Anthony Sowell (50) arrested after police found 6 decomposing bodies at his home

[lulupop]

Couldn't find a myspace for him so couldn't put him in myspace crims

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6481067/Six-bodies-found-at-home-of-convicted-rapist.html

A suspected serial killer has been arrested after the badly decomposed bodies of six unidentified women were found at his home.
A manhunt was launched for Anthony Sowell, a 50-year-old convicted rapist, following the discovery at his house in Cleveland, Ohio.

Detectives said the remains may have been there more than six months and most of the victims appeared to have been strangled.
They were found when a SWAT team arrived with a search warrant after Sowell had been accused of carrying out a separate rape.

He was not there, but officers found the first two bodies, on the third floor of the building, and then began checking the basement.

Further searches revealed a total of six bodies - five inside and one buried in the garden.

Lieutenant Thomas Stacho, a police spokesman, said: "It was such a disgusting sight. I can tell you I stood outside the home for about an hour and the stench from inside was overwhelming."

Sowell was later detained after being spotted walking down a street in Cleveland.

Police have set up a command post outside the building, asking relatives of missing women to bring photographs of their loved ones.

Sowell was released from prison in June 2005 after being convicted of rape in 1989.

As a registered sex offender, he has been reporting regularly to a local sheriff's office for the past four years. The sheriff's office said he had complied with the terms of his release.

But the case will raise questions over the effectiveness of the US system for monitoring sex offenders.

Two months ago, kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard, who had been missing for 18 years, was found living in the back garden of Phillip Garrido, another registered sex offender.

Teresa Hicks, 48, who went to school with Sowell, said: "He was crazy. Sometimes he would just go off if he didn't have his way."

Other neighbours said he was unemployed, known for borrowing money and looking for scrap metal to sell.

*One woman claimed to have survived an attack by Sowell. She said that, after she refused to have a drink with him, he punched her in the face and dragged her into his house but she escaped.

She said: "He was going to kill me. I have scars on my neck and nerve damage. I couldn't leave the house for months. I was afraid to go to the store. I could not sleep."

ETA- photo

[HyperU2]

Another crazy white serial killer.   Oh snap!

[winters_footsteps]

I will bet you a million dollars that if we could look into his criminal background (as far back as childhood) he would have started with hurting and killing animals.  I wonder if that little detail will make it's way out in the news. 

Sowell was released from prison in June 2005 after being convicted of rape in 1989.

As a registered sex offender, he has been reporting regularly to a local sheriff's office for the past four years. The sheriff's office said he had complied with the terms of his release.

But the case will raise questions over the effectiveness of the US system for monitoring sex offenders.

You CANNOT rehabilitate sex offenders.

When will people realize this? Gah!!! 

[lulupop]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/925914/serial-killer-suspects-home-had-sickening-smell

Neighbours of a convicted rapist suspected of killing at least six women say they were aware of a sickening smell emanating from the house, but chose to do nothing.

Six badly decomposed bodies were found at the property in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday after police went to the house to arrest owner Anthony Sowell on charges of rape and felonious assault.

Sowell was not home at the time but he was arrested the next day when officers spotted him walking down a nearby street.

The case has transfixed neighbours in the east-side neighbourhood, with some admitting they knew of the foul smell but thought nothing of it.

"[Sowell] came into my store last week and reeked so bad, I had to open the front and back doors," convenience store owner Eli Tayeh told the Los Angeles Times.

"I asked why he stunk [and] he shrugged, bought his beer and walked out."

None of the victims has been identified but all were female and the victim of homicide, police said.

"The stench of decay was overwhelming," police spokesman Thomas Stacho said.

"The closest I got was 15 feet from an open door … I can't figure out how the neighbors didn't know something was wrong."

One nearby resident, Teresa Brown, told the newspaper she now feared another neighbour missing since May was among the victims.

The report claimed the neighbours believed the stench was body odour, garbage outside the house or even meat from a butcher's shop next door.

They did not think to notify the police.

[AlexaC]

 

I hate it when people just put thier heads down and pretend like nothing is happening around them. There could possibly have been less victims if they had said something, anything. Even just called and complained about a funny smell. A couple of those people might still be alive.

Also, if a neighbour goes missing, isn't it common sense to scan the neighbourhood and check out the neighbours and ask a few questions? A little leg work on the part of the police? Surely even a minor check would have revealed a dangerous sex offender in the neighbourhood....

[Nocturnity]

On Nancy Grace it said that theyve found TEN bodies now.

[Olivia]

More remains have been discovered at the US home of a convicted rapist, raising to 10 the number of bodies that have been found there, authorities say.

