Anthony Sowell

Anthony Edward Sowell (August 19, 1959 – February 8, 2021) was an American serial killer and rapist known as The Cleveland Strangler or The Imperial Avenue Murderer.

On January 24, 1978, at the age of 18, Sowell entered the United States Marine Corps.

He attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, then was further trained as an electrician at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

On July 13, 1978, he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, also in North Carolina.

In 1980, he spent a year overseas with the 3rd Force Service Support Group, then returned to Cherry Point.

Sowell was ordered to Marine Corps Base Camp Butler in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on January 20, 1984.

A year later, he transferred to Camp Pendleton in California for three days until his discharge on January 18, 1985.

During his seven-year Marine Corps career, he received a Good Conduct Medal with one service star, a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, a Certificate of Commendation, a Meritorious Mast, and two Letters of Appreciation.

In 1989, a woman who was three months pregnant attempted to leave Sowell's home.

He bound her hands and feet with a tie and belt, then gagged her with a rag.

She told police: "He choked me real hard because my body started tingling. I thought I was going to die."

In 1990 he was charged with kidnapping, rape and attempted rape.

He pled guilty to attempted rape, and served 15 years in prison.

He was released in 2005.

Sowell worked in a factory until 2007 when he began collecting unemployment benefits.

Neighbors said he earned a living selling scrap metal.

They complained to the health department of a foul smell in the neighborhood.

He was a member of an online dating service, where he said he was a "master" looking for a submissive person to train.

Lori Frazier, a niece of Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, began a relationship with Sowell shortly after his release from prison and resided in his home.

She said she smelled decaying bodies and was told the smell was coming from Sowell's stepmother.

When she moved out, she said the smell was from Ray's Sausage Shop, located next door.

In a video interview she mentions moving out in 2007, but in a published article she is said to have been living there until 2008.

A friend said Frazier stopped spending time at the home in 2008.

In September 2009, Sowell invited Latundra Billups to his home for a drink.

On September 22, she told police that after a few drinks, he became angry and hit, choked, and raped her as she passed out.

On October 29, police arrived at his home with an arrest warrant.

He was not there, but he was located and arrested two days later.

The bodies of two women were buried in a shallow grave in the basement and four other women were found on the third floor of the home, and in crawlspaces.

After digging in the backyard, investigators found three more bodies and partial remains of a fourth.

A human skull in a bucket inside the house brought the body count to 11.

Most of the victims were killed by manual strangulation and others were gagged or had ligatures on their bodies when they were discovered.

Sowell also raped three women, luring them to his property with an invitation to smoke crack cocaine with him.

He was convicted in 2011 of murdering 11 women whose bodies were discovered at his Cleveland, Ohio, home in 2009.

After being sentenced to death for the murders, Sowell died in prison from a terminal illness.

Anthony Edward Sowell was born and raised in East Cleveland, Ohio, one of seven children born to single parent Claudia "Gertrude" Garrison.

Seven other children belonging to Sowell's sister also lived in the household, having moved in after her death following a chronic illness.

Sowell had an extremely abusive and traumatic upbringing thanks largely to Garrison; according to Sowell's niece, Leona Davis, Garrison subjected them to physical abuse while her own children watched from adjacent rooms.

In one incident, Garrison forced Davis to strip naked in front of the other children, then whipped her with electrical cords until she bled.

Sowell himself began raping his niece on an almost daily basis for two years, starting when she was 10.

It was reported by Davis that the other males in the household also committed the rapes.