Anthony Sowell Lawyers Cite News Coverage in Appeal of Death Sentence

Claiming the Anthony Sowell case brought out a “frenzied, unabated, heated, and an unmitigated media circus,” appellate lawyers for convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell cite 300+ newspaper articles and three books, including my own Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer, as negative media coverage that should convince the court to convert Sowell’s death sentence to life in prison.

The appeal before the Ohio Supreme Court uses the newspaper articles to support its claim that Sowell could not have received a fair trial, given the coverage.

From the appeal: Not surprisingly, not one of the stories listed above could be characterized as favorable, sympathetic or even neutral toward Sowell. Going into his trial, however, prospective jurors were awash in this information.

The unfair trial due to juror bias is a standard appeal, and in cases like that of Sowell’s, unlikely to get Sowell off of Death Row in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he is one of 141 inmates awaiting death.

Attorney’s for Stephen Grant, the subject of my first true crime book, A Slaying in the Suburbs: The Tara Grant Murder, filed a similar appeal, although added a number of other factors, including alleging Grant was interviewed in violation of his Miranda rights. The appellate court ruled against Grant:

There was no impediment to discovery of actual or potential biases, and the voir dire was sufficiently probing to uncover any biases. While essentially all of the jurors indicated being aware of the case, the vast majority of those impaneled had only a passing knowledge of the case and had little exposure to the details. In addition, all those impaneled swore, under oath, that

they could be impartial, notwithstanding any exposure to media reports about the case.

The decision that was upheld by the state’s supreme court. 

In Cleveland, The Land of Sowell, a Letter to a Street Criminal

 In the book, Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer, I write extensively of the pervasive influence of crack in the inner-city in which Sowell murdered and stashed 11 women in and around his home on Imperial Avenue.

From Nobody’s Women:

Crack is heavily addictive because of the speed with which is reaches the brain. Although people who snort cocaine get high, it takes some time for the drug to hit the pleasure center, as it’s absorbed through the nasal membranes. The lungs, however, have a ready connection to the bloodstream. The rush creates the motivation to repeat the ingestion. Over and over.

“It’s like once you smoke it, it’s like a big rush, and it doesn’t last but five seconds,” says Dawnetta Cassidy, who hung out in the Imperial neighborhood over the years. “And that’s why everybody likes it. It’s the drug that makes you run back and forth. You just don’t get up and leave. You gotta have the next hit.”

The Imperial neighborhood was riddled with the drug in 1990, when Sowell was sent to prison, but it was an epidemic by the time he was released, in 2005.

But in 1985, after his discharge from the Marines, Sowell, who loved his booze and weed, would find almost everyone he ran into smoking crack on these streets. It was an amazing change for him; the very Euclid Avenue that he used to walk to school on was now a hotbed of drug sellers. And with those vendors came women willing to do anything to obtain crack.

Anything.

Here is a 2007 letter written by Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek to a teenaged Arsenio Winston, who had recently been busted for selling crack in Polensek’s district at a location about 9 miles from Sowell's home.  

The letter reads, in part:

       As Councilman representing Cleveland's 11th Ward, I have been notified once again that you have been arrested for dealing drugs in my ward, this time at the Convenient Food Mart located at 18506 St Clair Avenue in the parking lot. 
      Mr. Winston, you have to be "dumber than mud." Don't you know that one of your so-called "friends" from the "8th-Avenue gang" ratted your "ass" out that you were dealing drugs from the parking lot? They cut a deal. So much for your wonderful pals, you idiot. I am so glad that you are now 18 years of age, because now you are an adult and can no longer hide behind the juvenile court system, Mr. Quarterback, loser. Remember when you told me to "kiss your black ass" at R.J. Taylor Playground and that you were going to be an NFL Quarterback? Well, the NFL, despite perceptions, is "not for losers!"
       In closing, I told you just recently to stay out of my neighborhood, you crack dealing piece of trash. Yet, you keep coming back because you think you are a big man. Well, real men go to school or to work every day and take care of their family, and not through illegal drug activity. You are a "thug" and you know what? There are only two places you will end up at the rate you are going — that is, prison or the nearest funeral home. Quite frankly, I don't care which one you get to first as long as your dumb stupid ass is out of my neighborhood.
       Have a wonderful life, Arsenio. I'm sure you have made your mother real proud. Remember when I spoke to her one of the other times that you were arrested for assaulting a police officer on East 185th Street? Only a moron would do that. Your fate is totally in your hands; which, is a scary thought.

