Serial killer suspect appears in court

CLEVELAND — Anthony Sowell went before a municipal court judge in Cleveland Wednesday morning, a day after authorities discovered at least four more bodies and a skull buried at his house.

The judge refused to let him out on bail.

"In 28 years of being on this bench, this is without question the most serious set of allegations that I have ever faced," said Judge Ronald Adrine of the Cleveland Municipal Court.

Sowell has been in jail since last week, after a woman told police he raped her at his home.

That's when authorities began digging on his property, where they found six bodies.

This week, they found four more, and a skull.

"There were six inside the house, five recovered from the yard. All African-American women. Seven died of strangulation," said coroner Dr. Frank Miller.

Investigators continued search inside Sowell's home, looking into walls and crawl space.

Only one of the victims has been identified yet so far: a woman missing for over a year.

That explains the steady stream of people with missing loved ones in the Cleveland area who are now approaching police.

For now, Sowell faces five counts of aggravated murder with many more charges expected.

Sowell is a convicted rapist who served 15 years in prison before his release in 2005 and his move into that house.