right … that’s the last time that I had a chance to get out.”
As punishment, he dragged her back to the basement and chained her to the pole. Then he told her that she was not the “only one” who had been down here, showing her a little shrine in a corner of the basement. Inside was a sign with the words REST IN PEACE, along with a girl’s name that had been scribbled out.
“I couldn’t really see,” said Michelle, “because I didn’t have glasses.”
A few weeks later, he brought her back upstairs and gave her a battered old television to watch, so she would have something to occupy her time. She was still tethered to the wall on a three-foot chain, but at least she could pass the time watching her favorite shows.
In April 2003, Michelle Knight became pregnant again and dreaded what Ariel Castro would do when he found out. This time, he kicked her in the stomach so hard that she fell backward and hit a door. Ten days later she miscarried.
When Castro wasn’t abusing Michelle, he would often talk to her. He constantly told her how he himself was a victim who had been abused as a child. He also spoke of his obsession with pornography and his hatred of African Americans. Once he confided that he regretted not getting to JonBen é t Ramsey first, and that he would have loved to have kidnapped Elizabeth Smart.
He also told Michelle that he was now actively looking for another girl to kidnap, and this time he wanted a blonde.
“He had an obsession with blondes,” said Michelle. “He would always say, ‘I’ve seen this girl and I’m just sad I didn’t get her in my car.’ He would let me know what girl he was trying to abduct and where she worked.”
8
AMANDA
Amanda Marie Berry grew up on West 111th Street, less than three miles north of Seymour Avenue. She was born on April 22, 1986, to Johnny Berry and Louwana Miller, who already had a daughter Beth, who had been born two years earlier.
Her father reportedly had a history of violence, serving jail time for sexual battery and aggravated assault. When Amanda was four years old, her parents split up and Johnny moved to Elizabethton, Tennessee, where he had family. Louwana remained in Cleveland, to raise her two daughters.
Every summer, Amanda visited her father and extended family in Tennessee, and was especially close to her grandmother, Fern Gentry.
“Commando Amando,” as her father nicknamed her, was a “real firecracker” and loved the rural countryside, where she played with her cousins in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“We would play hide-and-seek [and] take showers in the creek,” said her best friend, Lisha Jacome. “It was her favorite place.”
Amanda went to Wilbur Wright Middle School and knew Angie and Emily Castro, who were also pupils there. She was a good student with a reputation as a “girly girl,” who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer when she grew up. She loved rap music and was a big fan of Eminem, putting his posters on her bedroom wall.
“She was always so smart,” her cousin Tina Miller said. “Mandy was always in the magnet programs at school.”
After spending a short time at John Marshall High School, where she was in the gifted student program, Amanda studied online at home. Her sister, Beth, had recently married a young man named Teddy Serrano, who had moved into the house.
At sixteen, Amanda got a job at Burger King on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue, just three blocks away from her home. The petite five-foot-one-inch teenager had waist-length wavy blond hair, and had her left eyebrow pierced to keep up with the latest trend.
She loved Tommy Hillfiger and Nautica clothes, although she was careful never to mix them. She adored costume jewelry and collected
Michelle said she had used it to self-mutilate her arms, and Castro took the needle away, saying he disapproved of the practice.
“He figured it out,” said Michelle. “The chain wasn’t put on right … that’s the last time that I had a chance to get out.”
As punishment, he dragged her back to the basement and chained her to the pole. Then he told her that she was not the “only one” who had been down here, showing her a little shrine in a corner of the basement. Inside was a sign with the words REST IN PEACE, along with a girl’s name that had been scribbled out.
“I couldn’t really see,” said Michelle, “because I didn’t have glasses.”
A few weeks later, he brought her back upstairs and gave her a battered old television to watch, so she would have something to occupy her time. She was still tethered to the wall on a three-foot chain, but at least she could pass the time watching her favorite shows.
In April 2003, Michelle Knight became pregnant again and dreaded what Ariel Castro would do when he found out. This time, he kicked her in the stomach so hard that she fell backward and hit a door. Ten days later she miscarried.
When Castro wasn’t abusing Michelle, he would often talk to her. He constantly told her how he himself was a victim who had been abused as a child. He also spoke of his obsession with pornography and his hatred of African Americans. Once he confided that he regretted not getting to JonBen é t Ramsey first, and that he would have loved to have kidnapped Elizabeth Smart.
He also told Michelle that he was now actively looking for another girl to kidnap, and this time he wanted a blonde.
“He had an obsession with blondes,” said Michelle. “He would always say, ‘I’ve seen this girl and I’m just sad I didn’t get her in my car.’ He would let me know what girl he was trying to abduct and where she worked.”
8
AMANDA
Amanda Marie Berry grew up on West 111th Street, less than three miles north of Seymour Avenue. She was born on April 22, 1986, to Johnny Berry and Louwana Miller, who already had a daughter Beth, who had been born two years earlier.
Her father reportedly had a history of violence, serving jail time for sexual battery and aggravated assault. When Amanda was four years old, her parents split up and Johnny moved to Elizabethton, Tennessee, where he had family. Louwana remained in Cleveland, to raise her two daughters.
Every summer, Amanda visited her father and extended family in Tennessee, and was especially close to her grandmother, Fern Gentry.
“Commando Amando,” as her father nicknamed her, was a “real firecracker” and loved the rural countryside, where she played with her cousins in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“We would play hide-and-seek [and] take showers in the creek,” said her best friend, Lisha Jacome. “It was her favorite place.”
Amanda went to Wilbur Wright Middle School and knew Angie and Emily Castro, who were also pupils there. She was a good student with a reputation as a “girly girl,” who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer when she grew up. She loved rap music and was a big fan of Eminem, putting his posters on her bedroom wall.
“She was always so smart,” her cousin Tina Miller said. “Mandy was always in the magnet programs at school.”
After spending a short time at John Marshall High School, where she was in the gifted student program, Amanda studied online at home. Her sister, Beth, had recently married a young man named Teddy Serrano, who had moved into the house.
At sixteen, Amanda got a job at Burger King on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue, just three blocks away from her home. The petite five-foot-one-inch teenager had waist-length wavy blond hair, and had her left eyebrow pierced to keep up with the latest trend.
She loved Tommy Hillfiger and Nautica clothes, although she was careful never to mix them. She adored costume jewelry and collected
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