Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
How Anthony Sowell Got Away With Being a Serial Killer
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 11:00 am
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| He lived with his frail stepmom, making it easy to kill and hide the bodies |
Sowell made spare money scrapping for metal to sell. And since he refused to pay stepmom rent because his dad owned the house, he could use his meager earnings to drink and do dope. Neighbors say he often invited them in to party -- especially the women. Once he got them in the house, they were on his killing grounds.
His stepmom was too frail to climb stairs, so she didn't know what Anthony was doing on the third floor. But according to police, that's where he raped and killed at least six women, then strangled them before burying them in the house...
Two bodies were found decomposing in the attic. Others were buried in the basement and back yard. At least one of those may have be his stepmom.
Allen Sowell, Anthony's brother, says he lost track of the serial killer after he want to prison. But when he'd occasionally talked to their stepmother, she'd say she wanted Anthony out of the house. He wouldn't pay rent and she didn't approve of his drug use. She was planning to file court papers last spring to boot him from the home.
Now Allen Sowell wants to know where his stepmom is. Neighbors say she was sent to live at a nursing home, but he's not buying. "She would be calling me," he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "That's not happening, and that worries me."
Anthony Sowell first came to police attention again in September, the same day they'd conducted a routine check on the sex offender. Eight hours later, a woman says she was drinking with Sowell at the home when he punched her, choked her with an electrical cord, and raped her.
But the woman wasn't altogether cooperative. And the Cleveland Police Department -- not exactly a top-notch crime fighting unit -- has been known to let rape cases pile up with little investigation. It took them an entire month to get a search warrant for Sowell's home. That's when they found the bodies. Five of the women had been strangled. The death of the sixth still has to be determined. They still don't know how long the bodies have been there.
Sowell was arrested walking down a street in the city's sprawling East Side ghettos, not far from his home.
Detectives are now combing missing person reports since Sowell was released from prison. At least four families have come forth with information on loved ones who disappeared in the area. Police say Sowell's method was to meet women on the street and invite them to his house.
Janice Webb, 49, was last seen in the neighborhood on June 3. Family members say she struggled with drug abuse, and they provided detectives with a photograph.
Also see A Long History of Cleveland Police Laziness Allowed a Serial Killer to Run Free
and Bodies, Fresh Grave Found in Home of Sex Offender Anthony Sowell.
Tags: Ohio
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