Anthony Sowell, the sex offender who was convicted of murdering 11 women, faces the death penalty unless his defense team can successfully convince the jury that Sowell was provoked by post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses. Sowell, who is an ex-Marine, abused the bodies after the women had died, and then stashed their bodies around his house, prompting neighbors to complain of a foul stench, which they believed was coming from a neighborhood sausage shop. On July 22nd, he was convicted of 11 counts of aggravated murder and more than 70 other charges, including abusing corpses and kidnapping. .
The defense attorneys are pressing for a life sentence without parole because of Sowell's mental instability. However, experts believe that it will be difficult for the jury to sympathize with Sowell because of his standoff attitude during the trial. While the jury was plagued with pictures of the dead bodies bruised and battered and then dumped around the house and yard in trash bags. .
Mary Myers, a psychologist, retired police captain, and teacher at the University of Akron, believes that the jurors will not "buy that he truly has an impulse control problem that allows him to snap. I think they are going to see that he knew exactly what he was doing, just like he sat there in that courtroom and didn't show any emotion whatsoever" (The Washington Post). .
Sowell pleaded not guilty to the murders, but the defense team did not use the reason of insanity in the original plea, simply because they did not want him to be stuck with the stigma of mental illness. However, they are using mental illness to explain his appalling actions. Elizabeth Kelley, a defense attorney not working on Sowell's case, said, "You could very well say, .
