Anthony Sowell Psyche Exam, Prison Records

If you haven’t read the psychological report on Anthony Sowell, it’s here.  Completed in September 2005, it finds Sowell has a low chance of recidivism, or committing another crime.

As I point out, Sowell lied to the government analyst, something s a trained professional might have wanted to ponder.  Sowell was also a guy who was refused release on a 5 to 15 year sentence for rape based on the severity and violence of his crime.  Check out some of Sowell’s parole considerations here.

From the book:

In August 2005, Sowell received a notice in the mail from the Cuyahoga County Court Psychiatric Clinic. As part of his sex-offender monitoring, he was required to undergo a sexual-predator evaluation.

On September 1, 2005, Sowell showed up an hour early to the county Justice Center, a little put out by the obligation. After all, he felt, he had served his complete sentence, he wasn’t on parole or probation, and he was working twelve-hour days at a good job, one with community standing. The Indians, like the football Browns and the basketball Cavaliers, were religion among many Clevelanders.

Straight away, Sowell was told that there could be some negative impacts from the evaluation. It was a public record.

“I know, I know,” he said, his initial irritation dissipating. He had no choice, and over the course of the next hour and a half, Sowell talked, listened, and talked some more. In some cases, he told the truth. In others, he covered up.

He reported that his upbringing was in a single-parent home in an urban area, and he added that his home “was crowded.”

He told the analyst that he had a lot of friends while growing up but added that he was bullied and teased as well. He neglected to tell of the sexual abuse he both witnessed and partook in. In fact, whether it was a case of covering up or of being completely oblivious, he told the analyst that his childhood was good.

The report also notes that Sowell claimed that “he was not exposed to violence in his home, school, or community” and that “he does not have a strong temper.”

In doing background work on Sowell, the analyst later wrote in a report that “Mr. Sowell’s grades [in high school] were average; he was never in special education classes nor did he receive tutoring or medicine for attention problems. His school attendance was generally good and he was never suspended or expelled.”

Sowell said he’d never been suspended from school or fired from a job, and he had never received any government assistance of any kind, for any reasons.

Asked about the attack on Melvette Sockwell, he claimed to have known her for about eighteen months at the time of the incident, an assertion Melvette denies and was never verified by the state.

“He stated that he paid her money to engage in consensual sex,” according to the report. “He stated that he had used alcohol prior to the . . . offense but was not ‘falling down drunk.’ He indicated that he pled guilty to the charge because he was having difficulty mounting a ‘good defense.’”

His attorney in that case—the one who Sowell implied was ineffective—was Jim McDonnell, who, many years later, would run for Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

“All I can tell you is that I remember nothing about representing him,” McDonnell says now.

Sowell talked about his drinking and confided that he may well have a drinking problem although, because of his incarceration, he hadn’t been drunk in sixteen years, since he was thirty.

Questioned about sex, Sowell simply lied. He said he learned about sex through talking with his friends at school and sex-ed classes and that his first sexual experience came at age seventeen with his high school girlfriend, who would have been Twyla Austin.

He admitted that he bought hookers while he was in the marines and hit the occasional strip joint. He said that like most men, he had checked out pornography, some hard-core, but never had any violent sexual fantasies. In fact, he came off as a guy who caught a bad break on the rape charge.

To the nameless analyst, who would file this report for public consumption as well as for judges and lawyers and law-enforcement agents who look to these professional assessments for guidance in determining a suspect’s possible guilt, Anthony Sowell seemed like a pretty okay guy. In the report, the analyst wrote that Sowell was “attentive throughout the interview. He demonstrated a full range of emotional expression. His speech was appropriate for rate, tone and volume. He was generally cooperative and polite. His thoughts were organized and logical. His responses were clear and understandable. He described his general mood as ‘good.’ The defendant’s hazard recognition skills and social judgment were good.” The analyst’s report went on to say, “It is my opinion that with reasonable professional certainty that Mr. Sowell does not currently present with the following risk factors most significantly correlated with sexual offense recidivism.”