      It is a scary thought. Winston was arrested several more times over the next two years, including a robbery charge, kidnapping and another trafficking rap. He’s now 24 years old and in prison, serving 8 years.  In 2008, while he racked up the charges, he was in and out of jail until a judge finally realized that Winston was truly a menace to society.

This is a case of how system works effectively. Polensek’s letter of course had no effect. But it’s sure nice in the rear view mirror to see a common sense, frustrated response such as Polensek's to Winston's pending frittered future. 

Ten Minutes With Me Goes by Like Five: Q & A in Plain Dealer

Spending some afternoon time in a bar with journalist par excellence Michael Heaton of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland is just one more great part of this occupation. We sit and talk and drink, he asks some questions and the next thing you know, a beautifully simple blurb like this drops.  Thanks to Heaton, who has his own book, Truth and Justice for Fun and Profit: Collected Reporting, the book, Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell,has moved up in Amazon rank. I check it every few days, just to make sure I’m going to recoup the advance and live to write another day.

I also look at reviews; most every writer does, out of a morbid curiosity. Today, there were a few news ones, including something from a reviewer calling herself Georgia Girl that hit close to my own sentiment: “I hesitate to give the book a 5-star rating because it is a chilling, upsetting book. But, it is an interesting book that was well written and researched.”

That’s how I felt as I wrote it – chilled and upset.  Good insight. And thanks to these other folks who handed down some kind reviews. 

No Big Deal: Sowell Drawing on Serial Killer Memorabilia Site

It’s never clear enough to folks that convicted criminals cannot profit on any proceeds connected to their crime. This story in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, which I am now thinking has some of the best reporters in the U.S., notes some drawings of tombstones by Anthony Sowell that are available on a serial killer memorabilia site.

No big deal, really – I still have some serial killer trading cards – and these things appease the wishes of some twisted collectors.

The article notes how stupid it all is, but the serial killer has sadly been built up in our culture to some borderline heroic status.  There’s absolutely nothing interesting or charismatic about Sowell.  While John Wayne Gacy and Charles Manson achieve infamy, most killers, serial or not, are as bland as Sowell. Regardless, some people are  interested in things he touches. This isn’t the first time Sowell has appealed to collectors.

From the book, Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer:

Anthony Sowell spent some time writing letters to a website devoted to selling serial killer memorabilia called Serial Killers Ink. One of his letters went up for sale for $200. He addressed the letter to employees at the California-based outfit. In another letter, he wrote, "I can only get money orders at this time and, yes, I can receive pictures.

On a Christmas card, he wrote to one admirer, “So if you need someone to talk to I am here for you. So tell me what do you want to know about me? I know what I want to know about you, what type of woman are you? Do you have a man in your life?”

Beneath his signature was the Bible verse Matthew 1:23: “Behold the Virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

Still another, to a California woman, read, “Thank you for sending me your support. I hope that you are doing well and in good health. I am in need of just about everything and anything you can do to help out is a blessing . . . never send cash in the mail, you can send me money orders. Just put my name and number on it and put it in with your next letter. OK, I’ve got to close now, I only get 20 min out.”

He signed it “Tony Sowell” and underneath, “Anthony Sowell.”

To a person named Barry, he wrote about his life in jail.

