COLUMBUS, Ohio – Anthony Sowell, sentenced to death for killing 11 women and hiding their remains in and around his home in a case raising concerns about authorities downplaying the plight of missing black women, is in prison died of an illness.
Sowell, 61, was receiving end-of-life care from Franklin Medical Center for a terminal illness when he died Monday, said JoEllen Smith, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The death was not related to COVID-19, she said.
Cleveland Police were investigating a rape case in October 2009 when they searched Sowell’s home and discovered two bodies. They eventually uncovered the remains of 11 women.
Most of the victims had struggled with addiction and died from strangulation, prosecutors said. Some had been decapitated, and others’ bodies had decomposed to such an extent that coroners could not be sure how they died.
In interviews with police, Sowell said he targeted women who reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, who was addicted to cocaine and left him shortly before the murders began.
Neighbors had blamed a stench from the rotting bodies on an adjacent sausage factory, which spent $ 20,000 on new plumbing and sewer lines to try and get rid of the smell.
The case was a moment of settlement for Cleveland. Relatives of the murdered women, who were black, and many black residents said the police did not take the disappearance of the victims seriously because of their race and troubled backgrounds, and complained about the way agents handled the reports of missing persons. Police said some victims have never been reported missing.
In response, Cleveland Police have reviewed their handling of missing persons investigations and sex crimes based on recommendations made after the remains were found.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said his “thoughts and prayers” were with the relatives and friends of the victims of Sowell, whom he called a monster.
“I hope law enforcement and the criminal justice system have learned from the mistakes that have left this devil predator unnoticed for so long,” said O’Malley.
Joann Moore, whose sister, Janice Webb, was among the victims, said on Tuesday that she was still trying to process a mixture of emotions.
“The ultimate goal was to go through this and see that he got justice,” she said. “That was something else we couldn’t see, he’s taking his last breath.”
What happened more than ten years ago “was a tragic story for the city of Cleveland. It was a tragic story for us that this could continue, ”she said.
‘I still miss my sister. I know she takes care of her son and his children and her siblings, ”Moore said.
Sowell “could have been quit years ago if we had done our job,” said former Cleveland City Council member Zack Reed, whose East Side branch included Sowell’s home. He said it was unfortunate that the sausage company was never compensated for the upgrades it made.
Cleveland police failed to connect the dots and realize that missing women, many of whom are addicted to drugs and living on the fringes of society, had been murdered by one person, Reed said Tuesday.
“We have not thoroughly investigated those missing women,” he said. “We have not taken their families and the community seriously.”
Sowell was convicted and sentenced to death in 2011 for killing the women. He was also convicted of raping two other women and attempting to rape another. His execution was not planned.
Sowell was a former Marine who had a brutal childhood and struggled with his mental health, John Parker, one of his defense attorneys, said Tuesday.
“He wasn’t a monster and he wasn’t bad,” Parker said. “He has been damaged by child abuse and serious psychological problems. May he rest in peace. “
In 2014, ground was broken on a memorial where the remains of Sowell’s victims were found.
In 2019, Cleveland settled a lawsuit filed by two of Sowell’s survivors. The women alleged that a police detective had misunderstood the investigation into charges against Sowell, allowing him to remain free and victimize more women.
Sowell had appealed his case. As late as May, a panel of three judges at the 8th District Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Sowell had not provided sufficient evidence that he was not being given a fair trial and that his trial lawyers were representing him ineffectively during the sentence phase.
The panel also upheld a lower court ruling that rejected Sowell’s request for a post-conviction exemption.
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Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo and Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report.