Cleveland: Mass murder suspect was model ex-con

CLEVELAND -- Since his release from prison in 2005, mass murder suspect Anthony Sowell has been a model ex-convict, according to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department. Sowell checked in with the Sex Crimes unit every 90 days.

He also cooperated with random verification checks at his home on East 123rd Street.

"Why didn't anybody tell us he was convicted of a sex crime when he moved in here?" said Betty Hamilton. "Nobody told us anything about this guy," she added.

Anthony Sowell's neighbors are clearly frustrated that they were never informed of his sex crimes past. It turns out that Sowell fell into a legal loophole between Megan's Law and the Adam Walsh Act.

Sue DeChant, investigator with the Cuyahoga County Sex Crimes Unit, said that Sowell was released under Megan's Law, which required a yearly check in with the department to verify his address.

In 2008, the Adam Walsh Act required that sexual predators verify their address every 90 days and that all nearby neighbors be notified by law enforcement.

But because Sowell never moved from his current address, no warnings were sent to his neighbors.

Doing a random verification check, a Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Deputy knocked on the suspect's door last month and talked with Sowell. The deputy said he did not smell anything unusual from the front porch of the home.

DeChant said, "All our deputy is allowed to do is go up and knock on the door. If the offender answers the door, or whoever and says 'yes, the sex offender does live here, does sleep here or reside here,' then that's all we are allowed to do by law."

"People think we can just walk in and look around," added DeChant, "but without a warrant, all we can do is verify the ex-con's address in compliance with the law. It is frustrating."

Mike Edwards lives across the street from Sowell and shook his head.

"We never knew about him. Right there in the house. Right there and I've lived here all of my life," Edwards said.

The Cuyahoga County Coroner said today that all six of the bodies found in and around Sowell's home were were African-American women.

Five of the six were strangled. The identities of the victims have not been announced.