Anthony Sowell

Background

Anthony Edward Sowell (born August 19, 1959) was an American serial killer identified in press reports as the “Cleveland Strangler.”

He was arrested in October 2009 as a suspect in the murders of eleven women whose bodies were discovered at his Cleveland, Ohio duplex in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. He was charged with 85 counts of murder, rape, and kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but later changed his plea to simply “not guilty”.

Sowell served in the United States Marine Corps. At the age of 19, he entered the Marine Corps on January 24, 1978. He attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina and was further trained as an electrician at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. On July 13, 1978, he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. In 1980, he spent a year overseas with the 3rd Force Service Support Group, then returned to Cherry Point. He was ordered to Marine Corps Base Camp Butler in Okinawa, Japan on January 20, 1984. A year later, he transferred to Camp Pendleton in California for three days until his discharge on January 18, 1985.

During his seven-year Marine Corps career, Corporal Sowell received a Good Conduct Medal with one service star, a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, a Certificate of Commendation, a Meritorious Mast, and two Letters of Appreciation.

The offence

2007-2009: killings connected to a Cleveland duplex

The bodies of eleven women were discovered in and around Sowell’s house in Cleveland, Ohio. The bodies were found throughout the home, buried in a shallow grave in the basement and in crawl spaces in the house. Investigators found additional bodies in the backyard after digging. Police also found a human skull in a bucket inside the house, bringing the body count to eleven.

The women had been disposed of in garbage bags and plastic sheets, then dumped in various parts of the house and yard. There was little left of one victim: a skull in a plastic bucket with non-human bite marks on the edge.

Most victims were nude from the waist down, strangled with household objects, and had traces of cocaine or depressants in their systems. All the victims were black, as was Sowell.

Victim-related details

Protesters holding posters of missing loved ones gathered outside his home.

East Cleveland police also reopened several cold cases from the late 1980s. Police said the murders by strangulation used a similar modus operandi and stopped when Sowell was arrested in 1989. The FBI gathered information to see if Sowell could be linked to unsolved cases in cities where he once lived.

Investigation

Discovery and evidence at the duplex

Sowell invited a woman he knew to his home for a drink in September 2009. On September 22, 2009 she reported to police that after a few drinks, he became angry, hit her, choked her and raped her as she passed out.

On October 29, police arrived at his home with a warrant to arrest him for the alleged rape. He was not there, but they found two bodies on the floor in the living room. He was located and arrested two days later.

After discovering multiple bodies, police also found a human skull in a bucket inside the house.

Sowell was held on $6 million bond.

Missing persons and DNA work

Records of missing persons going back to Sowell’s June 2005 release from prison were being searched and DNA testing was being conducted on the bodies found at Sowell’s house.

Arrest

Sowell was arrested in October 2009 as a suspect in the murders of eleven women. Police went to his house for the alleged rape and, following the warrant execution, found bodies.

At the time of his arrest, Sowell was 50 years old, and he had been living at that location for four years.

Trial

Sowell’s trial was repeatedly delayed. It was first delayed to February 14, 2011 at the request of Sowell’s defense attorneys, who requested more time to prepare, and later delayed to May 2 at the request of the prosecution due to scheduling conflicts.

He went on trial in June and was convicted July 22 on 82 counts: aggravated murder, kidnapping, corpse abuse and evidence tampering.

He pleaded not guilty at trial.

Sowell took the stand Monday to make an unsworn statement in which he apologized:

“The only thing I want to say is I'm sorry,” Sowell told the jury. “I know that might not sound like much, but I truly am sorry from the bottom of my heart.”

The jury did not accept his statement.

A series of sentencing-related proceedings included statements by relatives of victims. Dozens of relatives were in the courtroom.

Sowell was seated in court wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, his hands cuffed with waist chains.

Sentencing

On August 10, jurors recommended the death penalty for Sowell. On August 12, Judge Dick Ambrose upheld the jury’s recommendation.

At sentencing, Judge Dick Ambrose announced the decision after a 45-minute analysis of Anthony Sowell’s crimes and background factors in Sowell’s favor. Formal sentencing followed a series of statements from the relatives of victims.

