CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland man sentenced to die for killing 11 women and hiding the remains in and around his home has lost his latest attempt to overturn his conviction and death sentence.
In a ruling issued Thursday, a three-judge panel with the 8th District Court of Appeals unanimously held that Anthony Sowell (SOH’-wehl) failed to present enough evidence that he did not receive a fair trial and that his trial attorneys ineffectively represented him during the penalty phase. The panel also upheld a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge’s 2018 dismissal of Sowell’s petition for post-conviction relief without holding a hearing.
The appellate judges also rejected arguments that the death penalty is unconstitutional and that Sowell was barred from hiring enough expert witnesses and investigators to properly defend himself from a death sentence properly.
Sowell was convicted in 2011 of killing the women and currently sits on death row at a prison in Chillicothe, although an execution date has not been set. Sowell was also convicted of raping two other women and attempting to rape another.