OH OH - ANTHONY SOWELL, 11 bodies unearthed at his Cleveland home, 2007-09 *dies in prison 2021*

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Anthony Sowell's lawyers step back from, but don't abandon insanity plea

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Lawyers for suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell on Wednesday took a step back from a not guilty by reason of insanity plea entered on his behalf at his arraignment.

Attorneys John Parker and Rufus Sims asked a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge to hold the plea in abeyance until Sowell, 50, is evaluated by mental health specialists. Before the lawyers were assigned the case, another lawyer representing Sowell at the arraignment entered the insanity plea.

Sowell appeared before Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold Wednesday morning. She took over the case after Judge Timothy McGinty withdrew from the case, citing a potential conflict because of his work to reform the justice system.http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/anthony_sowells_lawyers_step_b.html
 
Anthony Sowell-probe critics to rally at mayor's home

A group critical of the city's handling of investigations into Anthony Sowell before he was suspected of being a serial killer will protest today at Mayor Frank Jackson's house on East 38th Street.

Imperial Women, a group formed after Sowell was accused of killing 11 women at his home on Imperial Avenue, has called for residents to picket at 2 p.m. The group has pushed Jackson to discipline or replace top administrators. It already has protested at the Justice Center and near the site of Sowell's home.

"Something has to be done to hold people accountable and to prevent this from happening again," said Sharon Danann, one of the group's leaders.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/anthony_sowell-probe_critics_t.html

Twenty protesters demand action at Mayor Frank Jackson's house

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Twenty protesters stood in front of Mayor Frank Jackson's house Saturday to demand that an activist be added to a three-person panel exploring how police investigate sexual assaults and missing-persons cases in the city.

Imperial Women, a group formed after Anthony Sowell was accused of killing 11 women at his home on Imperial Avenue, also urged Jackson to discipline or replace top administrators in the police department, city prosecutor's office and the safety director's office.

The protesters marched in a circle on East 38th Street and shouted their demands into a bull horn for about an hour. Many carried signs related to Imperial Avenue killings.

It's unclear if the demands were heard because Jackson was not home. His spokeswoman was unavailable.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/twenty_protesters_demand_actio.html

Residents use art and activism to pay tribute to 11 victims found at Imperial Avenue home

Across Cleveland, people paused this weekend to remember the 11 women found dead a month ago on Imperial Avenue.

One group paid tribute in art, another with street activism -- both intent on making sure the victims are not forgotten.

"We will not allow the 11 women's deaths to be in vain. Because of them, we're on the streets showing we care," said Cathy Ben Bella, founder of Women of Royalty Outreach Ministry and a minister at Sanctuary Baptist Church in Cleveland.

At the Cleveland Museum of Art, an audience of 150 showed up Friday night for "Imperial/ism," a multimedia performance by Black Poetic in film, poetry and music.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/residents_use_art_and_activism.html
 
While I agree with the rallies in principle, I do disagree with them rallying outside his home. He took or didn't take his actions as an official, out of his office not out of his home. His wife and family shouldn't be involved. Since he wasn't home, it sounds like he got advance word of the rally.

But I do agree with the rallies, the lack of action by police and officals was pathetic. Perhaps they should do a rally outside the police station. And maybe one near any police memorial. (Making the point that LE would have cared had it been one of their own.)
 
Attorneys for murder suspect Anthony Sowell withdraw insanity plea

Attorneys for Anthony Sowell, who is accused of murdering 11 women at or near his Imperial Avenue home in Cleveland, withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday.

John Parker, one of Sowell's two attorneys, said the plea was changed to not guilty after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold asked in a pretrial hearing if the defendant could be sent to a clinic for psychiatric evaluation.

"That wasn't appropriate at this time," Parker said, "because we don't have all the information needed for anyone to do a proper evaluation. We still don't have any of our client's background records -- military, medical or prison."

