Anthony Edward Sowell: The Cleveland Strangler and the Imperial Avenue Murders
Overview
Anthony Edward Sowell was an American serial killer and sexual predator convicted of murdering eleven women in Cleveland, Ohio. His crimes were committed between 2007 and 2009, primarily inside his residence at 12205 Imperial Avenue in Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The remains of his victims were concealed throughout the house and backyard, creating one of the most disturbing crime scenes in the history of Ohio.
Sowell became known as the "Cleveland Strangler" because strangulation was the established or suspected cause of death for most of his victims. Investigators determined that he commonly approached women in the surrounding neighborhood and invited them to his home with offers of alcohol, drugs, companionship, or a place to stay. Once a woman was inside, Sowell could become violent, restraining, sexually assaulting, choking, and sometimes killing her.
The precise dates on which the eleven women were murdered could not be established because many of their bodies were badly decomposed when discovered. The dates listed below are therefore verified disappearance or last-known-alive dates rather than confirmed dates of death. All eleven victims were killed sometime before police searched Sowell's property in October and November 2009.
Early Life and Military Service
Anthony Edward Sowell was born on August 19, 1959, in East Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in a troubled household and later entered the United States Marine Corps. Sowell served from 1978 until 1985 and received an honorable discharge. After leaving the military, he returned to the Cleveland area.
Although his military record did not reveal the crimes he would later commit, Sowell's behavior eventually became increasingly violent. His first known serious sexual offense occurred several years before the Imperial Avenue murders and demonstrated the methods of restraint and strangulation that would later appear in attacks on other women.
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