Four more bodies and a skull were found at the Cleveland house from which the remains of six women were removed last week, police chief Michael McGrath said.


Anthony Sowell, 50, who lives in the house, was charged on Tuesday with five counts of aggravated murder. He remains in detention.

"It appears that this man had an insatiable appetite that he had to fill," Mr McGrath said.

He said the additional bodies were found buried in the backyard of the house. The skull was found in a bucket in the basement.

Authorities do not know whether the skull belongs to an 11th victim, police spokesman Lieutenant Thomas Stacho said.

The search was to continue on Wednesday, with fire department crews planning to search in the walls, Mr McGrath said.

Last week, investigators said they found one body in a shallow grave in the backyard. The rest were inside the house - one in the basement, two in the third-floor living room and two in an upstairs crawl space.

Police discovered the first six bodies on Thursday and Friday after a woman reported being raped at Sowell's home.

Sowell was also charged on Tuesday with rape, felonious assault and kidnapping related to her complaint.

Sowell was to be arraigned on Wednesday, Lieutenant Stacho said.

The Cuyahoga County coroner is attempting to identify the first six victims found through DNA and dental records. All were black and five were strangled.

The bodies could have been there from weeks to months to years, said Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the coroner.

On Tuesday, detectives brought in cadaver dogs and digging equipment to scour the house and backyard, looking for evidence to connect Sowell to the bodies, Lieutenant Stacho said.

Police turned up nothing in a search of a quarter-mile swath of abandoned, boarded-up homes near Sowell's residence, which sits in a crowded inner-city neighbourhood of mostly older houses.

They plan to scour another quarter-mile area today, Mr McGrath said. He said Sowell did not have a car and would have had to take a city bus to travel.

A crowd of about 100 milled about and chatted near the home on Tuesday evening.

One of those in the crowd, Antoinnette Dudley, 29, lives a few houses away. She said she could smell a terrible odour like something was dead all summer. She said she saw Sowell only a few times, mainly drinking beer while he sat on his porch.

The discovery of more bodies on Tuesday surprised Dudley.


"I didn't think he was that sick," she said.

Sowell is a registered sex offender and was required to check in regularly at the sheriff's office. Officers didn't have the right to enter his house, but they would stop by to make sure he was there. Their most recent visit was on September 22, just hours before the woman reported being raped.

For the past few years, Sowell's neighbours thought the foul smell enveloping their street corner had been coming from a brick building where workers churned out sausage and head cheese.

It got so bad that the owners of Ray's Sausage replaced their sewer line and grease traps.

City councilman Zack Reed, whose mother lives a block from the area, said he called the city health department on more than one occasion.

"What happened from there, we don't know," he said. "It was no secret that there was a foul odour. We don't want to point fingers, but clearly something could have been done differently."

Mr Reed said he and other community leaders want an investigation into whether police and health inspectors missed any signs that could have tipped them off to the bodies inside the house.

[PCP777]

I hate it when people just put thier heads down and pretend like nothing is happening around them. There could possibly have been less victims if they had said something, anything. Even just called and complained about a funny smell. A couple of those people might still be alive.

Also, if a neighbour goes missing, isn't it common sense to scan the neighbourhood and check out the neighbours and ask a few questions? A little leg work on the part of the police? Surely even a minor check would have revealed a dangerous sex offender in the neighbourhood....

They thought it was head cheese.

[emmieslost]

missing women and the smell of rotting flesh all in the same 'hood?  who would think to check on the local rapist?  seriously heart breaking.  

there is a pic in this article:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/neighbors_wonder_how_stench_of.html

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Marking this thread.  I was watching the news tonight and they said that cops had been at his house before but couldnt go inside because they didnt have a warrant.  And the smell?   They all just figured it was coming from a nearby sausage factory.  This baffles me, I mean if they thought the smell was coming from that factory, wouldnt people be all 'hey, that places stinks, health peeps should be checkin it out' sort of thing?  I mean they would have ruled the factory out and started looking around.  I saw the house, the houses are pretty close together and still, noone noticed something??   

Also, alot of talk is going on about sex offenders and being monitored and I dont remember what city/state but all a SO has to do is check in by sending a post card from their residence.  I don't get it.

I sincerely hope all the victims are identified ASAP so their loved ones will get closure.  I know how that feels, and I really hope they get it. 

RIP to all the victims. 

[LawChick]

It seems like they did check out the factory. The factory even replaced their grease traps and sewer line. You'd think they'd be able to determine that the smell was coming from somewhere else.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

It seems like they did check out the factory. The factory even replaced their grease traps and sewer line. You'd think they'd be able to determine that the smell was coming from somewhere else.

