I was tied, strung like fish, says US kidnap survivor

CLEVELAND - The Associated Press

Michelle Knight, the first of Ariel Castro’s Cleveland kidnapping victims, is interviewed by Dr. Phil McGraw during the taping of the Dr. Phil Show. REUTERS photo

One of three women held in a Cleveland man's home for about a decade says an orange extension cord was used to tie her neck, hands and feet and hang her "like a fish," according to pre-released clips from a taped interview that will air Tuesday and Wednesday on the "Dr. Phil" TV talk show.
 
"I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall," Michelle Knight told the TV host in a clip released to media. "That's the only way I can describe it."
 
"I was hanging like this," she said, using her finger to draw a swooping U-shape curve in the air.
 
In another interview clip posted on the show's YouTube channel, Knight said she was told she'd be punished after she tried to pick a lock and escape. She also said her mouth was taped at one point so she wouldn't yell.
 
The show has said Knight discusses physical, mental and sexual abuse and torture she endured during captivity, including spending weeks in chains, with the celebrity psychologist host, Phil McGraw.
 
Knight was kidnapped in August 2002, when she was 20. Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus escaped from Ariel Castro's house on May 6 when Berry pushed out a door and called for help. Knight has been the most public of the kidnap victims since then, including a visit to Castro's neighborhood before his home was demolished.
 
Berry and DeJesus plan to collaborate with a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Washington Post reporters for a book about their ordeal.
 
Castro, 53, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
 
Knight was the only victim to appear at Castro's sentencing. She told him, "You took 11 years of my life away, but I've got my life back! I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."
 
A month into his sentence, Castro was found dead in his cell. His hanging death was ruled a suicide, but a prison report indicated he may have died accidentally while choking himself for a sexual thrill.