Stench Returns To Accused Serial Killer's Neighborhood As Police Search For More Bodies Next Door

CLEVELAND — A stench around the home of a suspected serial killer returned stronger than ever Wednesday as police searched the house next door for more bodies and carried out bags of evidence.

"It's like it got worse," said 22-year-old neighbor Terrance Johnson. "It smells bad in the air, like death."

Four plainclothes officers carried bags of evidence from the house next door to Anthony Sowell's early Wednesday afternoon, but police did not indicate what had been removed. The red-painted house next to Sowell's appeared to be abandoned but in good shape, aside from a broken porch railing.

The 50-year-old Sowell has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder. He was indicted Monday on one count of attempted murder, two counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault in an alleged attack Sept. 22 that led to the search of his home.

The east-side neighborhood had reeked off and on for several years, and residents had blamed the odor on a broken sewer or a nearby sausage shop. Now most think the smell came from decomposing bodies.

Neighbors blamed Wednesday's renewed odor on increased activity near Sowell's house.

The FBI, which has offered technical help in the investigation, said the timing of a thermal-energy search of the property would be up to city police, who didn't indicate when that would start.

Makers of thermal-imaging devices say they can help police find buried bodies because dirt that has been turned over radiates heat differently than compacted soil.

Police discovered the first two bodies and a freshly dug grave Oct. 29 at Sowell's house after officers came to investigate a woman's report that she had been raped there. Sowell had fled the home and was arrested two days later.

In all, the remains of 11 women have been found in Sowell's home or yard. All of the women were black and most had been strangled, the coroner said. Nine have been identified through DNA and dental records.

Police said Sowell lured women – often those who were homeless or living alone and who abused drugs or alcohol – with liquor and attacked them in his home.

Sowell has asked for a court-appointed attorney, but court records don't reflect that one has been chosen for him.

Scott Wilson, an FBI spokesman in Cleveland, has said investigators are reviewing its national database of unsolved crimes for any clues to possible connections to Sowell, particularly at locations where he served in the military.

Sowell was in the Marines from 1978 to 1985 and spent time in California, the Carolinas and Japan.

Comments

[Waitaminute]

I know this odor very well. I know each time it rains, when the snow melts, when its hot, the smell is worse. If the city had come out to check the sewage system. If the proper authorities had come out to check the plant. They could have narrowed the smell down as coming from a home/s. Someone may have even recognized the smell.

[Waitaminute]

If the calls about bad order or any complaint comes from a mostly black neighborhood, its not taken serious. This had been going on for about 10 years. People complained that whole time. It didn't matter whether the sewage system are a plant caused it. It should have been investigated and something done about it years ago. If they had, lives would have been saved.

The families of these women, may they rest, should sue the city for not doing their duty and correcting the problem.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

Why does this remind me of Michael Moore's TV NATION episode where they did everything possible to make neighbors call the police on them, including digging up the back yard with a backhoe at 3am, only to have the neighbors tell their camera crew that the new neighbor "seemed quiet"?

[coastalcarla]

I feel sorry for everyone that lives in that neighborhood. When Dorothea Puente's backyard got dug up in Sacramento, I lived down the street. The smell gags you, when they disturb the earth around the bodies.

[melpol]

Uncle Sam loves all Americans. He has invested billions to protect us, and it is worth the cost. Each life is precious and no person should get hurt. 99% of violence is committed by loners, and there are millions of them. Some have flipped and went on a shooting spree. Mentally ill loners are hard to detect because many have no prior arrest record. Quiet neighbors must be watched for suspicious activity. We must all learn to be nosey. A well financed outreach program must be developed by the government. Loners must be visited and often questioned. The wrong answer will set off an alarm leading to their arrest. A sick loner in handcuffs is a guarantee that no innocent person will be murdered or maimed.

[dans5843]

smells bad? Must be republicans.

[jbeach]

No, if that were the case every single missing women would be plastered all over all the networks. Oh, and it would be Obama's fault, even for murders that occurred under Saint Reagan.

[Perry Clease]

No they are obsessive-­compulsive about being physically clean. On the other, over-washed, hand their ideology really stinks.

[Conk]

A man died on our apartment hallway and they didn't find him for a while. We had to hold our noses walking down the hall. It was BAD. If you've never smelled it before, you're lucky.

[GreatNews27]

So the FBI can't find decomposing bodies the first time and had to go back? Where do they get these agents, Mayberry?

[Punkinbugg]

They're searching the vacant NEIGHBOR'S house now.

[TimLB]

I'm told the perp's house is being dismantled brick-by-brick. That could certainly stir up some sediment.

[festry548]

This brings back chilling memories of 1978 in Chicago.

[Badwater]

So far, Gacy's still got him beat.

[donnybrkgr]

There is a stench coming from FOX NEWS as well

[CloseToTheEdge]

Perhaps they are thinking of giving the guy his own show.

[shivers]

yeah, but then they decided it was better to go with dead air instead

[dongarb]

Too bad for him he's not a billionair who runs a large bank. Those guys get all their crimes excused!

[hottingers]

He spent time in South Carolina? That explains a lot.

[mattwg440]

he shoots, he bricks it.Lame

There are plenty of things you can pick on SC about, don't lower yourself.

[CalifroniaMark]

The stench has returned? I thought we were done with sarah palin and john mccain.

[dazed]

Heh,heh

[CherrySpring]

Eleven (possibly more) women were brutally murdered and that's the best comment you could come up with?

[KIVPossum]

I wonder why the house next door suddenly started smelling worse

[yemaya]

It could be from all the diggin. It released more stench into the air.

[onalimb]

The house next door is empty - Sowell may have ditched some bodies there as well.

[barrycourage]

"A man familiar with decomposing bodies said it takes someone familiar with rotting bodies to detect the odor. The smell is extremely pungent and hard to describe, said Albert Samuels, chief investigator for the Wayne County medical examiner in Detroit.

"He compared the odor to a pile of rotting meat.

"'Not many people know what a dead body smells like,' he said. 'It’s a very, very strong smell that is foul and indistinguishable. It’s the mixture of gas, flesh and blood. It’s rotting foul flesh. It’s the reason people are embalmed.'­"

"The foul odor eventually loses its edge until a body is disturbed, Samuels said. Still, he is amazed that people lived with the smell for years."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/neighbors_wonder_how_stench_of.html

So much for the news.

Time for a late night snack.

[yemaya]

I've smelled it and he's right. You never forget it.

[wewin]

I never have and hope i never do.