Suspect in Ohio Killings Was Arrested Last Year

Surrounded by sheriff's deputies, Anthony Sowell is arraigned on rape, kidnapping, attempted murder...

Surrounded by sheriff's deputies, Anthony Sowell is arraigned on rape, kidnapping, attempted murder and felonious assault charges Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, in Cleveland. A search of Sowell's home after his arrest Sept. 22, led to the discovery of the remains of 11 women on the property. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

(AP)

A woman told authorities in December that a man now accused of killing 11 women had beaten her and tried to rape her, and police and prosecutors are giving conflicting explanations for why a case was abandoned that could have led them months earlier to the bodies scattered around the suspect's stench-filled house.

The woman's complaint, nearly 10 months before police started finding bodies in Anthony Sowell's home, adds to the questions about whether law enforcement, neighbors and victims did enough to catch a suspected serial killer. Five of the victims disappeared after the complaint was filed.

The woman had scratches around her neck and was bleeding from a deep gash in her thumb when she flagged down police near Sowell's home on Dec. 8, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press.

Related

Bug Expert Called to Cleveland House of Horrors

Investigators Widen Search in Cleveland Killings

Massive Failures Admitted in Jaycee Case

Police said they found what appeared to be blood on a tissue in the driveway and footprints in the snow indicating a possible struggle.

The report shows that police went into the house and to a third-floor landing, where they saw a trash can containing broken glass, a sweater, pink sweat pants and panties.

They knocked on the door of a third-floor apartment, Sowell answered and they arrested him. They saw drops of blood inside the house and scratch marks on Sowell's face.

Police suggested that Sowell be charged with robbery, but he was released after two days, Cleveland Lt. Thomas Stacho said Friday. Stacho said a detective presented the information to a prosecutor.

The prosecutor decided the woman wasn't credible and wrote a note saying so "underneath a box that the prosecutor checked indicating that the complaint was unfounded," Stacho said.

City prosecutor Victor Perez told The Plain Dealer that the detective felt the woman was not credible. Perez was not in his office Friday morning. A message left for him at the mayor's press office wasn't immediately returned.