8th body found at Cleveland rapist's home: report

Source: CBC News

Posted: 11/03/09 5:50PM

Filed Under: World

Two more bodies were reportedly removed from the property of a convicted rapist in Cleveland on Tuesday, bringing to eight the number of bodies recovered since Oct. 29.

A Cleveland TV station said two bodies were found when police excavated the yard outside a house where the bodies of six women were discovered last week.

Police would not confirm the report but said additional details of their investigation would be provided at a news conference later Tuesday.

Police found bodies in the home of Anthony Sowell, 50, after a woman reported being raped at the house.

Sowell, who spent 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape, is being held in jail on an arrest warrant but hasn't yet been charged with any offence.

As a registered sex offender, Sowell is required to check in regularly at the sheriff's office. Officers didn't have the right to enter his house, but they would stop by to make sure he was there.

Most found in house

When they arrived to investigate the rape complaint, officers initially discovered three bodies and later found three more.

One of the bodies was found in a shallow grave in the backyard. The rest were in the house one in the basement, two in the third-floor living room and two in an upstairs crawl space, said police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho.

The bodies could have been there for weeks, months or years, said Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner. All the victims were women and five were strangled.

On Tuesday, detectives brought in cadaver dogs and digging equipment to scour the home and backyard, looking for evidence to connect Sowell to the bodies, Stacho said.

Authorities also were searching vacant homes within a few kilometres of the home, which is in a crowded inner-city neighbourhood of mostly older houses. Police did not say why they were searching the vacant homes or indicate whether they believe more bodies could be found.

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