Jury in 11 deaths trial sees crime-scene photos

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Jurors in the trial of a man charged with killing 11 women and dumping their remains around his property saw graphic crime-scene photos Friday, with repeated images of decomposing bodies strewn amid garbage.

Jurors visited the house of Anthony Sowell, 51, last week before testimony began at his murder trial.

Sowell blinked lightly in court and kept a steady look at a wide-screen-TV set as the photos shot by crime investigators were displayed without narration, adding an emotion-charged element to the trial.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted.

The bodies, almost unrecognizable from decomposition, emerge in the photos from under sheets or clothing items — an elbow here, perhaps a skull there and buttocks and two legs from an otherwise covered body sprawled across the floor amid filth and routine household items.