Man denied bond after 10 bodies found

Cleveland, Ohio (CNN) -- A judge denied bond Wednesday for a convicted rapist accused in multiple killings, saying the latest allegations

are "gruesome" and the "most serious" he has heard during his time on the bench.

Investigators have found 10 bodies inside and outside Anthony Sowell's Cleveland house.

Sowell, 50, was mostly quiet Wednesday during his first court appearance. He is charged with five counts of aggravated murder, rape,

felonious assault and kidnapping, police said.

Dr. Frank Miller, Cuyahoga County coroner, planned to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to reveal the preliminary causes of

death for four bodies discovered the day before. He also is to provide information on a skull found wrapped in a paper bag and stuffed

into a bucket in Sowell's basement.

Five of the previously discovered victims were strangled, authorities said, while the sixth body was too decomposed to determine the

cause of death. All six were African-American women, officials said.

Authorities have not identified any of the victims.

Neighbors describe strange odors Video: Body count reaches 10 Video: Tip led to suspect's arrest

Cleveland

Murder and Homicide
Sowell showed no emotion during his hearing before Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine. Asked whether he could afford a lawyer,

Sowell responded quietly, "No sir."

In asking the judge to deny Sowell bond, Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Murphy said, "The state believes he's an incredibly

dangerous threat."

Adrine told the suspect, "This is without question the most serious set of allegations I have faced. Given the gruesomeness of what's

facing you ... you are being remanded without bond."

Kathleen Demetz, the public defender for Sowell, asked that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She also said that Sowell, an ex-Marine,

has a heart condition and wears a pacemaker.

Sowell has told authorities he had been collecting unemployment payments since being laid off from his job two years ago. It wasn't

immediately known what job he held.

Cleveland police Lt. Thomas Stacho has said Sowell has been making his living as a "scrapper."
"
He walks around and picks up scrap metal and takes it to junkyards to make a few pennies," he said.

Police said authorities in Coronado, California, also were checking to see if Sowell might be tied to a rape case there.

Investigators finished digging for more possible remains and evidence Wednesday outside Sowell's home and were preparing to go inside

to tear apart walls, floors and ceilings, police said.

"I like to believe there is nothing else more there, but we will not know until we finish the search," said Cleveland Police Chief Michael

McGrath. "It appears that this man had an insatiable appetite that he had to fill."

Police initially went to Sowell's house Thursday to follow up on a rape accusation. A week earlier, neighbors reported seeing a naked

woman fall from the second floor, but no charges were filed.

Sowell was arrested Saturday, two days after police discovered the decomposing bodies of five females inside his house and another

woman's body outside.

Four more bodies were discovered Tuesday buried in the yard behind the home, and the skull was found in the basement, police said.

Neighbors had complained of a foul smell in the area, but some thought it came from a business that sold sausage.

Sowell was convicted of a 1989 rape and was imprisoned from 1990 to 2005, police said. Since his release from prison, he was listed as

living at the Cleveland home where the bodies were found, McGrath said. He was registered as a sex offender.

Authorities from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office checked on Sowell regularly, most recently on September 22 to confirm his

address, McGrath said. They found no problems, he said.

Police began to get suspicious of Sowell after a woman accused him of rape and assault, Stacho said. Investigators obtained the warrants

that set off the search after getting the "cooperation of the victim," he said.