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Ohio serial killer suspect pleads insanity

A registered sex offender accused of killing 11 women and leaving their remains in and around his Cleveland home has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A registered sex offender accused of killing 11 women and leaving their remains in and around his Cleveland home has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Anthony Sowell, 50, was arraigned Thursday via video from jail.

Sowell was indicted Tuesday on 85 charges, including murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse. He is accused of murdering 11 women and could get the death penalty if convicted of any of the killings.

Ten bodies and a skull were found at his home. On Wednesday, FBI agents with cadaver dogs searched another house where Sowell lived before going to prison for 15 years for a 1989 attempted rape. No bodies were found.

A prosecutor asked for bond in the amount of $14 million, but the judge ordered Sowell held without bond.

Authorities have said the victims were homeless or living alone and had drug or alcohol addictions.

Of the 11 alleged victims, all black women, 10 have been identified. The remains of 10 women and a skull were found in his home and buried in the yard.