Ariel Castro's twisted revenge on the man who 'stole' abused wife

Home Top

show ad

Home Top

'I'm a woman': Tearful Bruce Jenner reveals he considered suicide while transitioning to his 'true self' in Diane Sawyer interview which will be his last as a man
Inside Bruce Jenner's new life as a woman: Reality star shows Diane Sawyer the little black dress in secret closet of women's clothing and reveals plans for 'glam room'
Kris Jenner DID know about Bruce Jenner's transition attempt during 1980s: Olympian confessed to wife because he could no longer hide his 36B breasts
$LOS ANGELES, CA ñ April 24, 2015: Bruce Jenner ñ The Inverview\nOlympian and reality-TV star Bruce Jenner shares and exclusive and wide-ranging conversation with Diane Sawyer.\nPhotograph:© ABC "Disclaimer: CM does not claim any Copyright or License in the attached material. Any downloading fees charged by CM are for its services only, and do not, nor are they intended to convey to the user any Copyright or License in the material. By publishing this material, The Daily Mail expressly agrees to indemnify and to hold CM harmless from any claims, demands or causes of action arising out of or connected in any way with user's publication of the material."\n$ 'Kim caught me in a dress... and Kendall and Kylie did too': Bruce Jenner reveals his children kept 'family secret' and shares touching story of how Kanye West help wife accept transition
Bruce's second wife tells how he thought about having a sex change in the 1980s
Furious Kris Jenner hits out at Diane Sawyer for claiming she did not provide a comment on Bruce - and insists he is her 'hero'
Husband and wife whose two dogs mauled father-of-three jogger to death as he begged for help could be freed from prison in just 19 MONTHS after reaching plea deal
The summer glow diet: Pioneering book by nutritionist the stars swear by reveals the simple steps to looking and feeling fab
Bruce Jenner reveals he is a Republican Christian who is 'not a fan' of Obama in interview announcing he is transitioning to a woman
Baltimore police admit Freddie Gray should have got medical attention before van ride - but commissioner won't resign over his death
NBC investigators look into Brian Williams interview on the Daily Show about his reporting from Arab Spring protests
University shuts down as hundreds gather in support of Playboy Air Force vet who was arrested for tackling flag tramplers
How being attractive can ruin your career: Good-looking men get less job offers because they intimidate bosses, says study
Now conspiracy theorists say there is a 'hidden army' on Mars: Absurd theory suggests a bunker, people and missiles can be seen on the red planet
Woman, 82, dies after 'sister and nephew failed to move her from her chair for six months'
Woman, 25, gave birth in office bathroom, cut the cord with cuticle scissors, then sealed the baby in a plastic bag... and hid it in her desk drawer
Charles' and Di's 'secret daughter': Wills and Harry have an IVF sister living in hiding according to outlandish story gripping U.S... So is there a single scrap of evidence?
Missouri Senator personal assistant arrested for 'trafficking meth and date rape drugs from China to exchange for sexual favors'
William and Kate's pre-baby shopping spree: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spotted relaxing with some retail therapy in London before arrival of child number two
Eric Holder waves goodbye to the Justice Department after six years as America's attorney general
District Attorney demands investigation into allegations reserve deputy 'who shot and killed suspect with a gun instead of using his Taser' received preferential treatment from colleagues
The moment a hiker gets the shock of his life when the volcano he is filming erupts before his eyes
The baseball player who could be paid $70m to leave his team: After divorcing Real Housewife and drug relapse, Josh Hamilton risks being dropped by Los Angeles Angels
EXCLUSIVE: Now Ben Affleck's MOM reveals mistakes in documentary that censored star's family's slave-owning past as she says she did NOT take part in Freedom Summer or Freedom Rides

Fernando Colon met Ariel Castro's common law wife when he worked as a Cleveland hospital security guard in 1996
Grimilda came to the ER badly beaten by Castro in his house of horrors
She and her children moved in with Colon, a police academy graduate
Two of Castro's daughters accused Colon, who was charged with 28 counts of rape, kidnapping and sexual offenses
He was exonerated on all but four charges but he's on sex offender's registry
He is demanding a new trial on the grounds that his prosecution was 'driven by the deeply disturbed and highly manipulative mind of Ariel Castro'

By Annette Witheridge For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:47 EST, 24 April 2015 | Updated: 13:12 EST, 24 April 2015

View
comments

Fernando Colon is, he says, Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro's 'forgotten' victim.

