"He Never Showed Any Emotion": WEWS Reports on the Autopsy Testimony in the Anthony Sowell Trial, 2011

Name: "He Never Showed Any Emotion": WEWS Reports on the Autopsy Testimony in the Anthony Sowell Trial, 2011
Uploaded: 2011-07-08T00:00:00Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: WEWS News 5 Cleveland's report on day 8 of the Sowell trial, July 8, 2011: crime scene and autopsy evidence, with excerpts of a forensic pathologist's testimony.

WEWS News 5 Cleveland's report on day 8 of the Sowell trial, July 8, 2011: crime scene and autopsy evidence, with excerpts of a forensic pathologist's testimony.

Subject: Anthony Sowell
Recorded: July 8, 2011
Runtime: 2:24

Content warning: A forensic pathologist describes how victims were strangled, including the ligatures found on one victim; the report refers to graphic autopsy photographs. The case involves the murders of 11 women and sexual attacks on women who survived.

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Anthony Sowell does not speak in it. It is a 2:24 report from WEWS News Channel 5's 5 p.m. news in Cleveland, posted on July 8, 2011, on the eighth day of Sowell's murder trial. Chief investigator Ron Regan reports live from the Justice Center, and the report includes three short excerpts of testimony by a forensic pathologist, a woman whom the report does not name.

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. He was charged with the aggravated murders of 11 women and with rape, kidnapping and other crimes. 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 saw more than 600 crime scene photographs that day, including graphic autopsy photographs, before the pathologist described how the victims may have died. Regan reported that Sowell watched every autopsy photograph, rarely taking his eyes off the screen, and showed no emotion.

What the Recording Covers

Over footage of the third floor of the house, where the bodies of four victims were found (one of them in a crawl space), Regan reports the pathologist's testimony that Nancy Cobbs, whom the station gives as 43, was strangled. The pathologist describes a rope ligature around the upper neck and a cloth ligature beneath it. She tells the jury that strangulation kills by compressing the carotid arteries and stopping the flow of blood to the brain, not by stopping breathing; Regan adds her estimate that victims would black out in under 30 seconds and die within three to five minutes. The report says Telacia Fortson was also strangled and that the body of Diane Turner, given as 38, was found next to hers; the pathologist testifies that in her opinion Fortson had been dead longer than Turner. The report ends with a crime scene photograph of Sowell's videotape collection, which included "Night of the Living Dead."

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is contemporaneous coverage of the forensic evidence at the trial, with courtroom audio of the pathologist's testimony on how three of the victims died and the reporter's account of Sowell's demeanor as the autopsy photographs were shown.

Important Caveats

Sowell is not heard. The pathologist is not named in the report; the medical examiners who testified at the trial included Dr. Krista Pekarski, Dr. Frank Miller and Dr. Elizabeth Balraj, but which of them testified that day is not established, so no name should be given. The victims' ages (43 and 38) are the station's figures. The broadcast date of July 8, 2011, is inferred from the upload date. A word in the first testimony excerpt ("knotted") is a reading of the captions.

Anchor: [inaudible] ...the case.

Anchor: Jurors in the Anthony Sowell murder trial had a full day of medical testimony today that described how the victims were found and how they died. Chief Investigator Ron Regan joins us now. Ron, this witness testimony has been very tough all along, but I understand what you saw today in court was especially grisly.

Ron Regan: Well, it sure was. The jury saw more than 600 crime scene photos, including graphic autopsy photos. Then a forensic pathologist described for the jury how the victims may have died.

Ron Regan: The bodies of four victims were found here on the third floor of Sowell's home, including one inside this crawl space. A forensic pathologist told the jury 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs was strangled to death.

Forensic Pathologist: There is a rope ligature encompassing the upper neck at least two times, with an underlying dark-colored soft cloth ligature knotted around the neck one time.

Ron Regan: Sowell watched every single autopsy photo, rarely taking his eyes off the screen. He never showed any emotion. Telacia Fortson was strangled too.

Forensic Pathologist: The misconception is that it interferes with breathing, but in reality it's the compression of the two arteries that run alongside of the neck. They're called the carotid arteries, and it's a compression of those arteries that stop the blood flow to the brain.

Ron Regan: And victims, she said, would black out in less than 30 seconds and die within three to five minutes. The body of 38-year-old Diane Turner was found on the floor next to Fortson's.

Forensic Pathologist: In my opinion, uh, Ms. Fortson was dead for a longer period of time than Ms. Turner.

Ron Regan: And among those crime scene photos included this one, an extensive, uh, look at his videotape collection, including the Night of the Living Dead. Testimony continues on Tuesday. Live at the Justice Center, I'm Chief Investigator Ron Regan.

Anchor: So horrifying. Stay with News Channel 5 and newsnet5.com for continuing coverage of the Sowell trial. We have live blog updates from inside the courthouse, and you can also follow the trial on your smartphone with our mobile app. Just search for newsnet5.com. ---