The dilapidated house where three women were held for nearly a decade may seem like an odd structure to protect, but that's exactly what the city of Cleveland is doing. A 10-foot privacy fence is going up around Ariel Castro's home, reports the AP, in a bid to safeguard it from vigilantes who would like to burn it down. Police will also monitor the residence with 24/7 surveillance, the Daily Beast reports. The burn-it-down worries are based in some sort of reality: Threats to do just that have been floating around. But both prosecutors and the defense want the house to remain intact until Castro's trial concludes.
"The prosecutors are going to want to preserve it so they can take jurors into it to view, and the defense would want it preserved so at least they could do their own investigation," explains a law professor. It's unlikely the house would be needed once the trial ends; typically only evidence like weapons or fingerprints are preserved for appeals, he said. So what happens then? That's up to the neighbors as well as victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, says a city councilman, and right now the neighbors, at least, want the place demolished. But first, thousands of dollars in unpaid tax liens on the house would have to be sorted out as the city attempts to control the property. In the end, Cleveland, not Castro, will likely have to pay for the demolition if it occurs. (More Cleveland Kidnapping stories.)
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