Two years after three young women were dramatically rescued from Castro's rundown home, Colon is still fighting to restore his once pristine reputation.

He fell foul of 'master manipulator' Castro – who committed suicide in prison – after rescuing his common-law-wife Grimilda Figueroa from a life of violence.

Castro sought sick revenge by persuading his teenage daughters to accuse Colon of sexually abusing them.

To Colon's utter horror, he was convicted and placed on a sex offender registry.

Scroll down for video

Victim: Fernando Colon claims that because Ariel Castro's abused wife Grimilda left and moved in with him, the convicted kidnapper planned a vicious vendetta, convincing two off his daughters to accuse Colon of rape

Family: Grimilda (Nilda) Figueroa, is shown with two of her children, Ryan, left, and Rosie. Grimilda, who died last year, was the wife of Ariel Castro and eventually moved in with Colon to escape the beatings

Monster: Colon claims that Castro not only held and tortured Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesust but also destroyed his life by getting his two daughters to accuse Colon of rape

Today, he is still fighting to clear his name and is demanding a new trial on the grounds that his prosecution was 'driven by the deeply disturbed and highly manipulative mind of Ariel Castro'.

And, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail Online, a still-shaken Colon sheds new insight on the school bus driver whose vile crimes horrified the world.

'Castro set me up. The man was a monster and he was smart - psychologically smart,' Colon, 50, says.

'He said he was going to get me but I never thought he would accuse me of something he was actually doing himself.

'I thought he would try to hit me with his car or shoot at me but it never occurred to me he would accuse me of molesting girls. Everything he was doing, he reflected onto me.'

Castro's horrific crimes came to light on May 6, 2013 when neighbors heard a woman shouting for help. What transpired stunned even hardened cops.

Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus had all been snatched separately and were raped and beaten constantly during a decade of terror.

Castro played mind-games, cruelly making them watch TV news bulletins about their disappearances. Amanda gave birth to Castro's daughter and Michelle endured several miscarriages.

Best of friends: Arlene Castro (right), Ariel's daughter, was the last person to see Gina DeJesus in 2004. But she had moved in with her mother and her new boyfriend Fernando Colon. Arlene was one of Colon's accusers

Hurting: Castro's daughter Arlene burst into tears as she apologized to her best friend Gina who was kidnapped by her father and held captive for almost ten years

Court: Emily Castro, then 19, is pictured going to her initial hearing charged with attempted murder and felony battery for cutting her 10-month-old daughter's neck several times in 2008. She also accused Colon of rape

Colon, a security supervisor who had graduated from Cleveland's Police Academy and was awaiting a job in law enforcement, passed a polygraph test.

Colon was working as a Cleveland hospital security guard in 1996 when he spotted a badly beaten Grimilda, who was known as Nilda, in the emergency room.

'She came in several times after Castro had beaten her and eventually we got talking,' Colon says.

We were happy together. And I tried to be a good step parent to the children.I would tell them to call their father, let him know how they were.

Fernando Colon

'I told her, 'You've been here several times. If you don't leave him, the next time you come in you will go to the basement, which is the morgue.'

'I offered to give her a hand and asked if she would take it.

'She thought about it for a little bit and I told her it wasn't too hard a choice, she could either be happy and alive or be dead.'Castro's daughters

Nilda agreed and moved into Colon's home with her son Anthony and daughters Angie, Emily and Arlene.

'We were happy together,' says Colon, wistfully. 'And I tried to be a good step parent to the children.

'I would tell them to call their father, let him know how they were.

'Most of the time Castro didn't want to know but every so often he would get our phone number and call Nilda, he'd offer her money and gifts to go back to him.

'When it got out of hand I would take the phone and tell him to stop.'

Colon and Nilda got engaged in 1998 shortly before their son Ryan was born. But even that didn't stop Castro in his sick quest get his ex back.

Before the beatings: Grimalda Figuroa, seen here when she was 19, died last year and her relatives said that the years of abuse during her relationship with Castro caused much of it

Colon planned to take Nilda and the rest of his family to Florida, where he was about to begin a job in law enforcement. Says Colon: 'Castro knew about it from his kids and simply said, "That's not going to happen"

Castro upped his hate campaign in 2004 when he discovered Colon, Nilda and the children were planning to move to Miami, Florida.

