Cleveland Sex Offender Anthony Sowell Indicted on Mass Murder Charges

 A grand jury indicted a convicted rapist Tuesday on charges that he attacked 14 women, killing 11 of them and entombing them in the walls and crawl spaces of his Cleveland home.

In addition, the grand jury found, Anthony Sowell kidnapped, raped and even violated the corpses of his victims.

 "The Cuyahoga County grand jury has returned an indictment against this monster for brutalizing three women, two of whom were raped, and murdering 11 more," said County Prosecutor Bill Mason, speaking at courthouse news conference. He expects to seek the death penalty.

Police discovered the gruesome murders in October after responding to reports of foul odors in the neighborhood and violence against women who visited the 50-year-old resident.

Many of those who visited Sowell were homeless or addicted to drugs and alcohol, authorities said.

Among the charges against Sowell, is that he lured women into his home and then assaulted, raped, tortured and murdered them. Three of them survived the ordeal, Mason said. Survivors include a 40-year-old woman who says she was assaulted on Dec. 8, 2008; a 36-year-old who says she was attacked Sept. 22 and whose complaint prompted the search of Sowell's home; and a 51-year-old woman who said she was assaulted Oct. 20.

"The three people that survived in this case will be probably the most important evidence in the case because it will show a pattern," said Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Richard Bombik. "The guy does have this thing for choking people. ... It's the same pattern except three of them lived to escape and talk about it."