Ariel Castro kidnap survivor Michelle Knight speaks out for first time: ‘I could hear screaming coming from the basement’

Ariel Castro’s first kidnap victim Michelle Knight has spoken out about her decade-long ordeal.

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by Jessica Anais Rach |
Published on

The 32-year-old was 21 when then 42-year-old Ariel kidnapped and imprisoned her in his basement.

Breaking her silence for the first time, Castro’s ‘most hated victim’ told American chat show host, Dr Phil McGraw, about the moment she realised she had been abducted.

'I said to him, "Please don't do this to me, you don't have to do this". But he told me, "I can't take you back now. I can abuse you because no one will care".'

Michelle spoke to Dr Phil on the chat show that will be aired today and tomorrow
Michelle spoke to Dr Phil on the chat show that will be aired today and tomorrow

And after almost a year alone, Ariel kidnapped his second victim- 16-year-old Amanda Berry in 2003.

Horrifically, Ariel demanded Knight help him build a torture chamber for his other hostages- which would include 14-year-old Gina DeJesus in 2014.

Opening up about her ordeal, which has left her with permanent nerve damage on her hands and feet, Michelle revealed:

'I had to help him drill holes in the wall to put the chains through to hook us together. I could hear screaming coming from the basement and a girl cry "get off me".

'[He used] one of those orange extension cords. I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall. That's the only way I can describe it.

Ariel Castro hanged himself just weeks into his life sentence in September

'I was hanging by my feet and I was tied by my neck and my arms with the extension cord.’

Speaking about Castro, who had an ‘obsession’ with prostitutes and would throw money at her, she added:

'I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall'

‘He would tell me he hated me and cover my mouth with duct tape.’

Michelle admits that the only thing that kept her going was the thought of her son.

As well as being starved and left hanging upside down from the walls for days, Castro impregnated her several times, before beating her to induce miscarriages.

Castro pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself on September 3 2013, just weeks into his sentence.

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