'I was waiting for a job to come up in Broward County law enforcement. It was going to be a new life for us all,' Colon says.

'Castro knew about it from his kids and simply said, "That's not going to happen."

'I'd tried to be a good father to them but they were all psychologically messed up, they'd seen the way he'd treated their mother and how he'd beaten her up.'

After years of indifference, Castro started showing an interest in his youngest daughters Emily, then 16, and 13-year-old Arlene.

Gina, at 14 the youngest of the kidnapped girls, was the best friend of Arlene and had been invited on a sleepover at Colon's home immediately before she disappeared.

The FBI quizzed Colon because of the connection.

He says he suggested agents talk to Castro, who flitted in and out of his four children's lives. But, as far as he is aware, the FBI did not follow that up.

Castro bullied his daughters, says Colon and 'then he started offering them money, cars and cell phones'.

'He'd done the same to Nilda, when he was trying to get her to go back,' Colon says.

'Castro set me up. Ever since I took Nilda away from his house he'd been plotting, having vengeful thoughts.

Cleveland kidnapping survivors speak in promo for ABC special

From left, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, Ariel Castro's kidnap victims, introduced at the Performing Arts Center in Medina, Ohio

'Once he'd tried to run me down in his car and he was always saying he was going to get me but I never thought he'd do what he did.

'Nilda told me that he was saying I'd molested Emily and Arlene. She didn't believe it and the girls wouldn't talk about it.

'I told Nilda to tell him to come and talk to me, face to face, but he never did. Every time I saw him, he just left.

'He would hit a woman but never a man. He was a big coward.

'Then suddenly I was arrested. All these marshals came to get me. They acted like I'd killed somebody. I was charged with 28 counts of rape, kidnapping and sexual offenses.

Once he'd tried to run me down in his car and he was always saying he was going to get me but I never thought he'd do what he did.

'I was in a state of shock. I had never been in trouble in my life and now this was happening.

'All I'd ever done was try and better my life and career for Nilda and the kids. Now I was accused of being a child molester.

'It was just horrible and it destroyed my life. Nilda didn't believe it but we thought it best if I moved out while this was going on.

'I lost my trust with people. Everyone who knew me and cared about me and looked to me for advice became distrustful.'

Colon pleaded not guilty but was suspended from his job as a security supervisor until after the trial.

On several occasions Emily and Arlene recanted their evidence and said they did not want to testify.

Nilda was forced to take out a restraining order against Castro after he threatened to kill her if she didn't get the girls into court.

By then Emily was pregnant and living with her older sister Angie in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Castro insisted on making the 500-mile round trip to collect her for court.

In a sick twist, he moved sex slaves Michelle, Amanda and Gina into his garage while Emily and Arlene spent three nights in his home during the 2005 trial.

According to trial testimony -- uncovered by bestselling author John Glatt for his Castro book The Lost Girls – Emily and Arlene both denied they'd been forced to testify by their father.

Michelle Knight confronts kidnapper Ariel Castro in court in 2013

Glatt was convinced Colon was innocent as he researched his book – and vowed to help clear his name.

'After interviewing Colon, it was clear a great injustice had been done,' Glatt tells Daily Mail Online.

'I went to the court and obtained transcripts. It was incredible, how in hindsight, there were already clues there about Castro's crimes.

'Arlene was asked if she had been treated for depression after her friend Gina disappeared nine years earlier.

'And Castro – the master manipulator – also insisted on giving evidence. He claimed he had never beaten Nilda and had not forced his daughters to testify.'

Castro's son Anthony, by then a journalist in Indiana, gave evidence on behalf of Colon - and told the jury he'd witnessed his father attacking his mother.

Nilda also gave evidence for Colon.

After two days of conflicted testimony, the jury cleared Colon on all but four charges. But he was sentenced to five years community supervision and placed on the sex offender register.

Colon says he was in a state of shock for months afterwards.

'I knew Castro had set me up but there was nothing I could do,' he says.

'Nilda left me, she moved to Indiana with our son. And even though we remained good friends that was the end of us.