Court administrator Greg Popovich said that with a number of people expected to make statements, the hearing could run up to 3 hours.

Sowell slumped back in his chair without emotion as the judge announced the decision.

Appeals

No appeal information was included in the provided text.

Outcome

A judge upheld the jury’s recommendation of the death penalty. The sentencing occurred on August 12, 2011.

Other details

1989 attack, incarceration and release

In 1989, a woman who was three months pregnant went to Sowell’s home voluntarily. When she tried to leave, he bound her hands and feet with a tie and belt, then gagged her with a rag. The victim told police: “He choked me real hard because my body started tingling. I thought I was going to die.”

Sowell was charged with kidnapping, rape and attempted rape. He eventually pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted rape, and as a result he served 15 years in prison. He was released in 2005.

Post-release employment and circumstances

Sowell worked in a factory until 2007 when he began collecting unemployment benefits. Neighbors said he earned a living selling scrap metal. They complained to the health department of a foul smell in the neighborhood.

Sowell was a member of an online dating service, where he stated that he was a “master” looking for a submissive person to “train.”

Lori Frazier and living arrangements

Lori Frazier, the niece of Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, began a relationship with Sowell shortly after his release from prison and resided in his home. She claimed to have smelled the stench of decaying bodies and that she was told that the smell was coming from Sowell’s stepmother. When she moved out, she said the smell was from Ray’s Sausage Shop, located across the street from his house.

There was confusion about when Frazier stopped living in Sowell’s home. In a video interview she mentioned moving out in 2007, while in a published article she was said to have been living there until 2008. Another article quoted a friend of Frazier’s stating that Frazier stopped spending time at Sowell’s home in 2008.

Victims identified and listed with ages and approximate dates of death

Identified bodies and details included:

• Crystal Dozier — 38 — c. May 2007
• Tishana Culver — 31 — c. June 2008
• Leshanda Long — 25 — c. August 2008
• Michelle Mason — 45 — c. October 2008
• Tonia Carmichael — 53 — c. December 2008
• Nancy Cobbs — 43 — c. April 2009
• Amelda Hunter — 47 — c. April 2009
• Telacia Fortson — 31 — c. June 2009
• Janice Webb — 49 — c. June 2009
• Kim Yvette Smith — 44 — c. July 2009
• Diane Turner — 38 — c. September 2009

The first of the eleven victims was identified as Tonia Carmichael, a 53-year-old African American woman who disappeared more than a year earlier. Her body was found buried in the backyard. She appeared to have been strangled and was identified through the use of DNA evidence. Her mother had reported her missing in December 2008.

The second victim was identified as Telacia Fortson, a 31-year-old African American woman who disappeared five months earlier. Her mother did not report her missing until she heard the news coverage regarding the dead bodies discovered in Sowell’s home.

On November 8, 2009, three more bodies were identified, including Crystal Dozier (38-year-old African American woman who went missing in May 2007; Dozier was the mother of seven children, had a criminal record and a history of drug abuse; her family reported her missing to the Cleveland Police Department), and Amelda “Amy” Hunter (47-year-old African American woman; Hunter was a beautician and a mother of three; had a criminal record and a history of drug abuse; did not live in the area where her body was found but visited frequently; a previous injury left her unable to use one of her arms; her family did not report her missing until after police began removing bodies from Sowell’s house).

Michelle Mason was a 45-year-old African American woman last seen in October 2008; she was described as a mother with a criminal record and a history of drug abuse; she lived in the area where her body was found. According to records, the police conducted a full investigation when her family reported her missing.

Home, bond, age at arrest, and trial clothing

Sowell’s arrest followed police arriving at his home with a warrant on October 29 and discovering two bodies on the floor in the living room. At the time of his arrest he was 50 years old. He was held on $6 million bond. He was later seated in court wearing an orange jail jumpsuit with waist chains.

Trial and testimony descriptions, relatives and quotes

Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Pinky Carr said the case “screamed death penalty.” Her prosecution colleague, Richard Bombik, said “if this guy doesn't get the death penalty, nobody should.”