Once 'that information is obtained, Parker said, "we could change that plea back to not guilty by reason of insanity if we have good cause to do so."

Parker said the original plea was prematurely entered by a court-appointed attorney on Dec. 3 when Sowell was charged with the rape of two women who were not homicide victims.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/attorneys_for_murder_suspect_a.html
 
fran said:
As soon as this case, (Sowell), came to light, I looked back at the LA case. I believe some of the murders were when Sowell was in jail. That's why I personally couldn't connect them.

Just, fwiw,
fran
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you're right. It just kind of gave me the creeps because that one sketch is so close.
 
IMO, this is beyond wrong. He shouldn't be profitting in ANY way from this. Sickening.

Letters from accused killer Anthony Sowell for sale online; authorities say it's legal

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Anthony Sowell wants support and money orders, but not cash.

Sowell is sending letters and cards to an Internet-based company devoted to selling memorabilia from serial killers. Serialkillersink.net listed two envelopes and two letters for sale on its Web site Thursday morning.

The man accused of killing 11 women on Cleveland's Imperial Avenue wrote in a Christmas card to a California woman that he was available to correspond with her.

"So if you need someone to talk to I am here for you," Sowell wrote. "So tell me what do you want to know about me? I know what I want to know about you, what type of woman are you? Do you have a man in your life?"

The letters, addressed to employees at the company selling them, go for $200; the envelopes $100 and the Christmas card $200. The site also sells artwork, letters and personal items from some of the country's most infamous killers.

In one letter, Sowell talked about his ex-wife who died in 1998. And he wrote that he can only receive money orders, but not cash.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/anthony_sowell_letters_for_sal.html

Web site posts letters from Ohio killings suspect

CLEVELAND -- An Internet site devoted to selling memorabilia from serial killers has posted envelopes, letters and a Christmas card sent by a Cleveland man accused of killing 11 women and hiding their remains in and around his home.

The Web site Serialkillersink.net had the envelopes, letters and card for sale this week on the site. The letters and card, priced at $200, and envelopes, priced at $100, were sent by Anthony Sowell to employees at the Web site.

In one, Sowell tells a California woman that he is available to correspond with her.

"So if you need someone to talk to I am here for you," Sowell wrote. "So tell me what do you want to know about me? I know what I want to know about you, what type of woman are you? Do you have a man in your life?"

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse and is being held in the Cuyahoga County jail.

Sowell writes that he is being treated well in the jail. He mentions his ex-wife who died in 1998. He writes that he can receive money orders, but that cash should not be sent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012203932.html

So a guy named Gein runs a website that deals in Serial Killer Memorabilia. That's a little creepy.
 
Judge denies request by Anthony Sowell's lawyer to move trial, throw out death penalty option

By Michael Sangiacomo
January 28, 2010, 1:18AM

Updated at 1:25 a.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland man accused of killing 11 women and keeping their remains at his Imperial Avenue home, asked a judge Wednesday to move his trial outside the area because the case has received so much publicity here.

Sowell, 50, made the request and more than a dozen other motions at a hearing before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold.

more here

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/anthony_sowell_asks_a_judge_to.html
 
I hope this judge knows what she is doing. She said if they could find a jury for Timothy McVeigh in Oklahhoma, that we should be able to seat one in Cleveland? OK, judge.
Also, those letter sellers should be ashamed.
And he is asking to have death penalty specification removed? I would like to ask the women that he killed about that.
 
Forum remembers those found at the Cleveland home of suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Denise Hunter, sister of murder victim Amelda "Amy" Hunter, stood at a microphone Saturday, wiping away tears and struggling to speak.

Who is Anthony Sowell?

Coverage of the Imperial Avenue murders
Moments later, more than 30 people encircled Hunter in a comforting embrace. The act was symbolic of the purpose of the gathering -- to not forget the 11 women found dead three months ago at the Imperial Avenue home of suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell.

