"We Finally Got Him": Cleveland Television Covers the Anthony Sowell Guilty Verdicts, 2011

Name: "We Finally Got Him": Cleveland Television Covers the Anthony Sowell Guilty Verdicts, 2011
Uploaded: 2011-07-22T00:00:00Z
Duration: 4 min 59 s
Description: WEWS News 5 Cleveland's 6 p.m. coverage on the day Anthony Sowell was found guilty: the verdict on Count 1, excerpts of two survivors' testimony, and a victim's sister on the outcome.

WEWS News 5 Cleveland's 6 p.m. coverage on the day Anthony Sowell was found guilty: the verdict on Count 1, excerpts of two survivors' testimony, and a victim's sister on the outcome.

Subject: Anthony Sowell
Recorded: July 22, 2011
Runtime: 4:59

Content warning: Two women who survived attacks describe being strangled; the case involves the rape and murder of 11 women. No further graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Anthony Sowell does not speak in it. It is WEWS News Channel 5's 6 p.m. team coverage from Cleveland on July 22, 2011, the day a jury found Sowell guilty of the aggravated murders of 11 women. It opens with courtroom audio of the verdict on Count 1, and chief investigator Ron Regan replays excerpts of testimony given earlier in the trial by two women who survived his attacks. Reporter Paul Kiska then speaks with Denise Hunter, whose sister and cousin were among the victims.

Historical Context

In late October 2009, Cleveland police found bodies at Sowell's house on Imperial Avenue, and he was arrested on October 31, 2009. Sowell, who had served 15 years in prison for a 1989 attempted rape and was released in 2005, was charged with 85 counts, including 11 of aggravated murder as well as rape, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. His trial in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, before Judge Dick Ambrose, ran through June and July 2011.

Circumstances

According to the report, the jury deliberated for just over 15 hours, and the judge took about an hour to read the verdicts. The jury found Sowell guilty on all but two counts. The station reported that the penalty phase would begin on August 1, 2011.

What the Recording Covers

The verdict on Count 1, the aggravated murder of Tonia Carmichael, is heard being read. Gladys Wade, testifying in open court, recalls her attacker telling her she was going to die as he strangled her. A second woman, who asked not to be identified, describes an extension cord being pulled tight around her neck from behind until she blacked out. The anchor reads a statement from Mayor Frank Jackson hoping the verdict would bring the families "closure and some measure of peace." Kiska describes relatives rocking back and forth as the word "guilty" was read again and again, and Denise Hunter, sister of Amelda Hunter and cousin of Crystal Dozier, says peace had already settled in her heart. Asked what she thought when she saw Sowell, she replies, "Oh, we finally got him."

What Makes the Recording Significant

The package records the verdict day as Cleveland saw it on the evening news, and it preserves brief broadcast excerpts of testimony by two of the women who survived, alongside a victim's relative speaking hours after the verdict.

Archival Importance

The footage comes from the Cleveland station's own channel.

Important Caveats

Sowell is not heard. The reporters' figures (83 counts, "guilty" read 82 times) are their own and differ from the court record, which lists 85 counts with convictions on all but two. Denise Hunter says "July the 21st"; the verdict was returned on July 22, 2011. The verdict reader is identified only by the reporters' statement that Judge Ambrose read the verdicts. The second surviving witness asked not to be identified and must not be named. The prosecutor heard questioning the witnesses is not named.

Judge Dick Ambrose: We the jury, having found the defendant, Anthony Sowell, guilty of the aggravated murder of Tonia Carmichael...

Anchor: After weeks of testimony, a convicted sex offender is now a convicted serial killer. It took the jury just over 15 hours before announcing the verdict on 83 counts against Anthony Sowell. We've got team coverage from the Justice Center. Chief Investigator Ron Regan has been covering this trial from the very beginning. He begins our coverage tonight with more on what happened in court.

Ron Regan: Well, those jurors did spend 15-plus hours in deliberation, and it took Judge Dick Ambrose another hour to read the entire 83-count verdict. But here's a look back now at some of the key testimony of two women who played a crucial role in Sowell's conviction.