Sowell’s defense team included John Parker and Rufus Sims. They rested without calling witnesses and focused on sparing his life with sympathetic testimony about his troubled childhood, his Marine Corps service and good behavior while serving 15 years for attempted rape.

Jurors saw photographs of the victims’ blackened, skeletal corpses lying on autopsy tables and listened to police describe how their bodies had been left to rot in Sowell’s Cleveland home and backyard.

Sowell mostly sat impassively during the trial but smiled at childhood recollections by a half-brother and at a greeting from his stepmother’s 88-year-old mother.

1990s prison details and conduct

In prison, Sowell attended meetings of at least two 12-step programs: Alcoholics Anonymous and Adult Children of Alcoholics.

In 1993, he signed up for sex-offender treatment but was turned down because he would not admit he was a sex offender.

He was described as having no major rule infractions on his record and only four minor violations. He took courses called “Living Without Violence,” “Cage Your Rage,” “Positive Personal Change” and “Drug Awareness Prevention.”

On Sept. 17, 2002, Sowell took a GED examination at Grafton and passed with 2,820 points, besting the 2,250-point threshold.

He was released on June 20, 2005 at age 45.

2005-2007: program and housing

Sowell had to register as a sex offender, reporting to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office once a year until a 2008 federal law mandated that he checked in every 90 days.

He rented out space in the home of his late father’s widow, Segerna Sowell, at 12205 Imperial Ave. in Cleveland.

He completed “NETworks 4 Success,” a program for ex-convicts offered by the Towards Employment nonprofit agency.

2006-2007: job

He got a steady job in March 2006 through NETworks 4 Success as a rubber-molder at Custom Rubber Corp. on East 55th Street in Cleveland. Company President Charlie Braun said: “He was a very good employee.”

2007-2009: alleged attacks linked to the case timeline

In 2007 or early 2008, Sowell ended a nearly three-year live-in relationship with Lori Frazier, according to accounts in the text.

In July 2007, after Sowell didn’t show up two days in a row, Custom Rubber Products Corp. fired him, according to Charlie Braun.

In 2009, at least two women voluntarily went to Sowell’s in 2009 and reported that the encounters turned violent.

One woman described an assault on April 21, with him slapping her, choking her and forcing her to strip naked after he ran out of crack. Another woman described a Sept. 22 incident in which she told police Sowell raped her while tightening an electrical extension cord around her neck until she passed out.

Oct. 29-31, 2009: evading arrest and arrest

Sowell saw the commotion of emergency vehicles at his house on the night of Oct. 29. Before asking for a ride back to his sister’s house on East 131st Street, he told neighbor Debbie Madison: “ 'That girl made me do it.' ”

Police found and arrested Sowell on Oct. 31.

Childhood home and family details

The house at 1878 Page Ave. in East Cleveland was described as Anthony Sowell’s childhood home. Neighbors described it as a roomy, two-story house with a back yard and noted it stood out in the 1960s; it was described as lime-green.

Anthony lived out much of his childhood with his half-sister and seven cousins. The cousins moved into the home after their mother died.

The household was described as headed by Anthony’s mother, Claudia Benson Garrison, and his maternal grandmother, Irene Justice. Justice was described as dead and Claudia Garrison could not be located to comment for the story. His father, Thomas Sowell, was described as absent.

A cousin described abuse by an adult forcing her and her twin sister to strip “butt-naked,” tie them up and beat them, with electrical extension cords used to bind and whip them. Ramona Davis said: “It was psycho.” The cousins also said Anthony was not beaten but watched the beatings, and that he connived to create trouble for his cousins.

Another neighbor described Anthony as “kindest child you wanted to deal with” and “always very respectable.” Cavana Faithwalker described him in an email, saying: “He was a little quiet and never one to start a conversation,” and: “If you said, 'Hi,' he would say, 'Hi.' If you asked a question, he would answer it. He was friendly, sort of, in that he would smile whenever I looked in his direction.”

Faithwalker recalled a later incident at Forest Hill Park in which a group of people teased Anthony about girls and assumed he was a virgin. Faithwalker said Anthony “caught the ball in his stomach” and “whipped it at the guy,” and then noted: “The guy could eat Anthony for breakfast, and would have, except another guy stepped in.”

