Serial killers and true crime

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/26/cleveland.sowell.victims.one.year/index.html?iref=allsearch

Nine-year-old Jonathan Carmichael thought his mother was Superwoman.
He observed her unstoppable force, working double shifts as a medical secretary so they could live in a modest town house in a decent neighborhood. He saw her fly off to do overtime, and then surprise him and his sister with toy cars and video games and a trip to Disneyland.

But by the time he was 12, his super mother had vanished, replaced by a crack cocaine addict. He watched her pawn the gifts she’d bought him to feed her habit.

If Jonathan felt confused, his sister Donnita was angry. She was 18 when the mother she once knew went missing. Donnita loved her and she hated her. She argued with her and listened to her. She tried desperately to save her from her addiction. And when she failed, she stopped calling her “Mom.”

Sometimes, their mother, Tonia Carmichael, disappeared for days or weeks at a time. So on November 10, 2008, when her children heard she was missing, it seemed, sadly, like nothing new.

She was gone.

So were Crystal Dozier, 38,
and Tishanna Culver, 29.
And Le’Shanda Long, 25,
and Michelle Mason, 44.

They were all black women with ties to the quiet neighborhood of Mount Pleasant in the eastern part of Cleveland. They were all mothers, some grandmothers, some second cousins. Almost all struggled with a drug addiction at some point in their lives. Court records show many resorted to stealing and some turned to prostitution to support their habits.
Six more women would disappear after 52-year-old Tonia:

Kim Yvette Smith, 43.
Nancy Cobbs, 43.
Amelda Hunter, 46.
Telacia Fortson, 31.
Janice Webb, 48.
Diane Turner, 38.

When police found their bodies in October 2009 — all on one man’s property — everyone wondered: How could 11 women in the same town disappear over two years without public notice?

Police believe the women were easy prey for Anthony Sowell, a convicted sex offender who served 15 years for the attempted rape of a woman in 1989. Sowell, now 51, had moved to the home on Imperial Avenue in 2005, after his release from prison.

He has been charged with 11 murders, two rapes, one attempted rape and more than 70 other related charges. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and is scheduled to go to trial in February 2011…..

Since the bodies were discovered, other women have come forward, alleging Sowell attacked them. His attorneys would not comment on those allegations either.

Criminologists say serial killers often target people whose lives may be messy or off the grid — prostitutes, runaways and drug users — because their absences might not raise red flags, even for their families.

And there is another suspicion echoing among Cleveland residents, particularly in the black community: that the lives of poor black women aren’t worth much, certainly less than had they been suburban white women.

“We’re saying you don’t have the right to judge whether or not a case is worth being investigated,” said Dave Patterson, a local activist who is pushing the legislature to reform the way police handle missing-persons cases, to give more priority to cases involving adults.

Almost a year after the discovery of the bodies, it is still hard to say why the disappearance of 11 women went largely unnoticed for nearly two years.

Note from me: I do not believe this. If it had been 11 white crack heads that were known to go off for periods of times they also would not have been looked for. The color is not anywhere as ‘important’ as the lifestyle to the press, the general public and yes, even the police. I do not want to sound cold hearted but if the police went chasing after every prostitute and or drug addict that was reported as missing by a family member or friend they would not be able to do anything else. I have had so many friends that get into this sort of circle. They drop out of sight and are found a few months later in some jail maybe even a few states away or they just end up stumbling into the families front door worn out and tired in need of a few months recuperation. They get themselves kind of straight and then the cycle begins again.

Note from me: I am sure her description of the events included descriptions like this which although to the general public paints a mental image of an evil attacker the police see as a person embellishing and possibly seeing things through drug hazed eyes. Again, I am not being cold hearted, I feel for this woman and she is in NO WAY to blame for the attack.
You also can not blame the police too much. From our living rooms it is so easy to say they should have been more vigilant but we do not hear the stories that they do. We are not privy to the many times prostitutes or ‘Johns’ come into the station telling tall tales that involve crazy descriptions. They may shock us but they hardly raise an eyebrow in the police station.

The man, who Wade said was known as “Tone,” was in fact Anthony Sowell, police reports show. Sowell told police a different story. He claimed Wade, who had a record for forgery and assault, had robbed and assaulted him, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

Sowell, who had spent 15 years in prison for attempted rape, had grown up in East Cleveland, a suburb of Cleveland. He had joined the Marines at 18, an opportunity that took him to California, North Carolina and Japan, according to authorities. He served eight years, then returned to East Cleveland. People who interacted with him after his release said he appeared to be “a normal guy,” known around the neighborhood for selling scrap metal.

On December 8, 2008, when police went to Sowell’s house after Wade’s complaint, they knew he was a sex offender, according to an e-mail from Nancy Dominik, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Police Department.
He was in the Tier 3 category, the most dangerous classification in Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office said. Officers had checked on him numerous times at his home. During those visits, the officers didn’t notice a smell or anything unusual, said spokesman John O’Brien. He also pointed out that officers weren’t allowed to enter the home during the checkups.

But a police report from the December 8 visit shows authorities saw blood droplets on the walls and steps.

Note from me: I would REALLY like to hear more on this. Was it blood droplets or brown spots? This is the one quote from this article that disturbs me. I know information is still restricted since the case has yet to go to trial but I hope that more information on this detail comes out soon.