I just dont get it.  I mean, the first body that they were able to identify.....the family said that her car was found in the area of that guys house weeks after she disappeared.  10 bodies and a skull, you'd think living that close to one another, someone would have noticed something!  I saw they were diggin up areas around his house looking for more bodies....authorities had been at his house for shit's sake, people noticed a smell on his person when he was in like a little mini mart or whatever it was.  Hmmm, sex offender+gnarly smell on him and in his neighborhood+odd behavior and nothing was ever done? 

[tanya2012]

I just dont get it.  I mean, the first body that they were able to identify.....the family said that her car was found in the area of that guys house weeks after she disappeared.  10 bodies and a skull, you'd think living that close to one another, someone would have noticed something!  I saw they were diggin up areas around his house looking for more bodies....authorities had been at his house for shit's sake, people noticed a smell on his person when he was in like a little mini mart or whatever it was.  Hmmm, sex offender+gnarly smell on him and in his neighborhood+odd behavior and nothing was ever done? 

It really is disgusting and horrible to think about. They are thinking they might find more bodies. Can you even imagine that? Eleven dead bodies, eleven! How does this happen? Did he target homeless women or prostitutes? That might have to do with why he was able to get away with this for so long. Going after women who don't really have family or friends who would be searching for them. This just leaves me scratching my head. I don't know what to think. 

[emmieslost]

It really is disgusting and horrible to think about. They are thinking they might find more bodies. Can you even imagine that? Eleven dead bodies, eleven! How does this happen? Did he target homeless women or prostitutes? That might have to do with why he was able to get away with this for so long. Going after women who don't really have family or friends who would be searching for them. This just leaves me scratching my head. I don't know what to think. 

it sounded to me on the news that there were several missing women from his neighborhood who had been missing, and they had flyers and everything the family used to search for them.  they made it sound, to me at least, like they just weren't getting much help from the authorities.  i'm sure if they had been wealthy white women that had gone missing it'd be a totally different story all together. 

[tanya2012]

it sounded to me on the news that there were several missing women from his neighborhood who had been missing, and they had flyers and everything the family used to search for them.  they made it sound, to me at least, like they just weren't getting much help from the authorities.  i'm sure if they had been wealthy white women that had gone missing it'd be a totally different story all together. 

I agree. I was thinking that but I didn't want to come out and say it. 

It really is sad. I just can't imagine NOT doing everything to find a missing person whether they are white or black, rich or poor. They are still someone's family. 

I really hope they can identify all of them so those families can finally get closure.

[kissmedeadly8989]

I live near Cleveland.  I know where that house is.  The whole thing is sad.  Only one of the bodies identified has been claimed because the families are too poor to be able to bury them.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

I live near Cleveland.  I know where that house is.  The whole thing is sad.  Only one of the bodies identified has been claimed because the families are too poor to be able to bury them.

but what would that have to do with claiming them?

[kissmedeadly8989]

but what would that have to do with claiming them?

I'm not entirely sure.  They talk about it on the news nonstop here.  They just said that their family members aren't claiming them because they can't afford to bury them, and that certain churches are now taking donations to try to bury these women.  Unfortunately, the majority of these women were in bad situations to begin with, and their families aren't much better.

 I THINK that maybe if you claim a body, it's your responsibility to have something done with it.  I don't think that a morgue or funeral home or something would be willing to store it for free. 

[White trash bitchy blonde]

I'm not entirely sure.  They talk about it on the news nonstop here.  They just said that their family members aren't claiming them because they can't afford to bury them, and that certain churches are now taking donations to try to bury these women.  Unfortunately, the majority of these women were in bad situations to begin with, and their families aren't much better.

 I THINK that maybe if you claim a body, it's your responsibility to have something done with it.  I don't think that a morgue or funeral home or something would be willing to store it for free. 

I'm not sure.  Thats interesting though.  I would claim my missing family member no matter what the financial responsibility would be.  i imagine funeral homes work with people on this stuff.  I wish KWD or nocturnity would come in here, they might know better. 

[Nocturnity]

I'm not sure.  Thats interesting though.  I would claim my missing family member no matter what the financial responsibility would be.  i imagine funeral homes work with people on this stuff.  I wish KWD or nocturnity would come in here, they might know better. 

Tada!

It depends on the funeral home I think.  The one where my dad works will store a body while arrangements are being made, but only for a couple of weeks and only if the arrangements are being made at that particular funeral home.  If it was going to be longer than that, he would always suggest cremation.  It saved room that way.  I think that most funeral homes however are reluctant to do that sort of thing because they end up eating the bill 90% of the time.