Cleveland Serial Killer: Rapist Anthony Sowell's Home Held 6 Dead Bodies

While many children throughout the United States readied themselves for Halloween, some children in Cleveland's east side were planning for a night in as police searched for convicted rapist and suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell. And even after Anthony Sowell was arrested Saturday afternoon, many stayed home instead of enjoying the holiday, their day already ruined by the knowledge that Anthony Sowell had not only been wanted for another suspected rape, he also had six decomposing bodies in his house. As incongruous as it reads, having a real serial killer in their midst put a damper on Cleveland's Halloween.

Accoring to AOL.com, Cleveland Police missed Anthony Sowell when they went to serve a warrant for his arrest for suspected assault and rape on Thursday evening. Instead, officers discovered two decomposing bodies in the house Anthony Sowell had lived in since getting out of prison in 2005. A subsequent search of the premises would net them another four bodies. Besides being a suspected serial rapist, Sowell was now also a suspected serial killer.

By Saturday, all six bodies had been autopsied. Two of the bodies were that of black females, one of which had died violently and as a result of homicide, according to the Cuyahoga County coroner. The cause of death was not released, nor was the race of the other four bodies.

The suspected serial killer was sighted by authorities and picked up while walking down the street of Cleveland's east side. Anthony Sowell at first told Cleveland Police that they had the wrong man but admitted to being the man they were looking for once they began fingerprinting him. Investigators are now reviewing missing persons cases back to 2005 when Sowell got out of prison after serving a 15-year sentence for a 1989 rape.

As a convicted rapist, Anthony Sowell was required to report to a parole officer. The sheriff's office said that Sowell had complied.

But Phillip Garrido, another convicted rapist, had complied with the terms of his parole as well. And while he was complying, he had abducted, allegedly raped and held captive 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard, who he had kept for 18 years secreted on his property in California, fathering two children by her. Phillip Garrido had even had unsuspecting California Department of Corrections officials in his home multiple times over the years in addition to reporting in person to a parole officer.

So how is it that these men allegedly continued to perform illegal acts and still complied with the terms of their parole? Because ensuring that an individual who has been convicted of past crimes complies with the terms of their parole is not the same as detecting whether or not they have committed another crime. And since those same men no doubt were circumspect while around the parole officers and other officials, they did not come under suspicion and their residences were never searched.

And time went by... until something happened that led to the discovery of their heinous crimes. With Phillip Garrido, it was his handing out religious literature at a UC-Berkeley campus with his two daughters and a subsequent background check by a couple of suspicious campus police officers that led to Jaycee Dugard's story being told. For Anthony Sowell, it had been the alleged rape of another woman that led police to his door.

Which leads to the questions: Will cases like those presented by Anthony Sowell and Phillip Garrido lead to a change in regulations regarding parolees where their place or places of residence are randomly searched? And if so, how will such an alteration stand up against privacy laws and the need for probable cause?

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Source:

AOL.com