DEATH PENALTY FOR ARIEL CASTRO 'UNLIKELY'

"Fiendish"

THE chances of "fiendish" kidnapper Ariel Castro facing the death penalty are "Vanishingly small," legal experts have revealed.
There have been repeated calls for the former bus driver who allegedly subjected Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus and Michelle Knight to almost a decade of terror to pay with his life, if convicted of his terrible crimes.
Cops say that after snatching the women, who were in their late teens or early twenties, he chained them in the basement of his run down Cleveland home, using them as his personal sex slaves.
His first victim, Michelle Knight,  told officers that he not only beat and starved her, but also forced her into five miscarriages.
It's believed she now needs facial reconstruction surgery, because of the sustained physical abuse he meted out on her.
He also fathered a little girl with Amanda Berry, who eventually escaped and called the police.
But although Ohio law, does include unlawful termination of pregnancy among possible aggravated murder charges, death penalty expert Eric M. Freedman believes that the former bus driver is more likely to receive a life sentence, if convicted of the terrible crimes.
The Hofstra University law professor said: "The odds that it's going to go to a death penalty trial and result in a jury verdict of death are vanishingly small."
But he added that the nature of the crime made it highly likely that he would face a life sentence if convicted of rape charges alone.
Castro's lawyer's have revealed the 52-year-old plans to plead not guilty when the case comes to trial.