"They are precious," Hunter said. "With a soul, a person with a spirit. . . . There's a lot of people who are lost in our own back yard."


View full sizeAmelda HunterThe forum, at Covenant Community Church of Cleveland on East 119th Street and Kinsman Avenue, was organized by a host of community groups, many of which formed in the wake of the murders, including The People for Imperial Act.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/group_remembers_the_dead_found.html
 
Accused Serial Killer Granting Jailhouse Interviews
Attorneys Of Accused Serial Killer Struggle To Keep Him Quiet While He Awaits Trial

CLEVELAND -- Anthony Sowell is accused in one of the most notorious murder cases in Cleveland history; however, this fact has not stopped several folks from getting jailhouse interviews.

Sowell has a constitutional right to remain silent, and his refusal to do so has upset his lawyers.

According to Sowell's attorney, Rufus Sims, Sowell agreed to talk to East Cleveland police detectives last weekend without his lawyers present.

Sims said the detectives brought pictures of women who were either missing or dead out of East Cleveland. The conversation lasted five to seven minutes.

East Cleveland police told NewsChannel 5 they questioned Sowell about four missing women from their area, three of whom are dead.

They said that Sowell recognized one of the women, but told police he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

More and video interview with Sowell's attorney here.
 
Murder suspect Anthony Sowell tells East Cleveland police he knew missing woman

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Detectives talked to serial-killing suspect Anthony Sowell in jail for only a few minutes Friday.

But they got what they wanted -- confirmation that Sowell knew a woman who has been missing from the city since 1989.

Sowell denied knowing anything about the disappearance of Mary Cox, who was a bartender at the old McCall's Lounge on Euclid Avenue less than a half-mile from where he lived at the time. He lived in East Cleveland from 1985 to 1990.

Police began reinvestigating several cold cases -- three killings and Cox's disappearance -- after Cleveland police discovered the bodies of 11 women at Sowell's Imperial Avenue home late last year.

Investigators in California and North Carolina, where Sowell was stationed while in the Marines in the 1980s, also looked at unsolved killings.

Detectives showed Sowell pictures of four women -- who were killed or vanished when he lived in the city.

Three of the women were killed in the city in 1988 or 1989. The fourth was Cox.

Sowell said he knew Cox from her work in the Lounge, Chief Ralph Spotts said.

"He said he didn't know anything about her disappearance," Spotts said.

Sowell also offered that he didn't have anything to do with any other crimes committed in the suburb, Spotts said.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/sowell_tells_east_cleveland_po.html
 
Anthony Sowell's lawyers ask judge to protect client's rights and give more money for defense

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Lawyers for suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell argued this morning in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court that East Cleveland police should not have questioned him Feb. 12 in the County Jail.

The detectives confirmed that Sowell knew a woman who disappeared in 1989.

His attorneys, John Parker and Rufus Sims, asked Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to bar any police from interviewing their client.

The judge delayed making a decisions because the East Cleveland detectives were not present. The hearing is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m.

The court considered a flurry of motions filed by the defense. Chief among them was a request for more money to defend Sowell, who faces an 85-count indictment in connection with the remains of 11 women that were found in his Imperial Avenue home.

Cuyahoga County limits each attorney's total bill to $12,500 a case, Parker said.

However, Parker said defending Sowell will cost at least $19,000 for each attorney -- and that is just for the time the attorneys spend during the trial this summer.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/anthony_sowells_lawyers_ask_ju.html
 
Investigators looking for links to Anthony Sowell in 61 unsolved killings

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The unsolved killings of 61 women in Cleveland and East Cleveland are being examined to see if there is a link to accused serial killer Anthony Sowell, prosecutors said Thursday.

The Cuyahoga County prosecutor's cold case unit has identified 61 killings on the East Side between 1979 and 2007 where women were sexually assaulted, Assistant Prosecutor Rick Bell said. Sowell is a registered sex offender.