“They are treating me well here, I have my own cell and my own TV so it’s ok for now . . . I was married before, my ex-wife died in an industrial accident back in 1998 in California, her home state. We were married for about three years and had no kids.”

He signed off, “Your pal, Anthony Sowell.”

The letters sold for between $80 and $200.

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Cleveland: Sowell Contacts Everywhere

I keep running into Sowell people here in Cleveland. Today, a friend here who does home renovation called me about something and mentioned that he was working with a guy who did time with Sowell. He said Sowell would be elbowed and pushed around in prison and never did anything, a sign of weakness among inmates.

At the West End Tavern, where I was meeting the esteemed Plain Dealer columnist Michael Heaton for drinks, a gentleman came up after learning I was the author of the new book on Anthony Sowell and said he went to junior high and high school with Sowell.

“Tony was a nice guy, he wasn’t really quiet or anything, he was one of us,” the guy told me.  He said he saw him later on outside a grocery store – around the same time Sowell was arrested in 2009 – and Sowell ht him up for change.

“He was a regular guy, he was friendly,” this fellow told me. “He went in the service and was never the same.”

As the book notes, Sowell shined in the Marines and also confirms what Sowell’s former classmate said.

From the book:

Sowell reported for boot camp on January 24, 1978, at Parris Island, South Carolina before being dispatched for basic training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

It was the smartest thing Sowell would ever do, and his time in the Marines was marked with success, at least professionally.

He finished first in his basic training class of 40. Soon he would find that he could hit a target with a rifle from 600 yards. Like all Marines, Anthony Sowell was taught how to defend himself and emerge victorious from battlefield conflicts, how to hurt an enemy by hand, using choke holds, punches and weapons in hand-to-hand combat. These are special fighting skills, similar to those taught and embraced by the vaunted Navy Seals. 

In May 1978, Sowell began his military career as an electrician at Camp Lejeune first obtaining his high school equivalency and then studying electrical wiring before moving up the coast to Cherry Point, where he stayed until March 1980 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, an aviation unit supporting Marine ground operations in wartime. A solid Marine, Sowell moved around a lot, adapting anywhere he went He even boxed in the camp boxing clubs, again showing he had something to prove.

He next moved on to Camp Smedley Butler with the 3rd Force Service Support Group, Fleet Marine Force Pacific in Okinawa, Japan for a year.

Sowell served the last of his tour of duty at Camp Pendleton, California.

His military stint was marked by his good performance; Sowell received awards during his seven-year Marine Corps career, including a Good Conduct Medal with one star, a Meritorious Mast certificate, Sea Service Deployment ribbon, Certificate of Commendation and two Letters of Appreciation.

“He did exceptionally well . . . Mr. Sowell was promoted meritoriously to private first class at the end of recruit training, which is an extreme distinction,” said Walter Bansley III, a military lawyer who analyzed Sowell’s military records.

Unfortunately, then he came home. And was never quite the same.

WMMS, WJW, Cleveland Appearances

From the 70s: Was it W "Magic MushroomsS"?

This morning I did the morning show on WJW, the local Fox affiliate in Cleveland and Rover’s show on WMMS. It’s a little easier this time around, and I find myself enjoying talking to these folks, who, although it’s a job, seem interested. Rover was especially smart, and his morning zoo format was on hold while we talked. It was free and easy and he was up on the whole story, leading the listeners through a story that many of them may not have been all that familiar with.

We got done and we talked about the history of WMMS, which approached Detroit’s gold standard WABX in the early 70s as far as progressive programming. It broke Ziggy-era David Bowie in the Midwest, and also tried mightily to support Roxy Music, even though the local flavor was more James Gang, Michael Stanley’s Silk and Rasberries.

The station is now owned by Clear Channel, housed in a faceless office building in a generic office park, with a day care and gym in the building for all the corporate drones.

