U.S. judge sentences serial killer Anthony Sowell to death

[News_Editor]

U.S. judge sentences serial killer Anthony Sowell to death

2011-08-13 04:11:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

CLEVELAND, OHIO (BNO NEWS) -- A U.S. judge on Friday sentenced to death serial killer Anthony Sowell who was previously convicted of 11 counts of aggravated murder and more than 70 other charges including rape and kidnapping.

On Wednesday, the 12-person jury voted unanimously to recommend a death sentence to be imposed for each of the slayings, but Cuyahoga County Judge Dick Ambrose still had the option to sentence Sowell to life in prison instead. However, Wednesday's jury recommendation was required before Ambrose could sentence Sowell to death.

Sowell was arrested in October 2009 as a suspect in the murders of eleven women whose bodies were discovered at his Cleveland house. The victims ranged in age from 25 to 52 and had been raped.

Sowell was convicted late last month on the eleven counts of aggravated murder as well as 70 other charges which include rape and kidnapping. During the mitigation phase of the trial, Sowell pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and said he was "truly sorry" for the crimes he committed.

But Ambrose said during Friday's sentencing that the court gives no weight to Sowell's expression of remorse. The death sentence was welcomed by the victims' relatives who told Sowell he would go to hell. The killer remained silent throughout Friday's sentencing.

His lawyer previously claimed that Sowell and his crimes were the result of childhood abuse and said the lack of nurturing in his home made him unable to stand physical contact or any signs of affection.

Sowell had previously already served time in prison. In 1989, after a seven year career with the Marines and a failed marriage, Sowell began a 15-year sentence for attempted rape. After his release from jail, Sowell said, his health began to fail. In 2007, he suffered a major heart attack and began hearing voices.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-13

[maidu]

Not to try and excuse such heinous crimes, but many many children in the US and elsewhere have abysmal conditions at their 'homes' during their formative years. Many people should just not be parents, period. People go to get approvals for loans, for education, for moving in to a gated community, ......yet there are zero approval apparatus for breeding. I don't suggest there should be. Indeed, I have few practical solutions for the terrible state of affairs re; abusive parents. The state can't forbid anyone from making babies, though many babies get conceived via rape and/or incest. Even when one or both parents are known to be abusive to their kids, there's scant little society can do to try and remedy that. One result is sickos like Mr. Sowell - yet there are tens of thousands of other sickos out there, like ticking time bombs, just waiting to go off. And further hundreds of thousands of future problem children in the works - most of whom are products of sicko parenting. Two gestures that might put a slight dent in such problematic trends: free birth control for anyone, and free tube-tying operations for any adult who consents..

[Semper]

Sickos who get caught should be sterilised to prevent them from spreading their sick genes.

[snarky66]

Kudos to the judge. Just unfortunate that he will spend 15 years on death row appealing ad naseaum. They should send him on his way him before Christmas.

[maidu]

Kudos to the judge. Just unfortunate that he will spend 15 years on death row appealing ad naseaum. They should send him on his way him before Christmas.

Not only that, it costs about 1 million dollars per year for each prisoner on death row, and a bit less for other prisoners. The US federal gov't only knows how to do things expensively. Meanwhile, many law-abiding citizens in the US are slipping thru the cracks in the economic floorboard. Death row and felony prisoners get free medical and dental treatment, 3 meals a day, and a roof over their heads, whereas many Americans on the outside get none of that.

[saraburioz]

Kudos to the judge. Just unfortunate that he will spend 15 years on death row appealing ad naseaum. They should send him on his way him before Christmas.

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[zzaa09]

Sickos who get caught should be sterilised to prevent them from spreading their sick genes.

Wouldn't have this worry if they were locked up permanently...

What sickens me are the overall judicial ideals of a bail and parole systems. Too many snafus and loop-holes.

[Scott]

An off-topic post was deleted.