The Trial of Anthony Sowell - Updated

(Cleveland, Ohio) The trial of Anthony Sowell, 51, began today with jury selection in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

Sowell is charged with the aggravated murders of 11 women whose bodies were found hidden in his home and backyard.

The discovery of the bodies ignited an uproar that has yet to subside, with most of the anger directed at the city's police department. Some of the victims' families allege the police never bothered to look for their loved ones because they were addicted to drugs and lived in a dangerous part of town, near Sowell's home.

All of the victims were black. Most were strangled with household objects and had traces of drugs in their systems.

Residents of Mount Pleasant, Sowell's neighborhood, had complained about a rotting smell for months, but they say their complaints went unheeded.

The trial is expected to last several weeks. If convicted, Sowell could face execution.

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Body Count Grows to 11 in Cleveland - Updated
[Previous 11/3/09 post]
(Cleveland, Ohio) The body count at the home of Anthony Sowell is now at 11.

Sowell's home on Imperial Avenue now ranks among the deadliest crime scenes in Cleveland history.

Sowell, 50, was charged with five counts of aggravated murder even as workers continued finding more bodies in his back yard.

A heated tent is being installed in the back yard so crews can work through the night.

Police, coroner and fire personnel are at the home, along with a dump truck.

A massive investigation is underway, researching every place Sowell has resided.

Sowell was arrested on Saturday and is in custody at Cleveland City Jail. It's believed that all the bodies were black females, apparently strangled. It's also reported that Sowell's neighborhood has a reputation for being foul-smelling, logically a result of decomposing bodies.

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Six Bodies Found at Cleveland Home
[Previous 10/31/09 post]
(Cleveland, Ohio) Police are searching for 50-year-old convicted rapist and registered sex offender Anthony Sowell to explain why six bodies were found in and around his home.

According to Lt. Thomas Stacho of the Cleveland Police Department, the bodies were found during investigation of the alleged rape of a woman a month ago.

"Once we were able to get the cooperation of the victim, we secured an arrest warrant for Mr. Sowell and subsequently a search warrant for his premises," Stacho said.

On Thursday, detectives from the department's sex-crimes unit and members of its SWAT team went to Sowell's home to execute the warrant and to arrest the suspect, but he was nowhere to be found, Stacho said.

What they did find were the badly decomposed remains of two bodies on the third floor of the house, which is owned by an elderly relative of Sowell who did not live there, Stacho said.

A subsequent search on Thursday revealed what appeared to be a freshly dug grave under the stairs in the basement, he said.

On Friday, investigators returned to the house, dug up the grave and found a third body, he said.

A further search of the house and property found two more bodies in a crawl space and a sixth body was found in a shallow grave outside the home, Stacho said.

The bodies remain to be identified.

Cleveland Police Department is offering a $12,000 reward for Sowell's capture. Sowell is 6 feet tall and weighs 155 pounds. Anyone with information should contact the US Marshals Service Fugitive hotline at 1-866-4-WANTED.