Neighbors and family members are beginning to paint a picture of alleged Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro. INSIDE EDITION has the emerging details.
Maria Castro Montez is Ariel Castro’s cousin and she is shocked and grieved to learn he's the accused mastermind behind the Cleveland house of horrors.
Maria said, "It's horrible, I can't imagine! People talk to him, saw him, there was nothing seemingly out of the ordinary."
But one man would disagree.
Fernando Colon was engaged to Castro's ex-wife, Grimilda. He got to know her because he was a security guard at the hospital where she often came for emergency medical treatment, allegedly inflicted at the hands of her husband.
Fernando said, "This guy is a monster!"
He knows the two faces of Ariel Castro.
"He could talk to you and be the perfect professional and once he gets behind closed doors, he's different. Every day for any reason he would beat her, throw her down the stairs, against the wall,” Fernando said.
His words are supported by a domestic violence report filed by Grimilda in 2005, in which she claimed he had broken her nose twice, knocked out a tooth and threatened to kill her and her daughters three or four times just this year. The charges were eventually dropped.
Grimilda died from a brain tumor last year.
Fernando said, “She's dead because of him."
The man known to some as a friendly school bus driver had a laundry list of complaints about his work behind the wheel, including a 2004 police report, in which he allegedly wanted to eat at a Wendy’s restaurant while on duty, and told a little girl on the bus to "Lay down, [expletive], then went inside Wendy’s and ate."
And then there's the Ariel Castro that Tito DeJesus Jr. knew, who played piano in the same band in which Ariel played the bass.
Tito said, "When I heard about it, my heart fell to the floor."
INSIDE EDITION’s Paul Boyd asked, "How would you describe him?"
Tito said, "Regular guy, regular musician. He always asked me, how are your kids doing?"
Ariel Castro’s daughter, Emily, is currently serving 25 years in prison for attempting to kill her baby daughter six years ago by slashing her throat. Thankfully, the little girl, Janyla, is alive and well.
And now, another shocking crime rocks the Castro family, one family member has this to say about those accused of the horror.
Maria said, "There's no denying, they're family, we share a name and a bloodline. But that's where the connection ends."