Thirty of the 61 killings occurred within a 2½-mile radius of Sowell's former home on Page Avenue in East Cleveland or his later home on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland. Police found the bodies of 11 women at that home last year, and authorities have been working since then to make sure they have found all of Sowell's victims.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Investigators will try to match DNA evidence found on the 61 victims to Sowell or other suspects, Bell said.

"Were not saying Sowell committed them," Bell said. "We're reviewing evidence to see if there is DNA evidence to find a perpetrator."

Fourteen other unsolved killings occurred while Sowell was in prison for attempted rape between 1990 and 2005, Bell said. Investigators are searching for DNA samples to test in those cases, too.

Days after police discovered the bodies on Imperial Avenue, East Cleveland detectives began re-investigating three killings that took place near Page Avenue between 1988 and 1989, when Sowell lived there.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/investigators_looking_for_link.html
 
Man charged in 11 deaths indicted on new charges, prosecutor says

(CNN) -- An Ohio man already charged with murder in the deaths of 11 women has been indicted on new charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and felonious assault, a prosecutor announced Thursday.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said that a grand jury indicted Anthony Sowell on those charges in connection with the alleged assault of a 42-year-old woman.

No further details were released.

Sowell was already facing 85 charges -- including murder, rape and kidnapping -- following the discovery of 11 sets of human remains at his Cleveland, Ohio, home in October and November.

He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in December. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Sowell is a registered sex offender who served 15 years in prison before being released in 2005.

Mason told CNN that the new charges are separate from those brought last year. "It's a whole new case," he said, adding that he expects these charges to be tried separately from the 85.

The new charges are related to an incident that allegedly occurred on April 21, 2009, Mason said.

Sowell and a woman, now 43, were "drinking and partying in the afternoon," the prosecutor said. "Later he attacked her, choked her, beat her a little bit."

"She was able to escape through some creative thinking," he said, explaining that the woman, whom he would not identify, pretended she was on the phone with a daughter. Sowell then allowed her to leave, Mason said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/25/cleveland.bodies/?hpt=Sbin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More charges for Ohio suspect accused in 11 deaths

CLEVELAND -- The suspect in the slayings of 11 women whose remains were found in and around his home has been indicted on new charges involving an alleged choking attempt on a victim who survived, the prosecutor announced Thursday.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said a county grand jury returned an indictment charging Anthony Sowell, 50, with attempted murder, kidnapping and felonious assault in an attack on a 42-year-old Cleveland woman at Sowell's home last April.

Sowell will be arraigned on the counts Tuesday, according to the court docket. He was indicted earlier on 85 counts in connection with attacks on women.

Mason said he thinks more victims will be found.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022503335.html
 
It still blows my mind that he got away with this for so long and nobody noticed. I hope that he realizes that he's not going to get away with this and that he comes forward and admits to any other crimes he's committed. It breaks my heart knowing there are all of these families with missing loved ones and really they just want some peace. I have a feeling that this guy knows what happened to more than a few of them.
 
Woman in court tells story of Anthony Sowell attack; detectives investigating

A 36-year-old Cleveland woman stood in front of a county judge last week and told him a story about Anthony Sowell that she could not get out of her head.

Meeting Sowell. Being punched in the face and raped. The smell.

Now detectives are considering whether she is another victim of the suspected serial killer and rapist.

The woman was in court because she didn't meet with her probation officer after a drug-related conviction. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty questioned her about why she failed to follow through after her encounter with Sowell.

Her story tumbled out.

"When he finally let me go to the bathroom, I looked into the little crawl space that he kept telling me he was going to throw me in and I seen it," the woman said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

"It looked like a body but sitting there wrapped up in tape and I couldn't -- I didn't think. Who would think that would be what it was?

"He said he would let me go," she went on. "He kept telling me I wasn't like the others and I didn't know what that meant."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/woman_in_court_tells_story_of.html
 
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