Clear Channel just can’t keep itself for getting rid of people, it seems, and I looked at the folks that were part of Rover’s show and was happy they were there. At least for a while. You never know when a company’s top dogs are paid salaries ranging from $3.4 million to $658,000.

Corporate America: What a scumbag, greedy way to roll.

It's On: Review of Sowell Book, Radio Appearance

The early stages of press for  Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer, are beginning, and as usual, I look at the situation as a necessary evil. It’s great meeting both the fans and detractors of a work but by the time this point comes, my head on onto forward things, new stuff.

Then a good review pops in a well-read true crime pub and I’m back in the PR game.

“…The writing is smooth; bringing together a group of the downtrodden without losing their individuality then on to the judicial proceedings (with an interesting twist, by the way) with flawlessness. Readers will be pleased to find the trial portion is not a repeat but rather unweighted with information not mentioned in the first 200+ pages.”

The bad ones come as well, but it’s cool that anyone is reading, still amazes me every time.

Last week I did Dan Zupansky’s excellent radio show, and he never disappoints as a no-bullshit guy who knows the material and comes with a straightforward deal for his listeners – hear the show and you’ll know what the book is like. I did the show for Girl, Wanted and it was the same smooth ride.

Next week, I’m in Cleveland hitting WMMS and the local Fox-TV affiliate while also attending the staging of “Violence of One” at Baldwin Wallace University, a play about Sowell and fellow Cleveland native Jeffrey Dahmer. After the play, we’ll have a Q & A and a discussion.  It sounds pretty good, actually, but I’m always thinking about what is on the horizon. 

Explode the Myth: Black Serial Killer is not Rare

My new book, Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer, is about a black man, who kills in a pattern, making him, yes, a serial killer.

I realized after the book was written that there is some debate as to the prevalence of black serial killers; some contend the number is commensurate with the overall black population on the U.S., about 13 percent, while the popular belief seems to that whites are more likely to engage in serial killing.

This is often the stuff of geeky, headline-seeking shrinks and so-called crime experts. I don’t care much for statistical breakdowns, so I called Louis Schlesinger, professor of forensic psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, who has studied mass killers since the 1970s.

“It’s a myth that that there are few black serial killers,” Schlesinger said. “People in the 80s started this, people who had no knowledge of it.”

Media drives the myth, he said, because an “evil genius” is much more scary and interesting than a regular person, black or white, killing off people seemingly at random and in a pattern.

“I heard from a book editor that black serial killers aren’t marketable,” Schlesinger said. “People want Hannibal Lecter.”

There are a number of studies on serial killers that include race that put black serial killers at a little over 25 percent of the total in the U.S., such as this one. 

“You see this a lot, this thing about the ‘rare black serial killer,” said  Mike Aamodt, a psychology professor at Radford University in Virginia who through his comprehensive research has made himself the go-to guy when it comes to serial killers. He operates the Serial Killer Information Center.

The black serial killer is not rare at all, he said, and in fact you often see them killing prostitutes in bad neighborhoods, like Sowell did.

“The crime rate is about the same for African-Americans as it is for serial killers, though” Aamodt explained. Again, the media perpetuates the false perception of the ‘rare’ black serial killer by not paying as much attention to crimes in lower income areas where people go missing and murdered frequently.

The FBI in 2005 changed its definition of serial killers, from three killings in different locations separated by a cooling-off period to two killings.

“Which meant that gang members are getting thrown in as serial killers,” Aamodt said, explaining in part the statistical leap for blacks and other minorities.

Sowell was a classic serial killer, committing his crimes intermittently and with a pattern. He was a remorseless murderer, and it still shakes me up to think real hard about it. The book is a straight-on tale of darkness. The Cleveland media did a great job of coverage, but the book ties it all together with original reporting and interviews. I often wonder what is redeeming about these books, and I realize that we learn so much from crime and from the procedure of detection and prosecution. We ignore stories like this, in an ignorance in bliss shelter, at great peril.