6 bodies in home were homicide victims

November 02, 2009|Associated Press

CLEVELAND - Six decomposed bodies found at the home of a convicted rapist facing a new rape allegation were females, and all were homicide victims, the coroner’s office said yesterday.

Powell Caesar, a spokesman for Cuyahoga County coroner Frank Miller, said at least five of the victims apparently had been strangled. Decomposition made it difficult to determine how one victim died, he said.

None of the victims has been identified, Caesar said. Two victims were black, but race had not yet been determined in the other four bodies, he said.

Anthony Sowell, 50, of Cleveland, was arrested Saturday when officers spotted him walking down a street in his neighborhood.

Police found the first two bodies Thursday night when they went to Sowell’s home to arrest him on a new rape charge. Police said Sowell spent 15 years in prison for a rape in 1989.

On Friday police found a third body and remains that were confirmed on Saturday to be three additional bodies.

People who knew Sowell said he often walked around his neighborhood looking for scrap metal to sell and asking for money. Police urged the public for help yesterday in identifying missing people who may have been victims.