The factors that the analyst indicated included age (at forty-six, Anthony Sowell was statistically less a risk to reoffend), gender of victim (a male victim typically indicates a higher risk), and, notably, failure to complete treatment (in Sowell’s case, he had never had treatment; therefore, this factor was ignored—he could not be said to have “failed” to complete something he’s never even begun). Also considered were prior sexual offenses (of which Sowell had none) and deviant sexual preferences (which he denied).

Sowell was given a low probability rating to reoffend. Years later, when the report was revealed to have been flawed, the county refused to divulge who the analyst was. But as a result of that county employee’s poor judgment, Sowell was classified as a “sexually oriented offender” based on his attempted rape conviction, but not a “sexual predator,” which would have placed him under more scrutiny when a sex crime was reported in the area around him.

The system was not working.

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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. 

Good Music, Good Money?

 It’s not that far back that if you made music for money, you were a mercenary and drew derision from almost every quarter, except your benefactors.

In doing work for the upcoming book, Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Five Decades of Rock ‘n Roll in America’s Loudest City, everyone I spoke with was keen on making a living out of their craft save for the in-between hardcore crowd, which simply faced the reality that such anti-social din would never appeal to the masses. I was in that; if anyone would have even mentioned a large label deal, we would have hurt them.

Jack White told me recently of being approached fairly early on by the Gap to use a White Stripes song for advertising. He said, “I think that was one of the first offers we got for some money and we turned it down. The funny thing was…a lot of those things, we really didn’t know what to do. We needed the money but we said no to it.”

As Electric Six manager Chris Fuller told me, “If Jack went into it thinking he would make himself rich, he would have been certifiable, but he was clear on the art of it.”

That’s the purity of art.  I’m not sure I have met anyone who believes in that more than Jack White.  That’s another conversation.

On the other hand, more bands than ever are taking dough from major corporations – Electric Six not long ago entered a sweepstakes for a Target advertising campaign but finished out of the money – and it never raises an eyebrow.  Larry Hardy from the label In The Red, one of the best in the land,  acknowledges that he readily pitches his bands as willing and ready to do business with corporate America. (Full disclosure: I have an agent that pitches my books to TV shows and movie agents for possible use. These are smaller production companies but corporate in nature. I accept that salary and expense money.)

When Sonic Youth took a deal from Geffen in the late 80s, it was like the group had led a massacre of artistic values.  X signed to a major and a segment of the band’s audience left them.  For X, the music went to hell almost immediately, as opposed to Sonic Youth’s firm grasp on the good stuff for some time. Apparently the good life doesn’t mean compromise to all people, although it generally spells bad things for the creative process.

When I started playing in the early 80s, we took a certain glee in pissing off almost anyone who came into contact with us.  The notion of being paid via anything other than gigs and records was never considered.  A good laugh was that while we often railed against the government – this was in the days when the government was still considered a nefarious body seeking to control our lives rather than a feel-good life saver tossed to the disenfranchised – we would excuse ourselves to go to the food stamp office.  In San Francisco there was a punk rock network that provided a local address to touring musicians and you could get food stamps from the state-administered program within a few hours. While waiting, we went over to the nearby Carl’s Jr. and ate.

I understand wanting to make a living off the music, and today a fine band like the Dirtbombs gets nice money from Scion for songs and shows and earn every penny. It’s not that these bands don’t deserve it.

Did the Laughing Hyenas deserve such? Probably. Surgery? Of course.  In fact, Amphetamine Reptile and Touch & Go churned out bands that would have been great for commercials and movies, hipper than thou shit that woulda been a good time serving Ford or Nissan. The bands were a little less stable then and perhaps Toyota paying bands on heroin would have been bad PR. Things today are sadly wholesome.

I was in a bar in Las Vegas in the late 90s, afternoon, Cubs game, 110 degrees outside. Between innings, an ad came on, maybe Nissan or Nike, and it used “Search and Destroy” as the music bed. I wasn’t sure what to think, but it made enough of an impact that I recall time and place. Iggy was all sold out by then anyway, and the fact that it was the Stooges was good enough. Was America catching on? Could take #14 of “Loose” off the Funhouse box be next? I could handle that.