A cousin, Leona Davis, said Anthony regularly took her upstairs and forced her to have sex with him when they were pre-teens, and that it was happening “almost every day.” Ramona said she had never witnessed her sister being raped but said she believed Leona. Leona said she tried to report the rapes to authorities but no one believed her. Leona said: “I don't think [the Imperial Avenue killings] would've ever happened if somebody would've listened to me.”

Marriage and spouse death

In September 1981, Sowell married Kim Yvette Lawson, described as a fellow Marine. The marriage was described as a civil ceremony by a magistrate in a historic courthouse in New Bern, North Carolina. Sowell was described as 22 at the time. The text described that Lawson died in 1998 while Sowell was serving time in an Ohio penitentiary. Lawson’s mother said her daughter told her Sowell was drinking to excess and that she married him to help him: “She didn't want him to get a dishonorable discharge,” Norma Lawson said. Norma Lawson also said: “She was trying to get him through the Marine Corps. She divorced him the day she got out,” in 1985.

After a year at Camp Butler in Okinawa, Japan, Sowell left the Marines on Jan. 15, 1985, at Camp Pendleton, California. The Marines said he went AWOL for two months at one point, and Sgt. Sowell departed with a foot-locker full of praise, including a rifle sharpshooter award, good conduct medal, a certificate of commendation and two letters of appreciation.

1986-1989: arrest allegations and unsolved deaths

The text described 1988 arrests including a charge of domestic violence for which he served eight days in jail. The text also described an arrest record listing a 1988 charge of possessing dangerous drugs.

It described other arrests from 1986-1989 involving charges of disorderly conduct, DUI and public drunkenness, with outcomes not determined in the text.

The text also described bodies of three women found near Sowell’s Page Avenue home, including:

• Rosalind Garner (36-year-old) found in her home on Hayden Avenue in May 1988; she was strangled.
• Carmella Karen Prater (27) found in an abandoned home on First Avenue, just off Hayden, on Feb. 27, 1989; cause of death unknown.
• Mary Thomas (27) found near an abandoned building on First Avenue a month later on March 28; the red ribbon used to strangle her was still around her neck.

The text stated none of these cases was solved, and East Cleveland police reopened the cases after Sowell’s arrest in 1989.

July 22, 1989 indictment and court actions

A grand jury indicted Sowell in the July 22 case. He did not show for his court date and on Dec. 8 the court issued an arrest warrant. Seven months later and four miles away, another woman said Sowell raped her, and on June 24, 1990 the police arrested Sowell but charges were never filed after police said the woman could not be found to testify.

The record described court documents saying Sowell was in jail awaiting trial on the July 22 charges. He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted rape and on Sept. 12, 1990 Judge James P. Kilbane sentenced him to five to 15 years in prison.

Eight days after sentencing, Sowell was taken to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s prison in Lorain. The text described him as 31 and as a convict.

2009 Oct. 20 incident involving alcohol and crack

The text described that Sowell admitted to an emergency medical crew that he had been smoking crack and drinking all day when an ambulance showed up at his house in an Oct. 20, 2009 incident.

Statements about parole and reformation

The text described that despite good behavior, the violence of Sowell’s crime persuaded parole officials to repeatedly deny his request for release and that he served his maximum sentence.

2008-2009 odor complaints and neighbor statements

Neighbors complained to the health department of a foul smell. In 2007 or early 2008, a neighbor called Councilman Zack Reed to complain about odor of decaying flesh; Reed said the stink got stronger.

Ray’s Sausage Shop was located across the street from the house.

Profiles and analytical remarks included in the narrative

The text stated that Sowell’s described behavior lined up with several facets of the profile of sexually sadistic serial killers used by the FBI and police departments.

The text included quotes from criminal behavior profiling experts, including Harold Schechter and Stephen T. Holmes, and statements about an “heating-up, cooling-down” cycle, and that the pattern was consistent with an escalating appetite for violence. It also said questions remained about why certain legal actions were not pursued earlier.