'It was also the end of my career. I couldn't work in law enforcement or even security -- I had to hand over my licenses.'

Grimilda, here with her family, suffered a blood clot on the brain after one especially vicious beating from Castro, died of brain cancer at age 48 in 2012

In 2007, Emily slashed her 11-month-old daughter's throat. The baby survived but Emily was sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted murder.

Nilda, who suffered a blood clot on the brain after one especially vicious beating from Castro, died of brain cancer at age 48 in 2012.

Castro's house of horrors was discovered the following year. He quickly struck a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to life in prison.

A month later, the 53-year-old hanged himself in his cell.

Colon, now forced to get by with a handful of odd jobs, thought Castro's suicide would help the fight to clear his name. But two years on, he claims he is being stalled by the legal system.

His friend and former boss Chris Giannini, an ex-policeman who owns International Investigations in Cleveland, refused to give up on him.

'Fernando worked for me from 2001 until his conviction in 2005 and I've been working on his case pro bono ever since,' he tells Daily Mail Online.

'He isn't a drinker, he doesn't do drugs. He is an honorable guy, who is well respected and well liked.

'Fernando started out working for me as a security officer at a shopping mall but he quickly became my site supervisor.

'In 2002 he graduated from the police academy and was waiting for a police job to open up when all this stuff started happening in 2004.

'Two months after Gina disappeared he got a visit from the FBI. Gina was Arlene's friend and he was the last adult to see her.

'He passed the interview and polygraph. He says he told the FBI to look at Castro as he might have seen Gina with Arlene. The FBI did nothing, they missed that opportunity.

'Then Fernando came to me and said he'd been accused of molesting Arlene and Emily. Two months later he was charged with rape, kidnapping and other sex offences.

'He had to move out of his home and into his sister's. Emily ran away from home and moved in with his sister too. That isn't something a girl who had been molested would do.

'The girls kept changing their story. They didn't want to testify but the prosecutor ordered Castro to go and get them.

'Castro also insisted on giving evidence. It was a complete frame-up, a set up. Fernando was convicted, it was horrible.

'After Castro was apprehended,' Giannii continued, 'I went straight to prosecutors and asked them to re-look at Fernando's case. I also went to the FBI. But we have been stonewalled at every turn.

'A week after Castro was arrested I went to Indiana, to the prison where Emily is incarcerated. I interviewed her but she would not completely recant her claims against Fernando and was not always truthful when I asked other questions.

Colon's friend and former boss Chris Giannini, an ex policeman who owns International Investigations in Cleveland, refuses to give up on him. 'Fernando worked for me from 2001 until his conviction in 2005 and I've been working on his case pro bono ever since,' he tells Daily Mail Online

'I understand she was trying to protect her father but I also think she knows more than she is letting on about the kidnappings.

'She was at school with his second victim Amanda and I wonder if she was in the car when Castro picked her up.

'Amanda has since said she thought she saw Emily in the car. Gina said the same thing. If they'd both seen Emily in Castro's car they would have felt safe to get in.

'Emily told me conflicting things. Every bit of her story was about as believable as Santa Claus.

'Her dad was just arrested and had become the monster of the world.

'When we get Fernando's case re-opened I want to bring her from prison, put her on the witness stand and get her to tell the truth. We are also trying to locate Arlene but she has gone to ground.

'Fernando hasn't got any money and we have struggled to get an attorney to take on the case. But we now have two public defenders looking into things.

'When people think of Castro they think of three victims. But Fernando, Nilda and their son suffered too – they are the forgotten victims.'

Author Glatt, who spent weeks in Cleveland and conducted dozens of interviews for his book, says he was astonished when he first heard Colon's story.

'Castro was a master manipulator, who totally set up Fernando Colon,' Glatt says.

'He warned he was going to get even after Nilda left him. He swore revenge and by getting his daughters to say Fernando had molested them, he succeeded.'

In recent court documents seen by Daily Mail Online, Colon's lawyers argue that he did not get a fair trial in 2005 because he was 'unavoidably prevented from discovering evidence that Ariel Castro was imprisoning, raping and torturing three women at the same time he orchestrated Colon's prosecution.

'If this court had known about Castro's full capacity for deceit, manipulation and cruelty at the time of the trial, there is a reasonable probability that it's verdict would have been different.'