Judge Dick Ambrose: Count one, the charge of aggravated murder. We the jury in this case, being duly impaneled and sworn, do find the defendant, Anthony Sowell, guilty of [unclear: "the aggravated murder" / "aggravated murder"].

Ron Regan: Anthony Sowell was found guilty of murdering 11 women and brutally attacking two others, including Gladys Wade, who earlier in the trial told this horrific story.

Gladys Wade: 'Cause this man is strangling me, telling me [expletive; masked in the captions], you can scream [unclear: "all you want" / "while you want"], you going to die.

Prosecutor: All right. So you're fighting for your life?

Gladys Wade: Yes.

Ron Regan: And another woman who asked not to be identified.

Witness: And at the same time he started to put the extension cord around my neck.

Prosecutor: From behind?

Witness: From behind.

Prosecutor: Then what, if anything, did he do with that extension cord?

Witness: He [unclear: "squeezed" / "squared"] it as tight as he could, to where I couldn't breathe. And I started to see white little spots, and I continued to try to tussle with him, but he was on my back and I couldn't breathe, and I had my hands between it, and I kept continuing to tussle with it. And I finally blacked out.

Ron Regan: [unclear: "That'll" / "It'll"] be a week off for the jury, but they will return to their seats here at the Justice Center on Monday, August the 1st, at 8:30 in the morning, to begin what's called the punishment phase of the trial that will decide if Anthony Sowell lives or dies. Live at the Justice Center, I'm Chief Investigator Ron Regan.

Anchor: Thank you for your reporting, Ron. We appreciate it. Well, we just received a statement from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson regarding the Anthony Sowell verdict. Mayor Jackson said, his words here, "My hope is that this verdict brings the family and friends of the victims closure and some measure of peace. Today marks the end of their wait for justice." The trial of Anthony Sowell now heads to the penalty phase, which could take weeks. But family and friends of the 11 women who died may be closer to closure today after the long list of guilty verdicts were read in open court. News Channel 5's Paul Kiska continues our team coverage with reaction from the courtroom. And Paul, this was a very difficult day for the families.

Paul Kiska: It has been, but patience is the key word here, Denita. These crimes happening nearly two years ago, then this trial, uh, for four weeks. Relatives and friends of the 11 victims listened patiently to more than 62 witnesses, 400 exhibits. And then today, for nearly 90 minutes, they listened as Judge Dick Ambrose read "guilty" 82 times inside the courtroom. Victims' relatives gently but anxiously rocked back and forth as that verdict was read, then shared hugs before leaving the courtroom. Murderer Anthony Sowell killed Denise Hunter's sister, Amelda, and her cousin, Crystal Dozier. Hunter said she has found peace despite a tragedy that caused her family so much worry and so much pain.

Denise Hunter: And I'm glad for the verdict. These women, we do deserve this justice. And I'm so glad that finally, on July the 21st, that all of our families can rest assured, and our loved ones can rest assured, that peace and justice has come to our families. Some of it was, you know, very gross and, um, devastating in here, you know, but I [unclear: "have already accepted peace" / "already accept that peace"] when we found out about the murders. So whatever the details was, some of it I didn't want to know, but peace was already settled in my heart, for our families and the other loved ones that were lost, the ladies.

Paul Kiska: When you see Anthony Sowell in there, what goes through your mind?

Denise Hunter: Oh, we finally got him.

Paul Kiska: "We finally got him," she said. Two other relatives of victims tried to talk with us on camera. They just became overwhelmed with emotion, too choked up to talk at this point. Now they wait to see if Anthony Sowell will get life in prison or die by lethal injection. Reporting live from the Justice Center, Paul Kiska, News Channel 5.

Anchor: Thank you, Paul. Stay with News Channel 5, on air and online, for more reaction to the Anthony Sowell verdict. Newsnet5.com dedicates a whole section with more on the case, from the victims to a blog with details of the trial. You can also follow us on Twitter at [unclear: "WEWSCourt" / "WWEWSCourt"] or hashtag [unclear: "ImperialAve" / "Imperial A"]. [04:57 to 04:59: no further speech; clip ends.] ---