Ariel Castro's brothers have spoken out, calling their brother "a monster" who should "rot in jail" for allegedly abducting three women and holding them hostage in his home for 10 years.
In an exclusive interview with
CNN's Starting Point aired on Monday, Pedro and Onil Castro said they had no knowledge or involvement in the kidnappings.
"I had nothing to do with this, and I don't know how my brother got away with it for so many years," said Pedro.
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Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50, were arrested May 6 — the day their brother Ariel was arrested — but were released May 9 without charge.
Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former school bus driver, is accused of abducting Michelle Knight, now 32, in August 2002 when she was 21; Amanda Berry, now 27, a day before her 17th birthday in April 2003; and Gina DeJesus, now 23, in April 2004 when she was 14.
DNA tests showed Castro fathered a daughter born to Berry six years ago.
The night he was arrested, Onil said, he was riding in the car with Ariel after dinner at their mother's house when police pulled them over. Police arrested Pedro at his home. Both brothers said they had no idea at the time why they were being arrested.
"I was thinking because I had an open-container warrant," Pedro said.
The brothers were held in separate cells, unaware of the accusations against Ariel until police told them during questioning.
"Oh, it was just heart-dropping," Onil said. "Just terrible when they said that, when he said that, 'It's Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, and they were in your brother's house.' I just couldn't believe it because, you know, there were no signs of anything like that. I've seen no signs."
For 10 years, Pedro said, Ariel let no one past the kitchen of his house, claiming he was trying to save energy by heating only the kitchen. He always played the radio, television or background noise.
Onil and Pedro described their brother as "strange." Had they known what their brother was up to, they said, they would have gone to the police.
"I would have went straight to the police if I seen anything," Onil said. "If I seen a curtain move or if I heard anything, because there's nobody there inside that house."
On two occasions, Pedro saw his brother with the child police believe he fathered with Berry, but, he said Ariel said the child was his girlfriend's.
Onil said he considers Ariel a "monster," not a brother.
"The monster is a goner," he said. "I hope he rots in that jail. I want him to suffer in that jail to the last extent. I don't care if they even feed him. What he has done to my life and my family's."
He said he is tormented by nightmares: "This has torn my heart apart. This has killed me. I am a walking corpse right now."
Pedro and Onil Castro, who are in hiding, said they have received death threats and feel like prisoners since news broke of their brother's alleged crimes.
"I can't go nowhere because they think I'm a monster, too, and I'm not," said Pedro. "I don't want to be hunted down like a dog for a crime that I did not commit. I want to be free like I was."
Ariel Castro is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape and remains in a Cleveland jail on $8 million bond.
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