Prison guards put on leave after kidnapper Castro's suicide

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The two Ohio correctional officers on duty when Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was found hanged in this cell were put on paid leave Tuesday pending an internal investigation, a prison spokeswoman said. The leave does not suggest wrongdoing by the prison guards, said Ohio Department of Corrections spokeswoman JoEllen Smith. The department expects to complete an investigation by the end of the month, she said. Castro, who was serving a sentence of life plus 1,000 years for the abduction, torture and detention of three Cleveland women, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell at an Ohio prison a week ago, Franklin County coroner Dr. Jan Goring said. Castro had been taken off suicide watch in June but was supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes by guards. Castro pleaded guilty to more than 900 counts including kidnapping, rape and murder in August after three women and a six-year-old girl he fathered escaped from his dilapidated home May 6th. Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, had been missing up to 11 years. They were rescued by neighbors who heard Berry's cries for help, along with the 6 year old, who was born during her mother's captivity. (Reporting Kim Palmer; Editing by Greg McCune and Steve Orlofsky) (This story was refiled to correct the spelling of DeJesus in the last paragraph)