Accused Serial Killer Pleads Insanity

A registered sex offender who is accused of killing 11 women and keeping their decomposing bodies in his home has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Anthony Sowell pleaded not guilty to all 85 counts in his indictment.

The charges against Sowell, 56, ranged from murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse.

However, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Richard Bombik said there was no evidence that Sowell is insane.

No Evidence of Mental Illness

"There seems to be a distinct pattern that he engages in and if he wants to call it madness, there's a distinct method to that madness," he said outside court. "I don't see anything in his background to suggest that he has a mental illness. It's just a, quite frankly, a psychopath."

In order to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, a defendant must be found to have a mental illness and not be able to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the crime. In other words, Sowell will have to prove that he is mentally ill and that he thought it was okay to rape and kill women and bury them in his back yard.

"I think he will fail miserably on both accounts," Bombik said.

Sowell was arrested after a police tip lead investigators to find six decomposing bodies in his Cleveland, Ohio home. A further search of the yard and basement of the home turned up four more bodies and a skull.

Previous Home Searched

All of the victims were black. Ten of them have been identified. Police said they were vulnerable victims, prostitutes or drug addicts.

Earlier this week, authorities searched an East Cleveland resident where Sowell previously lived, but found no additional bodies.

At his arraignment hearing via video from jail, Sowell was ordered held without bail. Prosecutors had requested bail in the amount of $11 million - $1 million per victim.

See Also:
Ohio Serial Killer Suspect Pleads Insanity

Earlier Articles:
4 More Bodies Found in Rapist's Home
Sex Offender Arrested After 6 Bodies Found

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^{Photo: Mug Shot}