Cleveland House of Horrors: Skull Found in a Bucket, More Bodies Found

Four more bodies found in Anthony Sowell's backyard.

ByABC News
November 3, 2009, 4:14 PM

Nov. 3, 2009 — -- Cleveland police found another four bodies in the backyard of convicted rapist and now suspected murderer Anthony Sowell, and found a skull in a bucket in his basement.

Cleveland Police Department Lt. Thomas Stacho said this evening that while the coroner's office could only confirm that six bodies had been recovered from Sowell's property, since this morning the number of dead is likely to rise to 10.

Stacho confirmed that the skull was found "wrapped in paper or plastic" in a bucket in Sowell's basement.

Earlier today, Sowell, 50, was charged with five counts of aggravated murder, and he is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Cleveland Justice Center.

He was arrested last week after Cuyahoga County, Ohio, authorities discovered what they said were the remains of six African American women on his property.

Authorities were seen removing more body bags today, according to ABC News' Cleveland affiliate WEWS-TV. It's not clear whether additional bodies may be found in or around Sowell's property.

Five of the bodies found earlier this week were believed to have died from strangulation, Stacho said. The cause of death for the sixth is still unknown.

Police have started searching abandoned and vacant homes in a six-mile radius of Sowell's home, WEWS reported.

Cadaver dogs will continue to search Powell's home.

Sowell was released in 2005 after serving 15 years in prison for choking and raping a 21-year-old woman in 1989.