On Thursday I saw The People’s Temple, a terrific band from the town I live in, Lansing, Mich. The four-piece played a Brian Jonestown/Dandys psyche that was terrific and clearly over the heads of the 40 or so people who came to have fun, whatever that is. For some reason, I thought ‘these guys could get a deal.’ But who cares? Their lives should be about busted vans with no climate control and shitty hotels and couches and strange interludes and truck stops and run down clubs. Instead, I clouded that with the thought that some corporation should foot the bill and give them a salary. For their sake, I hope they think about the experience and the music. And if any A & R people come near, just ask them to buy you another beer and move on. You’ve got some living  to do.  And it will be a lot more fun without a full wallet. 

Book on Anthony Sowell, Cleveland Serial Killer, Hits October 2

It was an interesting ride, writing a true crime slasher book, Nobody’s Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer. The book hits October 2. Between 2007 and 2009, Sowell murdered 1 women, luring them off the streets and into his three-story house in the middle of one of Cleveland’s most squalid neighborhoods. He kept their bodies in his house and buried them in his basement and back yard. I talked with Sowell a few times while writing the book and will be sure to send him a copy. It was quickly apparent that he had no guilt over his actions. When he realized that I was not going to pay him for a conversation, nor would I treat him with any respect, he stopped calling and writing me. I’ll print some of his letters here after the book is released. For the necessary evil, the hardest part of any book, I’ll be in Cleveland for a week in October. On Saturday, October 6, a performance of The Violence of One, a performance/play about the sagas of Sowell and fellow Clevelander Jeffrey Dahmer will take place at Baldwin Wallace College, then again on October 11 at the east campus of Cuyahoga Community College. I’ll be at both of them; Tom Sutton and his crew at Baldwin Wallace do some ambitious work.  

Cleveland Serial Killer Book out October 2 - Read About Anthony Sowell

Blue Oyster Cult Lyric Sheet from 1973

Lester Bangs, graced with an audience one night at his house on Brown Street in Birmingham, proceeded to play Raw Power and Tyranny & Mutation over and over. Bob Mulrooney, aka Bootsey X, who would become one of Detroit’s most prolific musical Men About Town, was working at a college radio station in 1974 and headed over to Lester’s after obtaining an obscure Velvet Underground tape from a NY collector with instructions to give a copy to Bangs.

“Dave Marsh lived there and so did Ben Edmonds,” Mulrooney said. “I went there with a couple friends. I wasn't even a drinker at the time, and Lester's hands were shaking. It was the early evening, but he was shaking when we met, and he goes, ‘let's go get some beer.’ I said, ‘whatever,’ so we got loaded. We put on the tapes for a minute and Lester goes, fuck this shit, let's put on Raw Power. So we played Raw Power like, over and over and over, for hours. Only that and Blue Oyster Cult, Tyranny & Mutation. Lester, his whole room was all albums, you couldn't even sit on the floor, and he had these huge speakers but only one of them worked.”

Yea, the second BOC album was part of that trio of greatness the band produced in the 70s, starting with the self-titled first one and ending at Secret Treaties. Like so many New York-area bands, BOC pounded Detroit, playing anywhere and everywhere, from the Michigan Palace to Pine Knob. The band always had this futuristic trip going, and was among the first bands to use lasers in its light shows, run by a trippy dude they affectionately called Larry Laser.

For Tyranny, it was possible to send a letter to an address provided to obtain the lyrics. This was before the days that every corporation sought to track everyone, and I can only imagine there was a mailing list angle. I sent for the lyrics and was never contacted by the Cult people again. I did get the lyrics, which are presented here. I dig the early 70s IBM printout, back when those crazy punch cards were the epitome of progress. Better yet, though, I got to read along to “OD’d on Life Itself.”